Birthday Amigurumis

My favorite people to crochet for are little kids.... especially little kids having birthdays!  Here are some cool amigurumis that I crocheted during August for some of my favorite chitlins:

Cinderella!!  Sahrit has done it once again and designed the coolest Disney princess pattern.  Love, love, love this Cinderella!

The hair and the hands are what sells this!

My only complaint is that Sahrit's princesses have empty skirts, and I don't think that would stand up well to play by little kids (the recipient was turning 4).  So, I crocheted a circle for the bottom and stuffed the skirt with poly-fil.

Sahrit also designed the Rapunzel I made for Aanya and the Sleeping Beauty I made for Renee.

For the same little girl, I whipped up a cute Little Mermaid (I've made it twice before, for Mariana and Stella), designed by JanaGeek.

I am still so in love with the methodology used to create this beautiful head of hair!

I also crocheted a funny little hedgehog from a book (Seriously Cute Crochet) that my friend, Pauline, sent me.  How hilarious is this handsome dude?!

Thanks for the book, Pauline!

During August, I also made my third Wonder Woman.  That skirt is just so adorable and perfect for a Wonder Woman who is interested in being a bit more modest.

I didn't like the hair that the Wonder Woman in the pattern has (too many loose pieces of yarn to get yanked on and unravel), so, just as I had done for Charlotte & Amelia's Wonder Women, I copied JanaGeek's Little Mermaid hair.

Whew!  That's a lot of amigurumi.

Aanya's Rapunzel Doll, part II

All right, all right....  I felt too guilty that I was giving Aanya a Vulcan Rapunzel, so I thought for a long time and figured out a way to adjust the hairline without having to re-do the entire head of hair.  Better?

I think so.

Aanya's Rapunzel doll

Aanya, who is one of Sonia's BFFs, is a HUGE fan of Rapunzel and the Disney movie about her, "Tangled".  So, it was not a surprise to me when I asked Aanya what she would like me to crochet for her 5th birthday present that she said immediately "RAPUNZEL!!!!".  She helped me look at Rapunzel  amigurumi patterns, and I found a beautiful one that we both loved on Etsy. Aaaaaaaaand, here's the finished product!

Apparently, in the movie, at one point Rapunzel puts her loooooooooong hair in a braid and decorates it with flowers; that hairstyle and outfit were the inspiration for this pattern.

I'm not 100% happy with how the hair turned out, but it took about 5 or 6 hours to attach the hair, braid a bunch of tiny braids (which you can't see all that well anyway) among the unbraided yarn strands, do the big braid, sew in the flower buttons, and sew the ribbon to secure it, so I think I'm going to leave it alone!

Do you want to hear something interesting?  The very talented crocheter who sells this pattern on Etsy also sells the finished dolls.... FOR SEVENTY-FIVE DOLLARS.  Yep, that's right.  SEVENTY-FIVE DOLLARS.  Whoa.  But after finishing the hair, I kind of understand why she charges that much....

Oddly enough, the pattern called for the skirt to be empty (no legs or stuffing), so I crocheted a black circle and attached it to the bottom of the skirt (with stuffing inserted up in the skirt).  I also was worried about the wobbliness of the head (I must not have attached it well enough to the torso because once I weaved in the hair, Rapunzel became a bobble-head), so I shored it up with some toothpicks.  To quote Tim Gunn from Project Runway, "Make it work!"

Eek, from this angle, Rapunzel kind of looks like a Vulcan from Star Trek.  Oh well-- thankfully, Aanya has never seen Star Trek.... yet.... at least, I think.....

Anyway, a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my buddy, Aanya, and I hope she likes her Rapunzel!  I'm going to instruct her to keep it away from her little brother (who just turned 2 years old) because I'm not sure this amigurumi would stand up to rough little brother handling.