Tag: new

My Ami Beanbag Buddies!

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My 6 year old bag of polyester pellets

A number of years ago, I bought a big bag of poly-pellets, which are basically little plastic beads used for stuffing dolls.  I found it at my local craft store and thought it’d be fun to incorporate them into my amigurumis.  I used them in the bodies of a few of my dolls, but the whole bag just ended up sitting in a box untouched since then. Well, a few weeks ago I came across that bag and started brainstorming some design ideas that would make use of those poly-pellets!  Thus my beanbag buddy idea was born.  I wanted to make something small and unique, something that could  sit on a desktop or shelf and just add a pop of cuteness.  A little beanbag doll seemed ideal – they are all nice and stable from the heaviness of the pellets.

Violet the Kitty is my first beanbag creation.  She’s made a very soft worsted weight yarn I am very pleased with the color combination here.  I like to choose colors that you might not think to put together, just to make things interesting. I toyed with the idea of making these “buddies” with no limbs, which I think would look good too.  But the little arms and feet look so cute that I had to include them.

Violet
Side view
Bottom view

After Violet, I just had to add some colorful friends for her, so I came up with these:

Hippo
Squirrel
Owl

 

Owls

 

My final beanbag buddy turned out to this baby owl.  I’ve always wanted to make an owl, but there are already so many out there, I wasn’t sure if I could come up with a fresh version of one.  I was amazed at all the positive feedback I got for this simple little design!  It’s such cute little character and such a fun little project that I’ve decided to release this pattern for FREE!  There are endless color combinations and designs that can be incorporated into this pattern! I hope you all remember to post pictures of your owl creations on my Facebook page because I can’t wait to see all the creativity out there!!

As always, thank you so much for your interest, love, and support! I am constantly amazed by all the fantastic creations I see from you all and I am honored and thrilled that so many people seem to like my work!  Happy crocheting!

CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE BABY OWL PATTERN!!

 

 

2013 Year of the Snake!

Year of the Amigurumi Snake!

Happy Lunar New Year, everyone! Gong Xi Fa Cai, Gung Hay Fat Choy!

As a kid, I really looked forward to this time of year.   Because it is customary for all married relatives and friends to give children red envelopes stuffed with money, this was a very profitable time of year for me!  My mother would clean the house from top to bottom and set up a little New Year’s table, decorated with beautiful flowers, oranges, pomelos, “good luck” candies and cakes… She would even put on her old records (remember those?) of festive holiday music.  Everyone would just be a really happy mood, getting ready to celebrate the start of  a fresh new year!

In honor of the coming year’s zodiac sign, I present my little snake to you!  I never considered making a gurumi snake, (thinking that I could never make a cute one) but I was suddenly struck with inspiration earlier this week and here is what I came up with!  I wanted something with a pop of color, since a plain, single color snake didn’t seem so interesting to me.  I felt the color red would have made the snake too “Christmasy”,  so I settled for a nice festive orange instead!  Perfect, since oranges and tangerines are ubiquitous during this festive time of year!  I think this snake adds a cute and unique touch to all the New Year’s decorations in the house.

The tricky part of making this little guy was coiling his body just right so that his head pops up in just the right place.  After I coiled it, I did pin it in a couple of discreet places for it to hold it’s position.   Just sew those spots together with some yarn and your snake should stay upright and coiled indefinitely!  The free pattern can be found HERE!