Hello crafty friends!
I’m back with another craft video blog and this month I have a couple of knitting projects to show you on top of all the crochet (and there is quite a bit of that!). Below you’ll find the show notes for all the things I mention in my video, including links to patterns, names of designs, and a few pictures in a gallery at the end of this post (if you prefer to read this blog rather than watch the video).
Finished objects
- Stir it up Top (by Wool and the Gang) free pattern – I was not expecting the dip at the front to be so low cut, and the fact that it’s knitted with 6.5 mm needles makes it quite see through, but this top is really good with a crop top worn underneath and it will be great for summer! In fact I’ve already worn it a couple of times. Because it’s hard to get in Australia, I didn’t use the recommended Happy Shiny Cotton yarn and instead used 3 strands of Eriksons Eco Cotton XL to obtain gauge (from my local Spotlight).
- Mini Hero Link (by Larzipan Creations) free pattern – When my friend Lyndsey first showed this adorable link as her entry for the amigurumishowcase 2021, I knew I wanted to make him! I’m a huge LoZ fan, I’ve played most of the games available and I finished breath of the wild in a couple of weeks when it first came out! One of my favourite suits is the Zora tunic so I knew I had to make my link wear it. I also decided to freehand a tiny Navi (because she is one of the best sidekicks ever, with Epona of course!)
- Retro Pumpkin (by Larzipan Creations) free pattern – I love pumpkins as a Halloween decoration (you can check out my growing collection in the gallery below) so when Lyndsey said she was looking for testers I immediately said I would make one of those. I love the effect of the 3 thread held together, even if it was a bit hard on my hands. I loved the pattern so much that I also made a tiny version with embroidery thread and a 1.25 mm hook!
- Jennïfer the Ballerina (by Ohana Hook) paid pattern – I am so excited to finally show you Jennïfer! I don’t often make dolls because I prefer animals in general (and I’m a bit terrified of making hair 🙈) but this little lady was a breeze to make. I love how she is constructed, and the hair was just so easy to make (and I think it looks so good). I was inspired by Emma Wat kins from the Wiggles (an Australian children band), as she is a ballerina too. That’s why my Jennïfer has a yellow dress and I’ve given her a yellow bow too instead of flowers in her hair. The pattern is now available in both French and English (this is Claudie’s first pattern in English and I’m quite excited about it!).
- Benedict the Bear (by EmmaCraftsDesign) paid pattern – I am so glad I’ve finished Benedict, in summer colours! I loved making him with the yellow and orange colours, I think he just looks so happy like this. This means I now don’t have any more random bits of amigurumi in my drawers (although I might have some unfinished ones in a box somewhere? Maybe something to tackle in the new year 🤣). That’s quite the achievement for me and I’m happy it’s done!
- Wiley the Wisp (by EmmaCraftsDesign) free pattern – I’ve probably said it before, but the process of updating my patterns and translating them to French has been quite the undertaking! I wanted to take some extra pictures to add to Wiley’s pattern and it is now a done thing. I enjoyed working on this design again, it was nice and easy (and quick!) and very thematic with Halloween!
- Clark’s Christmas bauble (by EmmaCraftsDesign) no pattern (yet!) – This project was not really planned but once I started I couldn’t stop until I finished it! I wanted to make a special bauble for the boys to put on our tree this year. I quite like the shape of this bauble (it’s very simple) and I loved using gold thread ✨ the best part was personalising it. I embroidered Clark’s name on one side and sew a felt dino head to the other. I also chose the main colour of the bauble (purple) because it’s Clark’s favourite colour! The big question is, would you be interested in a pattern?
- Sea Butterfly cross stitch (by EmmaCraftsDesign) no pattern – I had not done any cross stitch in ages, and it was good to be back into it. I’ve been having lots of fun drawing cute marine creatures lately, and last week I randomly decided to make a chart based on one of those drawings. I really like how this cutie turned out, it was fun and relaxing to make. The stitching itself is done but I haven’t quite decided how to finish it. I think I will add some felt to the back and turn it either into an ornament for our tree or into a bookmark. Let me know what you think I should make!
Works in progress
- Clark’s tube socks (inspired by Jane Richmond) free pattern – I am so glad to be knitting socks again! I love sock knitting and I have put it to the side for way too long. I’m happy I finally got to make these socks for Clark, but I didn’t want to make socks that would only last him a couple of months, so I decided to follow the idea from Jane Richmond and make socks that do not have a heel. However, I don’t like to make my socks from the toe up like in Jane’s pattern, so I made mine starting with the cuff. I cast on 48 stitches, did 15 rounds of 2×2 ribbing and then knit for a while (until I felt like the sock would last Clark for at least a year!). I then decreased for the toe, 4 stitches every two rounds, until I had 24 stitches left, and finally I used a Kitchener stitch to close up the toe. Those are super fun to make, I hope to finish them soon so that I can get started on another pair of socks!
- Haru the unicorn (by Brin de Coton) paid pattern only in French – This project started out a bit silly! I’ve mentioned before that I am part of a French crochet Discord (la Guinguette crochet). We recently got a bot to help the admins, and he has a bunch of cool functions (and yes he is a he, his name is Oscar!). One of the functions is to choose colours, so the admins had the idea to make a pattern with colours chosen by Oscar. We had to ask Oscar to pick up 6 colours and then we kept 5 of those to make our Haru the unicorn! I actually quite like the colours I got (thank you Oscar!) and I even added sparkle to my unicorn to make it extra unicorny. I can’t wait to finish it!
The Amigurumi School of Magic (by Irene Strange and Ilaria Caliri)
Weeks 1 to 3 are completely finished! I loved making all the little patterns, they are going straight into my Halloween collection. So far, my favourite is the phoenix, I just think he is the cutest! I have to say it was also very fun to make the pegasus with golden wings (I used a doubled up yarn with Ricorumi Lame btw, I love the effect). I have started making week 4, water is one of my favourite elements so I’m really excited about it. I have also made some progress on my bag, I have to say it was a bit challenging to make the same big panel 3 times! I did get a little bored with it but I really want to finish it so I’ll have to power through.
Acquisitions
- New books – It was my birthday in September and I forgot to show you the books I got last time so here they are! I was very spoilt and got the Crochet Wizardry (with the official crochet Harry Potter patterns! I want to make so many of those) and the Pokemon crochet by Sabrina Somers. My brother has already asked me to make him Gengar and I can’t wait to get started!
- New yarn – I just ordered yarn from Hobbii, I’ve really been enjoying using their cotton yarn, but I also completely flashed on a few other yarns, including a gradient cake, a speckled sock yarn and a bright pink solid sock yarn (I’ve already chosen the pattern for this yarn, I’m making socks with it!). If you have any idea of what I could make with a yarn cake, please leave me a comment I’m really undecided on what to do with it!
Upcoming Designs
- Archie the Archaeopteryx – Archie has been designed since 2018 when it was entered for the Amigurumi.com design contest but I still haven’t finished its pattern! I hope I can get it out before the end of the year, and I want to be kept accountable, so now I’ve mentioned it here, I have to release the pattern right?
- Greg the Care Bear – Greg was inspired by a gorgeous human, Carla, the previous owner of Yarn Artistry (an Australian online yarn shop). She sadly lost her husband (Greg) to cancer and wanted to create an amigurumi that could bring comfort to people caring for, or diagnosed with cancer, while in the endless cycle of hospital appointments/stays. Bonus, Greg is very huggable as he is quite a bit bigger than the amigurumi I normally design. When I release the pattern, I want to donate most of the proceeds from Greg’s pattern to a cancer foundation (I might rotate those every year). The goal will be to release his pattern during February as it is ovarian cancer month and my nana is a recent survivor.
Useful Resources
- My French to English crochet terms conversion page, if you feel like making your own Hary the Unicorn (pattern currently only in French).
- If you want to be kept in the loop for upcoming pattern tests, you can follow me on Instagram.
As always I love to hear from you, let me know if you’ve participated in the amigurumi school of magic too, or if you’ve ever made patterns that are not in English and how you went with it!
