One day, I had a spontaneous burst of inspiration and I created a version of Humpty Dumpty. I made it quickly without writing anything down and I was never able to share with anyone how to recreate this doll! It got shelved away with many other partially finished projects and was forgotten about. Believe it or not, that was 7 whole years ago! I guess that makes sense because my youngest son was about 2 at that time and we were immersed in plenty of fairy tales and nursery rhymes!

I recently rediscovered this little guy and I set to work recreating it again. The original doll had a more egg-shaped body which presented a challenge in that it couldn’t sit down flat. The legs which were attached from the bottom caused the doll to tilt backwards, which was something I wasn’t particularly happy with. Changing the point of attachment didn’t produce a satisfactory solution either and I think that’s why I ended up shelving this project.

This time around, I reworked the body shape so that the bottom is now flat and sits easily on a level surface. The legs are attached in a way that still allows the doll to maintain its stability. A couple of buttons and a jaunty hat completes the look! I present to you Humpty Dumpty Version 2, which I am happy to share as a FREE PATTERN! (CLICK HERE) 🙂 I hope you like it! I think this would make an adorable addition to a child’s room or maybe an Easter basket! Whatever you end up doing with this doll, please enjoy the pattern and if you have time, don’t forget to share your pictures with me at #littlemuggles!

If you like my designs, please follow my projects on Instagram @littlemuggles! XOXO

A couple of years ago, I was given this adorable Star Wars crochet kit from my brother in law.  I had a few projects that I was working on at the time, so I put the kit in the hall closet and there it sat until recently when I randomly remembered it and pulled it out of hibernation!  With the holiday season coming up, I figured that a few crochet characters would make cute bonus gifts for my little nephews, who are big Star Wars fans. The dolls can be used as toys, ornaments, or just cute decor!

This set is by Thunderbay Press, a company that creates a lot of different activity/craft kits.  They offer crochet sets with Marvel characters, Disney princesses, Zootopia, Rudolph the Reindeer, and more!   I’ve seen these adorable kits being sold at places like Michael’s and Costco.   Inside the cute box, there’s an instruction booklet that contains patterns to make 12 different characters as well as all the materials needed to make one Yoda and one Stormtrooper. The patterns are made by the British designer Lucy Collin.  The beginning of the book includes a “techniques and terminology” section which explains the different required stitches and how to make them. (along with colored photos)  This booklet definitely has enough information so that someone who has limited experience with crochet can attempt these dolls!  But the thing that might make these difficult for crochet newbies is the actual size of these dolls. They are only a few inches tall and have relatively small parts to crochet.

Looking at the different Star Wars designs,  I knew that I definitely wanted to make Boba Fett and an Ewok.  I had to hunt around for the right color yarns in my stash since the kit doesn’t come with materials to make these two. I wanted to use Lion Brand’s Wool-Ease yarn in Mushroom for the Ewok but I sadly discovered that I didn’t have any more skeins. But I did come across a random discarded doll head where I had used that particular yarn – perfect! I love being able to unravel something I don’t need anymore to repurpose it into something new! Yarn recycling is awesome! I always feel so bad when I toss some unwanted doll parts because it’s too much trouble to unravel it and keep it for future use.

I don’t usually work with such small dolls and I found it a little bit difficult with the assembly of such small pieces.  Assembly is my least favorite part of the process but overall, I am very pleased with how the Ewok came out! Look at his cute little face with those little ears sticking out of his hood! 🙂  I went outside to the front yard to find something suitable to be used for his staff instead of the recommended toothpick.

Here is my Boba Fett figure. I made him here without his cape.   I think a little jetpack would be so cool…

The kit came with 2 sets of eyes and I had already used a pair for the Ewok.  I figured why not make another figure and use up the eyes so I hesitantly decided to make a stormtrooper.  It didn’t initially appeal to me because it seemed very plain and simple, but it was actually fun to make. I’m getting good practice making bobble stitches with these Star Wars characters; they have been in every pattern so far! 🙂 The hardest part was positioning the eyes on this guy… Initially, I placed them in the recommended position, with the eyes just under and touching the black stripe, but I wasn’t happy with how it looked.  The bad part was that I didn’t figure it all out until I was almost done with the doll and I had to pull all the stuffing out to undo the backings just so  I could reposition the eyes to my liking! It was not fun and I was kicking myself for not figuring it out sooner!     What do you think of the eyes in this position?  The stormtrooper doesn’t look particularly menacing this way but that wasn’t what I was going for. I guess I like things to be a little cuter.:) I was even tempted to make his mouth into a smile instead of the frown but that would have been too weird. And that would probably make him unrecognizable. haha!

Since I ran out of small safety eyes,  I had to stop for now.   Overall, I enjoyed making these characters and I think my nephews will love them,  but I will stick with designing bigger dolls for myself.  I don’t prefer to crochet and assemble such small pieces.  I do love how cute and little they turn out in the end though. Perfect for ornaments and gift decor, in my opinion!  I don’t think I will venture to continue the set at this time. Perhaps I’ll pull this out again at the end of the year during the next holiday season to add on to my nephews’ collection! 🙂 I think I’ll attempt Chewbacca, Princess Leia, and maybe Han Solo…I just have to make sure to remember to stock up on small safety eyes!

I am happy to introduce you to LILA and FINN, a pair of sweet dogs who love hanging out and doing most everything together!  Here they are, cozy and warm in their new winter sweaters!

I have exciting news!!  My little dogs are going to be featured in an Ami-Along starting on February 14!! Amigurumipatterns.net holds a monthly “AMI-ALONG” event where a large group of crocheters work on the same project for a limited time.  If you join, there is a private group forum where you can share your work in progress, ask/answer questions, and in general have fun communing with fellow amigurumi enthusiasts!  Another neat thing is that the designer for that month will participate actively as well, answering any questions, providing help, and chatting!  It’s a lot of fun and as an extra added BONUS, there are also really awesome PRIZES to be won! Think e-books, paperbacks, and YARN!!  Click HERE for more information on how to join!

Here are a few examples of designs that have been featured in the past —

Aren’t they awesome??  What an honor for Lila and Finn will be joining this group!!

A couple of months ago, I released my free puppy beanbag buddies and I liked them so much that I was inspired to make bigger versions, but with some tweaks. Lila and Finn stand at a foot tall, making them perfect sized plushie buddies for little ones to cuddle!  I started with Finn – I considered making him with no clothes, similar to the smaller beanbag version, but considering the time of year, I decided to give him a cozy sweater to stave off those winter chills!  I do think this doll would be adorable without the sweater as well.  Maybe a ribbon or a collar around the neck with a name tag…. so many fun possibilites!! This dog design took me a while to perfect.. Even though I had the smaller version to design from, it was still very time consuming with lots of trial and error!  First I wasn’t happy with the legs and had to redesign them to be closer together.  Then I had trouble getting the proportion of the body just right for the head size.  I also toyed with including an “eye circle” under one of the eyes for added whimsy.  I ultimately left it off but I still like the idea of it.  (My pattern does includes the instructions for the eye circle!)  After many weeks, I finally finished writing up all the steps. Whew!

Next step – to proofread my pattern, I made a second doll following my instructions.  I notice that for whatever reason, most of my dolls are boy characters.  Maybe it’s because I have my 4 boys at home (including my hubby) and I’m just used to males around? 🙂 Anyways, I opted to make a girl dog this time and I chose a sweater color that is something that I’d like to wear! It’s called Oatmeal and I love the little specks that give it an organic look and feel.  Maybe I should look for a good pattern and knit myself a matching sweater!

Anyways, Lila was created and I knew that I wanted to add a heart applique for her in honor of Valentine’s Day!  I searched through a lot of crochet heart patterns (who knew there were so many out there??) and discovered a fantastic YouTube tutorial (by “Crochet Lovers”) for an amazing design.  The heart came out so neat and I love the narrator’s accent and very clear and precise instructions.  It’s a very easy to follow tutorial and I highly recommend it if you are looking to crochet a heart!  I followed her instructions using two of the three rounds she teaches.  I felt the heart was a good size for my doll after just two rounds… Click HERE for a link to the tutorial!!

For Finn’s applique, I used a star motif.  I found the pattern for it online HERE.  Kathryn Senior’s design is quick and easy and I like the pictures she includes along with tips to add some details afterwards to make it look even neater.  I used crochet thread for the appliques, forgoing the usual small gauge steel hooks and just using my 3.0mm hook! I think using regular worsted weight or thinner yarn would look great also, and alphabet letters to make names or other felt designs would be super cute too!  These dolls are easily customizable, which makes it so fun and easy for you to make them truly unique!

Til about mid-March, you can obtain my pattern ONLY through this AMI-ALONG!  After that, you’ll find it added to my usual shops.  I hope you like my newest creation! Lila and Finn are happy to meet you all!

My local county fair took place a week ago!  I always look forward to the fair – it always falls right at the end of the kids’ school year so it pretty much marks the beginning of summer vacation!  Needless to say, the “home arts” department is my personal favorite part of the fair to visit, as it contains all yarn related exhibits and includes other divisions such as needlework, sewing, textiles, quilting and more!  I was fortunate enough to win a second place ribbon this year for my fuzzy bunny and an honorable mention ribbon for my little rooster!  Part of my excitement in going to the fair is running up to the display case to see if any my entries won anything.   This year, my family had lots to look forward to because my husband entered several fruits and vegetables in the agriculture division and 2 of my kids entered their artwork.

Here’s a shot of my bunny in the display case! I’m pretty shocked to win anything at all this year. I felt that my design might be too simple even though the fuzzy yarn was hard to work with. I’m grateful that someone appreciated the difficulty level of this project –  Thank you judges!!

My little rooster got its very own special ribbon.  I thought a chicken was a fitting entry for the fair.  We saw plenty of real ones that day! We also saw lots of turkeys, pigs, goats, and cows.  I even watched an auction where people were bidding on live turkeys. It seems the average going rate for a 30+ lb. turkey is about $250. Who knew?

Take a look at these other entries! I’m sure glad I’m not a judge… I wouldn’t be able to narrow down the winners! Here’s a  shot of the first place blue ribbon winner! A Star Wars themed stacking ring! Ingenious! That Chewbacca face is awesome! 🙂

This colorful stegosaurus took the third place white ribbon.  

Here are some other beautiful entries that I just have to share!  You can see some of the quilt entries hanging in the background!
Speaking of quilts, I had to share a couple of jaw dropping ones I saw on my visit. I can’t even begin to imagine the time it took to make one of these beauties!! Amazing, isn’t it??

In case you were wondering how the rest of my family did with their fair entries… my husband was very proud to win a first place ribbon for his zucchini and second place ribbons for his tomatoes and lemons, but sadly did not win anything for his beautiful Stella cherries.  (Ironically, he went in thinking he’d only win for the cherries…)  One son won a third place ribbon for his drawing of the Sydney Opera House and my youngest received a special ribbon for his watercolor picture of a toucan.  All in all, a pretty successful fair for my family! I should start thinking of something to enter for next year. My goal is to try to snag the Best in Show ribbon one day!!  What an honor that would be!!

The Lunar New Year falls on Monday, February 8!  What better way to commemorate this occasion than to release a new Monkey Pattern?!  Miles the Monkey joins my collection this week and is now available for purchase in my usual shops! (CRAFTSY & ETSY) I had a great time making this little guy!  He’s so sturdy and cute – I can totally picture him as part of the decor in a kiddo’s room!

Now, how many of you know people who are born in the Year of the Monkey (my brother!) or people who are having babies this year? The Years of the Monkey include 1920, 1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, and 2016.  

People born under the Year of the Monkey are supposed to be intelligent, witty, and inventive.  They are problem solvers and work well with others.  People born under this sign are supposedly playful and youthful in nature.  Yup, that pretty much sums of my big bro!

Now I’m not a superstitious person, but I always manage to look at the Zodiac during the turn of the Lunar New Year- I find it amusing to see all the predictions for the year to come. My mom, (who IS superstitious) is quick to tell me if I’m going to have bad luck in the upcoming year.  She will take any necessary steps to ward off the impending bad fortune.  Are you curious to know what it says about your sign this coming year?  According to the Chinese Almanac, it‘s going to be an auspicious year for Rats, Oxen (me!), Dragons, Horses, Monkeys, Roosters and Dogs.  Surprisingly, it’s not always a good year for the people born under the same sign of that year!  (ie. Rats don’t always have good years when it’s the Year of the Rat.)  I have no idea why that is… seems counterintuitive doesn’t it? 🙂

This is supposedly a difficult year for Tigers (my husband-oh no!), Snakes, Dogs, and Boars.  Rabbits should be aware of their finances.  Sheep should take care of their health.

Funny thing is, I never remember to look at these predictions again at the end of the year to see how accurate they were.  Maybe I’ll have Siri remind me to reflect on this when December rolls around…

I hope to see lots of amigurumi monkeys floating around this year!

Happy Lunar New Year! Gong Xi Fa Cai!(mandarin) 🙂  Gong Hay Fat Choy!(cantonese) 🙂