Mr. Pumpkin

I wasn't sure I was going to finish the set of mini Halloween ami's but with one left it just seemed like something that should be done. You can purchase the pattern set here. It also gave me a chance to work on some sock yarn I'd won years ago in a giveaway that I've slowly been throwing at projects to finish it off since I don't make socks.

This ami works up really quickly and is one of the easier pumpkins I've made. Mine is slightly smaller than it would have been had I gone with cotton sport yarn but size wasn't an issue for me with this project, using up unwanted sock yarn was more of a priority.

I'm very excited that I was able to pick up 3 more of her pattern sets during a sale so I have the Halloween set I was missing, the 2 Christmas sets I wanted and to get the discount I threw in the Valentine set. While I'm a big fan of her work the Easter set isn't calling to me. I am holding back an Amazon gift card for the release of her new book coming out December 1 Mini Kingdomwhich is perfect for the Castle I made and am in need of villagers to fill before I send it off for Christmas.

Sheep Finger Puppet

I love the design of the puppets from Leisure Arts Busy Baby Boxesbecause they are very different from the traditional in the round style of puppet I normally make. It allows me just a little more access when working on the faces or adding details to the back side of a puppet.

If you've been following this project you might notice some changes to this side of the barn. First I added a pocket to the roof of the house which I'd mentioned I might do to hold the puppets. I contimplated putting a top on it but the puppets stayed in this pocket despite me shaking the block so I though the open pocket would be easier for little hands to get to the puppets without adult help. So I left it open.

The second change you might notice is the fence is a little more saggy than before. I mentioned in the previous post I found the spaces were a bit tight for the puppets to fit in and that kept bothering me. When I was working on the pocket I decided I had to make this project as kid friendly as I could and I made the choice to make the fence wider so the puppets could be placed easily in and out. It looks less like a fence but it is more focused on actual play than looks with this addition.

I took a bunch of pictures when I finally finished this project to send with the cube to demonstrate what all the pockets could do and I'm sure the child will discover even more.

Pumpkin Mice

I ran across these mice in a blog I follow. You can find the free pattern here. I figured why not add some animals to this Halloween village. This pattern works up really quickly if you are looking for a last minute Halloween ami.

These are made from acrylic worsted weight yarn and I went down to a D hook because I didn't want Godzilla sized mice living in the village. They are still quite large compared to human/mice normal size comparisons but at this size they can still be played with and not tower over the local villagers.