Giraffe

After taking a break from crocheting, I've decided to start again but this time I want to start selling my creations. I've been putting this off for some time, making excuses that I was too busy to crochet. A lot of my friends and family have been telling me to open up an Etsy shop but I wasn't sure if I was good enough. Last year, I set up an Etsy shop, thinking up a name and building my profile, but I never put up any products. Now I've decided to start taking orders and slowly make products for my shop. I already have my shop name, HelloMonAmi.

A couple of people of made orders already; the first one is a giraffe. I spent all day working on it and it turned out really well. I think I've gotten a lot better at sewing the limbs and the details. This pattern I got from the Vanna's Choice Easy Crochet Critters book; the same book where I got the patterns for the lion and "elephin" I made a couple years ago when I first started. The original pattern uses softer "baby-like" colors but the person who ordered it wanted it to be like an actual giraffe. And luckily, I had the perfect colors for it! I'm really pleased with the way it came out.

I'm still taking crochet orders and I'm open to any suggestions on what I should make to put in my shop. Message me on Facebook or on my blog and we can discuss what I can make you! I can do most animal amigurumi dolls, scarves, hats, and a lot of other things. Tell me what you want and I will see if it is something I can crochet for you! Or you can wait until I have my Etsy shop up, which I hope will be soon!

Last Christmas...

I decided to save money by making some crochet stuff. There's this family that has become very close to my family and we spend many of the major holidays together. I made their oldest son, Joseph, a crochet monkey from the Vanna's Choice Easy Crochet Critters book. He loves animals.

(I wish I had taken close-up photos of the monkey...)

Just a month before Christmas, his mom, Rachel, gave birth to a baby boy. His name's Daniel and I crocheted him fuzzy blue booties for the cold Utah winters. I used soft fluffy light blue yarn to help keep the baby's toesies warm.

(...the booties too.)

Booties pattern: Bev's Very Easy Booties

For Rachel, I crocheted her a thick headband.

 I had made a headband earlier for someone else and I thought it would be a great Christmas gift to give. Here is the first headband I made which was given to Donna's friend, Janice.

I loved how these headbands came out. I think I made the first one a little big but the second one (Rachel's) was a little better in size. The button I used for these headbands really made them look great. It helped to keep them securely fastened too. I found this pattern on YouTube and it was created by bobwilson123. Here is the link to the video tutorial: http://youtu.be/HJLIsyyn_CM

Lion (Rawr)

Another one of Donna's friends, Doyoung, asked for an amigurumi. I made her a lion from Vanna's Choice Easy Crochet Critters book after I made Gavon's Nosferatu. I was really proud of this one. It came out so cute and Doyoung loved it. My friends loved it too when they saw it posted on Facebook. My friend, Raquel, saw the lion and asked if she could post it on her own blog. It was exciting to have one of my dolls be featured on a website other than my Facebook and be shared with other people.

One of my friends from high school also thought the lion was the cutest thing ever so I made her one too for Christmas. She was really excited about it when she got it.

I think the tail is extremely cute ^_^

Second Day of Blogging

This is quite an accomplishment for me. A second blog post.. O_O

My second crochet project...was a big failure (WAH WAH WAHHHH). I was really excited for this one because I was making it for my sister, Donna, and it was an elephant, her favorite animal. It started out really great but the longer I worked on it, the more I grew tired and impatient. I began to lose focus and ended up skipping 8 whole rounds of crocheting! (I didn't notice the missing steps until I fastened it close) The missing 8 rounds were supposed to be the length of the elephant's trunk. After that mistake, I just didn't care anymore and sewed the legs on at an awkward angle for the elephant...so it ended up looking like a dolphin with big ears.

And here it is, my ele-phin..

When I gave it to Donna, there was this look of disappointment and my heart just sunk. I felt so bad and I told her I would make something else for her. I still haven't made her anything since then but I am planning something. I just hope it turns out well...or at least better than the elephant/dolphin.

The elephant pattern is from the Vanna's Choice Easy Crochet Critters book. I got it at Hobby Lobby in the yarn section for about $5.