Another Birthday!!!

Remember I said I couldn't wait to get back to knitting?

Well, my eldest sister's birthday was two days ago, and for her gift, I decided to make a sweet scarf. Knowing one of her favorite colors was purple, I went out and got a couple of balls of soft, purple yarn and started on her birthday project.

The scarf is really simple, with a simple knit pattern. The scarf is very long - long enough to wrap around the neck once and having both ends reach the waist (two balls of yarn were used).



The stitch pattern I used was the Double Seed Stitch:

Double Seed Stitch
Multiple of 4

Row 1 and 2: *K2, P2; rep from *
Row 3 and 4: *P2, K2; rep from *

For the finishing touch, I folded a scrapbook cardstock sheet and plain poster board (cut to the size of the scrapbook sheet) into a box, added purple tissue paper, and crocheted a flower for ornamenting. Pink ribbon was used to tie the scarf as well as sheer blue ribbon to wrap the box. A Happy Homemades by Jocy Xiong tag was also added.

I hope she liked it.

Somewhere over the Rainbow....

I sewed a Rainbow-cloud bag and have decided to share it here today. The strap is made of a durable rainbow ribbon, attched to the cloud pouch with silver buckles. The cloud is soft (just like how a cloud should be!), made of a fleece material. The inside of the cloud is lined with a polyester fabric. The bag is closed with a white zipper, which has a cute foam cloud pull. I bought and clipped pins onto the front of the bag for additional cuteness (I luckliy found them at a local thrift store). Harharhar. I love this bag, although I use it rarely. It is one of the cutest - and most useful - things I have ever made!!!

Watch out, Red!!!

Little Red Ridding Hood went out one day into the woods to visit her grandmother.
Little did Little Red know that she would be in danger.... A big bad wolf had seen her skipping happily along, and decided that she would be a tasty treat! So the Big Bad Wolf hurried to the grandmother's house and cleverly disguised himself as the sweet old woman.

When Little Red reached her grandmother's house, she was in for a surprise!!!

Grandmother looked very strange to Little Red.
"My, what big teeth you have!"

"Oh, the better to eat you with my dear!!!"


But wait!!! In my story, Little Red uses the magical mushroom she picked on her walk to banish the evil Big Bad Wolf forever!!!!


Hahaha! I didn't mean to change the story, but I didn't take enough pictures to finish the real version. Little Red and the Big Bad Wolf are made of various yarns, have safety eyes, and are stuffed with a polyester/silk blend fiber. All amigurumi designs by me.

I'm Back!!!

With not with much of an update.

But I will soon be uploading pictures of a rainbow bag that I made...along with some images of cute amigurumis.

I haven't been knitting or crocheting in a long while. I miss it so much! It's been a few busy months with my brother and his family coming over to visit and us girls going over to Vegas to visit them in return. I'm glad that the weather is beginning to change - I can finally start making winter accessories with my now dusty yarns!!! HAHA.

Please look forward to my next post, as I will make it very soon (all I need to do is take the photos).

Happy Birthday!!! - A Short Story

For my sister's birthday, I made an itty bitty teddy amigurumi! Although this post is late (because her birthday was a few days ago), I am going to post about the cutie's story.

So, this little cutie was really made a few weeks ago and was made like most of my projects are - during 'television & craft session'! I don't mean to call the activity that, but it just so happens that I tend to craft (knit, crochet, whatnot) while watching TV. SIGH. But... give me points for multi-tasking!!! YEAH!!! :D *imaginary high-fives!!!*

Anyway... my sister and I are sitting on the couch and she asks what it is this time that I am attempting to make. And I shrug her off (like I do all things when knitting or crocheting - I'M COUNTING!!!) and say, "A bear." When I finished, this was what I got. She took it (him) away from me and started making him dace. Suddenly it hit her. "Is this for me," she asks. I look up at her from my yarn and smile a huge, mischievous smile (because I hadn't really thought of it) and replied, "Yeessss?" Hehe. I guess I am evil. But, she loved it and I insisted that she give it a name on the spot.... Poor little thing. Even to this day, it has no name. My sister had gone back to watching the television and had thought no further into naming him.

The next morning, I noticed that he was just sitting on the TV counter, where she had left him the night before.

Me: So, don't you like the amigurumi?
Her: Yeah....
Me: So? Why is it just sitting there?

Her: Because! What? Am I supposed to carry it around with me?

Me: No.

Her: It just seems lonely by itself. Oooo! Make another one to go with it! It needs a best friend!

So this happened:

This little bunny finally met the tiny teddy. And they became best friends!!! ❤ Sadly, she also has no name...which I can entirely blame myself for, because she is mine.

You'd think their stories end here with no names and no place to live, but nooooo....

The next night, after having seen a panda in a cartoon show, my sister (the same one - we have two other sisters) insisted that I make a panda amigurumi! And so I did!

The tiny teddy and the little bunny made a new friend, Peter the panda. Peter, as you may have already known, was a luckier amigurumi because he actually got a name! His name is the same as the panda in the cartoon! When Peter arrived, he shared the tiny space inside a tiny house with the tiny teddy and the little bunny.

And they lived happily ever after....

Whew, that was a lot to put into one post!!!

But I'm not done! (There's not much more to say, I promise!) I just need to add that these little items: the tiny teddy, little bunny, Peter the panda, and the tiny house; all came from my big head. The amigurumis are made with Red Heart Super Saver yarn (which are the most common yarns I use) in white and pink as well has black, brown, and beige felt for muzzles, ears, arms, legs, and Peter's eye patches. They have beaded eyes and are stuffed with love (actually the same fiberfill as Mr. Darcy from the previous post). The tiny house is cardboard with construction paper shingles, wall paper, carpet, and facade. The windowsill flower pots are pipe cleaners and the flowers are beads. The foam hearts and red knob are from a small valentines mail box another of my sisters no longer uses. The amigurumis are each about 3.5" and the house is 6.5" x 5" x 5.5".

Heh heh. I bet that's a lot to read!!!

P. S. The tiny bear was not all I got my sister. I also got her a pet hamster, something she has been wanting for a long time.

A Lady's Gentleman

I always wanted to make a teddy bear amigurumi big enough to cuddle... and toss around on the bed without losing... so when my sister and I stumbled upon a very soft skein of yarn in our local Joann store, I had to buy it. I loved the nature-esque color! The brand of yarn, Patons, has very beautiful browns and reds. The skein I purchased was "Patons Shetland Chunky: Earthy Brown" and this is what I made:

His name is Boe Darcy, but is also known just as "Mr. Darcy". I had ideas of giving him a more relaxed/laid back personality, however, after he got his bow tie, it was sort of out of the picture. So now he is a kind and helpful gentleman (quite opinionated, also). Mr. Darcy's bow is made of black felt and adjustable, being able to turn all 360 around his neck if he preferred. In addition to being made of Patons' Natrue Brown, his ears, arms, legs, and muzzle are crocheted out of Red Heart Super Saver: Aran Fleck yarn. OH!!! Mr. Darcy took up the entire Patons skein... to the very last inch... and even that.

Here Mr. Darcy was posing a few weeks ago on a late afternoon, right before the sun sat. He is enjoying the front yard from the porch (and trying not to knock over the daisy in the vase!). From this picture, you can see my poor crochet work... as there are many visible holes in Mr. Darcy. I did not skip stitches, but rather crocheted too loosely (I am still learning to crochet amigurumis correctly).

Mr. Darcy is made from my own design, mostly freestyled as I went on. I probably won't create another one like him because I really don't remember my exact steps into his making.... Actually, I am thinking of creating one-of-a-kinds, so it doesn't really matter that I don't remember the pattern to this, I guess. heh heh

I really had fun making Mr. Boe Darcy, who is already a few months old. And he loves watching television late into the night and napping by my pillow.

P.S. Mr. Darcy stands (if he could stand on his own) about 12 inches tall, from his ears to the tips of his toes. He is also stuffed with Heritage 'A Touch of Silk' Luxury Fiberfill (95% polyester, 5% silk blend).

Summer

About a year ago I had taught myself to knit. Because I was a complete newbie, I focused on small projects like scarves and dishcloths. I was pushing myself to learn crochet, but was frustrated each time I opened the little crochet booklet that came with my starter kit. A few weeks later, I was finally able to sit and properly read the booklet's (now simple) instructions and illustrations.

As soon as I learned to crochet, I went into amigurumi. This was when Summer was born.

Summer was my first amigurumi project, following the spiral crochet technique. Summer was given the name of the same season in which she was created. She is not made from my own pattern, of course, because I was just beginning to learn crochet, but is from the 'Little Teddy Bear' pattern in Kyuuto! Japanese Crafts! Amigurumi! by Tomoko Takamori. Summer turned out different from the bears shown inside the book because she was made from different yarn and also because I made plenty of mistakes from the given pattern. (Hehe...it was my first attempt....)

Now, Summer is a year old. She is very sweet, yet spunky. Her main outfit is her felt 'sun' t-shirt and pink crochet cap, which shows her fun and bright spirit. Her second favorite outfit is her warm winter vest and flower skirt that she feels most comfortable wearing in Autumn (although she wears it throughout the cold seasons). The pink polka-dot dress fits her snugly, but she doesn't like it much because it is too girly.

Summer is very cherished and has her own space at the end of my bed.