Hats, cowls, and mittens

Since I haven't been stitching amigurumi right and left like I have in years past, what have I been making?  Stuff to wear.  It really is too bad that I moved to a state where a lot of this clothing isn't seasonally appropriate for more than two months out of the year....

Hats are so fun to make!  Yes, they need to fit correctly, but they are a heck of a lot easier to fit than, say, a sweater.

Anna from Frozen (this is more a hat/wig combo!!)

Yoda

Super Mario (for my Super Mario-loving nephew! What a crazy-awesome pattern.)

Declan's hat (I have done cabling on many knit projects, but this was my first cabled hat!)

November Cabled Hat (I loved the first one so much that I jumped right into another!)

Cowls are also so much fun to knit and crochet.  They are relatively small projects and you don't have to worry as much about fit issues.  For my first cowl attempts, I wanted to give Red Heart Boutique Unforgettable yarn a try....  If you haven't seen the amazingly beautiful color ways offered in this brand of yarn, RUN, don't walk, to your nearest big box craft store to check them out.  GORGOUS!!!  First, I crocheted a cowl:

Turquoise V Stitch Infinity Scarf

And then I knitted one:

A Very Braidy Cowl (This pattern showed off the gorgeous colors so much better, I think! And what a ridiculously cool pattern...)

With these successes under my belt, I asked my sister if she would like a cowl.  She ordered a chunky chocolate brown one, and I decided to make this project with my first ever purchase from a store that is devoted to yarn and yarn only (Holley's Yarn Shop in Dallas).  I think it turned out so beautiful....

Vite Cowl

I think the Vite Cowl might also have been my first attempt at knitting lace.  Once I figured out the whole "yarn over" thing, I was entranced.  There will be more lace to come in future blog posts....

With my knitting confidence climbing, I attempted my first pair of mittens.  How fun are these?!

Frozen Mittens (made by combining two patterns: Basic Cuff-Up Mittens and Warm Mittens)

Unfortunately, I didn't take into account that the mittens twist a bit when you put them on (due to the placement of the thumb on the palm as opposed to the side), so the snowflake stitching is a bit off-center.  Oh well, hopefully Avery doesn't mind!

Amigurumi for Christmas

This Christmas, a lot of my amigurumi made their way under the Christmas tree.  I've already posted about a bunch of them, but I realized that I have even more to share!

I crocheted this Dorothy & Toto from the AmiguruME book, which is an incredibly amazing collection of patterns to mix & match to make whatever kind of human amigurumi you want.  The author, Allison Hoffman, even includes a few little animals (like the dog I used for Toto).  Her patterns are written perfectly and it is so easy to navigate your way through the book and combine the various patterns.  Dorothy & Toto were a gift for my beloved niece, Charlotte, and I think she really liked them!

I'm still not 100% happy with how the smile turned out.  Niki, if you think it doesn't look charming enough, rip that smile out and embroider a new one with some red floss!  I used red crayon to give Dorothy her little blush.  Sonia was absolutely tickled by the fact that I colored with crayon on this amigurumi! You can't tell in these pictures very well, but I used Red Heart Shimmer for the ruby slippers, so they sparkle just a bit.

Isn't Toto handsome? I love his little nose.

This USS Enterprise (from Star Trek) was made for my friend's husband, and when I set out to find a pattern, I asked my friend which Star Trek series her husband preferred.  He, like me, prefers Star Trek: The Next Generation, but I couldn't find any patterns for that version of the Starship Enterprise (the NCC1701-D).  I didn't have time to design my own pattern, so I went ahead and crocheted an NCC1701 from a really great free pattern and just used slightly different colors to style it more like the NCC1701-D.  I think it turned out really cute!

(just ignore the fact that you can see my trash and recycle bins in this picture)

My nephew, Nicholas, received this Mario for Christmas.  I was really happy with the pattern (Wolfdreamer is my pattern-writing hero!!), but my yarn choices caused Mario's head to be too small in comparison with the hat.  Weirdly, worsted weight Red Heart Super Saver yarn differs in thickness from one color to the next, and the Cherry Red is significantly thicker than the Buff (which I used for the skin color).  So, if I do this pattern again, I will increase the size of the head to compensate.

Sonia is not a fan of the eyes....  She actually used the word "freaky" when she first saw the finished Mario.  I used felt for the eyes, as was called for in the pattern, and I am just not good at crafting eyes out of felt.  Oh well.

The hat is so perfectly designed!!!  I had to see if Bobo Cat would look good in it.  He, as usual, was not impressed.

And finally, the pièce de résistance, Jordan's motorcycle and cat!

I used Ana Yogui's absolutely perfect pattern to create a motorcycle similar to the one that Jordan himself rides, The Displacement.  Because I left off the sidecar part of the pattern, I had to use toothpicks to help this motorcycle stand up for its glamour shots.

Jordan says he has plans to suspend this motorcycle from the ceiling (kind of like a mobile) in the future.

The cat's goggles turned out a bit odd-looking due to my color choice (it probably would have looked better with a darker color of blue, or perhaps gray).  But other than that, I'm happy!