Pears, pears, everywhere...

My friend - the birthday girl I spoke of - likes pears and cows.

Not sure where I got this idea from. It just flowed out of the pencils... I don't think this will become an amigurumi anytime soon.

SURPRISE! FREE PATTERN

(hope it makes sense... I suck at pattern writing, remember? Good luck!)

3.5mm/E hook
Red Heart Soft Yarn – worsted med Leaf (pear body)
Red Heart Soft Yarn – worsted med Chocolate (stem)
Bernat Satin Soft – taupe (leaf)
Black embroidery thread
Bright pink dk yarn scraps
Polyfill
Buttons

Finished pear approx 4” tall including stem and 6.5” around widest part of body

Body (starting from top of pear)
Start with “magic ring” - 6
2 sc in each – 12
1 sc in first, 2sc in next sc* repeat – 18
1 sc in each – 18 * repeat this round two more times
1 sc in first, 1 sc in next sc, 2sc in next sc* repeat – 24
1 sc in first, 1 sc in next sc, 1 sc in next sc, 2sc in next sc* repeat – 30
1 sc in each sc – 30 * repeat this round six more times
1 sc in first sc, 1 sc in next sc, 1 sc in next sc, sc2tog * repeat – 24

( at this point or soon after you may want to stop and make the stem and attach it. same with putting on the eyes and stitched details. Then stuff it and proceed to decrease. Up to you but I thought it was easier that way.)

1 sc in first sc, 1 sc in next sc, sc2tog * repeat -18
1 sc in first sc, sc2tog * repeat – 12
Sc2tog – 6
Tie off, weave in.

Stem
Ch 7
Sc in second chain from hook
Sc in each
Bind off

Sew onto top of pear

Leaf
Ch 6
Sc in second chain from hook
Sc im first, hdc in next, dc in next, hdc in next, sc in next, sl st in ch 1 of foundation.
Bind off, sew to top of pear

All done!

Wow that was quicker than I thought it would be. The scarf is all done. Each flower took not more than 45 minutes a piece ... that includes weaving in. Some of you are probably thinking, "so slow???". Anyway, here it is. I'm giving it to my friend today. I hope she likes it. These pictures suck. (x_x)

I'm already onto another project. I stayed up late last night doodling. My dear friend's birthday is coming up in just over a week. I've known her since i was 5 years old. I suppose it's about time I could actually make her something to show how much I love her. Stay tuned...

On a weird side note.... How can a simple pack of erasers make one so happy??? I have been without some quality erasers for some time. These may not be high quality but, shoot, they are sure better than what you get on those #2 pencils. Ugh.

Lovely scarf

I'm taking a short break from amigurumi-ing. My friend saw a pattern in one of my Japanese craft books (isbn4-8347-2322-4) that she fell in love with and subsequently asked if I could make it for her.

So Friday we went to Michael's (safer than going to the yarn shop in town which can break my bankbook too easily) and she picked out some Patons SWS. It's a little thicker than what I should be using I think, but it'll still be ok in the end.

The pattern is made of two toned "flowers" joined at tips of the petals. It's an easy pattern and actually fun to do. And with just 20 flowers to do it doesn't seem too daunting a project. My picture taking abilities seem to have gone on vacation recently... so... sorry.

On a side note, my daughter's tooth finally fell out. Yay! her tiny tooth is nestled safely in the little mushroom I made waiting for the tooth fairy. (^_^)









Oh... and this evening, the field behind our house was invaded by hundreds of goats. They were suddenly there and when I went to check again later they were suddenly gone. What a great way to create a fire break. haha All you could hear was "crunch crunch crunch"...

Pop-top Mushroom

My daughter has her first loose tooth. You might recall it happening at the Apple Festival if you were around for that entry. So I thought I might make a little "container" for it. A little tooth fairy landing spot as it were. Expecting the tooth to pop out sooner rather than later (much later - it's still hanging on!) I rushed through making this little pop-top mushroom. It's my own design but looks suspiciously like a lot of the cupcakes I'd been seeing around online lately. (^_^)'

If I were to make another one of these, I'd do the top completely different...

A little something else...

Ever have those days when you just want to color? You just want a pack of brand new crayons or nice sharp pencils to scribble with... even better, water colour pencils and a nice quality brush? I've been longing to do some water colour pencilin'. Finally, finally, I got my chance. The other day while I was at Michael's I snuck into my basket a Derwent Watercolor Pencil Pod (just the 12 pencil starter set), an 8x5 spiral water colour pad from Cotman, and a random fancy schmancy paintbrush from the "serious" painting section (hee hee). I didn't have any ideas before I started it just came out. How fun! I still have to get the hang of what my water color pencils can do but I really like what happens to the color when you add water. Very cool. (^_^)

Gravenstein Apple Festival

Ok, so this post isn't amigurumi related, but at least I can offer proof of why I have no more dolls to post yet. :D Last Saturday we went to the Gravenstein Apple Festival in Sebastopol. Ooooooooooh yum yum yum! Apples apples everywhere! I think I was overwhelmed with the sweet appliness of everything because I didn't take very many photos. And the photos I did take were sad. Here's one of the apple fritters (with oh so satisfying Thai iced tea in the background!). Lightly deep fried and coated in a cinnamon powder that turned to like a paste when it touched the grease and then dusted with powdered sugar. I know, looks kinda gross and sounds kinda eh but oooooooh it was gooooooood.

They had crafts for the kids to do and a cute train that just ran through the grass for them to ride. If you can't read the sign it says, "Age limit 91 Weight limit 200 lbs" hee hee

They also had a horse drawn cart. Look at those fuzzy buzz cut manes. Hee hee. Almost looks like the ami-horse I made, no? Yea, not really... haha

Darts! Pierce an apple, win a whole bag of apples! Woohoo. That lady in the light blue shirt in the photo actually did it. Everyone cheered! Yay!

Ok, so this post won't be totally non-yarn related... here's a photo of some fresh roving straight from the sheep's back. (^_^)v

Oh! In other exciting news, my daughter has her first loose tooth! She turned to me Saturday after biting into a fresh crsipy apple, "Mom, my tooth feels weird..." then we did the "loose tooth" dance. She's very excited.

Alright, I'll get back to "work" now. Hopefully I'll be posting an ami soon.

How is the lion's mane done???

Hi again... some of you have been asking me about the patterns for the lion and the horse I recently posted. Unfortunately I cannot post the actual patterns, however I can answer some questions.

The lion's mane... how was that done? A really fun version of the good ol' sc. I've posted here pictures from the book on how to do that particular stitch. Steps 1 and 2 - your standard sc start but with a twist (it's difficult to see in the drawing but the middle finger is holding down a length of yarn in the back making a long loop)... Steps 3 and 4 (keeping that middle finger holding down that loop you then yarn over and hook through as the usual sc. Diagram 4 is a picture of the back of your work) - voila! So in this case, your "wrong" side of your work will be the presented side. yay!

Sorry the pictures aren't great. I'm actually in a rush to get out of the house. Today we're going to the Gravenstein Apple Festival in Sebastopol. Wooohooo!!! Aaaaapppleeeessss *drool* (*_*) Happy hookin'!

Ami horse - also from Vol. 4

Well, I'm on a roll aren't I? Here's a little horse from the same book in that last post about the lion. Sport weight yarn, D(3mm) hook. tee hee

She turned out ok, I made one of the legs one row too short though I think. Oops. That's what I get for talking while crocheting.

That's the end. Bye bye!

Amigurumi Vol. 4 - Lion

Yay! I finally made him. I've had this book for some time now and have been dieing to make this little guy. It was fun and a lot easier than I had anticipated. I think the mane was intimidating me, but once I tried doing it that was the most fun stitch to do!

I had only one button eye in my stash though so I had to improvise. A little wink never hurt anyone. (~_^)v

Cute toes!

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