An Amigurumi Explosion

I have been crocheting a lot of amigurumi lately, too....  Even though hats are fun, afghan blocks are intriguing, and the occasional potholder is useful, making stuffed creatures is my true crochet love.

My friend, Valerie, asked me to make these ridiculously adorable baby giraffes for her ridiculously adorable daughters:

How hilarious is this dog and airplane that I made for my little buddy, Alex?

The airplane pattern actually came with a cat instead of a dog, so I swapped the cat out for the dog in this pattern.  Alex can take the dog out of the airplane and play with him!

Look at the cute little wheels....  I love it!

The dog and airplane were designed by the same awesome crochet designer who designed Alex's fox and race car.

Using the wonderful Superman pattern, I was able to fashion a Captain America and a Batman for my little buddy, Zach:

You can remove the good captain's helmet and shield!

My cousin, Emma, will be getting this adorable little whale for Christmas:

Sonia gave this little bigfoot monkey to a friend for her 6th birthday:

More to come.... So many crocheted items finished, so little time to blog!  Christmas Crochet Season is in full swing, and boy, are my fingers getting tired.  But it's worth it!

Toby's Chimp (with an assist from Bobo Cat)

Seriously-- it's birthday city around here.  Back in March, I challenged myself to crochet something for each of our playgroup buddies' birthdays, forgetting that almost all of the birthdays are clustered between March and September.  Plus, we have a bunch of little siblings who have been born during the last few years, and I am definitely not leaving any of those awesome little kids out.  The silver lining of it is that I have had the chance to test out a ton of patterns and had a lot of fun doing it.

The latest in the lineup of kids with birthdays is Toby, who is turning two years old.  He is such a sweet, mild-mannered little dude and I love watching him play with his big sister, Leah (who will be turning 4 very soon!), and the rest of the playgroup kids.  Toby's mom mentioned that he likes monkeys, and I instantly thought of this adorable free pattern for "Charlie Chimp" that Niki had pinned for me on Pinterest a while back.  Now-- I am well aware of the difference between monkeys and apes (including chimpanzees), but I think we can all agree that the general population lumps them all together.  Without further ado, here's the end product!

When I took this picture, I noticed Bobo walking over toward us.  I invited him up onto the coffee table to help show Charlie Chimp's size.

The original pattern called for the t-shirt to be removable, but there's no way a 2-year-old would be able to take the t-shirt on and off without mangling the chimp, so I just sewed the t-shirt on permanently.

Oh, Bobo.  So unimpressed with my creations.

I like how the legs are positioned so the chimp can sit up.

Fun fact: Bobo's real name is Charlie ("Bobo" is a nickname I gave him and it stuck).

The two Charlies, looking handsome.

Happy birthday, Toby!  I hope you like your chimp!