Kitty in Jammies Amigurumi 2

I finally finished Oldest's friend's pink pajama amigurumi kitty (say that 5x fast). 

She's a little "chunkier" than the last pink pajama amigurumi kitty that I made but I guess that just means there is more to love :)

Happy Groundhog's Day!

Happy Groundhog's Day!

I decided last night that I would crochet a wrist warmer in honor of the event.

You may be able to tell what outcome I was hoping for by the "springtime-y" colors I used.

And if the colors didn't give it away, the giant spring flower should've.

But, alas, the groundhog has failed me yet again.

So, I made my own groundhog (or ambiguous, egg shaped, brown creature).

You will notice that his shadow is BEHIND him.

Therefore, he can't see it.  Well, that and the fact that his eyes are glued on, as in not real and therefore completely useless.

Spring is on it's way!

Doggie Doughnut

I've made toys for each of my kids but I can't forget my furry friends either.

SO....I made this frosted doughnut amigurumi toy for Cookie, my mini doxie.

You can get the pattern on the lionbrand website here.

You could even add a squeaker when you stuff it to add extra puppy fun.

She seems more interested in the treat I was holding to get her to look at the camera than in the doughnut itself.

Kitty Amigurumi

I've finished the toys for the boys and have moved on to a cute little toy for Oldest.  

An amigurumi (ah-mee-goo-roo-mee) kitty cat.

In pink (Oldest's favorite color) pajamas no less.

I was inspired by the pink jammies kitty on Armina's Ani-mals blog.

Although I didn't use her pattern (I made my own up based on general knowledge of amigurumi and crochet techniques) the two look very similar.

The main differences are the ears, I've included a tail, and the arms and legs of mine are a bit larger. 

Still if you like the kitty you can make one very close to it by following the pattern on Armina's blog.  Or...if you really like my kitty you can also ask for my pattern.

I don't have it written down but I would be more than happy to share it if there seems to be a demand for it.

The nice thing about amigurumi is that it's EASY and quick.  I made this kitty in just a couple of hours.

In amigurumi almost everything is made in the round with single crochet.

Each section is made seperately (usually) then pieced together.

This is the start of the kitty's head.

I embroidered eyes, a nose, and whiskers to make her face.

Then I crocheted her hood and sewed it to her itty bitty head.

Then came the ears.

Which were attached to the her head.

The arms, legs, and tail came last. 

The end result was one satisfied little customer.

Counting Fish

In keeping with my little blog mini series on toys...I've posted some counting fish I've made for Middle.   The idea came to me to make some small counting toys during one of my many attempts to help my 3 year old understand the concept of "more" and "less".

I thought about making up my own crochet pattern for them, but decided (in the interest of time) to check online for a pattern instead.  Viola!  I found a cute one here.  I modified the pattern a bit to make my fish a little "stumpier".  I wanted fish that looked sort of like Goldfish crackers.

Stage one of a little blue fish.  The pattern called for a size G hook and everything is done with single crochets in the round.  Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

The almost completed fish.  In order to make them a little shorter in body I omitted rows 8-9 in the pattern.

A finished fish.  The eyes are french knots made with black yarn.

Then it's just a matter of repeating the process for each color.

My completed "school" of fishies. 

Each fish took about 10 minutes to make and, as you can see, I made 2 of each color.

A really quick, cute project to help the little ones learn their numbers, colors, basic math.

You can make as few or as many as you need depending on the time you have to devote to the project.

Middle definately loves the fish and I really think they are helping him understand the concept of more and less, many and few, etc.