Ana Paula Rimoli Patterns in Crochet Today

Anyone who reads this blog knows I am a huge fan of Ana Paula Rimoli. One of my first crochet pattern books was Amigurumi World: Seriously Cute Crochet. Last year's Easter projects were based on her small bunnies and chicks. I quickly followed with a purchase of Amigurumi Two!: Crocheted Toys for Me and You and Baby Too. I made several birthday presents, including the candle from the cake for my FIL. I hinted strongly to my husband that a great item for my Easter basket this year would her yet unreleased book, Amigurumi Toy Box: Cute Crocheted Friends. My loyalty to her published work is pretty strong.

So you can imagine my pleasure when I opened my copy of Crochet Today March/April 2011 to discover that she has two patterns featured in the issue. There is a Alice in Wonderland theme and her contributions are a amigurumi version of the White Rabbit and a Drink Me Tea Set. There is a child's dress, a baby afghan, and croquet balls designed by other contributors to round out the theme.

I have several tea set patterns, but I like the coffee cup style of these teacups. If you have seen Ms. Rimoli's cups before you will likely recognize them. The pot is taller than most of my patterns which have the traditional stout teapot. I am not sure I will be making the hot pink set, but it would stand out in a crowded playroom.

When I saw the picture of the bunny, I recognized the designer and only had my suspicions confirmed by reading the designer's name. The bunny looks like one of Ms. Rimoli's creations. The outfit is what made this a pattern I must make. I have a young relative that is fond of the Alice story. In fact, I have been looking at a complete pattern set to purchase. However, that bunny is not dressed. They say clothes make the man. Well in this case the outfit makes the bunny. From what I have read of the pattern so far, the outfit is designed in a similar fashion to a cape that drapes front and back. The pattern even includes the rabbit's watch. This may be a Christmas item before I have time to complete him. However, I am determined to get him on my list of items to finish.

If you arrived here looking for free toy patterns please see the following pages:

Hello Kitty

Crochet and Knit Puppets

Crochet Amigurumi Animals and Stuffed Animal Free Patterns

Knit Amigurumi and Stuffed Toys

Crochet and Knit Amigurumi and Other Dolls

Knit and Crochet Toys

Dinosaurs and Dragons

Teddy Bear Patterns and Clothes

Knit and Crochet Food Patterns Great for Play Food

Valentines

Easter

Graduation

Patriotic

Halloween Page

Thanksgiving

Christmas

Pictures may not be used without permission.

Goose The Second Farm Continues

I have gotten disiplined about finishing my two big Christmas projects that I have been working on for a while now. I have one set of dinosaurs completed and one farm set done. I am adding a silo to the first farm set which I need to finish, too. However, as I have read on other crochet blogs, I have trouble returning to projects I have already done and duplicating the efforts to make additional items for others.



In the midst of other writing projects not related to crochet I have pushed myself to get focused and get finished. I finished the castle even though there were times I really wanted to abandon it and then decided on a strategy of trading back and forth between farm animals and dinosaurs to finish both projects. I currently am working on the last farm animal the cow, so the strategy is yielding results.

I am trying a new strategy with the second set that is providing some different results. I switched from a G hook to an F hook and I am finding my projects are standing better. There are fewer gaps in the patterns and I like the overall look better.

If you arrived here looking for free toy patterns please see the following pages:

Crochet and Knit Puppets

Crochet Amigurumi Animals and Stuffed Animal Free Patterns

Knit Amigurumi and Stuffed Toys

Crochet and Knit Amigurumi and Other Dolls

Knit and Crochet Toys

Dinosaurs and Dragons

Hello Kitty

Teddy Bear Patterns and Clothes

Knit and Crochet Food Patterns Great for Play Food


Pictures may not be used without permission.

Crochet Frog Finger Puppet

One of my younger relatives is a fan of frogs. I wrote in an earlier blog about making the Teddy Bear amigurumi finger puppet from Finger Puppets 12 Designs To Crochet by Susan Pippin. Once I found out about the frog, he had to get on my Christmas list.

Now all the patterns have arms and legs, but as I have been working my way through the book I have made some different choices. I did start on the legs for the frog, but I decided to leave him with the arms because the legs seemed to get in the way of the puppet, in this instance. I have another project I will be writing about later where I chose to add the legs. For me it is all about how it looks when I go to assemble the puppet.

If you arrived here looking for free toy patterns please see the following pages:

Crochet and Knit Puppets

Crochet Amigurumi Animals and Stuffed Animal Free Patterns

Knit Amigurumi and Stuffed Toys

Crochet and Knit Amigurumi and Other Dolls

Knit and Crochet Toys

Dinosaurs and Dragons

Hello Kitty

Teddy Bear Patterns and Clothes

Knit and Crochet Food Patterns Great for Play Food


Pictures may not be used without permission.

Female Vampire Amigurumi

I find it comforting to read on other blogs that people share my challenges. It does not solve my problem, but it means I am not alone. While I have not yet started doing craft shows or making items for sale online, I do have a need to make multiple projects for family members and I find it challenging to stick with the same pattern for multiple projects unless I mix things up. Before anyone panics, I am not contemplating selling work made from other people's patterns without permission. I am just contemplating the work involved with committing to making multiple items for sale purposes.

This female vampire is actually a modified version of the witch pattern from Gourmet Crochet's Monster Mash Amigurumi. I used Dracula's cape instead of the witch version because it was longer. I had already made two Draculas. I needed a third vampire character to balance out my Halloween packages. I just did not want to make another Dracula that day and decided to play with the witch pattern and create a female companion for Dracula. One package requires two of each doll. I already have three Frankensteins. The first blue one has already left for his new home. I have made one blue and one in a more traditional green for the package that requires two of each item. The female vampire now balances the vampire requirements.



If you arrived here looking for free Halloween patterns please check out the Halloween Knit and Crochet Page or the Halloween Plastic Canvas Page.


Pictures may not be used without written permission.

Knit Amigurumi and Stuffed Animals Free Patterns

As I stated in a previous blog I have had to expand the toy page again to make space for all the new free patterns I found. Yesterday, I added a page for the crochet amigurumi and stuffed animals, today it is time to create a knitted animal free pattern page.

If you are looking for other free toy patterns, please do look at the lists on the side to see what other offerings are available. I have included links to the most popular toy searches available on the blog here as well. You will find doll links listed on the side.

Knit and Crochet Toys

Crochet Amigurumi Animals and Stuffed Animals

Crochet and Knit Amigurumi and Other Dolls

Dinosaurs and Dragons

Hello Kitty

Crochet and Knit Puppets

Teddy Bear Patterns and Clothes

Knit and Crochet Food Patterns Great for Play Food


Amigurumi:

Knitting Patterns Central



Amigurumi and Other Animal Patterns:

Baby Gator

Bunny

Elephant

Elephant Jessikins



Flamingo

Fortune Kitty

Frog

Frog 2

Knitted Toy Box

Knitting Pattern Central

Koala



Monkey

Mice

Mouse

Penguin

Peter Rabbit



Sock Frog

Sock Giraffee

Sock Hippo

Sock Monkey Coats and Clark

Sock Pig

Sock Turtle

Tiger like Hobbes

Turtle

Turtle 2

Turtle 3



Ocean Creatures:

Lobster

Octupus Pair

Orca

Sea Urchin



Insects and Bugs:

Bee

Credits:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/breibeest/ / CC BY 2.0

There have been several questions about elephant in the photograph. According to the flickr information the picture is made from a paid pattern from Ravelry. The pattern is Elijah.

Crochet Amigurumi and Stuffed Animals Free Toy Patterns

The good news is I keep finding wonderful free toy patterns to add to the blog. The bad news is that I keep having to confuse visitors to the blog by adding new pages to accommodate the great patterns I find. The toy page once again is just too large to hold all the items and I have noticed visitors are missing patterns that are on the page because it takes too long to look through all the patterns. I will be moving the knitted animals to their own page as well.

This page just has animals. Any TV, movie, or other special characters will be found on the toy page and the link is below. Certain categories have enough links that they now have their own pages. If you look at the links you can see a selection of what I have located for patterns.

If you are looking for other free toy patterns, please do look at the lists on the side to see what other offerings are available. I have included links to the most popular toy searches available on the blog here as well. You will find doll links listed on the side.

Bunnies, Chicks, and Ducks Can Be Found on the Easter Page

Knit Amigurumi and Stuffed Toys

Crochet and Knit Amigurumi and Other Dolls

Knit and Crochet Toys Find Non-Animals and Themed Stuffed Toys Here

Dinosaurs and Dragons

Hello Kitty

Crochet and Knit Puppets

Teddy Bear Patterns and Clothes

Knit and Crochet Food Patterns Great for Play Food

Crochet:

Crochet Pattern Central

Amigurumi:

Free Amigurumi Patterns See Label List Left Side

Ami

Adding a Gown Tutorial

Ana Paula

Chrisdfriend Selection

Daily Crocheter



Amigurumi and Other Animal Patterns:

African and Asian Animals Crochet Pattern Central

Allcrafts

Alligator

Baby Gorilla

Baby Pufferfish Complete with Demo Pictures

Baby Seal

Badger

Beaver

Camel

Cardinal

Cardinal 2

Cat

Cat 2

Cat and Mouse

Cat Maneki Neko Lucky Cat

Chicken

Circus Elephant

Cows

Dog

Dog 2

Donkey




Elephant Lion Brand

Elephant Small

Elephant Tiny

Flamingo

Flying Pig

Fox

Fox 2

Frog

Frog 2

Frog 3

Frog 4

Frog King

German Shepherd, Border Collie, Beagle, Labrador, and Cavalier King Charles Spaniels

Giant Panda

Gina Giraffee

Giraffe Coats and Clark

Giraffe Lion Brand

Gold Fish

Great Dane

Greyhound

Guinea Pig

Guinea Pigs

Hippo

Horse with Blanket Scroll

Horse with Saddle

Hummingbird

Kangaroo and Joey

Kangaroo and Joey Caron

Kitten

Kitty

Koala

Lamb

Lion Crochetville

Llama

Llama 2




Mice

Monkey reprinted with permission from Creepy Cute Crochet

Mouse

Mouse with Apron

Owl

Parrot

Pig

Pig and Piglet

Pony

Ponies Coats and Clark

Raven

Rooster

Rubber Duckie



Sheep

Tiger

Tiger 2

Toad

Tortoise

Turtle

White Elephant

Wolf

Wolf 2

Wolf Lion Brand

Wombat

Toys Crochet Pattern Central



Insects and Snakes:

Baby Bee Coats and Clark

Bee

Bees

Bumblebee

Carpet Python

Coral Snake

Creepy Crawlies

Sammy Snake




Ocean Creatures:

Baby Seal

Baby Seal 2

Clam

Clam 2

Clown Fish Looks like Nemo

Dolphin

Eel

Jellyfish

Little Whale

Lobster and Mermaid Coats and Clark

Manta Ray

Octopus

Penguin

Penguin 2

Penguin 3

Sea Star (thread)

Sea Turtle

Seahorse

Seahorse 2

Seahorse3

Seashell

Shark

Starfish




Pictures may not be used without written permission.

Amigurumi Tutorials

I am always looking to improve my techniques, learn new ideas, and find better ways of doing things. I see a link, read a blog, and then forget where I saw it. Therefore, I decided there was no better place to organize these links than my own blog.

Beginner Techniques:

Adding a New Color

Assembling Amigurumis

Attaching Hair

Attaching/Joining

Attaching Limbs

Attaching Limbs Part 2

Basics

Basics of Getting Started

Eyes

Eyes Using Plastic Eyes

Faces Securing Stitching

Fastening Off

Fringe

Hints and Tips

Invisible Decrease

Invisible Decrease 2

Invisible Joinings and Endings

Joining Legs Continuing Body

Magic Ring

Right Side

Seamless Join

Stuffing

Techniques:

Brushed Amis

Brushed Amis 2

Felting Needle

Hair

Hair Fringe

Hair Tassel Method

Tassels Using a Crochet Fork

Thread Jointing

Design:

Picture to Pattern

Shaping:

Tall Row Shaping

Clothes:

Adding a Dress

Gown Tutorial Update

Character Help:

Creepy Cute Crochet Tutorials:

Basic Head Help

Grim Reaper's Hood from Creepy Cute Crochet


For Free Amigurumi Toy Patterns please see the Free Toy Pattern Blog Page.


Pictures may not be used without permission.

Frankenstein Amigurumi

Frankenstein is another project from from Gourmet Crochet's, Monster Mash Amigurumi. As I mentioned when I wrote about Dracula, Frankie's head was much easier to crochet because it was made all in one piece. I was confused about Frankie's color. The picture looked like the color in this picture so I decided to copy it. However, the book calls for a more traditional green. So I think I will make a couple and give the kids a chance to have multiple colors. Perhaps Frankie wears color on Halloween as his costume?



Frankie will soon be joining Dracula and one of the pumpkins in preparing for a trip out of state. One pumpkin and Dracula have already left with their transport. Now that Frankie is finished and has posed for pictures he will likely be off soon as well. The second batch will make a trip across country by mail closer to Halloween. I have promised my husband their will be a set for the house, too. The ghost will be up on the blog soon.


For those interested in free Halloween patterns please visit the Halloween Crochet and Knitting Free Pattern Page.


Pictures may not be used without permission.

Count Dracula Ami

As I have mentioned before I love to send out packages for all the holidays to the nieces and nephews. I have been splitting my time preparing my Christmas projects and finding Halloween items that are in my project range.

I had ordered a book through Gourmet Crochet, Monster Mash Amigurumi, a while back and had not had the chance to make any of the patterns. While it is only June, I have several packages to prepare for shipping. I need to start early. Normally I would have started with the ghost, but I have worked with lots of white lately and was looking for relief from all white projects. Since I had the required colors on hand, I started with the Count.




I did struggle with his head and his wig. The head is not crocheted as one piece. I think my gauge was off because even using a smaller hook for the hair, the wig was larger than it should have been. I think his head was just small. I have been working on the Frankenstein pattern that creates the head as one piece and have not had any problems with sizing which leads me to believe that I just crocheted the head too small. I have several more to experiment with so I will have a better idea how to adjust. The other thing I will change is I will make the chain for his cape shorter. I thought that might be the case at the time, but decided to finish the pattern and adjust on the second attempt.



He is already receiving rave reviews and will be one of the first off to a new home.

For those who are looking for free Halloween crochet and knitting patterns please check out the Halloween Crochet and Knitting Free Pattern Page.

Pictures may not be used without written permission.

Knit and Crochet Wedding Patterns

As June approached it seemed a great time to organize those wedding links that I kept storing away for a future blog entry. As always, now that the page is here, I will keep updating it when I find more patterns.

Crochet:

Crochet Pattern Central




Bridal Party Items:

Flower Girl Basket

Ring Bearer's Pillow

Ring Bearer's Pillow 2

Clothing:

Bridal Bag

Bridal Shawl

Bridal Slippers

Fan

Garter

Shoe Flowers

Decorations:

Doll Patterns:

American Girl Doll Wedding Dress Bella Bambina

American Girl Doll Winter Wedding Dreams Bridal Gown and Bridesmaid Dress

American Girl Red Heart Wedding Dress

Bride Doll Pattern

Bride Doll Pattern for 15" Fibre Craft Doll

Bridesmaid Doll Pattern

Groom Doll Pattern

Check the Barbie Crochet Pagefor Barbie Wedding Outfits.

Check the Ken Page for a Tux.


Other Decorations:

Ami Bride and Groom Love Birds

Ami Bunny Bride and Groom

Ami Peas in a Pod

Ami Wedding Cake

Hello Kitty Victorian Bride and Groom Ami's

Wedding Cake

Wedding Cake 2

Gifts:

Crocheted Wedding Ring Quilt

Knitting:

Knitting Pattern Central

Clothing:

Bride's Sachet Purse

Garter

Lace Garter

Snow Peacock Bridal Veil

Wedding Dress

Decorations:

Gifts:

I Love You Dish Cloth

Wedding Bands

Wedding Rings Dish Cloth

Check Flower Blog Page for Free Flower Patterns

Picture Credit:

Baghi Flickr.com

Amigurumi Bear Finger Puppet

As promised, I am posting the finished bear puppet. For those that want to see the previous blog post on putting this fellow together the post is here.

I am really looking forward to completing more projects in this leaflet and then trying to adapt other small Ami patterns to finger puppets. This leaflet lays out the process fairly clearly. If I am successful, I will document my progress.

This was created from an out of print pattern, Leisure Arts Leaflet 435, 1986, Finger Puppets 12 Designs to Crochet by Susan Pippin.

Pictures may not be used without written permission.

Amigurumi Finger Puppets

I have been looking for more finger puppet patterns since I made the dragons for Easter. I found a crochet book, but nothing that really appealed to me. Then I discovered an out of print pattern in my vintage pattern hunt. These finger puppets actually were created to look like Amigurumi animals that were not finished as animals but as finger puppets.




The cap next to the bear is the item crocheted for the actual finger puppet. The pattern than calls for the person making the item to turn the finger cap inside out creating a lip that can be sewn to the opening of the puppet. This allows the body of the puppet to be sealed. The head and body are one piece, but since the finger does not come near the head at all, safety eyes can be used on the project instead of sewing eyes. The pattern uses moveable eyes, but since I cannot find ones to sew on and I do not like the possibility of them falling off, I like the idea of substituting safety eyes.



Creating the finger cap was a creative way to make more detailed finger puppets. Many of the books and patterns I have looked at have had disappointing details in their patterns. Those that are detailed can be challenging to work on because of the small areas that they create the features. This patterns utilized skills I was already using in making my Ami's and added the basic finger puppet to the mix.



This bear still needs to be assembled but I wanted to document the process prior to putting him all together. The pattern has twelve creatures to create, but I can see how this technique could easily be applied to other small ami's.

See the finished bear blog entry here.

This was created from an out of print pattern, Leisure Arts Leaflet 435 1986, Finger Puppets 12 Designs To Crochet by Susan Pippin.

If you are looking for free finger puppet paterns please see the Finger Puppet Free Pattern Links Blog Page.

Pictures may not be used without written permission.

Amigurumi Progress

I have been reading books and blogs to improve my Amigurumi techniques. I continue to struggle with stuffing my Ami's so they are properly shaped, but the stuffing does not show through. One suggestion was to use a smaller hook to make the holes smaller, eliminating the stuffing showing through. This proved successful on the larger body areas. However, I am still struggling on the smaller tighter areas like the tail and arms. I have concluded it is not the hook size as much as it is the struggle to work in tight places and make the stitches tight and uniform that creates the issue.

The experiment continues, but he still is awfully cute and one more Christmas project completed on the list.

If you would like to see a complete set of amigurumi dinosaurs please visit the Dinosaur Amigurumi Project blog entry.

Pictures may not be used without written permission.

My Amigurumi and Toy Projects

I started listing my personal toy projects on the toy links page, but they were starting to take up too much room. I wanted a page where I could direct family and friends to see pictures of my finished toy projects. A blog page with links to all the projects seemed a good choice. It is a great place for interested guests to view as well.

Please see the free Crochet and Knit Toy Blog entry for free pattern links.

Blue Bunny

Bunnies

Carrot Rattle

Ducks and Chicks

Easter Eggs

Graduation Bear

Granny Square Baby Ball

Mouse and Cookie

Mr. Pilgrim Bear

Mrs. Pilgrim Bear

Pilgrim Weeble

Pig and Pancake

Seahorse Pilgrim

Seahorse Santa

Seahorse Witch

Wolf

Puppets:

Frog Bath Mitt

Frog Finger Puppet

Teddy Bear Finger Puppet

Fairy Tale Finger Puppets:

Castle

Dragon Finger Puppet

Dragon Finger Puppet 2

Knight with Red Plume

Knight with Shield

Princess Pink Dress

Princess Yellow Dress

Snowmen

Boy

Colonial Lady

Female

Green Hat Lady

Victorian Lady

Victorian Man

Three Little Pigs

Pig Finger Puppet

Wolf Finger Puppet

Toy Sets:

Dinosaurs

The Dinosaur Set

T-Rex and Brontosaurus

Stegosaurus

Triceratops

Pterodactytl

Wooly Mammoth

Farm

The Farm Set

Cilo Bag

Cow

Chicken or Rooster

Chicken

Donkey

Farmer Boy

Farmer Girl

Goose

Horse

Pig

Pirates:

Pirate 1

Food:

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cooking with Crochet Eggs

Pancakes

Soup

Toast

Hello Kitty

Christmas Caroler

Patriotic Kitty

Pilgrim

Santa

St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day Free Pattern

Witch

Hello Kitty Purse

Kitchen Items:

Cookie Sheet

Frying Pan

Glasses

Plates

Spatula

Little People:

First Projects

Monster Amigurumi

Count Dracula

Female Vampire

Frankenstein

Ghosts

Mummy

Pumpkins

Star Wars:

Yoda

Trains:

Baby Set

Train Set

Engine

Box Car

Coal Car

Caboose

Pictures may not be used without written permission.

Amigurumi Farm

This farm project was a fun, creative learning experience. I was excited about the way each project developed and thrilled by the reaction the projects received. The highest compliment I received was a comparison to Fisher Price, which is what I was aiming for when I first saw this pattern online and purchased it. I thought it would be great to recreate the Fisher Price Farm in crochet. While it lacks a real barn, I think these animals would fit in any barn play structure a child might have to play with and these animals would be a great addition to any play set.
Like the dinosaurs, I already have another set scheduled to make for Christmas. The small yarn requirements and the fact I already have purchased the pattern, make it a great economical choice to add to my Christmas present stash. I have learned a few new tricks since this project began that should make the next set even better than the first.

If you want to see the individual blog entries and additional pictures for this project see the links below.

Amigurumi Pig

Amigurumi Chicken or Rooster

Amigurumi Goose

Amigurumi Cow

Amigurumi Horse

Down on the Farm

This is an out of print pattern. For those who are looking it is Annie's Pattern Club Pattern, 87B54 Down on the Farm.

Pictures may not be used without written permission.

Amigurumi Horse

I picked up a tip on working with tassels reading an Ami blog today that I wished I had read prior to working on the horse. I tried to find the link to add here and I will edit if I can find it again for anyone else who struggles with tassels and sewing them to creatures. I think it will make a big difference as I approach my next project with a tassel tail. The directions for this one were rather vague. A challenge when it is your first one.

Here's the link as promised Lucy Can Crochet




Another issue with this project was the shape of the horse's face. It should be wider and shaped slightly differently. The crochet, not the stuffing was the issue. The face came out too narrow to achieve the picture on the pattern. However, he still seems to be a popular toy, so I am not going to be too upset, just challenge myself to see if I can improve when making the next one.


This is an out of print pattern. For those who are looking it is Annie's Pattern Club Pattern, 87B54 Down on the Farm.

Pictures may not be used without written permission.