Sweet Strawberries for Valentine's Day

Ever since I created my first batch of strawberry themed amigurumi I've been itching to revisit them because they were so much fun to make. I figured this month would be a great time with Valentine's Day just around the corner. Chocolate covered strawberries are popular around the holiday . . . do you think maybe strawberry covered bunnies and bears will catch on just as well? :)

The first strawberry trio were crocheted out of mohair blend yarn, but this time I used some fluffy chenille yarn.

I normally use beads for the strawberry seeds on the caps, but since most of my crafting supplies (beads included) are still tucked away in storage I had to improvise some. Instead, I just embroidered dozens and dozens of french knots with some pale yellow crochet thread. It's a tedious process, but I love the end result.

To complete the outfit, I gave them coordinating ruffled scarves.

Since strawberries are the theme for this month, I thought I would share with you a simple pattern to crochet a large, juicy strawberry of your own. The strawberry is about 3.5 inches long and 2 inches wide. It's a nice size to use as a pin cushion, which is what I use it for. Or maybe attach a clasp to make it into a keychain.

Strawberry Amigurumi Crochet Pattern

Use sport weight yarn with a 3.5 hook

Terms:

magic adjustable ring -- see link

sc -- single crochet

st(s) -- stitch (es)

sc2tog -- single crochet decrease

sl st -- slip stitch

ch(s) -- chain(s)

Strawberry:

Round 1: 6 sc into magic adjustable ring, pull tail to close and weave in end witha darning needle (6)

Round 2: 2 sc in each st around (12)

Round 3: 1 sc in each st around (12)

Round 4: *1 sc in one st, 2 sc in next st; repeat from * around (18)

Round 5: 1 sc in each st around (18)

Round 6: *1 sc in next two sts, 2 sc in next st; repeat from * around (24)

Round 7: 1 sc in each st around (24)

Round 8: 1 sc in each st around (24)

Round 9: * 1 sc in next three sts, 2 sc in next st; repeat from * around (30)

Round 10: *1 sc in next four sts, 2 sc in next st; repeat from * around (36)

Round 11: 1 sc in each st around (36)

Round 12: 1 sc in each st around (36)

Round 13: *1 sc in next five sts; 2 sc in next st; repeat from * around (42)

Round 14: 1 sc in each st around (42)

Round 15: *1 sc in next six sts: 2 sc in next st; repeat from * around (48)

Round 16: 1 sc in each st around (48)

Round 17: *1 sc in next four sts, sc2tog; repeat from * around (40)

Round 18: *1 sc in next 3 sts, sc2tog; repeat from * around (32)

Round 19: *1 sc in next 2 sts, sc2tog; repeat from * around (24)

Round 20: *1 sc in one st, sc2tog; repeat from * around (16)

Round 21: *sc2tog; repeat from * around (8). Leave a tail long enough for stitching.

Stuff with fiberfill. Thread tail with darning needle and weave tail in and out of the opening's edge in a running stitch, then pull taught to close opening. Tie off.

Stem & Leaf Top:

Round 1: 6 sc into magic adjustable ring, pull tail to close and weave in end with a darning needle (6)

Round 3: 1 sc in each st around (6)

Round 4: 2 sc in each st around (12)

Round 5: * sl st in next st, ch 6, sl st in second chain from end, 1 sc in next three chs, 1 hdc in next ch, sl st in next st over; repeat from * 6x to form six leaves. Leave a long tail for stitching.

Thread tail with darning needle and stitch stem & leaf to the top of the strawberry. Tie off. Because the leaves tend to curl up, tack down each leaf (I stitch them down with needle and thread, but you can use a dot of fabric or hot glue) to the strawberry's body.

Enjoy!

A Fresh Start

Let me begin by wishing everyone a belated Happy New Year! :) Have you all made any resolutions for 2012? Have you been sticking to them? Well, I'm happy to report that by writing this post I am sticking to one of mine: I resolved to start crafting and blogging again. I took a much longer break from my hobbies than I expected . . . I had no idea how time consuming and all encompassing having a baby would be! And if that wasn't enough I'm also in the process of buying and moving into a new home. It's precisely during chaotic times like these that I feel the need for a creative outlet.

Thankfully, my son is turning one next month (how time flies!) and he's gotten a bit less clingy and needy, which allows me some much needed crafting time. Now it's not nearly as much time as I would like, but even an hour or two a week is enough to scratch my creative itch.

Back to my staple mohair bunnies and bears! You have no idea how terrified I was when I picked up my crochet needle and started working. I was convinced I had forgotten how to make them! However, after a few glitches (how the heck do you decrease again?!) it all slowly came back to me.

I really wanted to sew up some apron dresses for the gals above. Unfortunately my trusty ol' Singer sewing machine is packed away in storage at the moment. I decided to crochet the apron dresses instead . . . and add some handy little pockets.

These girls are dressed a bit more fanciful . . . going to a party perhaps?

Please visit my shop, where they will all become available shortly.

I will end my first post of the New Year by thanking everyone who visits. I appreciate you all for stopping by and taking the time to write me and leave comments. I apologize if I have been so sporadic in my posting or in my replies. I've just been so busy!

However, I did resolve to change all that. I have plans to kick my blog into high gear . . . with more posts and tutorials and just tons more cute! :)

Thank you for dropping by!

I'm Trying...

Aloha everyone!

I just want to thank everyone, who has continued to visit my blog and etsy shop. I so wish I could maintain both as I used to, but my son keeps me so busy and now I'm in the middle of moving to a new home!

I've been getting so many emails asking about when I will have more items available. Well, it is my sincerest hope that once I get settled I will be able to get things going again. Please stay tuned!

Until then I will try to list a few things that I have on hand.

Thank you again for visiting me! Take care and Happy Holidays! :)

10% Off Sale!!!

First off, I want to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving!

To celebrate the holidays I'm having a little sale at my Etsy shop. Everything is now 10% off!

Enjoy perusing! :)

The Strawberry Bunch and the Long Lost Minis

First off, I want to say a big thank you to everyone for their kind words and congratulations on the upcoming baby. I appreciate your good wishes so much! As the due date draws nearer and nearer, things have been getting ever more hectic. From running around and buying baby supplies and furniture to staying goodbye to our truck and searching for a "family car -- there never seems to be enough minutes in the day.

Somehow in between all the busy-ness, I'm still managing to get in some crafting time, though sparingly. Here's what I've been up to:

I really enjoyed making those aviator hats, ski caps, and scarves for the boy amigurumi last time, and so this time around I wanted to make a feminine version. Originally, I intended to make a variety of "fruity" outfits for these gals, but I just enjoyed making the strawberry caps so much that I decided to stick with it all the way.

Here's some close-ups:





I just love the long, leafy stems and the yellow seeds on real strawberries. They translate nicely on these sweet caps, I think. I also made matching dual colored scarves in a diamond pattern to match.


Now here was an exciting find in my craft room. I found these four mini bunnies and bears in a box, all dressed up with nowhere to go. They were completely done, but for their origami gift bags. I must have gotten distracted and forgot about them. Poor things! Well, I'm glad they have been rediscovered.




I worked on their packages this weekend and now they are all ready to go to their new homes. Yayy! :)


Thank you again for dropping by! I hope to have all of these amigurumi in my etsy shop shortly. :)

Oh, Boy!

Lately, I've been itching to create new things. I can't seem to make myself crochet/ sew my old standards. I love them -- the cupcakes, and cacti, and owls, and such -- but at the moment I just feel the need to make something surprising and unexpected. Or at least to refresh and redesign my usual softie repertoire.

These little guys are pretty novel. I've never made a boy amigurumi before. I've just always loved the floral and frills of outfitting little girls. This time around, however, I wanted to make something a little less frou-frou . . . a lot more casual. Rough and tumble little boys seemed to be the logical answer.

I opted to outfit this bunny and the bear in aviator hats and scarves.

Here's a close-up of the aviator hat.

With chilly weather just around the corner, I decided to dress this bunny boy in a winter earflap hat and matching scarf.

And what has inspired me to create little amigurumi boys? Well, it may have something to do with the little man above :) Yep, this is the Big Project I've been working on and why I haven't been as quick and crafty as I normally am. I've been quite preoccupied preparing for his arrival. I'm so excited!

Well, if you are interested in any of the softies above, I should have them listed in my shop by this weekend.

Thank you for visiting and happy crafting! :)

Sparkly Ballerina Amigurumi Bunnies and Bears

Hello all! It's been quite awhile, I know. I've just been extremely preoccupied since we last spoke. I don't want to give away the details just yet, but let's just say that I've been working on a massive project . . . my magnum opus, if you will. It's been exhausting, but exciting work and I cannot wait until the big reveal, which will be sooner rather than later. I'm sorry for being so cryptic, but I'm not ready to let the cat out of the bag just yet :)

Despite being so busy, I haven't stopped making softies at all. It's just that with less crafting time on my hands, it takes me a lot longer to finish a project. To make up for my snail's pace I've made a concerted effort to try new things and change up my old designs. I've been finding it difficult to work on the same sort of thing over and over. It gets quite monotonous.

Time for something fresh . . .

Enter these three little ladies:




I've never been a fan of novelty yarn for making my amigurumi, but then I came across several skeins of super soft, fuzzy chenille buried at the bottom of my stash. I was intrigued by that yarn's subtle sparkle. It has a soft twinkle, without being overly brilliant or glittery. And it worked up even better than I imagined -- the stitches are well hidden by the chenille's loft and overall I thought the amigurumi turned out reminiscent of puffy cotton candy or whipped marshmallow fluff. Scrumptious!

Lately, I've been feeling an aversion to my sewing machine so I decided to completely crochet the outfits this time. For the dress design I wanted to move away from the smocks and come up with something more frilly and playful. In the end I decided on ballerina tutu styled dresses. And because I didn't want to overdo it with the flower motifs, I nixed the usual floral ear decor and adorned their heads with large satin bows instead.

Here's a close-up shot of all the little details. I also tried to capture that lovely iridescent sparkle I spoke about earlier:


I enjoyed making this set of amigurumi and it has inspired me to think outside the box -- with my materials as well as with new design ideas. This project makes me want to dig deeper into my yarn stash to see what other possibilities may exist.

Anyway, thank you again for visiting and if you are interested in any of these sweet girls, I will be listing them in my shop shortly.