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

Mr. Frog Pattern! Well... if you can call it that.

I finally got around to writing down the pattern for Mr. Frog! I hope that it's understandable and I hope it's correct! hahaha I couldn't really remember how I'd made Mr. Frog so I was staring at him and trying to count stitches the whole time whilst typing the pattern. hee hee If you've made Aminekos you shouldn't have any problems making Mr. Frog. Have fun with it. Try different yarns! Change the hook size! Do bells for his feet! Googly eyes instead of buttons! I don't know. Go for it! And then be sure to let me know how it goes. (^_^)v

Loose guidelines for how I made Mr. Frog…

disclaimer: I hate to have to add this but please don't sell this pattern or try anything ... I don't know, like that. I gladly share my "knowledge" and hope you respect me for it, but I hate being taken advantage of. (^_^)v

Loose guidelines for how I made Mr. Froggy…

Hook 3.0mm/D
Green sport weight/double knitting yarn
Red (or black or any!) yarn for mouth
White felt (depending on the quality of your felt you might have to double up so it will look whiter)
Two black buttons – small
4 wooden beads – your choice
Poly-fill

Head:
Foundation: Ch 2. In second chain from hook make 6 sc.

Row 1: 2sc in each sc (12)
Row 2: Sc in first sc, 2sc in next sc* repeat until 18
Row 3: Sc in first sc, sc in second sc, 2sc in third sc* repeat until 24
Row 4: Sc in first sc, sc in second sc, sc in third sc, 2sc in fourth sc* repeat until 30
Row 5-9: work even
Row 10: Sc in first sc, sc in second sc, sc in third sc, sc 2 tog * repeat until 24
Row 11: sc in first sc, sc in second sc, sc 2 tog * repeat until 18
Row 12: sc in first sc, sc 2 tog * repeat until 12

Fasten off. Weave in end. Stuff. Sew on mouth with red yarn.

Eyes:
Foundation: Ch 2. In second chain from hook make 6 sc.

Row 1: sc 2 in each sc (12)
Row 2-4: work even
Fasten off. Stuff. Attach to head.


Body:
Foundation: Ch 2. In second chain from hook make 6sc.

Row 1: sc 2 in each sc (12)
Row 2: Sc in first sc, 2sc in next sc* repeat until 18
Row 3-9: work even
Row 10: sc in first sc, sc 2 tog* repeat until 12
Row 11-12: work even

Fasten off. Leave long end for attaching body to head. Stuff.

Arms/Legs:
String on beads or whatever you want to use for hands/feet. I used two different sizes of wooden beads. Small rounds for the hands and larger square for the feet.

Chain to the length that you want! I think I did 11 for the arms and 13 for the legs.
Turn and sc in each ch (10 for arms 12 for legs) push a bead up flush to your work
Turn slip stitch in each sc. Fasten off.

I left a long end and weaved it in all the way up the arm and used it to attach it to the body. I found this made a nice “backbone” for the arm and helped give it a pleasing curve. But you’ll really have to experiment and find what you like.

Details:

White felt cut out in rounds (my felt was cheap. I had to make two layers for each eyeball). I sewed black plastic buttons to it and then the whole thing got sewn onto the eye orb. A little dab of glue wouldn’t hurt to help hold it into place either. Or instead of buttons why not glue on those googly eyes? I dunno…

personal note: I’ve been stuffing all my amigurumi with just poly-fill no pellets. But of course, that’s up to you. Putting some pellets in the the bottom two-thirds of the Frog’s body might give it a more stable weight for sitting. Although, I haven’t had much problems with just the poly-fill.

Have fun!

pps~ I worked this pattern in continuous rounds - no slip stitching between rows, however if that's what makes you comfortable you certainly can do it that way! The continuous rounds give you a more spiral effect. In such a small project and with no color changes, though, this doesn't effect the results much. (^_^)v

Not slacking... really!

The hardest part about any hobby is keeping up with it I think. At least, it is for me. But I want you all to know that just because I haven't posted anything lately doesn't mean I'm not slaving away on something! Allergies really took me out yesterday though, I was literally in bed ALL DAY (my poor daughter was such a good and patient girl), but today I'm sort of back with a vengence! Woohooo. K, this is what I've been doing...
Still working on a friend for my poor lonely pup. It's taken me forever to piece him together, I don't know why. I'm finally down to the last bits - the eyes and attaching the head to the body. Oh and woops! I almost forgot to make him a tail! *searching for hook and yarn*

I have a little black sketch book filled with drawings of ideas for amigurumi. Most of them from things I've seen on the internet somewhere and a few my own brain children. This tiny bunny is a touch of both. I'm stuck now however... not sure what to do about limbs. Maybe I can forgo them altogether? This bunny was destined to be a gift ornament.

Well, hopefully I'll be back soon with some finished amigurumi. See ya!

Just an informational post...

I've been wondering how to get my blog out there so more people can see it and this morning I decided to join one of my favorite links: Amigurumi-Along (see side bar). It's a blog pretty much like this one but with many members contributing to the site. Fun! And already within a couple hours I have my first non-relation/friend visitor! Yay! hahahaha She/he even left a comment. I was so happy!! (thank you cagrrl. you made my day!) (*o*) However, then I realized - because the comment had a question - how do I reply to the comment directly? Other than leaving my own comment in hopes the person will check back... I haven't a clue. (^_^)' Seeing how the question was something everyone might want to know anyway I decided to answer here this time.

cagrrl asks in comment to my pup: "you chose the right type of yarn that made him look so cuddly....would it work for the cats??????"

Yes! It was wonderful on the cat! If you go to the very first entry of this blog (archive Jan 2006 - Jan 14) you should see a picture of a white cat reposing. He is made from the same baby boucle as the pup. And it is very cuddly. I used hook size G. I haven't tried using a smaller hook size to get a smaller end product with the boucle. Instead, for the pup, I just adjusted my pattern. Hm.

In comparison I used a double knitting yarn for Mr. Frog and certainly it would work for the cats as well... however, because it is a very soft yarn it won't hold the poses very well if the cat is too big (personal experience note: the bright pink cat with purple silk flower is DK yarn and is now very floppy especially in the neck area. haha). Soooo if you plan on making a smaller cat, double knitting is fine. But I found the larger cats need yarn that is... not really stiffer but, thicker I guess? I found Lion Brand's Wool Ease very pleasing. Worsted weight is a little too stiff for me I think while I'm working with it, but the end result is very good for the cats (see pink twins).You know, I'm so new at this too, so don't take my word for it. It just takes a lot of experimentation to find what you like. In the end, it's all about personal preference anyway. Don't forget to experiment with hook size as well! So many possibilities...

Thanks to everyone who has come by for a peek and all the encouragment (^_^)v Don't forget to check out my Flickr album where there are a few more photos of these cuddly guys. Just click on the flashy thing in the side bar there. hee Have a great day!

Mr. Frog

I've been working on several projects and finally got one done. tee hee. A little frog. The green yarn I made him with has been calling to me for weeks, but I wanted to wait for my new hooks to arrive and they finally did this past Friday. yay! So here he is! I tried some new "techniques" in making him. His arms have wooden beeds at the ends and I did fill the lower part of his body with Poly-pellets. I have to find a better way of keeping the pellets from squeezing out between the yarn though (right now he's got a makeshift beanie bag inside him). He's got felt and button eyes that are partially hot glued down, just to be sure. Lot's of fun! Just a tiny guy. Weeeeee!

Here's Mr. Frog hanging out with my cat Lupin, who was taking a nap. haha

Now hanging out on the corner of my monitor.

It's not a cat!!! Yay!

I thought I would at least take a break from crocheting anything at all for a day or two. My fingers were itching, however, and I couldn't resist the call of the yarn. I've been doing a lot of internet "research" on amigurumi and zakka. Just browsing to see what other people have done, get ideas and possibly glean some techniques. I really like working with that baby boucle I used to make the white cat (see jan 14 2006 blog) and now I was thinking of making a small rabbit. I started with the usual round head and bottle shaped body. I used the same pattern as I had been for the cat but took out a few rows to make it smaller (because I didn't want to NOT use my delicious Clover G hook! haha). And everything went pretty much as planned until I got to the ears. The ear shape was rabbit like but somehow, looking at the head with the mouth I made... a different animal was calling to me. It made me attach the ears along side the head instead of straight up. I suppose the result could've been a floppy eared rabbit but then I began on the face. It's funny how my original ideas take on a life of their own. To make a long story short. Here he is... not a cat... not a rabbit...

... it's a pup!!

Are you surprised? I sure was. Well, he's not posable like the cats. He can't even sit or stand on his own really... but he sure is a cutie. Made from baby boucle and DK yarns sporting a rust colored merino wool collar with wooden bead closure, he's darn cuddly. He stands only 8" high and stares at you with shiny black button eyes. Ok, some of you are thinking, "What?!?! That's not a dog. That's a sheep!" Or something along those lines. Well, I guess it can become whatever the owner's imagination makes it to be!

Till next time!

Twins!

I have to say... as much as I love the cats I think I'm officially burnt out. These two pinkies were a rush order for Valentine's Day. I completed them yesterday. I sure hope the little girls like them! They are made from worsted weight with a G hook. However, I modified the pattern to get the final size I wanted. I had to start the head over four times! I think that's part of why I'm burnt. hahahhahahaa Anyway, I'm seriously not doing cats for a few. I have a frog and a bunnie waiting to burst out. I'm also anxiously awaiting a set of crochet hooks I bought on Ebay. 8 beautiful Clover Ergonomic handled hooks! I'm sooooo excited!!! Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! hehehehehehe

New Ideas

I've been busy. Yup. I made this purple cat for my friend's daughter. My friend's favorite color is purple (it looks kinda blue in the picture, but it IS purple) and I thought I'd try to put a shirt on it. Working with scrap yarn is great for your pocket book but quite limiting at times... sigh. It was a good experience though. Then I decided to make the cat a dress. I found a pattern for an edging and modified it here and there to suit my need then I just created the front piece and straps. Easy peesey. (^_^)v

Then, OH then.... I really needed a break from cats. I just couldn't plug on and finish the 10 cats I still need like I wanted to. I went perusing on line for ideas and inspiration and saw a little bear... somewhere and thought, "how sweet!". I began with a modified cat head and used that to guide the rest of my pattern. Instead of a bear... I got a little mouse! Awwwww. Too sweet. My brother was over, and quickly claimed it for his collection. He requested her paws be up by her mouth as if giggling "tee hee". As soon as I'm done she's moving to San Francisco. I even made her a little felt bag that can actually be unbuttoned and "used". Secret mouse notes... I guess. haha

Till next time!

Can't Please Everyone

Well... the slanty eyed cat isn't everyone's favorite. I admit, at first it was kinda weird. It's grown on me now though. I think it helps though, that I really like how the wool-ease yarn turned out. Will have to buy more of that for sure! So... since Ol' Slanty Eyes (look now, what a cool name.) wasn't that pleasing I made an emergency replacement cat. I didn't have anymore wool-ease so I had to use something completely different. And I can't decide if I like it or not. I think maybe... I shouldn't have used black yarn for the facial features. The contrast is too striking. Sorry about the dark pictures. Not sure why that was happening. "Whitey" is made from some left over Bernat Baby Coordinates yarn which is a sports weight with some shimmery strands worked in it. Not that great to work with since the shimmery strands had a tendency of separating from the yarn. The beige accents are just plain double knitting yarn. It is also left overs handed down sans labels. Now that "Whitey" has been sent on his merry way via AirMail to Thailand I am working on TWO cats simultaneously. Actually a pink kitty made from Paton's Divine I started before Ol' Slanty Eyes. And a purple DK one I started even before that. Hopefully I'll be done with them soon. The purple one is also destined for somewhere in Thailand.

Meow ya! >^..^<

Moving Right Along...

I completed another cat. I think I'll have to start naming them to keep track of them. Hm, yeah and give them birth certificates like Cabbage Patch Kids. hahaha Anyway, here's my latest addition. She (he? it!) is made from Lion Brand Wool Ease (I think... I've seem to have lost the label for the yarn. oops.) And I really like the way the material holds together. It's stiff enough for good posing but not too stiff to cuddle and the resulting size is pleasant (just under 10" sitting and about 15 1/2" from ear to toe). I think I might send this one to my mom for her birthday.

For my friends patiently awaiting their kitties, don't fret! I'm already working on another one...

My project bag and the beginnings of a cat head. hee hee (^_^)v Oh, did I mention I bought a new hook (Clover)? Oooooooh, it's soooo awesome!

These cats are really ordinary when you think about it, but posing them is what it's all

about. The cat's personality really comes out when you start putting them in different poses. Too much fun. Do I have too much time on my hands? Maybe. Then again, what's life without the small pleasures?

Meow you soon! >^..^<

Amigurumi Discovered!

I won't deny it. I LOVE cutsie Japanese things. Anything and everything made and packaged over in those lovely archipelagoes just sends me squee-ing with glee. So when stumbled upon the world of amigurumi, I nearly died.

I'd been crocheting now for only a couple of years. I was actually introduced to it as a very young child, but I just didn't get it at 7 years old. Then several years ago I tried picking up knitting. Although I could soon make a square pot holder to win a blue ribbon and scarves filled every nook of my house (and my friends') I could never really master anything more than that. Then I tried crocheting again. I think somehow learning to knit first helped. Holding the tension with only one little needle was much easier than doing it with two long ones. And I was off. In no time I was making things of all sorts; baby outfits, shoes, hats, scarves, blankets... but I got bored fast. I needed something fun and exciting. Enter Amigurumi! Yay!! One small problem... I couldn't read Japanese.

Sooooooo, the website I found, http://www5a.biglobe.ne.jp/%7Emite/gurumineko/4/amizu1.html , had pictures. And I decided that just from those pictures I could figure it out. Hence cat #1 - the grey and white. I was ecstatic! I'd done it! But I still wanted to know what the real pattern was. Then one night as I was instant messaging with my cousin in Thailand she reminded me of AltaVista's Bablefish which is a wonderful website that will translate others (http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/tr). We were excited. I put in the code. I pressed "Japanese to English". I waited patiently for the site to load and squeed with delight when I saw English on the webpage. Then I started reading it... let's just say, it didn't make a whole lot of sense. But I thought, "hey, no problem, the pattern itself should be easy. Ch1 is Ch1, right?" Wrong. It wasn't difficult to translate the translatoin, however and soon I was on my way to a properly made cat. My daughter had requested a pink one... with a purple flower. Then another cat came to town... and another...

Now I'm on my way. Friends and family are asking for cats faster than I can make them. It's fun though and varying the pattern just a tad here and there keeps me intrigued. I look forward to branching out to some of my own designs when I'm done with all these cats! The ideas are brewing already...

Stay tuned!