First off, my method for embroidering mouths on amigurumi.

Second, how to paint blushy cheeks.

This is a multi-pattern that is a basic oval-shaped ball that comes with multiple ways of finishing it that include a cat, dog, bunny, bear, duck, mushroom, carrot or strawberry.

These work up super quick since they are so small and pretty simple, around 30 minutes from start to finish. They’re a bit over 1 inch in height and would make a great keychains or phone straps. I’ll probably be using this as the base pattern for my amigurumi workshop at Tsukino Con in February since it is shorter and simpler than the peanut animal pattern I was using before and I get many repeat con goers who may appreciate something different to work on.

Click to get the Kawaii Chibi Amigurumi Pattern

Angry Bird is one of my mom’s favorite games and since I have made her seventy three billion NobyNoby Boys, it seemed a good idea to go with something different for her xmas gift this year, so Angry Birds it was. Things were down to the wire (it’s been nuts this year), so two amis were all I could put together, but I do believe they were a hit.

I realize there are already several patterns for these available online but between the significant portion of them that were pay (tsk tsk!), the simpler than ideal shaping on some (pig is not a perfect ball people… he’s just not!) and my general (read TOTAL) reluctance (read UNWILLINGNESS) for reading or following any pattern (inclusive of my own) I decided to whip mine up on the fly all the while keeping decent enough notes to publish the pattern since it’s been a while and you’ve all been so fabulously patient.

Click to get the Angry Birds Amigurumi Pattern

I’ll be putting down the PS3 controller for a few hours (GASP) to host a virtual videochat stitch & bitch starting this Wednesday Dec 7th from 8:30 pm EST to whenever things naturally wind down. Grab your latest project (knitters will be politely tolerated Kidding! You guys know I love you right?) and hop in to the video chat room, bitch about stuff, work on things, show off finished projects and share tips or ask questions. Those with webcams and mics will have the ability to be seen and heard but text chat will be available for those who do not have the necessary equipment or are in Witness Protection programs. Please note IE is not compatible with tinychat, Firefox or Chrome are recommended.

I whipped up an amigurumi Minecraft Creeper due in part to the frequency of the request, my kid’s obsession with Minecraft and the general awesomeness of Creepers themselves. Unfortunately the construct wasn’t all that easy to come up with since the character is blockish and pixelated, two things very difficult to pull off with amigurumi worked in the round.

I cringed at the thought of sewing multiple panels together and I am not a fan of the alternating stripes of texture made when squares are worked by turning the work every row, so it took some reworkings and multiple attempts frogged but ultimately the shape came together nicely enough. For colour, I tried a few different ombre yarns and colour switching techniques but they didn’t look right so ultimately I settled on a solid murky green with grey for the feet and face. I have toyed with the idea of fabric paint to create some varied colours but without being able to achieve the pixelated symmetry, I’m not convinced it would look good. Plastic canvas is necessary to reinforce the shape and prevent over-sausagification of the pieces. The finished creeper is around 5 inches tall and works up fairly quickly.

As with all my patterns, this puppy is free. If you have any problems or questions, please leave a comment so that others may benefit from the question and answer. Also by popular request, to the right in the side menu, you will find a tip jar, giving you the option to make a donation should you wish to.

Click to get the Minecraft Creeper Amigurumi pattern

I finally busted out the mini-tripod and made a new tutorial video for joining rounds in amigurumi. Check out my snazzy new video editing skills, complete with fade in and fade out!

I’ll put together a page shortly with an image based overview as well but wanted to get this posted sooner rather than later since there have been a lot of questions on this lately. Enjoy!