Chubby teddy

This evening I finished my latest project - a chubby little teddy. It's about 6 inches tall and has a cheeky smile. This is my first personal creation. I'm busy writing up the pattern but I might well test it once again before publishing it here. So please "bear" with me :-)

For now it's name is Chubby teddy. Any suggestions for a better name would be welcome, too.

Rattle ball for Alfie

Rattle ball for Alfie
Originally uploaded by aishakenza

I made this little ball for baby Alfie. It's about the size of a tennis ball, so easy for little hands to keep hold of. I followed the pattern for the spiral footbag, which you can find here.
My model is made with smaller stitches, using quite a fine cotton yarn, so I did add some extra rows in the middle. It's the first time I've tried to make a two-colour spiral pattern and it was in fact very straightforward.
I made a rattle with a plastic "egg" filled with a few plastic beads. I wrapped the "egg" with the stuffing, and then put the stuffing in the foot of an old stocking before putting the whole thing into the crochet ball. Then I finished off the spirals and now I just need to send it off to Alfie.

Chihuahua

Chihuahua
Originally uploaded by aishakenza

My daughter has a thing about chihuahuas. I must say I don't share her passion for the real ones, but this tiny chihuahua is less maintenance than a real one and it can fit into a handbag, a pocket, anywhere.
I thought it was very cute, and I added a pretty pink ribbon and a little jewel to make it special. I used the free pattern available here.

Elise

Elise
Originally uploaded by aishakenza

At last! I'm pleased to introduce you to Elise, my amigurumi elephant.

Sorry it took me longer than planned to finish, because I tried several types of ear before deciding upon a very simple round shape.
In fact, I make a lot of changes to the pattern that I had planned to use, leaving only the head/body and the legs. I altered the trunk, the ears and the arms, and added a bit of embroidery around Elise's eyes.

I'm quite pleased with the end result, and Elise looks happy too.

amigurumi snake

amigurumi snake
Originally uploaded by aishakenza

This colourful snake is one of the first amigurumis I made. It came from the first impressive collection of patterns I discovered when I googled amigurumi: the Lion Brand website. The snake pattern is here. I didn't have any safety eyes, so I used two small pearl beads that I sewed on instead. I also added a felt red tongue. The yarn I used changed colour every few centimetres, which gave it a rainbow effect.
I'm still working on my elephant. I had trouble making both ears identical, but I managed in the end. Hopefully I'll be able to post a pic tomorrow, or on Wednesday.

Meet Lester

I've been looking for a cute free elephant amigurumi pattern for some time. None of them was really what I wanted, but I have nevertheless started one using this pattern. As soon as it's finished, I'll post the picture on my blog.

In the meantime, I thought you'd like to meet Lester. It's the name my son has given to the little amigurumi rabbit I made using this pattern. My Lester looks a bit different from the original version. He's 19cm tall, and I changed the facial features. I think he's cuter too!

the blog begins!

disco birds
Originally uploaded by aishakenza

Hi there!
I've been interested in sewing and crochet for many years, but have only recently started to be more active.
I discovered amigurumi (Japanese for crochet soft toys) two months ago and have really got hooked (ha ha). Here's one of my earlier creations (I found the pattern here) - more will follow and I might even get around to writing up some of my own patterns. Watch this space!