Three Little Pigs in a Bag

Once again I've fallen behind on my posting. This was part of a July birthday present. I love presents for kids that connect to books. I found several copies and versions of the book to add to the gift. You can purchase the pattern here.

This was one of my stash busting projects which is why one of the pigs is a different color. I thought I had enough of the dark pink for all the pigs, but I didn't. Time being what it was I chose not to remake the pigs so they'd all be the same shade of pink.

This was a fun project and one I'd make again. The bag makes a great storage holder for the toys.

More Birthday Patterns

My Mom and my husband's Aunt were kind enough to give me money for my birthday this year. When possible DH and I have treated birthday money as our "mad money" free to spend it or save it for some future treat. Since I have been on a pattern binge, I decided to pull off a few more patterns on my wish list. I decided to divide my list into pre and post Christmas items. There are items I want to make before Christmas and those that will make great presents for after Christmas. As I keep finding new patterns, the list keeps growing and it is hard to choose.

Shortly after I gave my husband my wish list, I got notice that Planet June had published her third set of dino's. So the first item on my list was of course Dinosaur Set 3. This is the dino set I have seen with an ankylosaurus. It is on my Christmas project list.

The next item to make my list was a set of super heroes. This has a broad appeal across my gift list. This Set of 3 Hero has patterns for Superman, Spiderman, and Batman. I am looking forward to getting started on these.

The Pirates were actually on my birthday list and did not make the cut, so they were clearly going to make the list when I found I had extra money to spend. I love Craft Deb's items and cannot wait to get started on these.

Now I had to look more carefully at the money I had left and figure out which patterns would fit in to the money I had left.

Christmas Crochet Pattern Collection is a series of crochet Christmas characters and fits into my idea of making crochet Little People substitutes. Since they are Christmas characters having them before would make them more useful. Thus, they made the cut as well.

Last on the list was the Gnome Home. I love the idea of a crochet toy village for kids. The gnomes in this village seem to fit the Waldorf concept of creating play that is more imaginative. I am continuing to look for more village pieces and am considering changing the colors to try to make a Christmas themed child friendly village.

I am very grateful to Mom and my Aunt for letting me have these wonderful patterns to make items for family and friends. I am working on increasing my donations so this gives me more options to make toys as well.

Birthday Gift Card Presents

My MIL gave me a Michael's gift card for my birthday. I have a fairly good yarn stash at the moment so I decided to look at their book section. I picked up Simply Amigurumi: 10 Crochet Projects and 99 Granny Squares to Crochet (Leisure Arts #3078).

I have looked at the granny square book online and in person several times. It is always just off my top list of books to buy. However, with a limited selection at Michaels, I finally had a great excuse to buy it. I love the patterns and look forward to playing with them.

Simply Amigurumi was another book I had considered buying, but there were always other books ahead on my list. I love the food patterns in this book. I already have completed the hamburger and will be blogging about that this week. The animals are cute, but I would probably not have purchased it for the animals alone.

The unexpected benefit of buying this book was the directions. I have tried to master the magic circle for ages. I have looked at online videos, read several directions, and even had an instructor try to explain it at an amigurumi class I took at the local library. I would "sort" of get it, but not be able to replicate the circle again. When I saw the magic circle in this book, I figured I would substitute my alternate method for starting a circle. However as I looked at the pictures, something clicked and I decided to try it. I still cannot make one without looking at the picture. However, I am making Candy Corn Man from Crochet Village's Halloween Ghoulies using magic circles. I have to look at the book to do it, but eventually I think I will be able to memorize the process.

I still have a little money left on my card for some yarn or notions. Gift cards make for shopping fun.

Birthday Presents

We celebrated my birthday over the weekend. Since I have started crocheting my birthday lists I give to my husband have gotten more centralized, patterns, mostly e-patterns that I don't want to download myself. While he always finds ways to surprise me, he also likes a list. On birthdays, holidays, etc. he asks me for the list and then picks items off it to give me.

My birthday had a spectacular haul of wonderful patterns this year. I cannot wait to get started making them. I am sure my posts will include updates as I get them made.

If you read my blog, you will know my tastes run mostly to toys so you should not be surprised with the patterns I received.

From Planet June:

Dinosaur Set 1

Dinosaur Set 2

While I have purchased June's The Complete Idiot's Guide to Amigurumi these will be the first of her patterns I have received or purchased. I have a few younger relatives going through the dinosaur phase and currently only have Gourmet Crochet's Amigurumi Dinosaur patterns.

From Wolf Dreamer:

Dino Buddies

There is a theme here. I have been making the same dino patterns repeatedly and really wanted to see some other styles. I have followed Wolf Dreamer's blog and used some of her free patterns. This set has been on my list for a while. I am excited to try them.

From Crochet Village

Halloween Ghoulies

If you follow this blog, you know I make holiday packages to send out to the younger members of this family. I am currently working on the Halloween one. I saw this pattern and while I have some cute Frankenstein patterns, I really wanted to see this Mummy pattern. This is on my top list to start. My husband hit a free BOGO promotion when he was shopping so he got me a pattern that was not on my list but that I love because it gives me some new patterns for my Easter packages.

Eggheads

I love the hats on these. While they will be adorable for my Easter creations I can also see them having applications for Barbie and my other ami's.

Tobogganing Snowmen

I came across this pattern while searching on Etsy one day for holiday patterns. The author does not use a name but a handle bvoe688. Both sides of our family love snowmen so this pattern was necessary. My husband has already requested one for his office. After I finish the Halloween patterns, I will have to get to work on this pattern.

Crafty Deb:

Snap the Dragon

I have wanted to make a dragon for a while. This pattern looked like a good starting point. I have tried some of the free patterns and have not been happy with my outcomes. I suspect it has more to do with my talent then the patterns. This one looked like something I could manage and kid friendly when it was finished which was my goal.

Previous experience with Deb's patterns has made me feel that I can tackle this one.

The last pattern on my very generous birthday pile was from Lucy Ravenscar. I received her Star Wars patterns for Christmas and now that I have a young relative that loves the series, I am starting to work through them. However, her Witch/Wizard caught my eye not just for my Halloween project, but because it teaches one how to change the hair/clothing styles on the projects to create more toys. I usually end up working through this myself, so having some suggestions and new techniques is a welcome idea. I am looking for new little people to include in my packages. These may work.

Now I just need to get to work.