Doggie and Ball

Cactus gets a new pot

I sent Sofie Sajuarita to my grandma Tilsch out in Arizona as a present from my mom. She used to have a green pot... but after looking at it for a while, I decided a smaller, more tailored, terra cotta-looking pot would be better.

Loveable lion

This is probably my biggest amigurumi so far... he's almost a foot from head to toe. He's on his way to Vancouver, B.C., where I hope he'll be loved by my good friend, Dorothy's new baby boy, J.T. I followed Ana Paula Rimoli's pattern from "Amigurumi World: Seriously Cute Crochet."

Some notes on this loveable leo: He's made from vintage "Bucilla" yarn from France. He features safety eyes (instead of my usual pony beads) and, of course, a hand-stitched and embroidered muzzle.

I've also been making a scarf for my friend, Jennifer... sorry no pictures of that.

My next idea is to work on some plush sports balls that can be thrown by enthusiastic toddlers without causing harm. I also plan to make a Bob the Tomato, Larry the Cucumber and maybe some French Peas for Stephen. I just need to get some white felt for their huge, buggy eyes.

Spiralfly

I saw instructions for making a crocheted spiral online... The directions are for using three colors, but I decided to try it with two for fun the other night. It looks like a lollipop, but I decided to make two of them and turn them into a butterfly. He's very similar to the Hershey Snail. In fact, I pretty much followed the body and antennae pattern that I posted earlier. I made two spirals for the big wings, and two white circles bordered in white for the smaller wings. I'd like to give an exact pattern, but I didn't really write anything down as I was doing it. Sorry 'bout that.

Felt flowers

These aren't really amigurumi... but I was thinking about making a holiday wreath for my front door. I've started making some felt roses to go on said wreath. My friend, Jennifer, makes yarn wreaths and I got inspired by some of her creations.

Bumblebee design

I spent five hours selling my "emigurumis" yesterday at our church's craft fair. Both teacup kitties and a bear got bought :-) I also had an order for a brown and yellow bee... and here he is! Pattern below....

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Body

R1: (yellow) ch2, 5 sc

R2: 2 sc in ea (10 stitches)

R3: 2 sc in ea (20 stitches)

R4: sc, 2 sc around (30 stitches)

R5: add eyes, sc 30

R6-R7: sc 30, embroider mouth

R8: sc 2, 2sc around (40 stitches)

R9-R17: (brown) sc 40

R18-20: (yellow) sc 40

R21: sc 2, dec 1 (30 stitches)

R22: sc 30

R23: (brown) sc 30

R24: sc 1, dec 1 (20 stitches)

R25: sc 20

R26: sk 1, sc 1 (10 stitches)

R27: sc 10

R28: sk 1, sc 1... until stinger comes to a point! Tie off.

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Wings (make 2 using white)

R1: ch 2, 5 sc in second loop from hook

R2: 2 sc in each (10 stitches)

R3: 1 sc, 2 sc around (15 stitches)

R4-R6: sc 15

R7: sc 1, dec 1 (10 stitches)

R8: sc 10, tie off, flatten and sew shut.

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Antennae (make 2 using brown)

R1: ch 10

R2: sc 2 in second bump from hook, slip stitch to end, tie off

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Nest Buddies

In addition to using my new Heritage yarns, I also picked up a pretty skein at Big Lots that I thought would make a good hedgehog back. This morning I got inspired and decided to make a nest and some birdies instead. There's still a little left for a hedgehog...

A-cute-triments

My mom has already got dibs on Mini Bunny. I decided to dress her up a little this morning.

Tea Cup Kitties

 Here's my newest inspiration--to put my kitties in teacups. Last night I made this little Siamese and periwinkle teacup duo.

I was excited to find another non-Wal-mart place to buy yarn in Hopkinsville: Heritage Crafts on LaFayette, about 2 minutes from my house. They don't have a lot of yarn. In fact, I bought a skein of almost every color he had stuffed on a low and dusty shelf, still in the original plastic. The hole-in-the-wall shop has been in the same location since 1972! The cash register operates without electricity. I think there might even be some of the original merchandise there too :-). But Heritage is a gem down the street where I was able to buy the Paton's Canadiana cream and blue yarn used above. Yippee!

This morning I used a mossy green Paton's Canadiana yarn to make Gray Mini Kitty a scarf and teacup of her own.

Hershey Snail

This is my first amigurumi design. I did look at a lot of snails on Etsy and elsewhere on the web, so it's not like I didn't borrow inspiration, but the pointy shell and antennae are my own take on this friendly garden snail.

Here's my pattern:
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Shell
R1: ch 2, 3 sc in second loop from hook
R2: 2 sc in each around [6 stitches]
R3: hdc 1, 2 hdc around [9 stitches]
(All half-double crochets are done in outer loop to give the shell the swirl pattern)
R4: 2 hdc in each around [18 stitches]
R5: hdc 1, 2 hdc around [27 stitches]
R6: hdc 2, 2 hdc around [36 stitches]
R7: hdc 2, dec 1 around [27 stitches]
R8: hdc 1, dec 1 around [18 stitches]
R9: hdc 1, dec 1 around [ 12 stitches]
R10: hdc 1, sk 1 around [6 stitches] tie off, leaving long tail for weaving shell to body
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Body
R1: ch 2, 5 sc in second loop from hook
R2: sc 2 in each around [10 stitches]
R3: (If stringing pony beads into stitches for eyes, add them now five stitches apart. Adding the first eye at the first stitch of the row also makes a good row marker.)
R3 - R19: sc in each around [10 stitches] (Stuff head and embroider mouth at R5 or R6. The rest of the body is "stuffingless"]
R20: sc 1, sk 1, tie off [5 stitches]
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Antennae
R1: ch 17
R2: In second bump from hook, sc 1
Then sl st the next 14 bumps
Finally, 2 sc in last bump and tie off
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Assembly notes
I used my crochet hook, but you could use a yarn needle to weave the shell to the body. Note that the highest attaching point between the head and shell is almost right behind his eyes. This will give him a curved up neck.

To secure the antennae, choose a stitch on the top of Hershey's head. Stick your crochet hook through it to make the holes on either side of the stitch a little roomier. Then hook one end of your antennae and pull it through the holes so that one antenna sticks through each hole evenly. I didn't secure them in any other way because it was a pretty snug fit, but you could use body-colored yarn or thread to sew head and antennae together.

Welcome to Emigurumi!

It's not like I don't have other things to do... or even two other blogs to maintain, but I've recently become hooked on the Japanese art of crocheted cuteness, "Amigurumi."

I thought I'd create this blog as a place to post my newest creations and patterns. I started by following a free teddy bear pattern from Ana Paula Rimoli. That was a couple weeks ago. Since then, I've purchased her book and made an octopus, bear, hedgehog, bunny, kitty, coffee cup and an oversized smiling pear. I've also just gotten hooked on creating my own patterns. Yesterday I made up a pattern for a cute gastropod-- I call it the "Hershey Snail." And I made a little fuzzy cactus, which I'm calling "Sofie Sajuarita."