Dim Sum Inspired Amigurumi

My latest amigurumi ornament creation is a Laureny "wing it" special: a simple bao-style bun with safety eyes, piggie ears and a little snout. Scroll down to see the inspiration!

These sweet piggie buns are one of our must-haves at my favorite NJ dim sum palace, Qin Dynasty in Parsippany. On the menu they're called Steamed Custard Buns and they have the texture of a Steamed Pork Bun, with a filling of pineapple-y custard. 

When I had them for the first time, I not only knew that I wanted to eat them again the next time we were there, but also that I was pretty sure I knew how to make a crocheted version (...like ya do, lol...) as holiday ornaments! So (as you can see) I did. I used Lion Brand Vanna's Choice in Fisherman and Pink. The edible buns sadly don't have twirly piggie tails, but I was able to correct this oversight for the crocheted ones!

If you happen to live within driving distance of Parsippany, I highly recommend Qin Dynasty. They only have cart service on Saturdays and Sundays; but their full menu of dim sum dishes is available to order at anytime for lunch, dinner or takeout. As always, the perfect number of friends to share dim sum is THREE and these two (Elisabeth and Duke) make up the ultimate festive lunch posse:

As you can see, the meal made us so happy, we got a little blurry, lol! ♥♥♥

How About Some Dim Sum?!

Something which is *ALMOST* as much fun as meeting friends for dim sum is crocheting tiny dumplings, shu mai and sesame balls!

I used an excellent set of Dim Sum Playfood Patterns from the SkyMagenta Etsy Shop; this set has ELEVEN patterns. including a crocheted bamboo steamer, though I elected to purchase an inexpensive steamer instead to hold the crocheted bounty.

The official pattern didn't call for eyes, but I couldn't resist adding them; I love how the little guys seem to be peeping up at you when you open the steamer lid! The only other adjustment was to add a few more colors for variety; and, having recently remembered how to make bobbles, I worked a few into the tops or edges of some, again for variety and interest. 

I used Lion Brand's Vanna's Choice throughout with a slightly smaller hook than usual (a G in this case). Colors are Fisherman, Beige, Honey, Dusty Green, Mustard and Pink. And now I REALLY want some dumplings!!! :)

Let's Go Gecko

What's grey and green and hilarious and good at typing? Gordon the Amigurumi Gecko, of course! Made especially for Nephew Matthew's birthday. 

This pattern is called Gayle the Crested Gecko Amigurumi; it was designed by Charlyn Smith and is available in her Etsy Shop, Critterific Crochet. You can see lots more cute/realistic crocheted critters on her IG account @critterific_crochet.

I used (sadly discontinued) Mani Pedi yarn from Lion Brand in the Yoga colorway; though I "stacked the deck" by using the grey and green sections I had skipped over when making ami fishes a while back. I enjoyed making this and would recommend this well-written, intermediate level pattern (with LOTS of great photos and even links to some helpful videos) to anyone who is moderately skilled at crochet and likes lizards. 

Crochet Can You See

Just a few yarn-centric gifts I've made so far this summer:

 Finn Diesel is a goldfish cracker who loves cheesy jokes, cheesy fries and... well, pretty much anything cheesy! He's just gone back to college where he's majoring in Ichthyology and minoring in (you guessed it!) Cheese. He's met his roommate (my niece Maddie, pictured below) and they're already BFFFs: Best Fishy Friends Forever.

Goldie the Fish no-sew crochet pattern from Crochet Code AU Etsy Shop made up VERY quickly thanks to excellent design and a clear, well-illustrated pattern; Crocheted with an M hook in Bernat's Blanket Brights Yarn, Carrot Orange.

Mister Beary Berger is a handsome entree, looking for lunch in all the wrong places. He'd like to meet some outgoing french fries (preferably crocheted, but knitted would be ok) to share his plate!

Hamburger crochet pattern by Joyce Overheul from Vliegende Hollander Ravelry Shop; with snoot and ear adaptations downloaded a couple of years ago from a blog that sadly no longer exists. Crocheted with a G hook in Lion Brand Vanna's Choice Yarn, Honey, Beige, Chocolate, Mustard, Sweet Pea and Scarlet.

Finally, meet Fleur, a tiny crocheted watering can full of flowers who's bloomin' happy to be here. 

 Excellent and easy -to-follow Kawaii Watering Can pattern by Olga Novytska of Aradiya Toys with LOTS of detailed photos; crocheted with a G hook in Lion Brand Vanna's Choice Yarn, Silver Heather, Sea Spray Mist, Raspberry and Magenta.

The WRITE Stuff

I love to crochet, I may have mentioned that, lol. A lot of the things I make are teeny tiny and crocheted in the round, but this time I WENT BIG and made this Crafty Pencil Pillow, using am adorable pattern from Ashley Stallsworth who is on Ravelry and Instagram as A Crafty Concept. 

Details for yarncrafters: I used Vanna's Choice from Lion Brand Yarn and a J hook. The yarn colors are: Mustard (barrel of pencil); Fisherman (wood); Charcoal (lead); Silver Heather (eraser holder); and Pink (eraser). The pattern is well written and easy to follow; finishing was minimal and straightforward. This Crafty Pencil Pillow worked up quickly and was a lot of fun to make.

TURTLE-y Awesome

Meet Shelly Turtletaub, the cutest Sunflower Turtle you've ever seen! Ok, possibly the only Sunflower Turtle you've ever seen. Even as a keen Amigurumian* I've only just stumbled upon the bewilderingly awesome world of crocheted novelty turtles** there are strawberry turtles, cupcake turtles, pancake and bacon turtles, (I swear I'm not making this up!) cherry pie turtles, bowl of cereal turtles, succulent turtles, ice cream sundae turtles, cheeseburger turtles and every kind of flower turtle you can possibly imagine, including (circling back to Shelly) Sunflower Turtles!

This Crochet Sunflower Turtle Pattern from Heathers Boutique US Etsy Shop was made by special request. I used Vanna's Choice from Lion Brand Yarn, but to achieve a slightly larger turtle (from snoot to tail Shelly measures about 11") I held two strands together and used a J hook. Colors used: Honey (shell); Mustard (petals); and one strand of Sweet Pea with one strand of Dusty Green for the rest... a combination I devised because I didn't have enough of either color to make all the parts; as it turned out, the slightly mottled coloring is much more Turtle-y than either would've been alone! (I had a Bob-Ross-style "happy accidents" moment when this occurred!) :)

If you were going to design a "Crossover Creature" what would it be? Off the top of my head, my favorite ideas so far are... let's see... Banana Stegosaurus? Daisy Jellyfish? Ice Cream Cone Planets? Hmmmmm... 

*Probably technically not a word, but it should be!!!

**Seriously, there are soooooo many and plenty have free patterns available, but I've LINKED TO the strand on Etsy because it had the most photos in one place together!

Meet Octavia

Octavia is a Baby Octopus who enjoys swimming, and would like to learn how to ride a sea horse someday. With eight arms, she is especially good at giving hugs. Her favorite color is (of course!) purple. 

Octavia is based on this free pattern from The Friendly Red Fox's website, where there are LOTS of free crochet patterns, tips and tutorials, definitely worth checking out. I used a combination of hand-me-down acrylic yarns for this, the purple and white are both Studio Samples by Nicole; the variegated yarn is Wendy Peter Pan from Thomas Ramsden, held together with a strand of the lilac to get a bulkier gauge. 

PS: True Story: When my nephew Matthew was about three he was VERY into sea creatures and  knew a lot about aquatic life. At one point I made reference to an octopus having eight arms, to which Matthew said, very politely, "I think you mean *TENTACLES* Aunt Lauren." ♥♥♥

Holiday Treats

These adorable crocheted macarons were this year's handmade ornament, and while you can't eat them, they're still pretty sweet! 

This paragraph is the knitty gritty details, so if you don't crochet or have any interest in yarncraft, you can skip it! French Macaron Cookies pattern by JuliHMtoys available in her Etsy Shop. Macarons crocheted with a C-hook in Lion Brand Yarn's TruBoo, rayon yarn made from bamboo; this was my first time using it, and admittedly I chose it for the colors, slightly glossy finish and (crucially!) the fact that it was on sale and the correct weight for my project; but like everything from Lion Brand, it's a very nice yarn to work with and I recommend it heartily. Colors: Goldenrod, Mulberry, Mint, Light Blue and Cameo, with soft Silver for the frosting. (They do make a bright white as well, but it was not in-stock at the big box store on the day I was shopping, so I went with the best shade available.)

It's Taco... Thursday?

I was scrolling through the photos on my phone and realized I never posted the incredibly awesome, GIANT Taco Pillow I made for my nephew Matthew's birthday in September; so here it is now!

This project was inspired by the adorable Happy Lil Taco @theknottyboss offers as a free pattern. As you can see, I super-sized it by crocheting with three strands of Vanna's Choice from @lionbrandyarn (Mustard, Duckie and Beige add up to the variegated shade of a crunchy corn taco shell, in case you wondered) and working until my taco shell circle was approximately 22" in diameter; a measurement scientifically based on that being when I ran out of the lightest shade. To make the curly lettuce (one strand of Sweet Pea and one of Radiant Lime) I used the stitch progression @walkerwhimsy devised for the clouds on her Rainy Day Scarf, but worked as an edging. The tomatoes are just half-circles of red, and again their size and quantity were based on when I ran out of Scarlet yarn. The cute mustachio was also a free pattern, which I unfortunately did not save; but if you Google "crocheted mustache pattern" you'll be spoilt for choice. 

I'd write more about this but it's nearly lunchtime and now I really REALLY want some tacos!

Make Your Own Rainbow!

Flashing back to the autumn of 2012: Hurricane Sandy left us without electricity for eleven days, and pretty much the only thing I could accomplish in the evenings, by candlelight, were very simple (and BRIGHT!) crochet projects, so I made a few of Caitlin Walker's beautiful Rainy Day Scarves from a free pattern she had posted on her blog. A few weeks ago I stumbled upon the pattern again in one of my yarncraft notebooks and thought it was exactly what I wanted to make for my niece Maddie's birthday. So I did.

I changed the clouds from grey to white... less realistic, but better with this lighter palette, I thought. One my Maddie's favorite colors is aqua, so I chose the other shades to incorporate it. Lion Brad's Vanna's Choice is a medium weight acrylic with a huge palette, so it tends to be my go-to for amigurumis and other colorful projects. In this case I used Periwinkle, Colonial Blue, Aquamarine, Radiant Lime, Mustard, Goldfish and Raspberry for the rainbow and a J hook to keep the stitches loose and the fabric comfortably pliant.

Slightly tangentially to the above, is an idea about keeping a record of one's yarn creations. If, like me, you're a crocheter or knitter who makes mostly gift items, you probably already photograph and post your projects, so it might seem silly to also PRINT the pics and put them all in a little book together. but... I highly recommend it! Not only is it fun to look back on allllllllllllllllllll the things you've made, but it's incredibly helpful for remembering what you've made for whom and when; as well as what pattern you used, which yarn and needle/hook size, and any changes or adjustments you made to the pattern; specific colorways, etc.

You obviously don't need to make a special ATC book (hey... I'm a papercrafter... it's what I do, lol) it could be as simple as pasting pictures into a blank book and writing the date with a few notes, or using index or rolodex cards in a little filing system, but I believe you will find it as helpful and inspiring as I do to have ALL of your previous projects in one handy place! 

I'd write more about this idea, but it'd be taking away time from working on my next yarn creation, which is an amigurumi ice cream cone! ♥

PS: Blogger is another great record-keeping tool, especially since it's searchable; a quick check of tags reveals that I originally made and posted this Ami Minibook in August of 2010 and you can read all about it right HERE! :) 

A (Daisy) Heart-felt Gift!

Papercrafting is, of course, my favorite creative pursuit, but it's not something you can do in a waiting room, or riding in the car, so my "portable" sub-craft involves yarn. I can knit and crochet, though in the last few years I've done more of the latter. This sweet little purse is a birthday present I made for one of our grandnieces and I think it turned out nearly as cuuuuuute as she is!

This adorable Daisy Heart Granny Purse Crochet Pattern is free from Daisy Cottage Designs and she has lots more patterns for all kinds of projects. I changed the strap slightly and used Vanna's Choice Yarn from Lion Brand.

Birthday Monster!

This is Stephanie's photo of the Little Monster I made for her birthday (and an awesome collage she made while we were creating together, as well!) I chose this fine gauge yarn because it's Stephanie's favorite colors and I had never made a variegated amigurumi before; though it was a "leftover" of which I had only one tennis-ball-sized amount so I was slightly nervous that I'd run out, but thankfully all was well.

This pattern, which was free from the Lovely Craft website had an especially clever way to make the Monster stand up: you crochet a turning round at the bottom edge (by working only through the back loops) and then... you add a little round of cardboard after stuffing, but before decreasing to close the circle. I found that my smallest circle Nestie die worked perfectly on scrap chipboard and was pleasantly shocked at how sturdily this Monster stands!

I don't know why I started thinking of this Monster in a Frida Kahlo type of vein, but after I did, I couldn't resist adding a chunky beaded necklace and an orange flower... I found the tiny monkey eraser while looking for something else and decided she needed a friend!

Hello, Dino!

Long long ago, dinosaurs roamed the earth in search of itinerant typing jobs! This adorable Toby the Stegosaurus pattern is by Mariska Vos-Bolman (aka @diyfluffies on instagram) via her Ravelry shop. Crocheted in Demin Mist Vanna's Choice from Lion Brand Yarn. RAWR!!! 

Whole Lotl Love

Nothing says "Happy Spring" quite as well as a bunch of rainbow axolotls, am I right? Ok maybe not, but I've just made a bunch of rainbow axolotls and I'm totally smitten with them, lol, so let's just pretend that makes sense. Before you ask, YES, axolotls (I've linked to Wikipedia to save you Googling) are a real species of aquatic salamander; they really do have those crazy triple gills around their face, and they really can be found in interestingly bright colors, including PINK! Having said that, this sweet Baby Axolotl pattern from Minigurumi is very stylized and kawaii... in a good way!  

My friend Gina, who is an aquarium lover and has had pet axolotls in the past, found this teeeeeeeny version on Minigurumi's Instagram and I decided to surprise her with one. Mine's pretty small... about 1.25" tall... but not nearly as small as the ones on IG (amigurumi size is based on what combination of yarn and hook you use; I tend not to go much smaller than a C hook for reasons of sanity and eyesight) but he (or she?) is pretty flippin' cute! I had so much fun making the first one that I decided to experiment with other colors and yarn/hook combos and made a little family of them for another friend and her kiddos. These range from about 2.25" (pink) to 3.5" (yellow). The most challenging part is attaching their tiny little one-stitch feet, but luckily after completing the second one, I had a brainwave about putting them on BEFORE closing up the body, and that made a huge difference! 

I hope you've had a LOTL fun seeing my tiny wooly pals! :)

Narwhal Sighting!

I fell in love with this FREE crocheted narwhal pattern from The Friendly Red Fox. I used leftover Red Heart "Hopscotch" yarn in a colorway called "Scooter" and sent it off to our grandnephew, Hudson, who just turned two in June. Oh how time flies... or in this case, I guess it swims, lol.

meet otto...

...the eight-legged birthday present i made for our grand-nephew hudson's first birthday. don't get me started on the whole, "how can he already be a year old, he was just BORN for pete's sake!" topic, lol. honestly i think the older i get, the fast life flies past. but when it comes to crocheting, that's time well spent!

i used this awesome free baby octopus pattern from the friendly red fox, where there are many awesome free patterns including this narwhal that i'd quite like to make for myself! the pattern called for worsted weight yarn and a G hook, but i supersized it by substituting bernat baby blanket yarn (which is the softest, squishiest chenille you could possibly imagine!) and an M hook. i also made the tentacles four different lengths, and incorporated a few additional colors just to make it a little bit more dynamic.

the result is an octopus that is just slightly larger than the birthday boy... though obviously not nearly as cute. mission accomplished! ♥

this is why i crochet! ♥

in case there was any question about it, this photo that our niece jazzy sent of our grandniece, gracie, with the bunny i made for her birthday solves the mystery pretty well!

this amigurumi bunny pattern by laura eccleston is available FREE on the happy berry website! where there are many, many other adorable free patterns as well; some are even available made up as kits.

my version was made using vanna's choice by lion brand yarn, in beige, pink poodle and raspberry; on a j-hook to get a nice tight stitch, which is what you want for amigurumi.  

my only innovation was that instead of making a pom pom tail, i crocheted and stuffed  a small white circle. by sewing it on at just the right angle, it formed a tripod with the legs in front, and allows the bunny to sit up securely! this is definitely a trick i will remember in future!

although it's probably an optional extra right now, as i don't think this bunny is going to be sitting alone for a while yet! ♥♥♥

and now for something completely different...

...we interrupt your regular schedule of cards and ICADs to bring you a tiny knitted sweater:

because we are thrilled to welcome our very first grand-nephew, young hudson hagar, born to our eldest nephew and his wife a couple of weeks ago. of course a guy's very first "welcome to the world" present requires something a bit special in the way of wrapping, so i used eyelet outlet washi tape and baby animal brads to dress up a plain white box and some store bought ribbon. i designed the box to coordinate with the baby card i made for hudson a couple of months ago.

for my fellow knitters out there i should probably mention that this excellent, top-down, no-seams pattern is a free ravelry download called "baby sophisticate" by linden down; i used one supersized skein of barcelona big yarn by loops and threads in a colorway called lapis lazuli. ♥

thrilling yarns, redux*

i was sorting through photos on my phone the other day, when i realized i had a bunch of un-blogged yarn projects. which led me to wonder if i had at least printed out pics to put in my little amigurumi playing card book? nope. and since i spent the time cropping and printing the pics, finding the names of the patterns, and making atc-sized pages for each one, i'm at least getting a post out of this, lol! also, it's much easier for me to go back and find a specific photo/project thru blogger's searchable index than it is on my phone, where i just have to scroll for all eternity. so feel free to skip this and come back tomorrow when i'll have another christmas critter card for ya!

a big smooshy cupcake for our grand-niece maddy's second birthday. made with bernat's chunky chenille yarn and an M hook, from a pattern intended to be a tiny amigurumi. (this is what's great about yarn... for the same number of stitches you can make something adorably tiny OR huge and awesome, using the same pattern, just by changing yarn and needle combinations)

nearly all the niece and nephew gifts are collaborations between the kid and myself. i like for them to choose the project, and then we decide between us what kind of yarn, colors, etc should be used. riley fell in love with "the smooshy yarn" i had used for something else, and decided on a small blanket with a chevron pattern. i found this zig zag afghan pattern by bernat on ravelry. since the chenille doesn't come in quite as many colors as some yarns do, we had to finagle a little bit to find a great combo, but we got there in the end! (obviously it made my day when my SIL sent this pic of riley snuggling under the present in question, lol!)

this uber-large BB8 was made for matthew's 9th birthday, last september, from a pattern my sister found on pinterest. it's meant to be approximately the size of the one in the movie, which is about 15" tall or so. i started working on it with one strand of chenille, and somehow decided, based on the gauge, that it was going to be too small. so i plussed up to two  strands and a Q hook. it's flippin' HUUUUGE as you can see, and needed nearly three bags of fiberfill stuffing. matthew didn't complain, tho... ;)

flash forward to my september 2017 vacation in nyc with stephanie. i'd started working on a chunky afghan for lindsay that was already too big to be a take along. despite gentle nudging thru the summer, matthew hadn't chosen a pattern yet. so i "helped" him, lol. but really, who could fail to love this amazingly realistic cheeseburger by joyce overheul?! 

this crocheted mandala is called sophie's garden and it's been my interim project all year long. i love that it's challenging without being actually difficult. it's definitely cool to change up with something where every round is different, in between highly repetitive projects like ami's and afghans. 

lindsay marie picked this strawberry milkshake pattern by super cute design last fall for her birthday, and asked me to "supersize" it!

the emoji pillow i made for maddie's 12th birthday is one of the very very few crochet projects on which i winged it. for the record, i don't love to innovate with yarn. it's my relaxation craft, so having really good instructions (with pics!) is totally awesome. believe it or not, getting the basic size and shape-- a flat circle rather than an orb, in a vaguely throw pillow type of size-- was the hardest part.

a few years ago i made matthew a minion using this pattern by pops de milk. last year, my niece jessica saw it and was pretty crazy about him. so i made another.

once i had all the photos printed, the dates remembered, the names of patterns and types of yarn at my fingertips, i added each of the projects above to my little ami book, which is not so little any more, actually:

the pages of the book are ATC-sized (3.5 x 2.5") and built on top of old playing cards. on the front of each card is a photo of the project:

on the back is the date, the pattern source, the type of yarn and hook or needle size and any other relevant information i want to remember about the project.

if you make a lot of gifts, i highly recommend having a place where you note down all of these things, even if it's just a storebought photo album or a little spiral-bound notebook. because if you're anything like me, there are a couple of things i can totally guarantee: one is that you think you'll remember the details... but you won't. and the other is that you will ♥LOVE♥ looking back through all of the presents you've made and remembering the people for whom you made them. 

♥♥♥

*sorry if this is a "re-run" post! i accidentally scheduled it for october 2nd instead of november 2nd and didn't notice it until 24 hours later when it didn't show up in my schedule. so of course anyone who uses a reader has seen this already, but i'm putting it back where i had intended it to go anyhow. because *I* am the boss of mr. blogger, dang it, lol!  

miscellaneous crafty stuff

aka a round-up of some things i've worked on recently that didn't really fit into any other post. because yeah...that's how scientific my "process" is, lol!

as far as i can tell, burnt umber color burst was designed especially so that would-be mehndi artists like myself could practice our henna tattoo skills in our sketchbooks. right??

this yarn is called "treasure" and seems to be living up to its name.

not to be conceited, but when the olympic committee FINALLY recognizes gift wrapping as a sport, i'm pretty confident i can bring home the silver for team usa!

last week's #sisters with heart in art prompt was TRANSPARENCY. i used distress crayons and gelatos to draw some super-loose flowers on top of a vintage paper collage; then covered it with wrinkly deli paper. the results were more "interesting" than "good" imo, but i had a lot of fun essperimenting with this, which in a lot of ways i enjoy more, anyhow...

i found out via social media wednesday night that am definitely not the only adult who still watches "it's the great pumpkin charlie brown" every year. i may be the only one who has decided henceforth to always doodle all over a colorbust-painted pumpkin while it's on, though...

hope your weekend will be full of good weather, virtuously accomplished chores, some crafty "me time" and maybe even a tasty treat or two! ♥♥♥