Funny Bunny

So I gave the Spring Bunnies to my nephews for Easter and the first thing the older one said was, “Where’s the body?” (The younger one is too young to notice!) He made me take the bunny home and make him a body. Which I did and totally winged. I took two tries because the first time I made the belly way to fat and the body overwhelmed the head. One arm is a little shorter then the other but overall I think it looks alright!

I think he’s a budding designer/artist because when I gave him the completed bunny he looked at me and said, “Where’s the tail?” I couldn’t help but laugh. His mom said it didn’t need a tail but he really wanted one so I told him that when he came over next week I’d have a pompom tail for the bunny. He also wondered why I chose black for the eyes, nose and mouth. In his opinion red would have been a better choice.

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I also completely failed at my mission to make some baby booties. The weekend was busier then I expected it to be!

Nameless Bunny

Our little Benny (or as we have affectionately started calling him, Moonkey) has been longing for a companion for quite some time. I initially wanted to make the Strawberry pattern from the book (Amigurumi Supper Happy Crochet Cute by Elizabeth Doherty) but I had some issues with the wig and decided to make her a bunny instead and combined both patterns together.

Since I haven’t gotten any “real” eyes for my amigurumi’s yet I made them bobble eyes and it gives her that semi-crazed buggy eye look. Hehehe. I also didn’t have the right size hook to make the outside of the eye (the white part) and had to wing that. I like how her dress turned out though. It probably could have been longer but she’s supposed to be punk rock! In hindsight I probably should have given her knee high socks to complete the look. And I forgot to take a picture of her undies… that’s right she’s got on boy undies underneath that dress!

Her ears, arms and legs all have some of that fuzzy pipe wired stuff so they’re bendable. It doesn’t stay bended very well in the arms and legs because of the stuffing but the ears are cute!

And finally the happy couple! Moonkey likes her a lot and thinks she’s the best thing since sliced bread.

Just a side note on the pattern: there are a couple of errors in the instructions for color. Namely the shoe, it says to use cream when it should be red! Otherwise I think the rest of the pattern is great!

Now on to the dilemma of what to make next! My knitpicks order has been delayed (silly me I forgot to enter our address, I just put in our apt number!) so I’m not sure what’s up next. I better figure it out soon before I meet up with my friends this weekend.

(Gah! Is it me or all the pictures blurry?! Maybe it’s time for a new camera… or photographer?)

Baby Bear

A little quick and dirty de-stashing project. I think he’s alright. Not “awww so cute,” but kinda. Maybe it’s a multiplier thing but the pictures make them look so cute! (The photo has 4-5 of the bears strewn about) I think it’s the perfect size for little baby hands though.

I might have made his nose a bit big and am wondering if I should scrap the muzzle part and make the nose right on the face. The turtles (can  you see the two turtle heads sticking up put of the water?) sure thought he was strange though! They must have stared at him for a good 2-3 minutes.

This pattern was missing a lot of the instructions for the arms, legs and ears. They all ended on row 3! I inspected the photo in the book and counted 9 rows on the arms so I made both arms and legs 9 rows. The ears I made to 4 rows.

Pattern: Little Teddy Bear from Kyuuto! Japanese Crafts! Amigurumi

Yarn: Sugar’n Cream stripes

Benny Jr.

As a last minute gift for my nephews birthday I made Benny Jr. (the smaller of the pair pictured) in a record 3 days! At first I thought about giving him a teddy that I had already made or a store bought gift. After talking to my sister I learned he is really into monkey’s right now and I knew I just had to make him a Benny… only smaller since I had 3 days to make him. (You’ll notice he doesn’t have knees or elbow marks because I was doing those in the car on the way to their house!)

It actually went pretty fast. I think it’s because I didn’t need as much time to decipher the pattern since I’d made one before. To make him smaller I just reduced it by about a fourth… even though his head is a bit small. I think it gives it an opposite amigurumi feel, yet still cute in it’s own way.

I really wanted to embroider or felt my nephews first initial to the front of the shirt but ran out of time. I also skipped the tail, though I might make one to add on later. For Benny Jr. I put in some piping (I’m not sure what the correct term is, but their wires wrapped in fuzzy that are bendable) inside the arms and legs so you can pose him. Something I wish I had thought of for Benny Sr.

I think the cutest thing was when after the gifts were opened my nephews cousin wanted his dad to buy him a monkey like Benny Jr. It was so sweet that I’m going to make him one too.

Pattern from: Amigurumi Supper Happy Crochet Cute by Elizabeth Doherty

Benny Sr.

Petit Ami’s

A few of my favorite ami’s that have been added to the Flickr Amigurumi group. Something about these little ones caught my eye.

(1) Chuck the Monkey from Delicious Crochet (2) Charlotte the Hippopotamous from RoxyCraft (3) Snowball from Pepika (4) Giraffes from Julie @ Flickr (5) Blue Flower Pot from BerrySprite (6) Gretel from EureekasWindow (7) Mini Bears from * i n i n g z (8) Frog from ZzzBon (9) Pink Puppy from SnuffyKin (10) Mama Owl from Pepika (11) Merry and Bright Forest Moon Bun from Moon’s Creations (12) Pucca and Garu in Love from la fée crochette (13) Wizard of Oz Trio from mina37_1022

Mister Bear

How sweet is he? For now I’m calling him Mister Bear since he’s going to be a gift for a friend. He actually turned out a bit smaller then I thought he would but I love the proportions. I decided to embroider on the facial features and had a bit of trouble with making everything even. I’m not the best at embroidery but I think overall it looks OK.

I’m loving this book. Earlier I was worried about reading the pattern since it uses symbols but it was easy as pie. I actually think I prefer the symbols then written instructions. I like that it tells you exactly when to do the increase or decrease (some patterns just say decrease evenly). I can’t decide what to make next! I suppose I should try to finish up some of my knits before starting another ami though.

Pattern: Big Bear from Kyuuto! Japanese Crafts! Amigurumi

Yarn: Sugar’n Cream. Used about two of the 95yd balls for the main color. A little Caron Simply Soft for the accent.

Busybody

Oops!  What happened to Friday? The weekend just flew by it was so busy. We had a family business obligation on Friday and then had some friends/family over on Saturday to be my guinea pigs for Pho and then more family on Sunday and finally the Superbowl. Whew! It makes me tired all over again just writing it out.

I’m a little bummed I forgot to take a picture of a bowl of Pho because it was a huge success! I was a little worried it wouldn’t turn out half as good as my moms because I left out a lot of the measurements when I wrote down the recipe as she was teaching me. I guess what she always says is true, “Asians don’t measure, they put in however much they need to make it taste right.”

I did manage to wind down the weekend by catching the end of the Law and Order: SVU marathon and working on an Amigurumi. This one is from the book Kyuuto! Japanese Crafts! Amigurumi. I love ami’s they take shape so quickly, usually only use one type of stitch and lets me use up leftover yarn from other projects! As you can see a few hours of work produced the head, body and 3 limbs of the bear. Just one more leg, two ears and the nose left and he’s finished!

Sometimes I’m too strong for my own good. I managed to break my hook. Granted it was plastic and bend-y, but still. I really wanted to finish this guy so I used a little super glue and duct tape. I’m sure my gauge is a bit off so it’s a good thing it broke at the start of one leg. the other leg will be about the same size. This means no more plastic hooks for me. Metal or wooden or nothing at all. It’s a shame because I just got this one too.

Benny says, “HI!”

This was a real treat to make. Not only is he super cute (har har) but I learned a lot while making him. The instructions were pretty clear and the explination of stitches at the beginning of the book helped a lot. There was a moment of confusion while making the face (the green part around the eyes) but I’m pretty sure it was because it was late and because of my inexperiance in reading patterns.

The rundown: 

•  I didn’t have any eyes so I made two bobbles. The husband says he likes the yarn eyes better.
• Without eyes I was also unable to attach the arms the way the book described (so that they can move up and down).
• One leg is a teeny bit longer then the other because I pulled on one of them a bit too hard while stuffing.
• I’m in love with the bobble toes and thumb. How clever!
• He’s very tall. About 15 inches high.

My nephew was over this weekend and he loved him! I’m surprised he didn’t ask if he could have him. I’m not sure what I would have said!

Pattern from: Amigurumi Supper Happy Crochet Cute by Elizabeth Doherty

Benny Watches the Sunrise

Sunrises like these make it worthwhile on those mornings I have to get up early (so not a morning person and my work allows me to sleep in). Even though I have a few dozen photos of sunrises from this view I can’t stop taking them. I especially am drawn to the winter sunrises because of the frozen river (and steam that comes off of it) and how you can see the smoke coming from the buildings.

Benny hobbled over and snuck in on a few of the pictures…. No full body shots because he’s still missing a leg and I haven’t yet attached the arms. I wasn’t anticipating it taking so long to make him but he’s much taller then I expected.

Amigurumi Crazed

Since making the baby turtles I’ve been a bit obsessed with ami’s and even went maybe a little overboard with the book buying. I got Amigurumi Supper Happy Crochet Cute by Elizabeth Doherty a few weeks ago but just got additional hooks this weekend to start making Benny (the blue green monkey on the cover).

So far I’m really enjoying the book. I really got it for the humanoid creatures but some of the foodies and animals look amazing too. There’s a wiener dog that I think my friend will want to make once I convince her to start ami’s!

The only wish I have for the book is more details on how to assemble the ami’s after making all the pieces. I had some issues seeing how the muzzle of Benny would look right. (Happy to report that I went ahead and sewed it on anyway and he looks “normal” like the pictures.) It continually amazes me how these bits and pieces can make up something terribly cute and how designers can conceptualize and then create the final product. Benny is about half finished so he’ll make an appearance soon!

Today while browsing the soon to be closing Borders in Block E (downtown Mpls) I made an impulse purchase of Kyuuto! Japanese Crafts Amigurumi for the cute bears on the cover and the sweet little animals (frogs, ducklings, elephants) inside. This book is part of a series for translating Japanese crafting books into English. The patterns are written line by line with symbols and pictures of assembly. I’m hoping that the symbols don’t break me because I’m not that good at reading knitting charts (for lace and cables).