Make Amigurumi COMPLETED

A while back I crocheted a slenderman as my first amigurumi project. It wasn’t difficult at all but I felt that I couldn’t just say that I can make amigurumi after simply making one kind of amigurumi.

Today I made Kyo from Fruits Basket. Being tiny and lots of little parts I thought this was much more difficult to crochet and to assemble. But I’m happy with the result and feel confident that I can follow patterns and know all the stitches required for amigurumi now.

Kyo needs some eyes but I don’t have felt here in the National park however kyo is recognisable in his current state so I’m not worried. Yay for another goal complete

before assembly

pretty cat design

kyo =^.^=

My crochet slenderman- on my first attempt!

 

First Amigurumi: Slenderman

One of my goals is to learn amigurumi. I started learning how to crochet and actually got a bit carried away so I hadn’t attempted making any amigurumi until now. It was a good friend of mine’s birthday. She introduced me to the character slenderman so when I saw a pattern on ravelry I just had to give it a go as it was the perfect gift for her.

If you do not know who slenderman is, he is an internet legend. There is a game you can download and play… You are lost in the woods at night with a torch with limited batteries. The aim of the game is to find 8 pages before slenderman finds you…

My crochet slenderman- on my first attempt!

It wasn’t that hard considering all the different types of stitches crochet has whereas amigurumi’s main stitch is the single crochet and just making sure you have done the right amount of stitches in a row. Well the only thing that gave me trouble was the shoes… I made about 5 shoes and they all turned out wierd and different sizes.

My ravelry slenderman

Thanks to Iga Paczek’s ravelry pattern I successfully created my first amigurumi !!

 

 

 

Amigurumi/Crochet Pokeball

My first handmade crochet pokeball

 

 

This week I played around crocheting with some wool I bought while I was in Christchurch. I have managed to get better at:

• Reading a pattern
• Increasing
• Decreasing
• Single Crochet
• Magic Circle

All in the name to create… a Pokeball!!! I’m so happy with it. There is room for improvement but since I didn’t know how things would turn out I have learned a few things to change when doing spherical shapes from now on.

The pattern I followed was from HERE

 

Pabu I choose you!!!

 

 

Amigurumi basics : a beginners diary

There was something called a magic circle which I have heard of, so I thought I’d look into it.  Appearently its is a great way to not leave a hole at the middle of the round. And that it’s the best round starter for amigurumi.. (I’d source this but it just shows up here and there when looking up amigurumi and crochet tutorials)

I found this youtube video which does it at a good enough pace for me to follow what to do.

The magic circle video even showed me a great way to do a slip know (though not sure if its only for magic circles?) as well as Single crocheting/Sc and how to complete a magic circle.

Here’s my attempt:

my 3rd magic circle

I’m pretty happy- it’s more complicated than the chain stitch, and helped me figure out how to place my hands/hold the wool and hook.

Today I learned: magic circle, Single stitch/Sc/ Slip knot?

I wish the pattern I received from freshstitches came with pictures so I knew what it is supposed to look like. Rd 2: Sc twice in each stitch? -does that mean I single crochet in the same place twice?? ah well I’ll get there eventually…

 

Step one: amigurumi (progress)

I recieved my amigurumi kit from freshstitches.com at last.
I opened up the pattern and it looks very confusing. I do not know how to read the pattern. I found an abbreviations explanation section and decoded the amigurumi/crochet code. But I did not know how to do any of these….

So I thought I would look at how to do some of these things on youtube. The freshstitch website had a link to how to do a sloppy slipknot and a normal slipknot. Then I learned how to do a chain. I found starting really hard- doing the slipknot- as the wool would just fall off the hook all the time- I’m figuring out finger placement and how to hold onto the wool as I crochet… But doing the chain was easy. See here’s a picture of a chain I did.

my attempt at chain stitch/ ch

It’s only basic and not much but I have to start with something. I did try watching how to do Sc/Single crochet but my brain doesn’t absorb it in it’s tired state so I will pick it up another day.

Good thing I’ve discovered about amigurui/crochet- if you make a mistake you can easily undo it and redo it without wasting/losing material. (though admittedly I have accidentally knotted somehow and had to cut that off, ah well)

I’ve just finished a looong day at work so I didn’t have the enthusiasm and energy to do more than what I have learned but at least I learned something new.

 

Starter Kit- AMIGURUMI

I”ve looked on ebay, amazon(though that’s mostly for books) and trademe but none of them had tools for someone who has no idea what they were looking for when it comes to starting amigurumi.

But I was lucky to find freshstitches.com sells starter kits -that includes

•  yarn to crochet your amigurumi
• a pair of 12mm black plastic safety eyes
• an adorable FreshStitches pattern!
• a size H (5.0mm) crochet hook
• a bent-tip tapestry needle
• two locking stitch markers (with helpful tips!)

it was a little expensive but it includes tools, material and a pattern. I’ve looked around online and found tutorials on how to read a crochet/amigurumi pattern and amigurumi basics. SO I just need to learn how to do the stitching (if that’s what you call it) with some practise.

I also bought a book called “The complete idiot’s guide to amigurumi” . I do not generally like self help books like these but it seems to be one of the few books on amigurumi which teach you to certain things so that you can become able make your own amigurumi plushies (which is what I eventually want to do if I succeed at this) .

So with a book that I hope will be very useful, and the tools to make my first amigurumi plushie.. I am really looking forward to it coming in the mail.

 

Goals reconsidered

I started my journey of 101 goals almost a year ago now (a year coming 27 Jan) and I have accomplished some good ones already so far.  There has been a feeling nagging me to review my goals. While I made the journey with the intention of doing every goal I started with, I think it would be better to adjust them to goals I feel accomplished in achieving, instead of stubbornly completing a goal that I feel is no longer relevant to me or my ambitions.

Many of these may sound like excuses but I know myself and due to my current job/location (super isolated)  I’ve considered some goals unattainable if I do not adjust them.

Goals that I am kicking off the list:

#Blog for 365 days- I need to be able to accomplish a smaller goal (like blog for 30 days etc) to be able even thinking about doing this. Managing work and keeping up everyday with this goal isn’t doing me any favours. l Plus I have crappy internet where I’m living for the next 5 months there will be no way I can post everyday…

#365 photos challenge & Make my own 365 project- Similar reason- I need to prove to myself I can commit- so need to finish something short and work my way up to this some day.

#Learn how to do a backflip- I think this is an unreasonable goal now that I look at it. It doesn’t improve me. Only be a cool skill…

#Read all the books by my favourite author- My favourite author.. when I used to read-when I was younger and reading it now that I’m more mature it just doesnt have the same appeal though I still love N.M Browns books. Also I have no access to a library that I can read all his books at. Now that I’m trying to read new things (due to my other reading goals) I hope to find a new favourite anyway …

#make and drink all the drinks mentioned in lmfao’s shot music video – I remember when this goal was made- in spur of the moment with the influence of flatmates. Truly, this goal is not me at all. So I see no point in making a goal that doesn’t do anything for who I am.

Goals I am replacing them with:

#52 week project- I think while doing something everyday might be a hard ask, getting something done in a week might be attainable. I’m still thinking about what theme to choose but I’ll need a flexible theme that I can stick with for a year.

#Learn the basics of Parkour- This has always been something I’ve always wanted to do. I even had it on my goals list with Daggars. I do not know how it wasn’t on this list. It will be difficult in my location (no walls/buildings etc to play off/around) but I’ll incorporate it into my visits home..hopefully.

#make at least 5 things I have pinned on my “I want to make this” board – I just feel more and more creative. I loved making my Princess mononoke costume, I’m curious of what other things I’m capable of crafting.

#Learn to play harmonica- Another skill I’ve always wanted but somehow missed the list. Harmonica is a beautiful sounding instrument and one that doesn’t require fingers to play. (The reason I can’t play guitar/piano)

#Learn how to make amigurumi- This may or may not work for me but I find all the sorts of amigurumi designs inspiring and spark me full of creativity. I don’t know if I’ll be able to make one as I’ve never knitted/crocheted or followed this kin of written instructions before.

#29 gifts movement– Give something, anything for 29 days.