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Hanna the Hippo wins 2nd place!

Amigurumipatterns.net held a Circus amigurumi design Contest a short while back and Hanna the Hippo was my entry! I’ve been thinking about doing a hippo for a while now and the contest was the perfect motivator to get to me to finally design one! I did a bit of research and settled on trying to make a hippo with an umbrella.

I actually had a hard time deciding what color the hippo should be. I really wanted to make a purple one, but seeing as I did not have a soft lavender yarn that I like, I opted for a pale blue hippo instead. I generally gravitate toward soft pastel colors, but I think a bright, bold shade like a hot pink would be really fun too! 🙂 Once the pattern comes out, I will wait and see what you guys do with it! I love seeing my designs made in various colors – many are colors that I wouldn’t think to choose but end up looking wonderful!

I was delighted with how my hippo turned out and I had a lot of fun with the photo shoot as well. Here is the final shot that I entered into the contest!

After I entered my design, I took a peek at what some of the other entries looked like. I was blown away by so many detailed and amazing creations! Honestly, I didn’t think I stood a chance after viewing everyone’s submissions! (See all entries here!) I am completely shocked, thrilled and honored to have placed 2nd and I thank everyone who voted for my hippo! My prize box came on Christmas Eve and it was so much fun opening it up! The 10 yarn balls behind Hanna in the top picture were found in the box. They are Stylecraft yarn balls of DK weight, and are made of 100% pure premium acrylic. You can’t tell, but they are super duper soft!! I will have fun coming up with things to make with this yarn!! I love the colors that were sent to me!

I also received a fantastic set of Clover crochet hooks, a box of safety eyes/noses, the full set of published works by Amigurumipatterns.net, and a beautiful yarn bowl by Barruntando, a shop that offers unique and original pieces of pottery made of honey! Their Etsy shop is absolutely fabulous – I am tempted to order some other pieces to have around the house! I have never seen a yarn bowl before and was delighted to try this one out! The beautiful bowl is a soft aqua color and has cute little star cutouts on the side.

Check out some of their products! Aren’t they too adorable???

Wait! There’s more! I also get a super fabulous crochet hook designed by Furls Crochet! I have only ever seen these in ads – they are so beautiful!!

I haven’t actually gotten the hook yet so I can’t tell you how amazing it really is, but I’m looking forward to holding one of these babies in my hands!!

And finally, I got a year subscription to Inside Crochet magazine, a really cool UK publication that has plenty of projects and designs for me to try in the new year! I just might have to try my hand at some non amigurumi related things (gasp!) to learn some new stitches and skills!

This has been a wonderful close to a wonderful year. I didn’t come up with as many new designs in 2015 as I would have liked, but I plan to change that for 2016. I’ve got a number of ideas in my head of things to make, so definitely keep your eyes open for new Little Muggles creations in the future!!

Best wishes to you all for a Happy, Healthy, and Fantastic New Year!!!

FREE Little Muggles Amigurumi Baby Bear Ornament Pattern!

I’ve been working on the design for this little cutie for the past few days and I’ve decided to present it to you as a holiday freebie surprise! I actually meant to finish this sooner so that everyone would have more time to make these for the holiday season! The good thing is that since this little ornament is relatively small, it doesn’t take too much time to make. You only need to know basic crochet stitches and you can knock out a couple of these one one evening! I especially love how you can change up the colors easily. Use one when decorating a gift or place them around the house or office for some kawaii cuteness! Have fun making your little ornaments and don’t forget to send me pictures of your cute little baby bears! I can’t wait to see your creations!

CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE PATTERN!

On a side note, my kids are now officially on Winter Break! I don’t know about you, but when the kids are hanging around the house all day, I don’t end up getting much done for myself! I have a growing list of things to make with yarn… on my short list is a new monkey for upcoming Lunar New Year! To the drawing board I go! Follow me on Facebook to stay updated on my projects!

Amigurumi Magazine!

What fun!! Look at this wonderful surprise I found in my mailbox the other day! MyTimeMedia has released their newest issue of “Amigurumi” magazine and my little “Buttons the Mouse” pattern is featured in it! Well, it was a surprise in that I didn’t know that I’d be getting the magazine that day. 🙂 After all, I did give permission for them to use my pattern. Alas, this publication is currently printed only in German. I am hopeful that they will release an English version one day soon! Then I can try my hand at all of the amazing designs found in the magazine!!

Look who else is featured! It’s All About Ami‘s (Stephanie Lau’s) adorable “Teddy Ornaments”! Isn’t the layout beautiful? I am such a big fan of Stephanie’s! My little mice are definitely in great company!

There will be 4 new publications of this magazine in 2016! Maybe I’ll be lucky enough to be featured again one day!

Summer vacation is here!

Ok, I guess it’s been a little while since I’ve updated my blog! Wow it’s been like.. half a year! Wasn’t it just yesterday that it was January? Well, I’ve been incredibly busy with my kiddos! My twins just finished 3rd grade and my little guy is off to 1st grade in the Fall! Our schedule has been pure insanity, what with a combination of baseball practices/games (for all 3 kids!), piano lessons, taekwondo class, Kumon, swim lessons, and speech therapy sessions added into the mix! I also volunteered in my son’s Kindergarten classroom and signed up for a year long art project where I got to paint a life size picture of each kid in the class as they took turns being “VIP of the week”! Yes, it was super time consuming because I tried to make each picture as detailed as possible and was able to get a pretty decent likeness of each child on paper. The look on their little faces when they saw their “portrait” and seeing how each kid looked forward to their own week made it all worthwhile. I know the kids aren’t going to remember a lot of details from their Kindergarten experience but if they remember how cool their “VIP of the week” experience was, that’s cool with me! Plus they get to keep their pictures at the end of the year. Here is a shot of some of paintings that were displayed during Open House.

The school year has finally come to an end and the kids are now off to various camps and summer school. Things are already a little mellower even though the schedule is still plenty busy. At least I have a bit of time to sit down and try to update this blog!

In addition to having no school, summer is the time of Fairs! The San Mateo County Fair (Bay Area Peninsula, near San Francisco) was held last weekend and I decided to submit a couple of my dolls for the Crochet Competition once again! This year I chose “Gordy the Goat” and “Spencer the Cat”. I didn’t have time to make something completely new for this Fair so I went with some of my older favorites. The Fair administrators do not release a list of the winners…you have to attend the Fair and run over to the display with the hope that there will be a ribbon dangling from your entry – I was thrilled to discover that Spencer had a red ribbon (2nd place) and Gordy got a white one (3rd)! Gordy even won an extra special ribbon for the “Year of the Goat” category! Pretty awesome! The first place winner was a christening outfit and blanket set for a baby doll. It was beautifully made but my husband was upset because he thought it was basically “apparel” and shouldn’t have been categorized under the “Non apparel – toy/doll/doll accessory” category. I wasn’t upset at all – I’m happy to win anything!! 🙂 I leave you with a few shots of some other entries! XOXO and I promise to check in again sooner than 6 months from now!! Hopefully this summer I can get the creative crochet juices flowing again!! 🙂

Judge's Choice - crochet hippo — Judge’s Choice – crochet hippo

Blue ribbon winner of the Non-apparel category for Knitting

Happy New Year!

first 2015 pattern .. coming soon!

Well, 2015 is here and half a month is already gone! I’m always excited when a fresh year rolls around… a fresh slate, a fresh blank canvas of unlimited possibilities… I can’t wait to see what sorts of new ideas come to me this year! I also look forward to seeing what my fellow designers produce this year! I expect to be dazzled because everybody seems to be coming up with more and more amazing creations! Have you seen the entries to Amigurumipattern.net’s most recent contest?? There’s some crazy talent on display! If we’re all lucky, maybe a book will be released with the patterns of some of those beautiful entries!

When a new year starts, I also like to look back to see what I’ve accomplished during the past year. One thing that I’m really happy to have finally gotten around to doing is coming up with a cool logo for my Little Muggles “brand”! I had toyed with the idea of making one for so long – my husband finally got me to use DesignCrowd, which is basically a marketplace for logo, web, and graphic design. It was a fun experience. I paid a fee, wrote a short description of what sort of logo I was thinking of, and waited for random designer submissions to roll in. I got to fine tune whichever designs I liked and I ultimately picked a winner! Just for fun, here are just some of the designs that I had to consider. Believe me, it wasn’t easy to narrow it down to just one!

The winning design ultimately went to Justine Espinueva of “DesignerMilk”. Her whimsical design is simple and fresh, and I feel that it represents me and my creations well. I especially love the cute touch of the little ears on the ball of yarn! Here are more samples of her work, in case anyone out there has graphic design needs! I found Justine to be extremely professional, courteous, and responsive – I highly recommend her! http://designers.designcrowd.com/designer/73485/designermilk

I can’t believe I’ve been crocheting amigurumi for almost 10 years now! (I gauge how much time has passed using my kids’ ages) A lot has changed since I first started out… I remember there were only a small handful of websites that I knew about which featured amigurumi…a far cry from what can be found out there these days!!

Here’s a fun question for you! Of all of my designs that I have released since 2010 when I first opened up my Etsy shop, can you guess which is by far the most popular? Hands down, it’s Lucky the horse! Are you surprised? I made this little guy in time for the Year of the Horse in 2014 and boy has he had a great year!

Lucky the Horse

I am always delighted to see the pictures that people send me of their own versions of Lucky, especially when they change up the colors! Here are just a few of my faves!!

My second most popular design is Spike the Dragon and coming in third is Haribo, the Bedtime Bear!

Finally, here is a small gallery of all of the dolls I came up with in 2014. Enjoy, and here’s to another year of inspiration and creativity!

XOXO!

WorldWide Artist Blog Hop

IMG_4045 - Version 2 copy — A few of the Little Muggles family members

I was recently asked by fellow amigurumist DenDennis to participate in the WorldWide Artist Blog Hop! I am asked to answer 4 questions and then to invite fellow “artists” to continue the chain on their own blogs! What fun! I wonder when and where this originated, but I’m game!

Question 1: Why do I do what I do?

Well, the obvious reason is that I love it! Creating and sharing my own little characters gives me joy and I find crocheting to be amazingly therapeutic as well as fun. It is a very calming hobby and I highly recommend it to anyone who needs a little serenity in their lives. 🙂

Question 2: What am I working on now?

I’m actually working on several right now, which makes it hard to get anything done…I started testing out a raccoon to add to my intended “Woodland Creatures collection” and then got sidetracked with trying to come up with a new character for the holidays. I started to make a polar bear but somehow it morphed into a little baby seal instead. I’m trying to come up with some cute accessories for it now.

I’m also proofreading a design for an upcoming book…I don’t usually follow others’ patterns but it’s been really fun seeing how other designers make their pieces. It’s a learning experience for me! You probably will not be able to guess what this character is from this picture. I always like to change up the colors when I’m proofreading. Despite what you might think, I can tell you that it is NOT a chihuahua! (my husband’s guess 🙂 )

Question 3: How does my work differ from others of its genre?

Hmm that’s a tough one. I guess it’s just my style. I try not to overthink things and just keep everything really simple and cute. Sometimes I get really inspired when I see someone eles’s character with intricate details and I might experiment a little but but I always seem to go back to keeping things simple.

Question 4: How does my creative process work?

When I feel like crocheting but don’t have any idea what to make, I usually take my sketch book out and doodle characters. But honestly speaking, there really isn’t much of a process. If I’m in the crocheting mood, I might just grab my hook and yarn and just start crocheting away. I’m not always very organized or methodical when inspiration strikes. I’ve been known to jot down instructions on scraps of paper, backs of envelopes, anything that happens to be close by. I try really hard not to do that anymore because I’ve lost instructions in the past and I get very annoyed when I have to try to recreate something that I’ve already done just because I didn’t write it down! (it doesn’t always turn out right the second time around!)

Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed reading a little more about me! Now it’s my turn to invite fellow designers to participate in this Blog Hop!

I think I will ask a few of my favorite designers, the super talented gals behind

Little Yarn Friends

Patchwork Moose

Ohana Craft

Stanley the Giraffe

Wow, I can’t believe the year is ending once again. The weather is getting cooler and I find myself needing to grab an extra blanket before going to bed! It’s been quite some time since my last post and I apologize for that! Ever since school has started for my little ones, it’s been one thing after another and my crochet projects have unfortunately been pushed down my priority list! But I have finally finished writing up another pattern – meet Stanley the Giraffe! Yes, he’s a bit out of his usual element here…I couldn’t find a nice patch of African savannah to use as a background, so the trees in my yard will have to do! 🙂 There are exciting things in store for Stanley! He’s about to be shipped overseas to join a few of his Little Muggles siblings in Belgium. hint, hint! Can you figure out what’s happening to him? If not, you will soon find out..just keep following me on Facebook and there will be an announcement about his adventures soon! In the meantime, you can find my Stanley pattern in my ETSY and CRAFTSY shops!

It was quite fun making Stanley. I really enjoyed the feedback I got from you guys when I put some work in progress pictures on my Facebook page! I will try to do more of that from now on. You guys can help direct the final look of my dolls… 🙂 If you remember, I was considering making this giraffe with brown ears versus yellow. Ultimately I chose yellow because I felt that the brown made his head look more like a cow. I also loved the suggestions to keep one ear brown and one yellow! I would love to see someone send me their finished doll with that look! How whimsical!

Brown or yellow ear? Thin or thick horn?

Like all of my other dolls, Stanley is a pretty simple project that even beginners can try their hand at! There are no complicated stitches or steps. Everything is fairly basic and there are minimal materials required. When made with the my go-to yarn (Lion Brand’s Vanna’s Choice) and my suggested crochet hook size, Stanley is about 10″ tall when seated. (not including his horns) Anybody can make their own little Stanley for themselves!

IMG_3114 - Version 2 copy — A look at his spots

Since I have to send Stanley off to Belgium soon, I wanted to make another giraffe to have for my own. I thought it would be fun to make it pink! I am happy with how she came out, and I liked adding the bow around her neck.

Speaking of accessories, you have no idea how difficult it was for me to make the tie around Stanley’s neck!! Unlike some gals I know, I never really learned how to tie a necktie properly, and I really wanted this one to look crisp and perfect. Of course I turned to Google and I was astounded by all the different ways to tie a tie! After much trial and error (Windsor knot! Half Windsor knot! Prince Albert knot! Simple knot!), I decided to go with the Pratt knot. I like the little dimple under the knot and it looks clean and neat. I still haven’t memorized how to tie this particular knot but I bookmarked the site I found and will be sure to try it on my husband one day!

By the way, this has been an exciting week for my Facebook page because I’ve reached the goal of getting 5000 likes!!! I had no idea that my little page would ever become as popular as it has! Of course I intend to keep up the designs so my new goal is now 10,000! 🙂 Spreading the hobby of amigurumi has been amazingly fun! Thank you everyone, for your all of your support!

Penguins, Penguins everywhere!

IMG_1714 copy — New Release – Pippin the Penguin!!

Here’s my long awaited release, Pippin the Penguin! I can’t believe I started this penguin back before my kids’ summer vacation began. I’ve spent all my time with the kiddos this summer and seriously had zero energy left for crocheting! Now that they’re back in school, I can get back to my project list! So after many months, Pippin’s pattern is available on ETSY and CRAFTSY. Pop over and check it out!

This is actually my second penguin doll, the first one being Pepe Penguin, who is part of a Christmas trio set I made a few years ago. I love how penguins can be considered to be a Christmasy kind of doll. With a knitted hat or a Santa cap, they fit in perfectly with any winter theme!

I actually have a soft spot for penguins. My 2nd grader did a report on penguins last year and during his research, I learned quite a lot about these fascinating animals! (In fact, I am learning about all sorts of things from my kids’ school that I never learned when I was young- or maybe I just forgot everything) I used to think that they all live in icy cold areas like Antarctica, but depending on the species of penguin, they can live in moderate and even tropical climates. My favorites are the baby emperor chicks…they are absolutely adorable, with their soft gray feathers and cute little faces! I hope you like my “Muggle-fied” version!

Since we’re on the subject of cute penguins, I thought I’d include a few images I found. I know there are a lot of people out there that love all things penguin!! Hope these cute pics bring a smile to your face!

Adorable penguin hat! Etsy shop – kjcreations2

Cute mug! Find it in the Etsy shop – MyDearDarling

I have to include a couple of inspirational photos of penguins in food! I am always in awe when I see the beautifully arranged bento boxes that some moms make for their kids’ meals. I tried to do it once and discovered how much time is actually put into making everything look perfect..not to mention that despite the lengthy time, I could never make my food look (or taste!) as good as in the pictures…I came to the disappointing conclusion that making cute bento boxes was not for me. My kid even refused to eat what I made once, saying it was too cute! In any case, I still enjoy looking at the pictures of other people’s creativity and creations! Here are a few photos to inspire you!

7f89ecdc47ea2dd0e99853cccd0e1f37 — Adorable! Love the little octopus too!

I feel it’s fitting to include a picture of my own kids’ plush penguin collection. Don’t ask me why, but they are always on the lookout for more penguin dolls! On our latest trip to the zoo in Seattle, they picked up 3 new ones, bringing their penguin doll family to close to 20 members! Here’s a pic of most of their collection. One or two are missing… probably hiding under the bed someplace. My boys make up crazy names for each doll and it’s pretty funny to see the kids play make believe with these guys!

My new creation is actually a very simple little doll but it took a long time for me to come up with a satisfactory design. The hardest part was getting colors to line up where I wanted them to. Working in spirals added to the challenge and at the end of the day, I just had to accept the fact that things just aren’t going to be completely symmetrical. I’m happy with the overall look though. What I love most is that it’s really easy to change up the look of the penguin by using different colors for the beak and feet. I would love to make a whole army of rainbow penguins but I have too many other things on my crochet list to do! I now leave the penguin making to you all and I can’t wait to see your pictures, so don’t forget to send them to littlemuggles@yahoo.com!!

Now, I’m on to my next project!! Keep your eyes out for more creations to come!

XOXO, Amy

IMG_2913 copy — A sweet little bow adds a cute touch!

Making my Amigurumi Fox

I’m always on the lookout for my next ami project…what animal should I create next? A little while back, I posted this question on my Facebook page and was delighted by all the responses I got! I read through all the suggestions and was inspired to make a little fox! This is the first animal in my intended upcoming “Woodland Creatures” collection. I have yet to decide exactly how many animals I will make, or what animals will actually BE in the collection, but I’ve started brainstorming! 🙂 I’ve got a raccoon, a squirrel, and a beaver running through my mind…oh who knows what I’ll decide to add to the collection! It’ll be a surprise for both you and me as to what I come up with! And speaking of Facebook, I recently asked for help in coming up with a name for this little guy! There were over a 100 suggestions and there were so many great ones to choose from but the winner is…”Chester” the fox! A big THANK YOU for all who made suggestions! The pattern for Chester is now available in my shops at ETSY and CRAFTSY!

It took me quite some time to come up with a good idea of what I wanted to do for a fox. There are already so many amigurumi foxes out there… I wanted to try and make something different. The ears were what I focused on first. I wanted to make them black tipped, and I added the light triangular patch for color contrast. I think this is something unique to my doll. Continue reading “Making my Amigurumi Fox”

Dottie the Ladybug

The weather has been so beautiful lately…the grass is green, the flowers are in bloom, and I was inspired to make my first amigurumi bug. It was easy to decide which one, since I’ve always had a soft spot for ladybugs. They are one of the very, very few bugs out there that I will actually allow to crawl on my hand. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m a bit squeamish around crawly things. (Maybe it stems from some bad experiences with cockroaches when I was living in New York) But sweet lil ladybugs? They’re my friends. 🙂 Anyways, here is my latest pattern, available for purchase now!

IMG_9323 copy — New pattern available! Dottie the Ladybug!

Meet Dottie, a real little cutie! You might be saying hey waitaminute – where are her other 2 legs? Well, the beauty of making your own amigurumi is that you can pretty much make it however you want! I decided to stop at 4 arms/legs just because I think it looks cute like this. I actually did intend to make this ladybug with 6 legs…the extra arms are sitting on my desktop at this very moment, but it was just a matter of personal preference to stop when I did. Of course, if you decide to make your own little Dottie, you can choose how many arms/legs you want to include! Continue reading “Dottie the Ladybug”