Silver Fox and Loppy Bunny

I’ve been missing in action the last while because I moved from Vancouver Canada to Southern California. Wow I see sun! I haven’t seen sun since early fall!

After that, I had to wait for my stuff to get shipped over then find the yarn (in a large crushed box).

Then, I got working:

I had the idea to do a grey/silver fox. Pretty neat effect, though the whole time my husband thought I was making a squirrel.

Sadly, he is surrounded by orange foxes! Either way, I posted him and his orange brother fro adoption at my Etsy Shop. As always, you can purchase the pattern at my Etsy Shop or via Ravelry (no account needed) to make your own fox.

I did change the eyes I used. On the left is the 8mm eyes. For the new foxes I tried the 10mm eyes which I think made a huge difference!

In other news, I have a new addition to the family (not including my husband):


His name is Benson P. “P” stands for a name I wanted to give him, but not acceptable of a name.. *cough* Pooper *cough*. I almost named him “Lute” but he seemed more like a Benson. He is a Holland lop with the helicopter ear thing going on – his right ear sticks straight up with the left lopping down. His ears are 90% like that – after he cleans his ears they go into horizontal-copter-mode, but that one ear pops back into the air after a few minutes.
I got him from Roaring Heights Rabbitry and found them to very enthusiastic, knowledgeable and love rabbits! They also have many many cute lionheads and dwarfs too!
So Benson in the pictures above was 8 weeks. He is now close to 10 weeks and growing (and eating and pooping) lots! He loves oats, nosing people and throwing toys.

(fyi, we had no news paper at that time, thus cage looking like a bad setup)
Sadly, I had to leave my hamster Chestnut back in Canada. I was flying to California plus he is close to 2 years old and probably wouldn’t of made the trip. Rest assured, I have a close friend caring for him.

As a final picture, this is what my married life looks like:

Yep. Husband vegging out on his computer + disapproving rabbit on his lap.


Squid Amigurumi Crochet Pattern – Squidlings!

A new pattern finally!

I’ve been working MONTHS on this other pattern (TOP SECRET) and it’s on its 7th attempt – holy perfectionist Batman! Last month, I just gave up and had another idea for something complete different – a squid pattern. A classic amigurumi, like the octopus.

And I freaking nailed the pattern on the FIRST ATTEMPT! (WTH, and on the 7th with that other pattern I’ve been hammering at???!!!). I ran it through some wonderfully amazing testers off of Raverly (thanx!) to work out some pattern writing kinks and taaadaaa!

The pattern comes in 2 sizes: Mini and Giant

The Mini squid is a quick crochet job. They measure 6.5″ high by 3.5″ wide.

The Giant squid is 9.5″ high by 5″ wide. Both sizes may vary depending on your gauge and yarn used.

What I like about these squidlings is they are quick, simple and cute. That what I like – minimal sewing on parts and cute.

Pattern is up for sale at my Etsy Shop
or via Raverly (no account needed for purchase).


Glamour Jellyfish

I don’t know what is up with the Jellyfish I crochet. Not sure if they are all ultra dreamy or wanna-be models or what.

This jelly fell off the upper-rung of my shelf and onto the top of my scanner. And he sat there like this for awhile. I scratched my head, as I didn’t pose him but he looked so well posed. The day I needed my scanner back, I snapped a photo before I had to move him.


(if you are interested in the jellyfish pattern, it is up for sale at My etsy shop or via Ravelry (you do not need an account at Ravelry to purchase).

For other strange creatures, I have this freaking grey sea gull, I’ve renamed “Gul Dukat”. He’s pesky and visits my balcony every day, sometimes twice a day. I have not ever fed him. I’m making a cup of tea and I peer over my balcony and he’s there, peering into my apartment.

Not sure what he wants. He sometimes makes his seagull noise and head-bobs. Most of the time he just stands there looking into my place.

weirrrrrrd


Amigurumi Glamour Shots

In order to sell pre-made amigurumi on My Etsy store I had to take some photos.. glamour shots.

So my camera isn’t high-end amazing, it’s a Canon PowerShot SD750 7.1mega pixel that I bought back around 2007ish, however it has served me well for my photography needs at this time (well… not counting when I take it to concerts, then it’s kinda crap).

Onto the photos!

Big Momma Orca
Orca Killer Whale Amigurumi Crochet
Orca Killer Whale Amigurumi Crochet

Baby Orca
Orca Killer Whale Amigurumi Crochet
Orca Killer Whale Amigurumi Crochet

And the most photogenic of all, Blue Jelly!
Jellyfish crochet amigurumi
*Jellyfish salute*
Jellyfish crochet amigurumi
I don’t know why my jellyfish amigurumi are always so photogenic and love to pose.

I should mention I froze my ass doing the outdoor pictures as it was 2 or 3 Celsius outside.

Wahhh, coming at us!
Orca Killer Whale Amigurumi Crochet


More Orcas

Sigh.. I’ve made a couple really cool projects, however I cannot post them until after christmas! They are all gifts and the recipients might find out what they are getting! Damn. The good thing is that I’m done all my holiday gift knitting/crocheting.

Well right now I’m inbetween projects, pattern creation hatred/break/slump, so I’ve been churning out some of my other patterns – Orca’s and Jellyfishes. Right now, I got a few orcas done.

Very cute!


I’ve plopped this guy into my Etsy Shop for adoption, however I don’t think he’ll last too long. I will have a few more and some jellyfish up by the end of this month. Due to time restraints and custom orders, me selling pre-made amigurumi might not come that often.

~~~
In other news, I’ve been trying to create a new pattern, but now I’m on my 6th revision UGGGGGG!! Though this also helping me streamline on tips for creating patterns to help you all out there in the future.

I also have to show this off:

My engagement ring! So happy it doesn’t snag on yarn when I’m crocheting or knitting!


Dolphin, version 2

Amigurumi Dolphin

I revised my Dolphin pattern to include a white tummy. Unfortunately, this was a horrible painful process that I wouldn’t recommend a newb crocheter to attempt.

The white tummy is crocheted at the same time as the entire body. My pattern philosophy is sewing additional parts sucks! However my hatred of sewing comes at a price of insane yarn colour changes. So if you can handle lots of yarn ends, go for it! At least in amigurumi you hide the yarn ends inside the form, so there is no ends to weave in. You can knot them as ugly as you want and no one will ever see (unless you rip it open.. but who would do that?)

Making this guy did make me realize spiral rounds actually spiral around (duh) not making the form even when a block of colour is added. I didn’t account for this much in this modification, but it’s only noticeable if you look under the tail >__< uggg.

Amigurumi Dolphin
Amigurumi Dolphin

The final product is pretty cute though <3

Amigurumi Dolphin

Pattern Available at My Etsy Shop or via Ravelry (no account needed).

On another note, my eye order from CR crafts arrived. 450 eyes and 36 noses (I’m insane). Most of the eyes are clear and I went for larger eyes
– 10mm, 12mm and 15mm. I’m working on another insane yarn colour changing pattern, so I’m happy I can progress further now that I have the eyes!


Amigurumi Eyes – Where, What, How To’s / FAQ / Info

Amigurumi Eyes – one of the big roadblocks in getting your amigurumi to look like all the other amigurumis out there. Roadblock? Well, it can be a pain in the butt finding a place to buy these eyes for a good price! I remember when I was starting out to make amigurumi, I couldn’t find the eyes anywhere, and the finished product just doesn’t look right without those round black eyes.

I’m going to talk about 1. Where to buy, 2. What to buy, 3. Other options

Firstly, here’s my eye stash
amigurumi eye faq
(yeah, there’s some bells mixed in there)
From top row, left to right – 8mm noses, bells, 10mm brown eyes, 12mm blue eyes, 4mm black eyes, 8mm black eyes.
middle row – 15mm noses, bells, 10mm yellow eyes, 12 mm cat eyes, 6mm black eyes
bottom row – googly eyes, bells, 10mm blue eyes, mix of amber eyes, 4mm clear eyes, mix of 8mm clear eyes and red eyes.

I’ve recently had to order more as I need some bigger black eyes, around 10mm-15mm, plus more clear eyes in a larger size… and some noses.

Where to buy:

Online
+ Cheapest price, especially in bulk
– Have to wait for shipping
(- sometimes you don’t want the eyes in bulk or you prefer to buy locally)

I’m all for going online to buy my eyes. I’m not paid by these guys, but I’ve gone with CR’s Crafts with great success. At the time I write this, 8mm x 100 eyes are $5.12. 100 of them! That’s 50 amigurumis!
Also, Etsy has plenty of sellers that sell eyes!

Craft Store
+ Local, can see the product in person
– can be expensive
– limited options

When I first got into amigurumi, I hit my local craft store. All I could find was this stuff:
amigurumi eye faq
Which is fine, but if you want that black eye look you are SOL. When I bought those eyes, it was on sale for like $4.99 for 6 (vs online for $5 for 100 = WTF).
Also, these coloured eyes are inferior to the clear eyes, which I’ll talk about later on.

Asian Craft Store or Asian Dollar Store
+ Better bet to find black amigurumi eyes
– still not as cheap as online
– limited sizes or selection

I’d recommend hitting (if you have one) an asian craft store or dollar store. One craft store (Yaohan Centre in Richmond, Vancouver, if the craft store is still there) I snagged some black eyes that were sold seperately but I can’t remember how much, lol… around $0.50 an eye I think. However, I’ve also found eyes at Daiso and Yoko yaya – Japanese dollar stores, in their craft section. There, everything is $2, thus a pack of 6 eyes is $2.

So, to sum that all up, if you are new to amigurumi, I’d hit Daiso if you can. If you want ultra cheap, need eyes for your amigurumi octopus death army go online. When I order, I order a lot to save on the shipping. Maybe see if your crafting buddies need some too and order together!

Now you have some ideas where to go… but What to buy? It really depends on the size of the amigurumi you make.
With my patterns, I mostly use the 8mm black eye for an amigurumi around 4″ to 6″ round. For mini amigurumi that’s around 2-3″ round, I use the 5mm or 6mm eye.
amigurumi eye faq

I have a lot of teeny eyes, 4mm and I NEVER use them! Unless you are making amigurumi that are like 1″ long, or want squinty tiny eyes, I wouldn’t buy them. The picture below is the 4mm eyes I never use.
amigurumi eye faq

 

Noses have great uses too. Here is 9mm and 15mm noses.
amigurumi eye faq
I’ve used them for noses of course, but they make great bird beaks! Again, size is tough for these depending on your look, but I found the 15mm is the best for the 5″ amigurumi. There are also more oval noses (which I just ordered) that would make good eyes as well.

 

Clear eyes are great purchase instead of coloured eyes. Why? Flexibility!
When you look at most coloured eyes, it’s just the backing that is coloured. Also, those fancy glittery glass eyes are pricey, and you can get a great effect with the clear eyes.

I use nail polish (which I have a TON of) to paint the back of the eyes. A Duo-chrome, multiple toned polish works great. You can also use glitter polish. Below, I used a Sally Hansen HD polish in “Lite” (yes, that gnary yellow polish)
amigurumi eye faq
Here I hold the eye with a set of tweezers so I don’t get polish on my fingers and ruin my current manicure (OPI in “Stranger Tides”). Feel free to go crazy and paint in more detail like lines or a different colour around the rim of the eye. You may also apply tape around the edge of the eye so you don’t leak polish onto the globey round part (or just use nail polish remover to take off any smears).

amigurumi eye faq
The result is a pair of glittery yellow eyes that sparkle!

 

Also to keep in mind is if the backing is included in the eyes or noses
amigurumi eye faq
Backing varies between eye size, but either way it holds the eye onto the amigurumi. Some eyes do not have a backing but a hole through the stem which you will need to tie the eye on from the back, or have a more dangly eye look.  In the past I’ve ditched the backing and would glue on the eyes, but using the safety snap backing is a more secure option.

 

What are you other options?
What if your amigurumi is for a child? Or you cannot find eyes at your local craft store/ don’t want to buy online? What if you need bigger, crazier eyes (like psychotic spiraling red ones for your amigurumi octopus death army)

– Embroider on the eyes with black yarn or floss
– Buttons (you can get buttons that have a backing instead of the typical holed front ones)
– Make them yourself with polymer clay

clay

If going the clay route, pick up some glaze to make your eyes shiny! There is also transparent clay so you could make some interesting effects!

Hopefully that helps some of you with your amigurumi eye problems. Now I have to sit tight while I wait for my eye shipment to arrive… around 400 eyes and noses! Shoot, I better make enough amigurumi for that!


Ham and Bun

So I apparently lied and I did have time (and space) for another Amigurumi Critter variation. I love rabbits! As a teenager on a farm, we had 50 rabbits at one point. When I was in university I got a netherland dwarf rabbit that was 3 pounds of disapproval and hate (when there was no treats involved). Bunito was awesome, he wasn’t the cuddly type, but he love to explore and was always up to mischief. He passed away a few years ago at the age of 8 by a stroke. Now I kinda want another rabbit again.

Meet “Bun”
Bun 2

Bun is a doe-eyed rabbit made from my Amigurumi Critter pattern, with addition to longer ears and a pompom tail. I think my next rabbit I want a black and white one like this… or a flemish giant (to my boyfriend’s horror).

Bun 1

So for peeps for have the pattern, the ear modification is using the ear for the Hamster/Squirrel and adding an additional 6 rows of all Single Crochet.

Ham and Bun 2
Some more pics of “Ham” as I failed in my first post about this pattern and didn’t have additional pictures of him.
Ham and Bun 1
Rabbit disapproval all the way

Read my blog entry on the Amigurumi Critter pattern

the pattern (via Ravelry, no account needed) or via my Etsy shop.

And totally check out my nails this week:
Bumble bee shatter look
Sally Hansen HD in “Lite” with OPI “Black Shatter”.

I was rocking just “Lite” and I had only complaints of “EWWWW YELLOW NAILS”. I’m unsure whether I just liked the yellow as a colour and just bypassed yellow looks bad on me/kinda icky as nails. Who knows. Either way, I did some shatter ontop and it looks wicked!
Yellow nails!


Amigurumi Critter Pattern – Fox, Squirrel, Penguin, Chick and Hamster oh my!

Foxes, Squirrels, Penguins, Baby Chicks, Hamsters OH MY!

Group shot!
Amigurumi Critters 1

This pattern seriously took me almost 8 months to finish. Why? School interference, computer breaking down taking my progress photos with it and mass pattern testing.

My idea was to make a template body and from there, branch off into multiple creatures. Of course, testing each critter was a pain and took awhile.

Amigurumi Critters 2

Plotting together

Amigurumi Critters 3

5 pin bowling…. mebe

Onto each of the critters!

Squirrel 2 Squirrel 1
Squirrel – I modelled this guy after the polymer clay version I’ve created. Super cute and cheeky!

Fox 2 Fox 1
Foxy – My own interpretation of a cute fox with extra stumpyness. The tail is ultra cute!

Amigurumi Critters 6
Amigurumi Critters 5

all tails

Penguin 2 Penguin 1
Penguin – my prototype for a Prinny… Keep an eye out, once I got spare time, he’s becoming a Prinny.. Dood.

Chick
Chickie – was my pattern hint awhile back cuuute!

Amigurumi Critters 4

Oddly, I didn’t take many pics of Hammy the Hamster, but you may remember his sneak preview shot.
Preview 2

Phew, that was a lot of pics and tons of work. With this pattern, I also added 7 variations that I have no freaking time to crochet them all and test!

To get started on making your own critter, buy now via Ravelry (no account needed!) or visit my Etsy Shop to snag a pattern!