Finished Orders from DioneDesign Patterns

April 27, 20161 Comment

There are a few “go to” amigurumi designers I keep at the top of the list when I receive custom orders and need to find that perfect animal for a baby shower gift.

One of those designers is DioneDesign, who has a shop on Etsy. She has a fabulous array of animals and does a terrific job of using increases and decreases to achieve specific shapes that make her animals more lifelike (her hippo is one of them and I have made countless of these).

My two most recently completed orders were requests for the triceratops and the bear (sans flower) from Dione. I was a little nervous about the triceratops because it is a more advanced, sewing-heavy project, but I was ready to roll up my sleeves and try it–it was just too cute not to go for it.

I don’t make a lot of bears, teddy or otherwise, so I was hoping that my experience with Dione’s patterns would carry me through the execution. I was not disappointed.

I took my time with both of these projects, as they were larger and more detailed, and particularly when there is a lot of sewing or you’re going for a specific look that the design calls for, exercising patience wins the day.

In the end, I was thrilled with how both of these turned out. Keep in mind, there are so many factors as to why dolls turn out how they do in each particular crocheter’s hand, be it tension, the type of yarn, placement and/or size of eyes, etc.

My tweaks were using slightly smaller eyes on the dinosaur and not putting spots on its back (I liked the blue body on its own), and then not adding eyebrows or paw lines on the bear. Just my personal artistic style.

If you have been making amigurumi for a while and want a fun (and slightly challenging!) animal to try, I highly recommend finding something in Dione’s shop. If you are also a fan and have made some things, I’d love to hear from you!

Bear with Balloons

Irregulars (Misfit Toys)

October 8, 2015October 8, 20152 Comments

Sometimes I whip up an amigurumi just for fun with no other purpose than to just hang out in my home until I can give it away or sell it. (And sometimes I end up keeping them. I have a baby whale and a finished cupcake that adorn my home office that are too sweet to give up!)

Then sometimes there are those toys or items that are complete but are just a little….off. Sometimes the “offness” is only noticeable to me but sometimes it’s more noticeable.

(And other times, I make something and for whatever reason, maybe that crochet is an insanely competitive market? it doesn’t sell.)

Take, for example, this cutie patootie baby owl.

Designed by one of my favorite designers, Little Muggles, I had to try it. Even though there were nine separate parts to crochet, I liked how the soft pastel yarn looked with the baby yellow yarn. And those eyes!

Sadly, my inspired idea to give him blue eyes didn’t work out too well because the backs to the eyes took some extra oomph to fit. My husband had to use pliers and a lot of strength I do not possess to force the eye into the backing. Unfortunately, both eyes were scratched in the process. (Note to self: will not be purchasing from that supplier again.)

This little guy has sat in my little pile of growing “misfit toys” for a few months, waiting to be played with. He now bears the Irregular label and is sitting in my shop, waiting to see if someone wants to take him home.

Another example is this lop-eared baby bunny. It’s actually executed perfectly. Nothing is “wrong” with it except that the weight of the bunny is not evenly distributed, which happens, and so one of the hind legs comes up as the bunny rests on its front paws. It kind of looks like it’s in mid-jump. But since it doesn’t sit nicely, in it goes to the Misfit Toys bin.

IMG_7935 zvc

IMG_7936 zvc

The point is, because of these small irregularities, they shouldn’t render the toy ~~homeless~~ useless. But to help entice others to adopt these little misfit creatures, I went ahead and created an Irregular section of my shop so I can pass on the savings and keep my closet from filling up with perfectly lovely adoptable creatures!

I’m a little giddy about this new section of my shop–I hope others are, too!

Farewell to Summer and a Few Amigurumi

September 10, 2015September 10, 2015Leave a comment

Happy post Labor Day weekend! I hope it was relaxing and a bit cooler than ours was in the middle states. Summer is still going strong but thankfully, cooler weather is on the way, so it won’t feel quite so ridiculous to be focusing on hats and blankets and scarves and other cozy items.

The weekend saw me whipping out amigurumi orders, one after another–pictures below in a bit. On a whim, I listed this gorgeous blanket on Sunday and it ended up selling right away, which was a terrific feeling. It really is a beautiful blanket and I hope the new owner falls in love with it like I did when it was finished.

Just before Labor Day when All the Toy-Making was happening, we had friends in town and the only thing I had out was some Chroma Worsted yarn from Knit Picks and a Tunisian crochet hook. By the end of the weekend, I had whipped up this ribbed hat :

For what it’s worth, I do like the pattern, and the variance of knit and purl stitches keeps the hat from curling, which is really nice, since Tunisian loves to curl up on itself. My only gripe with it is that the top is a little bit holey when it’s all said and done. I think that’s why it’s pretty critical to put a pom on top–something I have yet to try. If you’ve made this hat and have comments, I’d love to hear!

Now on to the amigurumi. I’m currently coasting into the final toy of the final order I’ve received since late August, which is a cow. But over the weekend, I ended up producing:

One whale
One baby bunny (and a practice bunny)
One cornflower blue hippo
One chocolate brown elephant

It may not seem like a lot but trust me when I say making four (technically five) animals is quite a bit from Friday to Monday, not including eating, sleeping, going to Zumba, Netflix, etc. Here are a few photos, some of which are not the best, admittedly. I’ll have more when I’ve finished the cow and I can take some ultra cute pictures of the finished trio.

Hoping to be able to work on some more wearables and holiday items now that we’re in the last few months of 2015 (where has it gone?!). More to come!

Particulars of the Invisible Decrease

August 14, 2015August 14, 2015Leave a comment

For anyone who has visited my Etsy shop or my Facebook page, you’ll know I make a lot of amigurumi. And if you didn’t know that before, it is the bread and butter of my little side business.

It has probably taken me the past thirty or more creations to hone the skill of decreasing rounds so that there are few bumps and holes showing on the finished doll; not an easy task.

There are a handful of ways to decrease in the round, with a couple of them dubbed as an “invisible decrease.”

The regular decrease when working in single crochet, or sc2tog, is simply inserting your hook into the next stitch, yarning over and pulling up a loop, repeating on the next stitch, yarning over and pulling through all loops on the hook. Simple pimple, right?

It does work and it will quickly tighten the round. It’s really good for when you need to shape the doll using decreased stitches, a skill some designers have mastered. (See the Etsy shop “Stuff the Body” for examples–she does a lot of designs that don’t involve sewing because she shapes the animals with increases and decreases. It’s pretty brilliant.)

But when you make a lot of typical amigurumi with your basic round shapes, you want to find the right invisible decrease that is smooth and really effective. It took me a while to figure out what I liked and what worked best for me, but this is my recommendation for the best invisible decrease when doing single crochet in the round:

Insert hook into the front loop only of the next stitch; do NOT yarn over. Insert hook into the back loop only of the following stitch; yarn over and pull through two loops, yarn over and pull through remaining two loops.

The pink highlights the stitches where the yarn has been inserted (one front loop, one back loop).

It takes a little while to figure out maneuvering the hook since you don’t yarn over in between the two stitches, but it’s because of that absence of the “yo” that there is almost no visible bump and it’s quite difficult to tell where the decrease is. It’s very effective.

If you really prefer to yarn over between stitches, the next best invisible decrease (in my opinion) is to work the front loops only of both stitches and yarn over after each insertion of the hook. You’ll get a slight bump and it’s not ideal for shaping, but it works fine.

Here are some more photos of the invisible decrease in action. You can see on both the head and the body that the bumps and “squished” stitches are minimalized, and the final doll looks really polished.

Give it a try! I’d love to know what you think.

Recently Finished Amigurumi

August 4, 2015August 3, 20153 Comments

When I last left off, I was amidst a frenzy of untying a bunch of knots and completing amigurumi orders. I took a breather on Saturday when I finished the last item….before another sprinkle of orders came in on Sunday. August is turning out to be quite the month of amigurumi!

The first part of one order is this sweetie, called Sam, the Big-Bottomed Bunny from Crochet One-Skein Wonders.

He had such a sweet face and I loved the idea of making something that could sit on a big bottom. His floppy ears are also pretty dang cute. He’s very huggable and snuggable.

Sam 2

A biggie that I wrapped up earlier last week was this sweet dinosaur. Holy sewing, Batman! This took a lot of time to carefully sew together all the parts that make up this creature but in the end, it was worth it. He came out super adorable and is intended for a couple who is having a baby boy.

Lastly, I finished an order for an elephant for a baby girl, so her paws are pink. I couldn’t resist adorning her with a pink ribbon, as well. The trumpeting snout just kills me, it’s so cute.

I’d love to see what you have been creating. It helps keep me inspired. Share away in the comments below! Until next time, friends.

Calm Before the Amigurumi Storm

July 18, 2015Leave a comment

I’ve had several posts up my sleeve this week but none of them really panned out, i.e., I didn’t ~~have~~ make time to sit down and really flesh out what I wanted to say on those pesky drafts waiting to be written.

After finishing the Tunisian ripple scarf, I felt free and ready to tackle the next project. I have so much yarn ready and waiting for me to figure out what to do with it. For example, I have four bright and beautiful colors of Shine Sport from Knit Picks ready to be made into something. But what? A spa cloth? Something new and totally different? I had great results using it in Tunisian crochet previously, so maybe I should stick with that. But…but…but….my mind swirls in circles trying to come up with the “perfect” project, whatever that means.

I also have in my possession a skein of gorgeous alpaca and silk in a color called Envy – it is a lovely dark emerald color. Since it is so soft, I keep thinking about making something to go against my neck. Perhaps a small cowl in crocodile stitch? I’ve taken it out of its little bag and stared at it and handled it until I just sit in a daze, staring off into space, waiting for inspiration. Then I put it back.

I have a personal amigurumi project, for which the yarn has sat on my couch for a week, that I still haven’t picked up and started.

Then I began a personal project for someone that will be a thank-you and surprise wrapped up in one.

In the middle of that personal project, I decided to make an amigurumi I hadn’t tried yet of the bunny variety. I’ve gotten the head, arms, and body worked up, with the ears, tail, and sewing yet to complete.

(Are we seeing a pattern of Crochet ADHD here or what?)

And as soon as I began on that one amigurumi, I received several inquiries for more, two from people I know and one through the shop. I started to see the queue stretch out before me into mid to late August. I think there is something about summertime that gets people itchy to shop. Maybe it’s people planning ahead for Christmas. Maybe it’s that it’s so easy to shop online in the cool, air-conditioned indoors when it’s so disgustingly hot out. Don’t forget all the babies that will be born come the fall! (I have succumbed to the lure of shopping on Etsy for cute baby things, so I understand the pull.)

Whatever the case, I have a little amigurumi cloud raining down toy orders, thus I will be ~~in my workshop~~ on my couch crocheting away when I can. And if you follow me on Instagram, you know how I love to post the progress of all the cute creatures as I go.

With that in mind, please enjoy this bevy of amigurumi from Planet June, who is a fabulous designer and teacher. Catch you on the flippity flip!