Amigurumi of 2015

I have definitely slowed down on crocheting amigurumi since I accepted the fact that it makes my hands ache, but the benefit of waiting 8 months in between blog posts featuring amigurumi is that it looks like I am somewhat prolific!  Here are the amigurumi I have created since February:

Summertime Dolls #3 and 4

Spring Bunny

Kwazii, Kwazii, and Dashi (these patterns are amazing and worth every penny!!)

Frog (I just heard that a dog munched on this and I am going to attempt some repairs...)

Race car (I'm not happy with how the wheels turned out, but it was totally user error and not the pattern's fault!)

Hippo and Lion Loveys (both of these patterns are SERIOUSLY AMAZING and were written by genius pattern designers)

Yoda (from the incredibly awesome Star Wars crochet kit!!)

Chipmunk (Holy cow, how cute is he?!?)

And presenting.... MY FIRST KNITTED AMIGURUMI!!!!!  Wow, this bunny was hard for me.  Well, harder than crocheted amigurumi, anyway.  The bunny's dress marked the first (and still only time) I have attempted any sort of color work with knitting.  I think she turned out pretty nice!

I discovered, sadly, that knitting amigurumi also hurts my hands.  So, I have determined that I need to stop knitting and crocheting items in which the yarn needs to be pulled tightly.  Sad face.  I might try another knitted amigurumi with worsted weight yarn sometime with the hope that knitting this bunny hurt my hands because I was using sport weight yarn.  Hope springs eternal.

Puzzle Balls, a Doll, and an SNL Character (oh, no!)

I received a copy of Dedri Uys's incredible Amamani Puzzle Balls book for Christmas, and I am IN LOVE with these patterns.  They are complicated to make, but Dedri's tutorials are amazing and I think all crocheters should give these a try.  I just can't believe how adorable these amigurumi puzzle balls are!!

Elephant Puzzle Ball:

Dedri designed the pattern so the entire thing is crocheted (NOT WHIP-STITCHED!!) together.  Even the adorable ears and the cute little tail. I don't mind whip-stitching here and there, but like most crocheters, I would much rather use my hook than a sewing needle.

The cute little feet make me smile.

Here is the "puzzle" aspect of the puzzle ball: it comes apart into three pieces!  It's a little complicated to put together, so before I give this to someone as a gift, I think I might make a YouTube video showing how to do it.

Because the entire puzzle ball is crocheted together, as long as you use tough yarn (like 100% acrylic), these puzzle balls can withstand a lot of pulling and smooshing as you disassemble and reassemble them. Amazing!!

Turtle Puzzle Ball:

How handsome is this dude?  I didn't get a great picture of his nose to show the absolutely perfect shaping (there's a slight point at the tip), but trust me when I say that Dedri must have studied the turtle form for a long time while designing this guy.  So stinkin' cute!

One of my mother's life-long friends, Sharon, commissioned me to make another of Nipiti's My Summertime Dolls, and I think it turned out SO adorable. Sharon chose great colors and I really enjoyed watching this little doll take shape.  Nipiti's pattern is so fabulous!  I have a third My Summertime Doll about 75% done and will post pictures of it when it's finished.  It might be the cutest one yet!

Weeeeeeell, this last amigurumi isn't all that recent, but I'm going to mention it anyway.  This past summer, to thank my dad for all the work he did on our new (to us) house, I free-handed an amigurumi of one of his favorite Saturday Night Live characters of all time: Mr. Bill.  The reason that I haven't posted pictures of this little dude yet is that I wrote down the pattern and have big plans to present it for free here on Roonie Ranching, but I haven't yet sat down and typed it up.  I'll get on that soon, I promise.

Sami's Summer Time Doll

Nipiti, one of my new favorite crochet pattern designers, has done it again....  Can you believe how adorable this doll is?

My friend, Toni, had commissioned me to crochet a doll like Sonia's for her daughter, Sami, for Christmas.  However, Nipiti asked if anyone would like to test this cute "My Summer Time Doll with Instagram Camera and Ice Cream", and Toni & I thought that Sami would like this doll even better!

How perfect are those little mary jane shoes and ruffly socks?  And I am IN LOVE with the cute little dot detailing on the bodice of the dress.  Toni chose the colors, and I think they work together perfectly.

The hair went shockingly fast....  I finished it in about an hour and a half.  Once you get all the strands cut and start attaching it to the head, it's kind of a soothing process.

Because I was doing a test, I took a few progress pictures.  The pattern worked up so nicely and is perfectly written, as usual.  The ice cream cone and camera are separate from the doll, but could be sewn on permanently.

It was at this point that I realized that this color combination was absolutely spectacular.  Good color choices, Toni!  I think Sami is going to love her new doll.

The pattern is on sale now (may favorite source to buy patterns is Ravelry, of course!), and Nipiti's Ravelry group is made up of some amazing hookers.  I can't wait to see what she designs next!

Only 111 more crocheting days until Christmas....  Better get crackin'....

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.

Sonia Doll

I was perusing Ravelry one day when I noticed a new group had been formed by Nipiti.  She is a very talented crochet designer who created the Paw Patrol pattern that I crocheted back in March for Charlotte's birthday.  Nipiti was seeking out crocheters to help her test her new patterns, and I signed up straight away.  The first test pattern was "My Best Friend Doll with Teddy Bear and a Bag", and I think it is amazing!  Here is my version:

Isn't she cute?  The little nose is so sweet.  I decided to give her to Sonia, and Sonia promptly named her new doll "Sonia".  Creative name.

I had issues getting the part straight on Sonia Doll (definitely user error-- not a problem with the pattern), but that mirrors the results I achieve in real life when I attempt to style Sonia Kid's hair. So, I left the part crooked.

I especially love the methodology used to crochet the cute ruffled socks and sleeves, and the overall bib & straps are terrific.  Nipiti seems to have the same desire as me to crochet as much of an amigurumi as possible in one piece rather than crocheting a ton of separate pieces and having to attach them at the end.  AWESOMENESS.

The teddy bear and bag are removable (please don't lose them, Sonia Kid!!) and ridiculously adorable.

I've never tested a pattern before, and it was a ton of fun!  We testers were supposed to offer criticism, suggestions, and point out errors in the pattern, but Nipiti did such a great job writing the pattern that there wasn't much to criticize or correct.  The My Best Friend Doll pattern is fabulous and is well worth the money!  The other testers' dolls turned out beautiful, too; it's so fun to see how using different yarn colors and weight changes the end product, even when we are all following the exact same pattern.  Ravelry is so fun!

Peter's Superman and Charlotte's Wonder Woman (with bonus Batmans!)

And here they are.... my new favorite amigurumis that I have ever created!  I made Superman and Wonder Woman for my beloved niece and nephew (aka Peter and Charlotte, Niki's kids).

I made Wonder Woman using Ohana Craft's pattern. The little skirt is what sold me-- so much cooler than running around in her underpants!  The shoes/boots crack me up, too.

Superman's pattern came from Clare Heesh, and I think the best part is the hair.  I stitched each strand over a little black wig cap.  It didn't take as long as I thought it would!

I did go rogue on the cape.  Clare's original pattern calls for a felt cape, but I didn't think it would stand up to Peter-grade play as well as a crocheted one, so I stole the pattern from the Batman I made him last year.  In looking for a picture of Batman, I just realized that I never posted one on this blog!  And, I never posted a picture of the Batman that I crocheted for Sonia's buddy, Evan!  So, here's a bit of a tangent for you.

This first Batman was made from Nerdigurumi's pattern, which is based on how Batman looks in the video game "Gotham City Imposters".  It was an early amigurumi for me, and I took this picture on my cell phone in bad lighting.

Here's the Batman I crocheted for Evan, but be forewarned....  I took these next two pictures after Batman had been played with (and washed) several times, so he looks a bit well-loved.

I free-handed this Batman using this basic amigurumi doll pattern.  Here's a better view of the flowing cape, which I borrowed from Nerdigurumi's Batman pattern.

Anyway, back to Wonder Woman and Superman.  I see some tiny imperfections (Wonder Woman's feet kind of turn to her right and her right arm is a bit wonky), but overall, I am so proud of these guys.  I made another set for Sonia's little buddies, Zach and Amelia, but I failed to take any pictures of those ones.

One more story about these guys....  I was having THE worst time trying to cut felt nicely enough to make the tiny stars and each superhero's chest logo.  Niki to the rescue!!  She had a small star punch (meant for scrapbooking, probably) that she had bought at Joann Fabrics a while back, and it worked on the stiff felt!  Then, we figured out that her Silhouette machine would work to cut out the intricate shapes on the stiff felt.  Amazing!!!!  That machine saved my sanity (and the amigurumis).  I then stitched the S onto Superman's logo shapes with embroidery floss.  Voila!

My gorgeous niece and handsome nephew love to snuggle their teeny superheroes!

P.S. Even though Niki is listed as the author of the post, this powerful pair was crocheted by me (Erin). I just forgot to take glamor shots of these amigurumis before I gifted them to Charbunkle and Pete-za Pie, so Niki was kind enough to do a photo session and upload the pictures to the Blogger program for me.  Thank you thank you thank you, Niki!!!  Sorry I cleaned out my clarinet with one of your toothbrushes that one time.