cute

The making of Benjamin the Bunny

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Do most of you get your yarn in person at a store or from online orders? I usually go in person but as you’ve probably experienced, stores can have quite a limited selection in terms of brands and colors. So I’ve been slowly getting my feet wet with ordering online! I was so excited to receive this particular yarn in the mail a few weeks ago! If you’ve followed my creations, you might know that I’ve been dabbling with cotton yarn most recently, but I’ve mainly only worked with a Category 2 weight, which is also finer than what I usually use. I’ve been really looking to try something slightly thicker and decided to test this Cotton Sprout line (DK weight) by Premier Yarns! I ended up loving the feel of this particular yarn line and I think I’m going to buy up a bunch of their other colors very soon. If you’re interested in learning more about this line, please click HERE to learn about Cotton Sprout and see all the available colors!

So what was I going to do with this new yarn? Since this happened right before the Lunar New Year, of course I had to attempt a new bunny! 2023 is the Year of the Rabbit after all!

I selected Beige as the main color of my new bunny and I love, love, love this shade! It’s slightly darker than what I expected “beige” to be but it’s beautiful and I know it will pair wonderfully with any accessory color out there.

I quickly made up this little bunny but had the most trouble with the ears. I wanted a one-piece ear design that incorporated an inner white patch. It’s always tricky getting edges to line up when it comes to color patches… don’t even ask how many ears I had to make to come up with the final look. Not only was I working on the color changes but also the length of the ears and the attachment to the head. Thank you to the many individuals that gave me constructive feedback via Facebook and Instagram! I always love reading everyone’s comments and I like to take it all into consideration!

And though I don’t have a lot of experience making clothes for dolls, I decided to give it a shot and attempt a jacket for this little guy. I had a lot of fun testing out different things here… I’ve included the instructions how to make the jacket in my pattern. You can also leave off the sleeves and make a vest instead – I think this is a super cute look too! So again, with a seemingly simple design, I actually learned quite a bit while making this doll! 👍

My Benjamin Bunny pattern can be found in my usual shops – ETSY and Amigurumi.com Please pop over to take a look!

I toyed with creating a girl bunny as well but haven’t decided whether I’ll make an official pattern for it.

Again, for those interested, the yarn used to make this main doll is Cotton Sprout Yarn by Premier. Colors used include Beige, White, “Bark” for the trousers, and for the blue jacket, I used “Cornflower” and “Gloaming” for the edging. For the green jacket, I used “Leaf”.

I hope to see lots of Benjamin Bunnies pop up, especially since Easter isn’t that far away! Looking forward to seeing all the customized colors and personalized touches that make each doll unique! Have fun, everyone!

Free Small Kitty pattern available now!

Hooray!! I am so thrilled that Spring is finally here! I know I can’t really complain too much because I live in California where the winters are quite mild compared to many other places in the world. No snow, no blizzards, no freezing temps… but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve also become more sensitive to the cold around here so I’m still looking forward to warmer temperatures and all things Spring!

Luckily for me, my crochet workspace has a large window that looks out onto my front yard and currently I have an amazing view of abundant blossoms on our cherry trees! My beautiful Springtime view has really uplifted my whole mood lately and has inspired me to be generous with my crochet. 🙂

On that note, here’s another freebie for you to enjoy! 🙂 Click HERE to go to the free pattern!

In honor of the season, I’ve used these soft pastel shades to make this bunch of buddies. These are some of the smallest amigurumi that I’ve created to date. They’re super cute and can be used in many different ways, from ornaments, to desktop decor, to key chains! The pattern is easily adjustable for you to create other characters as well.

2021 – Happy New Year!

May this coming year bring us all some peace and serenity and of course good health! I hope you are all keeping safe out there! I wanted to share a few of the projects that I’ve been working on… My most recent completed one is Charlie the Chick!

I realized that I don’t have a chicken doll in my shop inventory, so I set about re-working the Chinese New Year chicken that I made a few years back. I never did write up the pattern for it, so I took it out for inspiration as I made Charlie!

The Year of the Rooster, that was back in 2017! Seems like eons ago now. Looking at the original doll, I knew I wanted to make some changes – I headed towards a more “kawaii” path and changed the proportions. The final design is quite simple – the most difficult part was figuring out how to do the feet and how to write it down properly in a way so people can follow along with my pattern! A cute striped jumper and an extra big head finishes his look. 🙂 Charlie’s pattens has been added to Etsy! Click HERE to visit my shop!

Now you might be aware that the Lunar New Year is once again fast approaching. This year it falls on February 12 and it’s going to be the Year of the Ox/Cow! It’s special for me since I was born under this zodiac sign. 🙂 So I came up with a cow as a buddy for Charlie! I plan to name it soon and release its pattern as well. I’m putting the finishing touches to it and it’ll definitely be up before the Lunar New Year! I’m also working on other farmyard friends so keep an eye out for those patterns in the future as well!

FREE PATTERN! Puppy Beanbag Buddies!

Hi everyone! I’m finally finished with my side project, my Puppy Beanbag Buddies! The pattern is very similar to my baby Owl and Violet Kitty patterns as they all have nice round, heavy bodies and make fabulous desktop accessories! The body contains polyester pellets to give it that extra heft and stability! They’re perfect for weighing down papers; I’ve even been known to use these little guys as impromptu pin cushions! 🙂

I think the world of amigurumi is more exciting than ever these days! It’s amazing to see how quickly the amigurumi community has expanded since way back when I first discovered this hobby. It’s truly inspiring to see all of the imaginative and creative techniques being used in crochet dolls these days! I’m sure you agree!

To thank you all for continuing to follow me and for your kind words of encouragement, I’ve decided to share this as a FREE PATTERN! Please click HERE!

These little buddies make for a very simple and relatively quick project, so you have plenty of time to make a few to slip into those stockings that are hanging on the mantel! Basic stitches are used so this would be a great project for anyone new to crocheting as well!

This pattern is also perfect for anyone who is interested in getting a head start on making something fun to celebrate the upcoming Lunar New Year… did you know that it’s going to be the Year of the Dog in 2018? ? I have a feeling there will be a ton of featured doggy designs within the amigurumi community in the next couple of months! 🙂

I wish you all a fantastic, magical holiday season! Cheers!

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!

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!

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!

Asian Zodiac Animals

I finally finished the 3 dolls that my friend commissioned me to make! Each will be gifted this Christmas to a niece or nephew, and each represents the Asian Zodiac animal for his/her birth year. What a neat idea, right? I hope the kiddos like them! I’ve always wanted to make all the Zodiac animals so this was a good motivator to get me going on this project. I don’t foresee myself finishing all 12 animals anytime in the near future, but I think I’ve got a pretty good start already. Let’s see, the 12 animals are the Rat, Cow, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig.

My plan is to eventually make new Zodiac versions of each animal. In the meantime, I can use existing dolls to represent the animals… ie. Mochi or Wasabi for Year of the Rabbit would work nicely! I’ve got a long way to go to make all the signs. No worries though! As long as I’ve got the animal done for the current year, I’m happy. Which animal sign are you? I’m a Cow (ok, that doesn’t sound so nice) and my husband is a Tiger. According to the horoscope, I am supposedly hard working and persistent. Hmmm I’m not sure if that’s completely accurate! My tiger husband is supposedly confidant, courageous, and dynamic. That’s probably true. But I’m not really one to be superstitious!! 🙂

Making Spike the Dragon

Phew!! Finally, finally I have finished up Spike! I started him back in May (!!) of this year and never got around to writing his pattern because the color changes were so tricky for me. Remember, I like to make everything up as I go and I really don’t have any good idea of how color changes should formally be written up. Chalk it up to laziness, I guess. I just want to go! go! go! when I’m crocheting and I don’t have the patience to try to sit down and see how others have written up their patterns! For a while now, I’ve been getting many inquiries from interested crocheters about when the dragon pattern was coming out so I am so happy to say “Here it is!!” I will be uploading it to my usual shops by tomorrow at the latest! Thank you all for being so darn patient and as always, I am so grateful for your interest and kind words of support!

And as you may know from my previous post, I am also doing this because my friend had requested a custom order of a dragon doll for his nephew who happens to be born in the Year of the Dragon. So here is my contribution towards my Little Muggles “Zodiac Collection”. I hope you like him!

In my pattern, I’ve also included a little tutorial about how to make color changes with smooth transitions. This is a MUST when making the belly of Spike. A lot of you probably already know the technique, but I made my own picture tutorial. I do intend to add a Tutorial section for my website sometime soon so please check back for it! Until then, have a fantastic day and as usual, Happy Crocheting!!