Cow Amigurumi

Right after I finished the hats for my paternal grandmother, my mom thought it would be a good idea for me to make one for her mom since her birthday is coming up soon. My grandma is a talented knitter. I originally wanted to learn how to knit and she tried to teach me when she came to visit us one time. But knitting wasn't for me. Having to work with two needles was awkward for me. Crocheting requires the use of only one hook and was easier for me to learn and quickly pick up on. My grandma has knitted a lot of hats, scarves, slippers, and gloves for our family. She's also knitted a shawl with fringing for my mom and rooster dolls for my sister and me. She knits a lot nowadays, sometimes selling what she makes. She's knitted so much for us so of course I should make something for her.

Since she lives in Los Angeles, I didn't think a crocheted hat would be a good idea so I made her an amigurumi. I've saved a lot of patterns that I've wanted to use so I went through my folder and found this cow pattern that I had been wanting to make for a while. It's a cute and easy pattern. Only problem I had with it was that it didn't say which hook size to use so I had to experiment. The creator says she usually uses an H hook for her patterns but I thought that was too big so I tried a size smaller. But after a few rounds, it was getting too big so I tried an even smaller hook. It's still turned out bigger than I wanted but I stuck with that size since using a smaller hook with the kind of yarn I was using was going to be difficult. I was a little short on the white yarn but thankfully I've been trying to be frugal and kept all my leftover scraps of yarn so I had some extra white pieces to finish the pattern.

Studio Ami: Cow Pattern

Hats!

I got a request to make my grandma some hats! She wanted a newsboy style hat in periwinkle and navy blue with flower accents. I started making the periwinkle one but when I finished, the hat was enormous! It was puffier than it looked in the pictures even though I had the correct gauge measurements and used a smaller crochet hook. Not sure what went wrong. It's not bad but much more bigger than I had imagined it would be so I found a new hat pattern that actually looks a lot more like the style she wears.

Newsboy Cap pattern

(Sorry for the poor picture quality. I didn't have enough lighting!)

I made the blue hat's brim a little shorter and I think it looks a bit better that way but it's a pretty subtle difference.

I omitted the strap and button in the pattern since my grandma wanted a flower on the hats. I also omitted the plastic mesh in the brim. I thought it would be too stiff and without it, the brim still holds up fine. And it makes it more flexible to shape it the way you want it.

This was a really easy pattern and a cute style. Next time I might use a smaller crochet hook. The hats fit a little loose.

Spring bunny again...and again

This is my fourth time making the Spring bunny. I've gotten so much better at sewing the limbs and the little details. Doesn't it look cozy in the shipping material?

Looks like I have to make another one of these. This time with the ears upright and without the flower. I'm having a love-hate relationship with this bunny right now. I'm hoping I will be able to start on my Etsy shop soon! I think I'm going to have to stop taking orders after this one to finally crochet items for my shop.

Elephant #3

This is probably the best elephant I've made so far! (I've only made two before, which includes the "elephin") This elephant is much bigger and more realistic with its floppy, folding ears, and thick legs.

I found this awesome pattern for free on a UK site, www.deramores.com. Since it's from the UK, the crochet terms were different but still simple enough to follow. Although it did get confusing since "DC" means double crochet in US terms but in UK, it actually means single crochet. But other than that, it was a simple although time-consuming pattern.

I love this elephant pattern and it's not difficult to make but I do hope I won't have to make it again. At least any time soon. But unfortunately, my sisters already seen it...and now she wants one for herself...even though I've made her two elephants for her before. (sighhhhhhhh) I need to try to put that off for as long as possible. I tend to get bored easily doing the same patterns so I like to try something new and different. My next project, however, is the Spring bunny, which I've done a couple times before; both the white and tan Spring bunnies for my mom and one for a friend. Hopefully I'll get to try new patterns after I do the bunny.

Deramores: Elephant pattern

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!

Panda

It's so nice doing a short project after spending a year on a long, monotonous pattern. After the scarf, Megan asked me to make her a doll. She's leaving for her mission on December 4th and she is pretty much the only friend of Donna's that I haven't made a crocheted doll for. This panda is really simple. The problem I have with these dolls is sewing together all the body parts so that it isn't lopsided. This one looks a little crooked but it isn't very noticeable, especially if you squint.

I really need to work on my sewing.

Angie's Art Studio: Panda Bear

...and on my photography skills.

Claudia Scarf

I finished. I am done...

It's almost hard to believe because I've been working on this for so long but I completed the Claudia scarf.

I started this scarf last December for Donna. I thought I would be able to finish it by Christmas but I had other things to work on and this scarf was so damn long so I told Donna she would have to wait until next winter. Since I had a year, I took my time with this scarf. Did a few rows a day at first. Then it went down to a few a week...then to a few a month. Eventually I would just pick up on it whenever I remembered to do it, which was a couple times a month. The fan pattern is beautiful but requires so many stitches. Just one row would take me about a few minutes. The whole scarf is 166 rows so it got tedious to do every day. And I figured I could take my time since Donna doesn't need a thick scarf to wear in San Diego. Just as long as it was finished by winter break when we go visit Utah.

So here it is. The 11 month long scarf.

Little Slice of Life: Claudia Scarf pattern