So Many Ami's, So Little Time

Since my giveaway earlier this month I've been so busy making stuff! All of your suggestions for things to make have been brilliant - I'm going to be busy 'till Christmas!

Here's a round up of all the things requested:

Food
- Monster Cupcakes
- Monster Toast
- Cookies
- Ice cream
- Sushi
- Strawberry
- Apple - An Apple A Day Week?!
- Pirate food
- Cherries
- Fruit In General
- Buns/Cakes

Monsties
- Super Monsties
- Pocket Monsties
- Career Monsties (Nurse, Fireman, Cop)
- Pirate Monsties

Monsters
- Fuzzy Yarn
- Baby Toys
- Multiple Arms/Legs
- Cactus Monsters

Aliens

Ghosts (Creepy, Cute)

Mighty Boosh Characters

In-animate objects
- Shoes & Boots
- Cars and Buses
- ipod Ami

Animals
- Whales
- Red Panda
- Racoon
- Platypus
- Seal
- Rhino
- Pink Baby Hippo
- Jellyfish
- Mice In A Shoe - Themed
- Centipede family (80's toys)
- Spider Couple
- Insects

Keyring/Keychain Ami's

Dolls
- Customisable Dolls
- Customisable Wekeshies
- Armed Forces

Armed Forces Tanks/Helicopters

Fairy Tale
- 3 Little Pigs and Wolf
- Little Red Riding Hood

Angels

Egg Cosy Hats
- Sombrero
- Pirate
- Elf
- Firefly
- Dunces Hat
- Top Hat
- Bonnet
- Witch
- Mad Hatter
- Dr Seuss
- Bear Ears Hat
- Sun Hat
- Beret
- Bobble hat
- Mohawk Earflap hat
- Earflap hat
- Bunny Ears

Pheww! :S

As you can see there's alot of things! I'm slowly but surely getting through the list. So far I have made:

Apples In Suits
I plan to have more of these in my shop next week :)

Super Monsties
I've sold this one already, and am in the middle of making another one - a themed one ;)

Pocket Monsties
I'm re-branding the Monsties 'Pocket Monsties' because they fit in your pocket lol I made these 5 last week and will be listing them very soon.

I've also been working on a shoe ami. This is proving to be very tricky! I'm having a problem with how to do the soles - do you crochet them or use actual shoe soles? But like I said, I like a challenge, so I'll continue to work on it!

Thank you again for everyones input - I do intend on going through the whole list, but it might take me a while :)

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!!

Last Call For Monsties!

Hey! Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Just a quick post to say you've got 1 day left to enter the Monsties Giveaway! It will be closing around 9pm GMT on Tuesday (19th Jan), so if you still want to enter nows the time to do so!

For full details pleae visit the original post here or follow the Monsties Giveaway link to the right. I will announce the winners sometime on Wednesday.

Good Luck!

Monsties Tutorial

I've been asked by a few people about how exactly you make the legs of my Monsties pattern . I looked over the pattern and realised it's not that clear to understand, so I've made a little tutorial to show you. I hope it helps!

This is the Monstie up to and including row 15. At this point - if using safety eyes - you need to attach them. I use the end of row 15 as a centre point to position them.



After attaching the eyes, start row 16. SC 15....



... and then join with a Slst to the beginning of the row.



This completes row 16, and seperates the legs (:b)

This is the 1st leg after row 17...



... and this is the 1st leg completed.



Next, start leg 2 by attaching yarn with a Slst to any where on the leg (the space where you're gonna crochet the leg). This is going back to row 17 in the pattern.



Continue to row 19 and finish off. Your Monstie should now look like this...




All you need to do now is stuff the Monstie, crochet the bottom of the feet and sew them on...



... and glue/stitch on the mouth, add hair and you're done!



I hope that helped a bit; if you still have any questions just comment below and I'll get back to you asap :D

Thankies, and enjoy your Monsties!

Monsties Giveaway!

Seen as I have quite a few followers on this blog now I thought I'd have a giveaway! Yay!

Up for grabs are 3 Monsties, each lovingly handmade by me! You get the Monstie of your choice, be it shocked Pink Monstie with the pig-tails; happy Blue Monstie with the mohawk; or terrified Green Monstie with the Emo fringe! You will also recieve amigurumi stickers by Moo and a 'Googly Eyed Dude'.


All you have to do is one of the following:

. Follow this blog

. Become a fan on Facebook

. Follow me on Twitter

. 'Heart' my Etsy Shop

. Watch me on Deviant Art

. Tweet about this giveaway and link back to this blog

. Mention this giveaway on Facebook, Myspace, Plurk etc and link back to this blog

. Blog about this giveaway and link back to this blog

You only need to do one of the 8 things listed above for your name to be entered into the draw, but for each thing you do you get an extra entrie - so the better chance of winning! Yay!

After you've done one (or more) of the 8 things listed simply comment below or email me at esshaych@hotmail.co.uk, let me know what you did/link to what you did, which Monstie you'd like and a contact email address or website where I can find you if you win. That's it!

The 3 winners will be selected at random using the 'names out of a hat' method, and put up on my blog and emailed after the giveaway ends, which is next Tuesday (19th January). Monsties will be shipped using Royal Mail 1st class, and I ship anywhere in the world :o)

That's all! Good Luck! :D

Mutant Cactus 102

Sorry for not being around much lately - to tell you the truth I haven't been crocheting much :( But I did make another Mutant Cactus last week, and thought I'd share :)


He/she is Specimen 102, totally freeformed - no pattern was used :) I liked the idea of a cactus with multiple growths growing off of it, and then I gave them eyes for cuteness lol!

In other news - the craft fair I'm taking part in is only 3 weeks away now, and I still have quite a few little bits to make. So far I have about 12 medium sized ami's, including Flumplebees, Super Monsties and dolls; and smaller things like keyrings, mini octopus', scarfs, bear ear headbands and pin cushions. I still need to make some Monsties, Eggberts, birdies and a Uniloomph. So that's what I'm going to be up to - I'll post pics when I'm finished! :D

And tonight I'm off to London again to The 02 Arena to see Paramore with my brother - good times! :D

New Listings! Pocket Monsties!

Wow, 2 posts in one day! Busy!

I've just listed the Pocket Monsties in my Etsy Shop!

All are made from bright acrylic DK yarn, have fun hair-do's, 2 small plastic safety eyes, a red heart on their bums and are stuffed with polyfil. They are approx. 3'' tall each, except Blue Pocket Monstie, who is 2.5''. Bless!

You can find them in my Etsy Shop!

I hope you like! :D

And the Winner Are...

I made the draw for the Monsties Giveaway this evening with my Mum in the kitchen - names were sorted into 3 different bags according to which colour Monstie you wanted. All draws were fair - we don't like to cheat!

So the winners are -


Captain Coppermane won Blue Monstie!


Kerry won Green Monstie!


And Jill won Pink Monstie!

Congrats to all 3! And Thank you to everyone that entered the giveaway - I wish I had enough Monsties to let everyone have one :(

This giveaway went very well, I'll probably be having another one in the future. If I do, which one of my ami's would you like to win? I'm open to suggestions!

Thankies!

-x-

Crocheting For Craft Fairs

Hiho! Hows everyone?! I hope you all well. I'm sorry it's been a while but, again, I haven't really been up to much crocheting. The little I have made I will share with you here...

First up is the army of Monsties I've been making; some plain ones...

... and 2 striped ones...

I made them using my Monsties pattern, a 3.5mm hook and I used 2 different sized eyes. After making Mr. Wonkey I thought it looked cute :)

Next I made another Mutant Cactus...

... No.103! He's a little cactus this time, and again I used different sized eyes and a 3.5mm hook.

Last but not least I made a big Eggbert...

... again using a 3.5mm hook and this time stick on eyes, which I glued on for extra strength; I also sewed the pom poms on. All these guys are going on my craft stall, which is just a week and a half away! Getting nervous!

The Birth Of Mr. Wonkey

I was actually in quite a crochet mood tonight, so I decided to get some stuff made for the craft stall I'm doing at Christmas. I need to make some Monsties (about 10) that I can bundle into a big bowl and sell.

So I started one. Then I thought 'Wouldn't it be weird to have a multi-coloured Monstie?'. I've never made or seen one before so I gave it a go. I then thought I'd give him different sized eyes. I've recently bought some lovely safetly eyes from 6060 on Etsy, and have been trying out different sizes (They are great eyes btw - I ordered some more a minute ago).

I was almost finished with him when I noticed his legs were totally different sizes. I was gonna frog him, but felt kind of sorry for him so I decided to make a 'Wonkey Monstie'. This is him in all his wonkey glory:



Bless him!! His left leg is a full 3rd smaller than his right, his mouth is on wonkey, he has different sized eyes and he's all randomly stripey! I like him - I kind of don't want to sell him! I think I will be making more Wonkey Monsties! <3

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!

Stupid Blogspot

Blogspot is being stupid again and not letting me upload any photos. Does anyone else ever have this problem?!

Anyways, hope everyone had a nice weekend. I've been carrying on with the diet - I've lost almost half a stone! Yay! Though last week I hadn't lost anything so I'm making myself go out for a walk everyday now. I'm gonna get ready to go after I've typed this up actually. If it doesn't rain.

I've been asked to crochet a Shaun and Timmy The Sheep for a friend of my aunties - so that's what I've been up to on the crochet front lately. I've nearly finished Shaun _ I just have 2 legs to go and to attach the eyes, which are either going to be big googly eyes or felt - I haven't decided yet. Then it's on to Timmy. I've also started crocheting a blue and white Jellyfish for a friends baby that is due soon. I hope she'll like it!

The Monsties have been posted off to the winners. I didn't do it on Friday as I didn't go out in the end, so my Mum posted them off this morning; hopefully they should be arriving soon. I hope they all arrive safely, and that you're happy with them!

That's about all. I'll keep trying with the photos. Stupid Blogspot. I'm off for a walk.

-x-

Day 06 - Whatever Tickles Your Fancy

What I've Been Making

About a week and a half ago I was looking through DA and found some great pictures to do with Rag Dolls. I thought it'd be nice to make an amigurumi rag doll, so this is what I came up with...



She's about 30cm/12'' tall and made with the usual DK yarn and 3.5mm hook. I wanted to use buttons for eyes this time to make her look more like a rag doll. I also thought I'd try out a weird hair cut. I like weird. I didn't know what to dress her in - I started off by making some felt clothes but it didn't work out. So in the end I crocheted her a dress. Oh, and she hasn't got a name yet. Any ideas? Again, something weird would be nice...

Next up were some more Monsties...


Made them for the fundraising fun day I'm taking part in on Easter Sunday. Did I mention I was doing that?! An old school friend of mine contacted me after seeing my crochet stuff on Facebook and asked me if I'd like a stall. Yay!

Then on *thinks* Monday I got a nice message from someone on Etsy saying they liked my Lolly doll from a while back, and wondered if they could buy the pattern. I found the pattern but it needed altering so I made a new one...


She's called Lolly too lol! The person on Etsy is now testing the pattern for me, if it all goes well I might put it up in my Etsy Shop.

Last but not least...


... Bear Ears Headband! Lmao! I saw a fab pattern on Ravelry for them, but when I tried it out I couldn't get the hang of it. So I made up my own pattern. They are made so they fit any size head, so can be worn by kids or grown-ups. Silly grown ups like me lol! (Yes, that's me in the picture. I hate pictures of myself...)I'm gonna make some more and sell them at the fundraiser.

I haven't done much of the Kokeshi Doll this week. Shame on me. I'm having a hard time seeing the stitches as I'm using black yarn. I'm gonna keep going though - hopefully it should be done in a couple of weeks.

Etsy Treasury Feature!

I got an email a little while ago to say I've been featured in a fab treasury on Etsy! Yay!

The lovely Amber aka RuthMichelsohn compiled the cute treasury For Tokyo, With Love and included my Kimiko The Kokeshi Doll pattern! The treasury will be viewable up until 18th January, so take a look at all the great items featured!

Once again, a big Thank you to Amber - I really appreciate it! :D

-x-

PS - There's still time to enter the Monsties giveaway! Please see the post below for details :D

New Listing! Candy The Super Monstie!

You asked for more monsters, so you get more monsters! I give you...

Candy, the Super Monstie!
She is Len's sister!

She has been lovingly handmade using soft, bright pink acrylic DK yarn, has 2 safety eyes, 3 light pink acrylic DK horns on her head and back and has a felt mouth. She is stuffed with cuddley polyfill and has 'hollow heels', which means she can stand up on her own! She is roughly 14cms tall.

Super Monsties are cave monsters that originate from Chiselhurst Caves in Kent, England. On a trip there one Sunday I spotted a male and a female wandering round looking for attention from the tourists. They said they wanted to adventure outside the caves, so I took them home to Essex, where they have multiplied ever since. They are very moody creatures - each one has his or her own personality :)

For more details please visit her shop page here.

I hope you like her! <3

How-To's

Here are a list of my How-To's and Tutorials. Click on the pictures to view :D


Amigurumi Hair Tutorial



A step-by-step photo tutorial describing how to make and apply hair to amigurumi.



Monsties Tutorial



A step-by-step photo tutorial on how to make and assemble my Monstie pattern.

What I Did This Evening

I decided to go on a Monstie binge this evening after dinner, to see how many I could make! This is what I came up with in the past 4 hours!

Rainbow Monsties! Yay! They are about 3''tall and have fluffy fancy yarn hair. They also have mini heart buttons sewn to their bums!

I'm planning on having them up in my Etsy shop soon - I'd do it tonight but there isn't much natural light left to take decent pictures :(

Hope you like!

Oh, and the giveaway to win Len has now closed! Thank you so much to everyone that entered - I will be making the draw tomorrow! :D Len's very excited!