Amigurumi Girls
Amigurumi Girl gets a little sister!
Sunday morning my daughter and I were going through my leftover yarn collection. I have a bag of one-skein yarns that I reserve for very small projects, such as amigurumi toys. We found a skein of the Classic Elite Flash in marled pink that reminds me of peppermint candy. I bought it for my daughter years ago but never got around to doing anything with it. That morning, I asked her what she imagined that yearn could be made into.
"Can you make a sister for Clariana?" she asked. Clariana is what she named the Amigurumi Girl I made last summer.
So I set to work. Then halfway through the head, I broke my bamboo crochet needle. The only US size B I have. This must be why metal crochet needles are popular.
I had to use a smaller size. 1.75 mm metal hook.
My stitches were tighter with the smaller hook, which made this sister a little sister. Other than the difference in hair and dress color, I used the exact same kind of yarns, Classic Elite Bam Boo for the dress and skin, and Classic Elite Flash for the hair.
I had finished the head and the body, and was working on the limbs when my precocious 5 year old made a discovery. Put together differently, the head and the body looked like a mushroom. Since she's the boss of this project, I had to turn the parts into a mushroom and start all over with the little sister. I spent the whole day crocheting, supervised by my 5 year old boss.
It was a lovely way to spend a rainy Sunday together.
The Girl Pattern is in page 84 of Kyuuto! Japanese Crafts Amigurumi by Tomoko Takamori.
Labels: book, crafts, crochet, toys
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Posted on Wednesday, January 27, 2010 at
9:43 AM |
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Indoor Activities for Preschoolers
My little one is feeling better after I did nothing when she was sick. She's still coughing and once in a while lets out a sneeze, but the fever is gone. She is up and about with a lot of energy. I have to keep her from jumping off the furniture.When I was growing up in the Philippines, my mom used to caution me about expending so much energy too soon after recovering from illness. "Binat" or a relapse hits worse than before, if one doesn't take it easy until fully recovered.
"But I'm so bored!" my 5-year-old complained, just one day after she spent three days sleeping, waking long enough to eat, drink, go to the bathroom and cry about her symptoms.
Television makes for easy entertainment for a bored child confined indoors, but staring at a monitor is not the best thing for a recovering preschooler. I had to come up with something more interactive, real life and low impact.
Here are a few things we did:
1. Board Games. Candyland
is an all-time favorite. We've been playing this game since since my daughter was 3. Back then she already knew her colors, and put her piece on the same color as each card she drew, but she didn't yet understand we were supposed to follow the road to the finish. This time around, she gets it and is quite competitive. We also played Chutes and Ladders
, which gets a little difficult because at this time she can only count to 20. When the blocks go up higher than that, she forgets which direction her piece is going. Despite that, she still won. Twice!2. Colorforms. I love Miss Weather
colorforms. My little girl sets up the weather outside the window and dresses Miss Weather appropriately. Then I throw a monkey wrench and dress up the teddy bear and cat for comedy relief. We also have a vintage Miss Piggy that we got on ebay. Fab outfits for mixing and matching, accessories and jewels to finish the look. Who doesn't love Miss Piggy?3. Storybooks. Well, in our case, just one big storybook. "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
," by Frank Baum. We've read it once through before. It took us a week of reading 2 to 3 chapters a night. At the very end, though, that familiar word every parent hears, "Again!" So we've started over, this time reading a chapter a night. Today, we read a chapter in the daytime and another at bedtime. Classics never get old.4. Piano Lesson. We played the piano freestyle, making up songs, then a short lesson
. Later on, my daughter gave her Daddy a lesson.We have a few more days of taking it easy coming up. Do you know of any more low impact indoor activities for preschoolers? I would certainly appreciate fresh ideas.
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Posted on Tuesday, January 19, 2010 at
9:20 AM |
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Amigurumi Girl and Alien
She may have button eyes, but she's a doll! She instantly became my daughter's favorite. I made her in Maine on a rainy day last summer. She tagged along our cross country trip from Maine to California, and now lives happily with the Alien in my daughter's bedroom.
I made the Girl with Classic Elite Bam Boo, spun from 100% bamboo, which is hypo-allergenic. Her hair is Classic Elite Flash, 100% mercerized cotton. Don't you just love the yellow highlights in her hair? The Alien is Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk, a 80% alpaca wool and 20% silk. His eyes are Classic Elite Star.
The Girl Pattern is in page 84 and the Alien is actually a Butterfly without wings in page 62 of Kyuuto! Japanese Crafts Amigurumi by Tomoko Takamori.
Labels: book, crafts, crochet, toys
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Posted on Friday, August 28, 2009 at
8:36 PM |
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Amigurumi Bunnies
It's been over 20 years since I crocheted anything. I learned how to make doilies and toilet paper cozies back in high school, but I hadn't picked up a crochet needle since.
Then I saw these adorable Amigurumi creatures. I wanted to make some too. Here are my first two tries. They look a bit ramshackled, but not bad for a newbie. The next one will be cuter.
I learned and am inspired by these books:
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Posted on Monday, April 13, 2009 at
12:16 AM |
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Crafty Mama
I wish Crafty Mama: Makes 49 Fast, Fabulous, Foolproof (Baby & Toddler) Projects
was around when I was pregnant. I spent my pregnancy obsessing about my diet and playing video games, when I could have been making crafts and making friends with other crafty moms like me. Instead I came upon this book when my daughter is already 4, and all too willing to play with scissors and hot glue. I could work with that.I thought the ribbon barrettes were a fun girlie project to attempt. We went to a local Beverly's and shopped for barrette clips, ribbons, buttons, and other tiny things we could glue on. It was a fun trip. I let my daughter choose everything. She has excellent taste in fashion.
We had a lot of fun making the ribbon barrettes. I made most of the barrettes, while my daughter played with the ribbons, but at some point she did design a couple of barrettes, and tried using the glue gun once (with close supervision from me).
Author Abby Pecoriello put together fast and easy projects that anyone can make. If you know how to handle scissors and hot glue, you can make these craft projects.
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Posted on Sunday, April 5, 2009 at
9:05 PM |
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