"The Magic of Amigurumi"

Aaron sent this to me this through Must Have Cute a while back. I think I know how they did it.*


* - They unraveled the crochet and played it backwards.

OPP - Katie's Crochet

Last Thursday we celebrated my sister's birthday, where I overwhelmed my sister with a lot of Crockpot Monkey Mix. (I also went overboard with the powdered sugar.)


(BTW - That's Mom's wheel in the back with some of her yarn draped over it.)

Things were a little backwards that night, because I forgot my knitting, but my sister pulled out an afghan that I haven't seen her work on in ages. It's time for OPP (Other People's Projects.)


It's a fairly simple chevron crochet afghan made with Caron Simply Soft Brites. I'm not quite sure where she got the stitch, but it's not a formal pattern. It's lengthwise, so the rows take a long time.

There's a closer look at the afghan here.


I'm not sure where Katie got the idea to crochet amigurumi-style mugs, but that's what she's been doing. She just goes for it without a pattern. This one has whipped cream on top. (There is another view of it here.)


Katie also got some "latte-colored" yarn so she can make more mugs.

There are more pictures from our birthday celebration here.

Tuesday Tens: Ten Knitting and Crochet Videos

Sorry I crapped out on you Tuesday. It's a good thing Thursday begins with a T. While I pack to go out of town, here are ten videos featuring knitting and crochet for your enjoyment.


1. Shreddies - Knitted by Nanas - I was completely baffled by this video of a master knitting camp where very little knitting gets done, until I saw the commercial above. Apparently Shreddies is a cereal (I'm assuming sold in the UK) with a whole Knitted by Nanas campaign attached to it. Of course, the way it's explained in the commercial, you would think a quilting metaphor would make more sense. Four layers "knitted together" doesn't quite work. (Reminds me of the Quilted Northern debacle from a while back, although less obvious.)


2. Knit Wits - This is a riot, although for such seasoned professionals, these guys seem awfully inexperienced.


3. Knitting Club Recruiting Video - A little confusing if you haven't seen commercials like this one. The best line is "I want to knit something of myself!"


4. ONE MINUTE MELTDOWN - Wanta Danish? - A short music video featuring amigurumi.


5. woodstock hooker showing off his wares (puppet hats) - Jonathan James is having a bad hair life, so he crochets surreal hats.


6. snip snip snip - I don't quite get it, but the octopus is cute.


7. Disco Knitter - Pretty self explanatory, and pretty accurate for animated knitting.


8. Knitimation - Do The Brane - Maybe fun fur is evil. (Although I still don't know how to do the Brane.)


9. DOLLS UNITED - Someone did a lot of intarsia. (Or duplicate stitch.)


10. Sheep - Funny Animation - Is there anything better than a knitting sheep?


4/4/11 - Edited to Fix Title

Amigurumi Sighting

Have you seen this commercial for Fuse featuring Amigurumi? There's got to be a story behind this. I wonder if there's a pattern out there?

Early FOs: Amigurumi Before Amigurumi Was Cool

Back when I saw the Amigurumi issue of Crochet Me for the first time, I remember thinking about how the stuff I made in Middle School must have been ahead of its time.

Now I have proof.

For my next installment of FOs I found in storage, I present amigurumi. Of course back when I made it, it wasn't called amigurumi. They were just crocheted stuffed animals.

This first one is from a pamphlet of crocheted animals that I used a lot. I don't remember the name, but I think it had "egg" in the title. These patterns were supposed to be stuffed with pantyhose eggs. However, after the first elephant, I realized the bodies were too big for the eggs. So I just stuffed them with Polyfil. Then I realized my embroidery sucked, so I started using googly eyes. (Everything is better with googly eyes.)

The dog was just one of several patterns in the pamphlets. I think it was one of the first times (if not the first time) I did colorwork. (Look at the face.)

A while back I asked Mom what her childhood dog, Goober, looked like. For someone reason her description reminds me of this dog, even though she says Goober looked nothing like my dog. I think this dog has a new name anyway.

This turtle is from the same book as Goober. I was really proud of the webbed "shell" attached to the top of the body.

I'm pretty sure the pink yarn is Caron Simply Soft and the purple is the long discontinued Dazzleaire. But I'm not positive.

This is a very different type of crocheted turtle. This pattern is one of those freebie patterns they have in displays at craft stores. This one was crocheted with baby yarn. It was my first experience with popcorn stitches.

It's supposed to be a rattle. Inside the shell is a margarine tub filled with beans (or rice or something like that.) Like the pantyhose egg animals, the tub didn't quite fit. Apparently I had loosened up my gauge by then, but I hadn't learned t0 pay attention to my gauge.

And no, I don't know where the nasty brown stain came from. It came with age. The lesson: be careful when you store your hand knits (and hand crochets.)

(BTW - I took more pictures in natural light, but somehow the pictures in the kitchen turned out better. I think the cardboard box was reflecting too much light. Any tips?)

Ready to be random?

Time for a little of everything.

Manchaca Road Library Reopens
I was so excited on Thursday when my local library re-opened, but I didn't realize when I wrote that entry that the Manchaca Road Branch was set to open today. This is the library branch I grew up with. I was heading south today to do some cleaning (more on that later) so I went with my parents today. (I'm kicking myself for not taking my camera.)

We didn't go for the live music and stuff, but we did look at the new facilities. There are lots of new books. Mom recognized the old ones as well. She said they were like "old friends." (Like I said, we've been going there for ages.) Everything is nice and new, but it still "feels" like the old library, which is nice. There is a new computer lab there too.

Earth Hour
I joined my friends this evening for Earth Hour. We spent an hour in the dark, dining by candlelight and talking in the living room. We were going to play a board game, but we got sidetracked. I managed to work on my Fun Fur Scarf in the dark. Being able to feel the stitches is key when you knit with eyelash yarn, so I can do that in the dark.

One person drew this picture in the dark:

Actually, this has been edited by several people. The original is here. Look at what I added:

Spider Sally, Spider Sally, does everything that a Spider Sally does.
Can she swing from a web? No she can't, but she can knit one.

Squinty

Here is Jules posing with the Amigurumi cat my Mom crocheted. She got the pattern from this website. I've named him Squinty (the cat, not Jules.)