ami ugly bunny

just a little ami ugly bunny ^_^

pattern by wayuki on craftster

holiday craftiness

looking for a holiday craft project? happy weekend!

1. crocheted snowflakes by sarah london; 2. gold stars by strawberry chic via pinterest; 4. polymer gift tags by poppytalk; 5. nativity ornament by wild olive; 5. shimmery tree made of newspaper by martha stewart

a little hat for little miss d.

last post before i disappear for a bit :)

mrs. pk had her baby girl! she's so gorgeous and i can't wait to meet her. mrs. pk and little miss. d live in cali where the weather is pretty warm but i thought a little hat would come in handy for those chilly nights. and i firmly believe that babies and little children should always have animal ears or tails on their clothing. 

i used a pattern by innerchildcrochet as a starting point and changed things here and there to suit my yarn and added ears. the yarn i used is baby's first by lion brand. it was my first time crocheting with it and i'm in love. it's a cotton acrylic blend and instead of the usual 4ply, it looks like it's made up of several strands twisted together which i thought was fascinating. it's so soft and cuddly i just want to snuggle with it and take a nap. it's very plush and holds its shape well. it would make lovely, warm blankets too! mm... new project!

little snail

a little snail made from ana paula's amigurumi two! she's an optimistic little snail and how could she not be with all the good news that's been flying around :)

comfy hooks

crocheting for extended periods of time can be rough on your hands. i found a cute way to make my hooks more hand-friendly.

these squishy pen grips are from my last trip to kinokuniya in new york but you can find similar ones at most office supply stores. wrap enough medical tape around the handle of your hook to ensure that the pen grips fit snuggly and won't move while you work. slip your grips over the tape and you're done! i use two grips per hook and the placement of your grips will be determined by how you hold your hooks. here's to many more happy hours of crocheting!

*edit - replaced the photos with brighter ones... the first ones were taken on a stormy day. hello sunshine!

yarn spring cleaning

every once in awhile, i go through my yarn stash and reorganize everything. it's a good way to track of what i'm running low on and pull out the yarns that i probably will never use.

oh my... kind of messy.

all cleaned up! loose ends are all tucked in and everything is sorted. i feel much better.

tiny yarn balls. the smallest is about an inch wide :) even tiny yarn balls can have big dreams.

happy weekend!

happy hippo

special request on etsy

right vs. wrong

*edit - lisa left an awesome comment  sharing a ton of resources where you can find out more about "right" vs. "wrong" side crochet! be sure to check it out :)


"right side" vs. "wrong side". i use quotes because really, there is no right or wrong way. it's all up to your own personal preference when it comes to making amigurumi. i thought i'd share my own insights in case any of you were curious about the two options.

when making amigurumi, each side of your work will have a different appearance. because i don't like to call them right or wrong, let's make right = side A and wrong = side B.

most people use A when making amigurumi. you can tell it's A by the little v's that are formed. in my opinion, A is more rigid and ribbed. the rounds are far more defined. however, it does look tidy and consistent. also, you can use invisible decreases! huge bonus. but i find it slows me down as it's harder for me to get my hook into the loops. maybe i crochet funny but when i crochet, my work naturally tends to form B.

B results in a smoother surface and it can be identified by the stitches that look like backwards L's. it forms a more even surface but increases and decreases stand out more in the finished product. i find that it's good for making rounder shapes. on the other hand, if you're making pointy ears, A is the way to go. and i think it's easier to get your hooks in the loops because of the way the edges naturally curl in.

almost everything i've made thus far has been using side B. in the beginning, i didn't really like the ridges created by A but i'm slowly going back to it. mostly because i now like the texture that it adds and i love invisible decreases. keep in mind that A and B don't always have the same results. for example, my happy little pork buns will always be made in B. i tried it in A and the shaping just didn't translate well!

so what's your preference? i'd love to hear your thoughts! :)

why i make amigurumis

panda keychain for my mommy

i started crocheting a few years ago when i was unemployed and getting depressed because i felt like a waste space. i decided it was time to pick up a new hobby and my friends were all obsessed with knitting and crocheting so i thought i'd join along. i began crocheting baby blankets to be sent overseas to orphanages and to reservations where over 25% of the population was homeless and another 59% live in substandard housing. suddenly i felt useful. then my sister introduced me to amigurumis. amis were a lot more interesting and fun to make than half double crocheted blankets. but every once in awhile i would wonder, "should i be spending so much time making these? they don't serve a real purpose and i could be making something more useful". these past few months have reminded me why i make amigurumis. because they make people happy. nothing gives me the warm and fuzzies more than to get a message from a friend who i recently made an ami for saying that they had been feeling blue but their new little friend had brightened their day, made them smile, made them laugh. what a wonderful thing, knowing that you've made someone happy. and that is why i make amigurumis.

p.s. i still crochet baby blankets but now that my non-profit of choice has closed up shop, i have to decide where to donate my blankets. i would appreciate any suggestions!

a cactus

i had some beautiful succulents and they all died. well, except for one scraggly, scrappy, bean stalk looking one. i've seen a lot of crochet cacti on flickr and thought it would be a good idea since it's hard to kill a yarn plant. the beautiful thing about crocheting cacti is that i have no desire to write down a pattern or count my rows. cacti come in all different shapes and sizes so you can't go wrong! and there are so many different ways to make them unique like adding a flower, using knobbly yarn, or adding needles.

ami bridal party

a friend of mine from undergrad just got married! as a surprise to her bridesmaids, she requested tiny amis for each of them. i was in a bit of a rush to get them to the post office so my photos aren't the best. i love miss chipmunk's eyelashes and how perfect the koala's nose turned out to be. there's also a little gray otter that belongs in this group but all the photos looked strange since the otter lies on her side instead of sitting upright.

congratulations mrs. k.s.! i hope you had a lovely wedding and that your bridesmaids liked their little amis.!

minion

 hello? is someone there?

 aha! i thought i heard something rustling around my desk.

hi little minion!

i made this guy for miss j.a., hence the "j" on the minion's pocket. i worked off of wolfdreamer's pattern changing a little bit here and there. the hardest part was his mouth. i tried out a couple of different mouths cut from felt but nothing looked quite right. i eventually had to ditch the felt and went with a simple stitched smile. now, off my little minion, to do as miss j.a.'s bids!

sneak peak

little pumpkins

 nothing groundbreaking... just a few pumpkins  :)

*when i uploaded these photos to blogger, the colors were drained! any thoughts on why this happens?

mr & mrs sea otter

 

 

mameshiba

mameshiba.  i had no idea what mameshiba was until a friend requested an ami edamame mameshiba.  i looked it up on youtube and it's a bit hypnotizing and a little (okay, a lot) puzzling.

peas in a pod

hm... i wonder what's inside?

 "hello!"  "hi!"  "pleased to meet you!"

 "don't be shy, come on out!"

 "we're three peas in a pod!"

daffodils

last week, on my way to the train, i had a pleasant surprise... daffodils!

they were growing in clusters like this all over the path along the pond. and some of them were bursting out in odd locations like in the middle of a patch of reeds. this was my first time seeing daffadils growing in the wild outside of someone's garden. it's a lovely way to start my morning :)


planetjune has a great pattern for crocheted daffodils posted on her blog. and for a donation (any size!) she'll send you the pdf version.

wouldn't it be nice to "grow" a bunch of these in your living room? and they'll last forever!