New Pattern - Super Monsties!

We've had The Monsties, now I give you the Super Monstie! A bigger, goofier version of the little terrors I showed you the other week!

Super Monstie stands about 16cm's tall (when using a 3.5mm hook), and requires only the basic crochet stitches. Much like the original pattern, but this little guy has arms, and horns running down his back instead of hair!



He's available for $2.50 in my Etsy Shop (PDF Pattern only). Though if you would like me to make you your own Super Monstie drop me a line and I'll see what I can do!

Yay for Super Monstie!

Etsy Friday: Vozamer

This week on Etsy Friday: Vozamer!

Vozamer make excellent monster and animal related items, such as stamps, ornaments, cards and magnets like this super fab I'm Weird one!

I've been a fan of this shop for a while now; my favourite items are the stamps, especially the I Make Stuff one; great for all us crafty types!

Check out the Etsy shop here
More of Voz's items can be found at FISHCAKES.NET

Photo (c) Vozamer

Rene: A Work In Progress

This is my second ‘WIP’, and this week I’ve been working on Rene; one of my new westernised Kokeshi dolls.

This is the start of the top of her head. I start off with my basic Kokeshi doll head and body pattern, but this time using a tan colour instead of white for the head.

This is the finished head, with safety eyes attached just around half way down the head. From here I attached a new colour yarn and start the body.

This picture shows the body complete, but without the bottom piece sewn on. It looks abit short, I know, but when the bottom’s sewn on it looks better!

And here it is, the head and body finished. I’ve stuffed the body first with normal fibre-fill, and towards the bottom with, in this case, some alphabet beads I had lying around. It needs something to weight it down as the head is bigger than the body, and when the hair is attached it’s even heavier!

I’m attaching the hair here. I’ve done the outline of the hair all round, and am now working from the bottom up to the top of her head. It looks abit sparse, but towards the top of the head I fill the hair in more so it’s ok in the end!

Hair done! It can now be cut to whatever style you like, but in this case I like it the way it is, so I left it.

And she’s done! I’ve added a little black beret, which I think looks cute lol! I’ve squashed her hair in at the bottom so it kind of looks like it’s poking out. I also added a white rose shaped button.

I’m very happy with the way she turned out! It took me one afternoon to make her - I haven’t crocheted in 2 days so I was eager to get going! I plan on making more of these dolls; all with different hair and hats! I may even add some of the finished patterns to my shop, I’ll see how it goes.

If you have any suggestions on hats I can make and hair styles to go with them I would love to hear from you!

Thanks for reading!
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Best Of...

DeviantArt

Check out this beautiful Fimo Bonsai Tree by Funkadelicpsychofish on DeviantArt! So much detail - I wish my fimo work was this good!


Craftster


This is Samigurumi's excellent Caravan Of Love on Craftster! I love the fact she used foam to fill out the caravan!


Flickr


I'm loving these Rainbow Poo Magnets by Oh Yeeeeah drink Kool Aid on Flickr! My favorite is the green one lol!


Ravlery


These Sherbert Bears by Zoria on Ravelry are so sweet! Made using a 1.25mm hook - that's mega small!!

Taking A Break

After crocheting non stop for several months now for the craft stall I have in Brentwood in December, I've decided it's time for a break. Is it possible to get sick of something you love so much?! I feel like I've been on a crochet over-load and if I don't have a break I'm gonna go mad!

So far I have a suitcase full of items, including crocheted cactuses, kokeshi dolls, Monsties, Flumpelbees, Zoombobs, stress balls, octopus', keyrings, bunnys, bears and scarfs. And other stuff I can't remember. I still have about 15 items to make. I really hope I manage to sell all this stuff lol!

In a way I don't mind if I don't. I do have fun making the items, even though I'm complaining about it now. If I don't sell some stuff I'll probably donate it to the local church, a charity shop and sell a few on my Etsy shop. I paid £80 for that stall at the fair, and I don't think I'll get that money back. But I'm not doing it for the money; I'm just doing it as it gives me something to do across the year, and hopefully people will see something on my stall that they like. It's the same with my Etsy shop - it's just enough for me to think people like my work enough to buy it!

So I'm having a break. Not sure what I'm gonna do whilst on this break, but I'm sure I'll think of some other craft to do!

Bust London Summer Craftacuar!

On Saturday I went to the Bust magazine's Summer Craftacular in Bethnal Green, London.

I wanted to go to the Craftacular they had in London last Christmas, but I ended up not going. When I looked on the website and saw some of the same vendors were there I has happy I hadn't totally missed out on not going in December!


I only live about an hours train journey from London, and as it didn't open until 12pm we got going from home at about 11am. When we got there there was a massive queue going right round the corner of the street! I was hoping, as we were there for when it opened, that we might be one of the first 100 people there and get a goodie bag. Didn't happen lol!


Inside there were 50 vendors selling all sorts of fab handmade items, live DJ's and a cafe. I'd checked out the vendors through the Bust website, so kind of knew what type of stuff would be available. I wasn't disappointed! I bought loads of stuff, including 2 sock monsters from the lovely Made By Kate! I just couldn't decide between 2 of the monsters, so after buying one I had to go back and get the other too lol! Some other of my fav vendors were Fluffy Thoughts, Knit And Destroy and The Cat In The Shoe.

We were in there for quite a while, and it was a really nice day. I wish there were more craft fairs about near where I live; I can't get enough of them! I really appreciate all the time, effort and love that go into making these items as I am a craftster myself. I hope the craft fair I'm doing in December at Brentwood goes as well as this one seemed to go!


In this bottom picture are the 2 monsters I got from Made By Kate, and a bear I bought from The Cat In The Shoe! And the little guy in the front of the pic is Walter - he's my Little Visitor from Minnetonka! I'm taking part in a swap on Craftster.org and he's with me until September! He said he wanted to go to the Craftacular so who was I to stop him! You can check out his adventures on Saturday and throughout the months that I've had him at his blog here!

Etsy Friday: From Japan With Love

This week on Etsy Friday: From Japan With Love!



From Japan With Love are based in Fukuoka, Japan, and sell all sorts of super cute items, such as memo pads, stamps, stickers, fabrics and postcards like this fab Smiling Tea one! KAWAII!

Of course, I may be bias, as I want to go to Japan soooo much. But one of the things I like most about this Etsy shop is that the items come directly from Japan. I am seriously tempted by many items lol!

Check out the shop here
Smiling Postcard Listing here
And the fab Blog here

Photo (c) FromJapanWithLove

Reasons To Visit Japan Pt 2: Capsule Hotels

a kennel for people. vol. 2, originally uploaded by hbomb1947 the turnstile-jumper (on semi-hiatus).

Capsule hotels provide affordable accommodation in Tokyo, costing around £15 - £25 per night. Each 'capsule' measures about 3 x 4 x 6 feet, and comes with a tv, alarm clock, control panel, a light and a screen for the door. And a pillow, of course!

You keep your luggage in a locker outside of the capsule, but they arn't suitable for big bags like suitcases. There are shared bathroom and shower rooms, and some have a sauna and public baths.

In some hotels women arn't allowed to stay, but in many of them there are seperate floors for men and women.

I REALLY want to stay in one of these hotels! They look really cosy! For my trip, I plan on staying a few nights in Tokyo in a normal hotel, but spending one of them nights at the capsule hotel. That's my plan, anyway!

Japan Fund Progress: 23%

Free Pattern: Monsties!

As promised; the ami pattern for the Monsties! I love making these little guys; they're really easy and quick to make up. I hope you enjoy making them as much as I do!

You will need to know the basic crochet stitches, like Single Crochet, Increase, Chain Stitch and Slip Stitch. Plus as you'll be working the 2 leg straight out of the body, you'll need to divide the body in half, so to speak, in order to work the legs. But that's all explained in the pattern :D

If there's anything that doesn't make sense or you're having problems with the pattern at all just comment below and I'll get back to you!

New I've just made a step by step tutorial for making these Monsties. You can view it here :D

Enjoy!

Monsties

You will need
. 3.75mm (US size F) crochet hook
. Small amount of yarn (I used Double Knit)
. Smaller amount of white yarn for hair
. 6mm Safety Eyes
. Felt
. Glue
. Embroidery/Yarn Needle
. Stitch marker
. Stuffing

Abbreviations
Ch - Chain Stitch
Sc - Single Crochet
St/Sts - Stitch/Stitches
Slst - Slip Stitch
Inc (Increase) - 2 Sc into 1 St
** - Marks a group of stitches to be repeated until the round if completed


Body
1. Ch2, Sc 6 into 2nd Ch from hook (6)
2. Inc around (12)
3. *Sc, Inc* around (18)
4. *Sc 2, Inc* around (24)
5. Sc 3, Inc* around (30)
6-15. Sc around (30)

If using safety eyes, attach now. Use where you are at the end of row 15 as a centre point to place them

Place marker at the beginning of row 16

Start 1st Leg (Tutorial)
16. Sc 15, Slst to the beginning of row 16 (where you marked it with the marker) (15)
17.-19. Sc around (15)
*Bind Off, Weave in end*

Start 2nd Leg
Insert hook anywhere around where the second leg is gonna be attached, and repeat from row 16.
*Bind Off, Weave in end*

Bottom Of Feet
1. Ch 2, Sc 5 into 2nd ch from hook (5)
2. Inc around (10)
3. *Sc, Inc* around (15)
*Bind Off, Leave long tail for sewing*

Assembly
.Stuff the body with the stuffing, and sew the bottom of the feet on.
. Cut out felt shapes for the mouth and teeth, and glue/stitch in place
. Add hair. The way I do it is using a kind of latch hook method; you insert the hook into one of the ‘holes’/stitches on the top of the Monsties head, poke the hook out of the 'hole’/stitch above it, hook a piece of white yarn around the hook and pull it through both holes/stitches. Don’t pull it right the way through, only partly, so that you can thread the ends of the hair through the loop so it will hold in place.


Done!



I hope you enjoy this pattern!! Again, if you have any problems with it or any questions at all just comment below and I’ll get back to you!

Happy Monstie Making!!

Best Of...

DeviantArt


I really love this little giraffe by BLAZiNx6iRL on DA! He even has a little rattle in his stomach! Too cute!!

Photo (c) BLAZiNx6iRL



Craftster


hErbAl_tEA on Craftster made this adorable rain cloud and drops!! How sweet! I'd love to hang this in my house!

Photo (c) hErbAl tEA



Flickr

Check out this excellent Hello Kitty cake by Dragonfly Doces on Flickr!! I want this cake for my birthday this year!! Kawaii!

Photo (c) Dragonfly Doces


Ravelry

This rainbow ruffle scarf by Littlelugs on Ravelry is so sweet! Makes me want to learn to knit!!

Photo (c) Littlelugs

The Birth Of A Flumpelbee

I love seeing other crocheter's 'works in progress' and work areas, so I thought I'd do it myself! I am currently making items for my stall at the Christmas and Gift Show I'm doing in December, so over the weekend I decided to make a Flumpelbee. This is how it went...

First off - the face. I like making the face best as it's what gives each Flumpelbee it's own personality. That and it's posture!



This is the head and the neck finished. Notice the pipe-cleaner sticking out of it's neck?! She needs that 'cos it's quite a long neck to stand up on it's own. This is the most fiddly bit of making these; it's only 10 stitches round, and I use a 3.25mm hook!



Fiddly bit over - this is the lower neck complete. From now on it's just increasing to get the 'blobby' look of the lower body.



Head and body done! All that's left to do are the feet, ears, tail and wings.



That's her done! The over all time it took to make her was about 3-4 hours, over 2 days. I don't like to rust these as they can easily go wrong. I named her Mary :D



And the side view. The wings are made from normal silver craft wire. I'm still getting the hang of using it really. Please excuse my messy desk in these piccies lol!

Hope that was of some amusement!!

A New Project

I fancy a challenge, so I've decided to write a pattern for an amigurumi bat!

I love bats, they're one of my fav animals ever. I think they're so sweet!!

The head, body, ears and feet are pretty straight forward, it's just the wings I'm having issues with. I've looked at loads of bats pics to get a sense of the shape of the wings, and so far I've come up with sewing a series of triangles together, then adding a sc boarder with some picot stitches here and there to act as the ends of their 'fingers and thumbs'. Easier said than done! I've made a little prototype, but I feel I can do a bit better.

Watch this space for updates on this latest pattern! :D

Etsy Friday: KitLane

This week on Etsy Friday: KitLane!





KitLane makes these cute little needle felted wool creatures, including bunnies, bears and bobs, and this sweet little Ursabob called Sooner! He's sooooo cute!

I've always wanted to try needle felting, but never know where to start. Seeing KitLanes creations makes me want to learn even more! Though I could never make anything as fab as this!

Check out KitLane's Etsy shop here
And Sooner The Ursabob here

Photo (c) KitLane

Reason’s To Visit Japan Pt 1: Ueno Park

Ueno Park Tokyo Japan, originally uploaded by GGBerry.com.

I really want to go to Japan! I’ve been saving for about a year now; my final aim is about £2,000. A lot of money! In my ‘Reasons To Visit Japan’ feature I’m gonna list, well, my reasons to go to Japan lol! Week one is Ueno Park…

Ueno Park is a massive public park in Tokyo. It is well know for it’s thousands of cherry trees, which bloom cherry blossom in the spring.

At the entrance of the park is a statue of Saigo Takamori, who was an important figure in the Meiji and Edo periods.

There are many temples and shrines in Ueno Park, including a temple to the goddess Benten, which stands in the middle of Shinobazu Pond; and the Toshogu Shrine, dedicated to Tokugawa Ieyasu.

There are also many museums in Ueno Park, including the Tokyo National Museum, and many art galleries. It is also home to Japan’s first zoo. It used to house panda’s, but the last died in 2008.

I’d love to visit Ueno Park; it’s one of my top 5 places to go on my trip! The photo’s I’ve seen of the place are beautiful, and only make me want to go more!

Japan Fund Progress: 22%

Best Of...

New feature time! Here I'll be showing my fav things on Deviant Art, Flickr, Craftster and Ravelry



DeviantArt



I love this little hamster by WhittyKitty! Look at him, he's so sweet! I wish I was WhittyKitty's 15,000 kiriban winner!!

Photo (c) WhittyKitty



Flickr

I've always wanted to go to Japan, and recently started saving so I can go! I really like the style of the Harajuku girls of Tokyo, Japan. This picture by ajpscs is just one of the things I love!

Photo (c) ajpscs



Craftster

Aahhhh! A zombie potato! This little guy by Kitty Ballistic is so cute!! And such a great story to go with him! I want a zombie potato...

Photo (c) Kitty Ballistic



Ravelry


I really like these colourful creatures by 203gow, such original ideas and colour combinations!

Photo (c) 203gow

Brand Spanking New Blog!

I've finally got round to sorting my blog out! Yay! I've added a new banner, new fonts/colours and new badges!

I'll use this blog to keep updates on my latest ami designs and my adventures in crocheting and other crafts, and general day to day stuff I find amusing!

In the following weeks I'll be introducing new features, such as my favorites on sites like Ravelry, Flickr, DeviantArt and blogs and of course I'll be bringing back Etsy Friday! If you have an Etsy shop or a Ravelry/Flickr/DA account or a craft blog you'd like featured on this blog, click to follow my blog, drop me a line and I'll see what I can do!

Also, you see them little guys in my banner and post pic? They're the Monsties, and I'll be adding a pattern for them and other ami's soon!

Sarah

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