Squishy Cat

I went browsing at Kinokuniya the other day and saw the new Amigurumi Collection book Vol 5. There was a cat on the cover that looked pretty easy and so laid back. I didn't have time to flip through to the patterns but I figured I could take a stab at it.

Voila! Granted mine is much bigger than the original I think. The body is squishy like a beanie baby (filled with polyfill beads) hard to tell by the photos.

I think I'll make it a little smaller next time though, because I found that it makes a perfect wrist rest for when using my mouse/pen tablet. Woohoo! (^_^)v

A Bear for Isabel

I bought this book awhile ago and have been itching to try the pattern for this little bear. The shaping was something new to me so it was interesting to make. It was also surprisingly quick to do. It was surprisingly easy to read the diagram to the pattern as well. I can't read Japanese well at all, in fact hardly at all.... ok NOT at all (well ok I can read SOME hirigana but that won't help me much with patterns ha!) but luckily Japanese craft books are always so well "illustrated". hee hee (^_^)v Anyway, it's been ages since I've updated anything on this blog. So without further ado here he is

I used an F Hook (4.om) and some left over worsted weight yarn (no idea what brand, sorry) for the body. The muzzle is sport weight. I also made an extra ear and used it as a tail. Really cute. (*_*). The scarf is knitted with sport weight yarn. Just your basic stockinette, 4s. Black button eyes. I really liked the way he turned out and was hesitant at first to gift him to my friend Isabel who was in desperate need of some cheering up. But it was well worth the "work" (and sacrifice hee hee) to see her gleeful reaction. (~_^)v.

Tropical Monkeys too cute

So I was browsing the forum at Crafster.org the other day and I came across these cuuuuuuuute "tropical monkeys". I just had to try to make one. I hope "puchitomato" won't be mad at me but I swear I'm not making it to sell, I won't make more to sell, and I'll never sell a pattern for it (because I rarely write down patterns). I didn't make my monkey exactly like hers either. Her head is a two piece dealio and I was too lazy to do it that way, although if I made another I think I'd prefer her way. Also my skirt has a scallopy edge to it. Anyway... the idea was all hers, I just came along for the ride. THANK YOU, puchitomato!

I decided to give this one to my mother-in-law. Her birthday is tomorrow and I thought it would be a cheery way to start the day seeing this little gal sitting on her desk hugging a Starbuck's Gift Cert. haha Hope you like it. And please... go see the originals. Way cute!

I've Been Gone Too Long...

Life has taken over... as usual... and instead of finding comfort in my crafts they were only adding to the frustration for awhile. I'm slowly getting back into the swing of things, though. Grandma has requested a couple cats and a dog for some relatives so I'm trying to get that done. Here's one cat all set and ready to go. He was made with double knit and wool ease. Stuffed with poly-stuff only and more or less made using the famed amineko pattern - with a few personal touches (AKA mistakes) here and there. Thanks to those few who check in on me for... well... still checking in on me. (^_^)

Introducing Denny!

Yay! Something new! I finished this little guy quite a few days ago actaully, just haven't had a chance to post. He's the first amigurumi I've made with intention of selling on-line. I'm thinking of posting him on Etsy.com very soon. There are a couple things I want to figure out first like: how do I want to "package" him and should I tag him??? What do people normally do? I've never sold any of my handmade items to a "stranger" before. haha Anyway, his name is Denny because he is made mainly from a DK yarn called Denim. I forget what brand... will have to look at it later. The white bits are worsted weight. His head is stuffed with polyfill and his body is filled with poly-pellets. Around his neck is a crocheted collar made from black crochet thread ornamented with a bell and a little orange glass bead fish from Thailand (my mom brought me a ton of beads - woohoo! Thanks, mom!). He stands about 4" I think (I haven't officially measured him yet) and he can actually stand on his own by using his tail and legs as a "tripod". hahaha Anyway, hope you like him. (^_~)v

RK SD

After I made that second RK bag, the friend I made it for... well, her husband wanted one to put in his car. hahaha Introducing Roadkill Kitty Super Deformed! Yup, that's what I've been trying to do. Shaping and reshaping trying to get it to a good size. And I think I actually came up with a standard body/pattern that I like. I'm going to try to use the same pattern now to make some other animals. Like, normal ALIVE cats. *wink* So stay tuned. (^_^)v I still have to add a hanging mechanism to this RK, perhaps something from the top of his head because I didn't think about weighting his body properly before hand. oops. And the husband also requested tire tracks across the body, hee hee, but I'm not sure how I want to do that yet...

Happy Mother's Day!

Mother's Day is almost over here in the U.S. and I didn't even get to wish all you mums out there a very happy Ami-Mum's Day! Thank you kittykat for leaving me a message! It was a really sweet surprise and a lovely way to end a hectic day. (^_^)v I promise I'll be posting something crochet wise soon. It might not be an ami though. (T_T) I've kinda hit a creative wall on that front. But I feel the itch coming back, so hopefully I'll be able to turn out something new soon. Thanks again for checkin' up on me!! XOXO

RK2: New and Improved!

Yay! I'm FINALLY done!!!!!! Weeeeeeehoooooooo. I've been working on this RK for WEEKS! Seriously, it should've only taken me a day or so, but I stalled out when I got to the lining part. I was scared to proceed! I'm not very confident when it comes to my sewing skills. hahaha Well, my deadline was fast approaching and I couldn't wait any longer so I've been burning that midnight oil the last two nights. sigh. Yatta! whew.

Improvements:

*I made RK2 larger in the body than the first. So now it easily fits a small cell phone, keys, and maybe a thin card holder. We'll find out exactly how much it fits when it reaches its new owner. ;)

*I changed the styling of the button holes. The holes themsleves are not any different but the edging is a little "thicker" atop the hole area so there's more to grab for easy unbottoning action!

*Lining. I hand stitched in a lining to the body and the bottom of the bag. This should help to keep things from poking through and from getting stuck in the yarn. Hopefully it will be more durable as well.

The only thing I'm not that happy with on RK2 is that I think I made his neck longer somehow. Sigh. Hmmmmm.... He would look good with a collar and a fish shaped name tag...

Yay! I hope it stands up to long use! He'll be boxed up today and mailed to my friend Sky...

(^-^)v

Please ignore my crazy table cloth! It was cheap and is very child friendly. hahaha

Happy Easter Everyone!! (Or Passover or any other holiday that's being celebrated...)

Hey! I wish I had something fun to post for Easter, but I've been too too busy. My daughter and husband have been trading turns at pink eye (conjuctivitis) over four weeks now. Ugh. Can we say, "I hate doing laundry!"? =p I think I've done more laundry over these past four weeks than in my entire lifetime. sheesh. At least I haven't been infected yet (*bangs on wood with all her might*)!

I am still slowly working on projects. Just that nothing is getting done... Hang in there! Thanks for the "comments"! It's so nice to be missed. (^-^)v

Back from vacation...

Yay! Just incase anyone actually visits my blog and have been wondering where the posts are... I've been on vacation all last week. Now I'm back and ready to get back to yarn! I admit I was getting a little burnt out there for awhile and a week away from my hooks have left my fingers itching. So, I hope to have something to post soon! In the mean time, Amigurumi-Along always has lots of eye candy. Enjoy!

Patterns Coming Soon...

There have been a small number of you... nagging me about some patterns =D. However, 1) I'm so busy making things I hardly have time to write down the pattern, 2) I'm horrible at writing patterns. Therefore, I will try to post pieces of patterns that might help guide you to making your own creations. You're probably thinking, "Shoot! I can find these anywhere!" And you'd be right, but still, one more post on the internet won't hurt. tee hee You can already get an idea of the standard I use for head and body from my Mr. Frog pattern. So today's PatternPost is for standard arm/leg for something like Amineko. Enjoy!

Arms:
This can be done in two different colored yarns to give the look of paws or not. Choose your hook size to correspond to your yarn. This will greatly effect the finished product size.

Frame/row 1: ch 2. in second ch from hook 6sc
Row 2: 2sc every sc (12)
Row 3-6: work even
At this pt can change yarns or anywhere further up the “arm” to give “socked” look. Or just one stripe… or whatever! Anything! Woohooo
Row 7: 1sc, sc2tog in next sc* repeat until 8 (stop and stuff the paw!! Keep stuffing up along the arm just a tad as you go)
Row 8-28 (approximately): work even
I work the arms as long as needed. I measure them up to the body letting the “wrist” fall about where the bottom of the body is.

Fasten off. Leave tail long enough for attaching to body.

Here is a sample of some arms I'm making for another Roadkill Kitty bag. It's a straight version of the amineko pattern - there is no decrease at the paw line. Also there is another change of color near the "shoulder" because Roadkill has a red t-shirt on. hehe You'll also notice how short these look. I've made them to suit Roadkill's body so they are only about 14 rows.

I'm really a horrible pattern writter. I dont know why. I think it's because I get confused with knitting (although I'm a horrible knitter haha). I hope you can understand what I've written or at least glean something from it. The legs are done in similar fashion to the arms. They begin just like the arms with 6sc then 12sc, however at this pt you add another row to 18sc (ch1, 2sc in next ch* repeat to 18) before you work even the 4 rows. And then you go back ( ch1, sc2tog* rep to 12; ch 3, sc2tog* twice will make 10) to 10sc to make the leg. Confusing? Sorry. This pattern can be adjusted to suit any size/type amigurumi. Experiment with yarn and hook size too.

Maybe I'll have an actual full pattern for something soon. Have fun! Oh, and don't forget to share your creations! I'd love to see them. Leave me a comment with a link or join up with Amigurumi-Along! (^_^)v

Forgot to mention...

Before I let myself make "Roadkill" I finished another blankie. One that was more "boy-ish". ;)

Kitty Handbag Here At Last!

Several months ago, when I first discovered the world of amigurumi, I came upon this photo of a bunny hand bag. I thought it was just too cute and have been dieing to make it since that day. However, no pattern. This past weekend I finally got my butt over to Japantown and was so dissappointed with the amigurumi craft book selection at the bookstore (there were only two there! And neither with the handbag pattern). I came home ever more determined though. And finally, here it is! My own kitty handbag! It turned out a lot better than I expected. It was probably a good idea afterall that I waited this long to tackle the project. Now with all my experience from making Aminekos it was much easier to imagine the pattern. "Roadkill Kitty" is about 10.5" long. His bag body can fit a cell phone, keys, and a small card holder. I actually fit my Casio Exilim in there. This is my prototype. The next one will be lined, hopefully. haha Hope you all like it! A couple more photos can be found at my Flickr.

No More Problems

Well, I finally broke down and just chose a whole new template for my blog. I'm sad to see the other design go, but so far so good with this new one. NO DISAPPEARING TEXT! Wooohoooo! I just couldn't figure it out with that other template. Sigh.

Bunny Blankie

I'd seen blankets like these before but never crocheted/knitted. And then suddenly, there was the pattern, in my daily crochet pattern calendar (* sorry the original link is broken and gone *.) . Actually it was a pattern for a "Bear-ghan" made with 9 balls of Fun Fur. Well, I didn't have NINE balls of Fun Fur and I'm too cheap to buy that many at once (even on sale). So I dug around my closet to see what I had the most of. There was some left over Caron Simply Soft in Orchid - just over a skein's worth and I thought for a baby that would be soft! Needless to say that wasn't enough and I had to run out to Michael's to buy another skein of Orchid and also pick up a skein of white for the details. Two whole skeins of the Orchid would have been more than plenty though). I followed the pattern for the head then dillineated from there. The rabbit is my own using my "design-as-u-go" method. hee hee. For the blanket part I referred back to the pattern and then added my own edging. It really didn't look like much at all, or I should say not as I wanted it to, and I was getting a bit discouraged. When I finally put on the nose piece - which was the very last bit I did on the bunny it all came together and I was rather impressed! I'm contemplating now if I should put a little tail on... (^_^)' More photos will be posted at Flickr. TTFN!

The Pups Are Here! Finally, yay!

Ah, the pups are finally totally completed. Woohoo! I finished them on Monday actually but I've been waiting for some nice weather to take photos outside. It's nice today but still drenched out so in the end I decided I couldn't wait to post any longer - photo shoot on the couch! These pups are made with white baby boucle and beige/tan double knitting/sport weight yarn. They have plastic button eyes and are filled only with poly-fill. Unfortunately they can't really stand or sit on their own. Maybe the next time around I'll pay more attention to that during the design phase. Their clothes are made from cotton scraps. Both vest and dress were inspired by the pattern at Molly Chicken and can be found in her January archives under the blog entry "All Dressed Up". I didn't actually sew my ribbon on like she did. Instead I made the pattern a little "larger" so that I could turn down some fabric to style a collar where the ribbon runs through. The ribbon is basted on only at one pt in the middle of the collar behind the neck. Oh yeah, they are about 8 inches from tip toe to noggin top. Hope you like! (^-^)*
note: I'm still having problems with posting multiple photos per blog. It makes the text disappear. You can view more pup photos at my flickr page. Click on the Flickr badge in the sidebar and it will take you there!

Amineko pattern posted AND in English! =D

For all of you who've been asking for the Amineko pattern, Sarah Jane at Ramblings in a Little Black Dress has posted her translation of it. It's slightly different than the one I use but I'm sure it'll produce the same results (probably even better since I bet hers is more true to the original). So for all you hungry amigurumi-ists swing on over to Lil' Black dress and have fun!! Thanks, Sarah!

note: For some reason, the most recent blog entries sometime gets its text messed up... If an entry looks strangely incomplete try highlighting the text area or scrolling up and down. sigh. darn technology (or maybe in this case, dummy user -me). (-_-)oO

Rabbit trails can be good

I wanted to make this an amigurumi only blog, but I just can't make a separate blog for everything. So I guess this will probably metamorphosize into a craft blog in the end. Anyway, what I wanted to post about this time is a really cool site called Wee Wonderfuls and what I found there. These cute cute cute paper dolls! And I had the brilliancy to suggest printing them on magnetic paper, which I did... and woohooo! It's really cool. Check these out!

Aren't they too cute? And my 3 year old daughter loves them.

Thanks so much, Wee Wonderfuls!

Copyright continued

Yay I found the actual page with the copyright info regarding Amineko! weeee here is the url for in Japanese http://www5a.biglobe.ne.jp/~mite/gurumineko/siyou.html or plug it into altavista's babel fish for a translation. Broken English, but you can certainly get the idea. Woohoooo!

Copyrights are there for a reason...

As promised here is the link to the Japanese site where I found the amineko pattern. Scroll to the bottom of the page for the charts. From what I can gather it is the pattern found in the Amineko book (which can sometimes be found on ebay - in fact there's one on there right now for sure). Can't read Japanese? Me neither. Try altavista's bablefish. Happy hunting!

NOTE FOR JENN: I bought my poly-pellets from JoAnn Fabrics. (^_^)v