All About Ami

It’s the Year of the Dragon this year!  To celebrate, crochet your own fire-breathing cuties in a rainbow of colours for yourself or for your friends! 

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To tell you the truth, I was hesitant about making a dragon.  Life got really busy as soon as we came back from our Christmas holidays, and Chinese New Year was fast approaching.  I didn’t think we’d have the time, and it seemed challenging to make a cute dragon since I was so used to making my cute bears and bunnies.  Ryan, who is always up for a challenge, strongly encouraged me to give it a try, saying that we’d have enough time and that it would be really special since it was Chinese New Year.  It had been exactly a year ago since we had created our first original design and pattern: the Chinese New Year Doll.  With his support and encouragement, we began brainstorming ideas of what our dragon would look like.  The only dragons that came to mind were “Mushu” from Mulan, “Toothless” from “How to Train Your Dragon”, “Puff the Magic Dragon”, and the Dragon from Shrek.  We looked for images of inspiration on-line by googling “cute dragon” and this adorable picture immediately jumped out:

We thought this little green dragon was so sweet!  We initially had difficulty trying to find the artist who drew this picture as no one who used this image was able to locate the source.  However, an astute tumblr reader informed me that the artist is actually Kim Rountree of Oborocharms (check out more of her kawaii art here).  We based our amigurumi dragon on this image since he was so unbelievably adorable!

This Dragon’s head is different than all the other amigurumi I’ve made since it is not spherical or ball-shaped.  Rather than starting off with the magic circle, I crocheted around a series of chain stitches to create an oval shape. 

As you can see, I then started widening the head and then sharply decreasing.  Ryan added the eyes and then stitched this cute mouth with a little fang!

Ryan then excitedly began working on the wings.  He cut out two pieces of beige felt shaped like isosceles triangles.  Next, he cut pieces of the same green yarn that I used to crochet his head and splayed them outwards from the tip of the triangle.  Using fabric glue, he secured the yarn in place.  He then trimmed the felt cutting from one piece of yarn to the next and then scalloped the edges between the yarn pieces.  Ryan secured the wings onto the Dragon’s head using a glue gun.  He did all this as I was checking my e-mail since he wanted to keep it a surprise…I squealed with delight when I saw how awesome his wings looked!

Next I worked on Dragon’s legs/body.  I crocheted two circles and then joined them together.  I then continued crocheting around these two joined circles, similar to how I made the baby P.J. Teddy’s legs.

I continued for a few rows until the cute little body was complete!

Ryan then worked on the four horns for our little Dragon.  He cut out these pieces from dark brown felt, applied glue with a glue gun, and then rolled them into cone shapes.

I was so happy with how Dragon was turning out since he had so many cute details!  After adding the horns, the pink cheeks and the body, I crocheted two small arms and attached them to the sides.  On a completely unrelated note, Dragon matches perfectly with the pattern of my armchair!

Ryan then used felt and embroidery floss to add this scaled detailing to his body.  Ryan is so adept at using felt :)  I then crocheted a little tail and attached it angling a little higher up than normal so that it appears that Dragon is leaning back (visible in upcoming pictures).  This tail also gives him balance so he can stand all by himself!

And now, may we present to you our finished little Dragon!

In the Chinese culture, dragons are symbols of power, strength and good luck.  Because of this, the Year of the Dragon is very popular!

With his tail positioning, our little Dragon is leaning back…doesn’t it look like he’s about to let out a puff of fire?  As you can see here, we also added a little spike to the tip of his tail!

We are so thrilled with how he turned out, particularly with all the details that Ryan added…

Here is a close-up of Dragon’s face: I love the shape of his head and his cute expression :)

And here is a really close-up view of his mouth.  Haha, the little fang could also look like some drool coming down from this little guy’s mouth…

The four felted conical horns: the two in the front are smaller than the two in the back.

Another close-up view of his wing:

And another close-up view of his scaled body:

Isn’t he precious?  I am sooo happy that Ryan encouraged me to make him.  He brings a smile to my face whenever I see him…

I can’t believe it’s been a year since we made our first original design.  We’ve come so far and made so many amigurumi since then, but Chinese New Year Doll is still very unique and will always hold a special place in my heart.  They make a cute pair, don’t they?

Chinese New Year Doll has a new ami to chat up…will she get a new friend every year?  We’ll have to see…

So now you have two ways to celebrate Chinese New Year!  The Dragon would be a great gift for any babies who are born this year or for anybody who is the Year of the Dragon :)

I was trying to think of different ways to photograph our new Dragon, and I thought it’d be special to whip out my Chinese dress (cheongsam or qipao) that I bought in Hong Kong.  I actually wore this dress during the tea ceremony of our wedding where we received a lot of red pocket money and jewelry.  I love the detailing and pinkness of my dress since it is different than the traditional red ones!

As Ryan and I were working on Dragon at night, we noticed the scary shadow that he was casting…  Wouldn’t it be funny if you saw this ominous shadow at night but then turned the corner to find this little cutie?

“Gung Hei Fat Choy” or Happy Chinese New Year, everyone!  I hope you like the Dragon we made, and thank you for the wonderful response to him so far :)  Ryan and I really enjoy reading all your comments on the blog, facebook and on tumblr, and it’s so rewarding being able to share our love of crafting with you all!  I always enjoy working through the whole amigurumi process with Ryan, and I feel very blessed and fortunate that I have such a supportive, creative, crafty and encouraging hubby! The pattern for this little dragon can be found HERE while the pattern for the Chinese New Year Doll can be found here.  Don’t forget to send me photos of your finished products through e-mail, facebook or twitter!  Let me know what you think of him!  Our dragon is also in desperate need of a name…any ideas?

[Note: People have been sending me photos of their baby Dragons, and I’ve compiled them into a Crochet Corner post here!]

Ryan and I both LOVE desserts, so Paris was the perfect place for us to satiate our sweet tooth. I tried to research exactly where we should go and what we should try in order to maximize our short stay in Paris. Armed with our cameras (our DSLR, point-and-shoot and iPhones), we documented our dessert adventures along the way. Ryan and I are both macaron aficionados as we enjoy trying macarons in different cities and comparing different textures and flavours. Imagine our delight and excitement when we got to visit Ladurée, the famed pastry shop along the Champs-Élysées. Louis Ernest Ladurée founded his bakery in 1862, and the pastry shop rose to fame when Pierre Desfontaines, the second cousin of Ladurée, had the original idea of the double-decker macaron in 1930. This is the macaron that we know and love today with two macaron shells filled with creamy ganache.

This place has so much history and is one of the most well-known (if not the most well-known) macaron makers in the world! I loved the beautiful, elegant storefront.

Unfortunately, the restaurant was being renovated while we were there, so we could not dine in for breakfast or for tea. Instead, we picked out some desserts from their shop and had to take them elsewhere to eat. Apparently there is usually a very long line-up, but there was none when we visited (probably because the restaurant was closed).

Everything looked so beautiful and delicious! It was very difficult to choose what to order. Interestingly, Ladurée was the one who made the pastries in Sofia Coppola’s film “Marie Antoinette”- I still remember the scene where the beautiful, colourful macarons are shown!

We were also very hungry this morning as it was our first official full day in Paris. We had had an early start to our morning to take some sunrise shots, so we could’ve gobbled up everything in a minute!

Armed with our delicious treats in hand, we went to go find a warm place to enjoy and savour them.

We ended up going to a nearby McDonald’s! We ordered a tea and coffee to go with these sweet treats. I love the elegant packaging and branding.

My all-time favourite flavours are still pistachio and salted caramel: thus, we ordered these flavours in the larger macarons and also picked up some blackcurrant, raspberry, chocolate and rose macarons.

We were told that their pain au chocolate amande was one of their best-sellers, so we decided to give it a try. We were delightfully surprised as this chocolate almond croissant’s filling was delicious and tasty with its bits of almonds and hint of chocolate. The texture was very unique, and we were really glad we tried this special croissant.

Next came the moment we had been waiting for: trying the famed Ladurée macarons! First up was pistachio! Their macarons were delicate with a crispy exterior. The flavouring was wonderful and the ganache was light and fluffy. Many people hail these as the best macarons they’ve ever tasted with perfect texture. Everybody has their own tastes and preferences, and I myself prefer a chewier macaron. I loved the chewiness of the macarons of Miette Patisserie in San Francisco, but Ladurée’s did have better flavour. I remember also really enjoying the macarons of Bouchon Bakery in New York City as they were both flavourful and chewy.

Mmm….look at all that delicious fluffy ganache filling! The salted caramel also had a wonderful taste, and we ended up saving the others to eat in our hotel so we could enjoy them later.

One of my favourite things to do on the trip was hop into bakeries to pick up some croissants to snack on along the way! This place was near our hotel and along the way to the Metro station.

The croissants were so fluffy, soft, and buttery. Since they were so light, I could eat a lot in one sitting!

This baguette was a delicious snack on the go in the Metro station. The crispy exterior contrasted the soft, warm and chewy interior. Mmm…I love bread :)

Next on our macaron tour was a stop at the famed Pierre Hermé. Pierre Hermé was dubbed “The Picasso of Pastry” and was the youngest person ever to be named “France’s Pastry Chef of the Year”. He worked with Ladurée before opening his own boutique in Paris in 2002. His storefront is noticeably different from Ladurée’s as it is more modern and sleek.

You can see me in the reflection, eagerly anticipating more of these Parisian treats! There was a line-up to get in, but the line-up went fairly quickly.

Once again, there were so many beautiful desserts on display. The “Ispahan”, a beautiful pastry made of rose macaron biscuits with rose petal cream, whole raspberries and lychee flavour is apparently one of Pierre Hermé’s masterpieces (you can barely see it in the back of this picture below- it’s visible in one of my Ladurée pics as they sell it too). I will have to go back to try this next time as I only read about this recently…I suppose I was too fixated on the macarons!

Pierre Hermé is known for his unusual and unique macaron flavour combinations, from olive oil with mandarin orange to chocolate and foie gras. We had to quickly choose which of these unique macarons we wanted to try after the sales associate rattled off all the flavours available.

Once again, we took our macarons to go as we wanted to enjoy them as we continued our sight-seeing of Paris.

We ended up picking four very unique flavours: Mogador (passion fruit chocolate), Creme Brûlée, Truffe Blanche & Noisette (white truffle and hazelnut) and Chocolate & Foie gras.

The colours and presentation of these macarons were absolutely gorgeous! I loved the elegant powder dusting on the macarons- they looked so fancy!

All of the macarons were exceptionally flavourful and intense and unlike anything I had ever tasted. Some have hailed these macarons as the best they’ve ever tasted. The texture of these macarons differed from Ladurée’s as we found the shells to be very soft and much less crispy. Once again, I prefer a chewier macaron, but I definitely appreciated Pierre Hermé’s unique and creative flavours. Look at the beautiful colour inside the Chocolate and Foie Gras macaron!

We also stopped by Angelina, a famous tearoom founded in 1903 near the Louvre and the Jardin de Tuileries that was frequented by many famous individuals, such as Coco Chanel, Audrey Hepburn and King Henry V. There was a very long line-up outside, and since we had to catch our plane in a few hours, we opted to grab a few items from their store rather than dining in.

Angelina is famous for their ‘Chocolat L’Africain’ (hot chocolate), and I was so happy that we could take it to go in a portable cup. This hot chocolate is incredibly thick, rich, and dark…it tasted like I was drinking pure melted chocolate! Apparently when you have this in the tearoom, it is accompanied by a bowl of whipped cream to complement it and a glass of ice water on the side to offset the richness!

Angelina is also famous for their legendary Mont Blancs, made of chestnut purée, vanilla chantilly and a merengue base. Don’t they look unique? I had never tasted a Mont Blanc prior to this. The gentleman in front of us ordered 6 of these to go! This was a good indication that they were indeed delicious and were going to live up to their hype…

We ordered one and enjoyed it back at our hotel as we waited for our taxi to come drive us to the airport.

I had no idea how it would taste, and we were excited to dive in!

I managed to snap a quick pic before we completely devoured the Mont Blanc. The chestnut puree ontop had a delicious texture and flavour, and the vanilla cream was incredibly light. The merengue base added a delightful crispy, sweet contrast to the rest of the dessert. Ryan and I were both very pleasantly surprised with how much we loved it, and we actually concluded that it was our favourite new dessert in Paris! I hope that we can dine in and enjoy the full tearoom experience the next time we go!

Writing this blog post has made me incredibly hungry and I wish I had some sweet treats with me now. Thankfully, we actually have some exceptional macaron establishments where I live, such as the Duchess Bake Shoppe and Mirabelle Macarons, so I can enjoy these delightful Parisian treats without having to hop on a plane! My good friend Connie of Mirabelle Macarons has done a wonderful job of perfecting her macaron recipes and has experimented with some very unique flavors too.  I have yet to try making macarons on my own, but I am definitely excited to give them a try :)  Stay tuned for more pictures and posts about the restaurants and other famous attractions we visited on our whirlwind trip to Paris!

We feasted on so many beautiful and scrumptious desserts while we were in Paris.  I hope you enjoyed my tweets as we traveled, and we can’t wait to share more photos with you soon!  In the meantime, I thought I’d share a project I worked on before Christmas with you.  I have a good friend who is a wonderful baker and cook, so when I saw this adorable crocheted dessert trio in Ana Paula Rimoli’s “Amigurumi Toy Box”, I knew I had to make these for her!

I first started on the dainty little cake by alternating between white and tan for the layers.

We made some modifications to our little cake.  To make the layers more flat and solid, we cut out pieces of cardboard and glued them onto the white parts so they would not be as puffy when filled with stuffing.  I only recommend doing this if you are making these pieces for an adult who will be putting the amigurumi on display rather than for a child who will be playing with them and probably getting them dirty.  The cardboard will not fare so well if you will be washing the amigurumi!  As you can see in the pictures below, we cut out a circular piece of cardboard as well as a doughnut-shaped piece.  We also put some stuffing between the layers of cardboard.

The layers are much more flat and defined now, just like a real cake :)  We then added the eyes and the dainty little smile!

Next I crocheted a pretty pink cherry adorned with a green leaf to sit atop the cake!

Here is the finished little cake!  The pink cherry adds such a cute touch :)

The flan was very easy to make as I switched from brown to yellow and added the face.  I love how these desserts have such big eyes and how minimal sewing is required!

This little flan gets a red cherry…

Here is the finished flan!  We got these beautiful dessert plates as a gift, and I love their vibrant colours and wise quotes.

To finish up our dessert trio, I then worked on the hot cocoa.  We once again added a circular piece of cardboard so that his base would be flatter.  Then we added the eyes, smile and rosy cheeks!

Next I sewed on the brown hot cocoa part and added the curved little handle.  He’s so dainty and tiny!

A melting marshmallow finishes off the look of this little hot cocoa!  Working on him reminded me of the two amigurumi cups I made when I first started making amigurumi!

And here is my dessert trio altogether, displayed on my three-tiered platter :)  I love using this platter when serving jello and other desserts at parties.  Wouldn’t you be happy if you walked into a potluck or party and saw these three cuties staring back at you?

I love how the flan, cake and hot cocoa each have something special to decorate them ontop.  These desserts would be the perfect gift for someone who has a sweet tooth or perhaps for someone who loves high tea (like me)!  These three were quick and easy to make, and my friend loved them!  They are proudly sitting atop her shelf in her office :)  It’s fun not only making amigurumi animals but amigurumi food too!  Adding faces to household objects and food make them look so cute (like my amigurumi Siu Mai)!

You can get the patterns to make the flan, cake and hot cocoa in “Amigurumi Toy Box”.  If you haven’t checked out Ana Paula Rimoli’s three books yet, I highly recommend buying them or borrowing them from your local library.  I went through her patterns when I first started making amigurumi, and they are very easy to understand and follow.  Her patterns are always adorable!  Who is your favourite?  Do your friends have any favourite foods that you could perhaps amigurumi-fy?  Thank you for reading!

Ryan and I have absolutely loved getting all your wonderful feedback about our Christmas teddy ornaments through our facebook page, twitter, tumblr and blog.  I’ve never received so many comments or tumblr hearts for a post before, and I want to thank each and every one of you who took the time to stop by and leave a kind message!  I know a lot of new people have been introduced to my blog through other sites and through Ravelry, so I would like to welcome you all here!  It’s wonderful seeing people explore all my previous projects and I really appreciate the support I’ve received for my blog overall :)

Within a day of my posting the pattern, people already started sending me photos of their own teddy ornaments!  We were absolutely blown away to see how popular they were!  It warms our hearts to know that these teddies are being made and hung on trees all around the world!  In this Crochet Corner post, we have a whopping twelve teddy ornaments to share with you :)

Catherine made her own rendition of the brown teddy complete with a festive red scarf and attached red bell!  He’s a perfect addition to her Christmas amigurumi set with her absolutely adorable snowman and penguin :)

Jill of Dapper Toad made a brown teddy for her tree as well!  See those cute little mini snowmen also hanging on her tree?  Jill provides a free crochet pattern for them here!  You can never have too much amigurumi for your tree, right? 

Grace also made a brown teddy for herself, and she might make some to give away as presents!  Cute brown and white loop to attach him to the tree! 

Emily made an adorable little matching hat for her brown teddy!  It’s cute how he’s posed with her cat :)  She says she’ll be making more for her co-workers as Christmas gifts!

Stephanie of the UK made her own panda ornament with a red scarf and has been requested to make another one for a friend’s tree!  These teddies are popping up everywhere :)

Camille said she saw my teddies and made her very own the same day!  Her panda has extra big eyes with her big eye roundies :)  I love how she positioned him next to an orange to show his relative size! 

Theaie of Micca Design from Germany also made a panda.  Doesn’t he look so sweet sitting in her mug?  Adorable!

Jourdan made both the brown teddy and the panda, and she tells me that the recipient of these teddies loves them both dearly!  Who wouldn’t?  Love their facial expressions with their cute smiles and big eyes.  I love how our teddies have similar scarf colours! 

Irina of the Ukraine made these teddies as presents for her friends.  Her teddies are so colourful with the variegated yarn and bright scarves!

Michelle’s koala is very unique: instead of crocheting her koala, she knitted the body and then turned it inside out.  She then placed the knitted piece around an actual ornament ball instead of filling it will stuffing!  What an interesting idea! 

Nng House Adm of Malaysia posted this pic of a Snowman ornament she made using my pattern!  It’s neat how you can easily adapt my teddy ornament pattern to make many other ornaments :)  Love his carrot nose, wide smile, and red scarf!

And lastly, Bunny of Malaysia made this sweet brown teddy complete with a Santa hat!  Love his big eyes and how she positioned him atop her furry white carpet and in front of the Eiffel tower in this photo.  The Eiffel Tower is getting me excited for Paris!

Thank you for sending me all your photos and for posting them on Ravelry, everyone :)  I see that the brown teddy and panda are popular to make!  Are there any others out there who have tried to make the koala?

It still amazes me that something we’ve worked on in our home is spreading to homes all around the world, and that people are following the patterns I’ve written up!  We’re very thankful for all your support and encouragement and we can’t wait to share more projects with you all and see where this journey takes us.  Hopefully you’ve been inspired to make your own teddies after seeing all these cuties too!  I know some people have already made plans to make them for next Christmas!  Check out my step-by-step photos here and the free pattern here!  And keep sending us photos of your ornaments because we absolutely love seeing them :) 

Get ready to “amigurumi-fy” your Christmas trees with these adorable round teddies all bundled up in their colourful scarves!  Whether you prefer pandas, koalas or ordinary teddies, they’re sure to add a touch of cuteness and craftiness to your trees this season!

Materials:

• Lightweight yarn (3): brown for the teddy, grey for the koala, black and white for the panda; turquoise, pink, green and white for the scarves (I used Patons Grace mercerized cotton all throughout except for the brown) 
•  2.00 mm crochet hook
•  Yarn needle
• Fiberfill
• Black felt (around eyes of panda and koala’s nose) and white felt (around eyes of koala)
• 6 mm safety eyes (for brown teddy) and 7.5 mm safety eyes (for koala and panda)
• Black cord
• Black embroidery floss (for brown teddy and panda nose)
• Metal ornament hooks

Note:  I worked in continuous rounds (vs. joined rounds). 

***Please follow along with MY BLOG POST HERE to see step-by-step photos.***  If you are new to crochet, please see my “Amigurumi for Beginners” and “How to Read Amigurumi Patterns” blog posts :) 

HEAD/BODY

Using desired colour,

R1: 6 sc in Magic Ring. (6 sts)

R2: 2 sc in each sc around. (12 sts)

R3: *Sc 1, 2 sc in next sc*, rep 6 times. (18 sts)

R4: *Sc 2, 2 sc in next sc*, rep 6 times. (24 sts)

R5: *Sc 3, 2 sc in next sc*, rep 6 times (30 sts)

R6: *Sc 4, 2 sc in next sc*, rep 6 times (36 sts)

R7: *Sc 5, 2 sc in next sc*, rep 6 times (42 sts)

R8: *Sc 6, 2 sc in next sc*, rep 6 times (48 sts)

R9-20: Sc 48  ***For Panda, change to black yarn after finishing Row 11.  Then switch to white yarn after finishing Row 19.

R21: *Sc 6, dec 1*, rep 6 times (42 sts)

R22: *Sc 5, dec 1*, rep 6 times (36 sts)

R23: *Sc 4, dec 1*, rep 6 times (30 sts)

Attach safety eyes (for panda and koala, cut eye roundies from felt, make a small x, and place safety eyes through before attaching).  Embroider nose and smile with embroidery floss.  Begin stuffing head.

R24: *Sc 3, dec 1* rep 6 times (24 sts)

R25: *Sc 2, dec 1*, rep 6 times. (18 sts)

R26: *Sc 1, dec 1*, rep 6 times. (12 sts)

R27: *Dec 1*, rep 6 times. (6 sts)

Fasten off and weave in end. 

(For Panda, R1-11 are white, R12-19 are black, and R20-27 are white).

SCARF

Using desired colour,

Ch 62

R1: Starting in third chain from hook, half double crochet (hdc) 60.  Fasten off.

R2: Join middle colour (white for my scarves) with sl stitch in first stitch.  Ch 1.  Sc 59. Fasten off.

R3: Join original colour (from Row 1) with slip slitch in first stitch.  Ch 2.  Hdc 59.  Fasten off.

Add fringe.  See my photos here or video here on how to do this.  Trim fringe to desired length.  Glue or sew scarf around bear just below mouth to make them cozy and snug.

TEDDY & PANDA EARS (make 2)

Using brown or black yarn,

R1: 5 sc in Magic Ring.

R2: 2 sc in each sc around. (10 sts)

R3-4: Sc 10.

Fasten off and leave long end for sewing.  Sew open end together.  Sew ontop of head.  

KOALA EARS (make 2) 

Using gray yarn,

 R1: 6 sc in Magic Ring.

R2: 2 sc in each sc around. (12 sts)

R3-5: Sc 12.

Fasten off and leave long end for sewing.  Sew open end together.  Sew ontop of head.  

* Loop black cord through top of teddy’s head.  Tie the ends in a knot and hide it in teddy’s head.  Attach teddy ornament to tree with ornament hooks.

* Or, make a series of chain stitches and use it to attach teddy to the tree.

Have a very blessed and Merry Christmas, everyone :)  May these teddies bring some warmth, joy and love into your homes this season!  I would love to see your versions of these teddies on your tree, so please send me photos of your work through my e-mail (all_about_ami@hotmail.com), facebook page or twitter!

[Update #1: People have been sending me photos of their own teddy ornaments, and I’ve compiled them all in a Crochet Corner post!  Check out everyone’s own rendition of my teddy ornaments here.]

[Update #2: Anne of “A Gamer’s Wife” has modified my pattern using thicker, worsted weight yarn.  She has clearly laid out her edits in her blog post here.  Check it out if you want your ornaments to remain the original size but you want to use thickern yarn!]

This pattern is an original pattern by Stephanie of All About Ami (December 2011). Please do not claim this pattern as your own. If you wish to share this pattern, you may link to this pattern but please do not reprint it on your site. You may keep a copy for your own personal use but you may not sell or distribute it, or sell items made from this pattern.

This was our first year setting up our Christmas tree in our new house.  We bought our tree last year at Walmart after Christmas when all the prices were heavily reduced, so we had to wait almost one whole year before we could set it up!  As we assembled our tree and placed the lights and ornaments upon the branches, Ryan and I thought how it’d be so adorable if we could somehow incorporate our love of amigurumi onto our tree.  I had been wanting to make some sort of Christmas-themed amigurumi, so we came up with the perfect solution: make amigurumi ornaments!  Our tree had round ball ornaments, so we thought of making round teddies- you all know how much I love my teddies!  To play up the Winter/Christmas theme, we talked about adding colourful scarves to show these teddies all bundled up!

Ryan did a preliminary sketch of our design.  I thought it was so cute how the scarf was positioned so high up!  We ended up omitting the arms since we thought they looked cuter without :)

I had ALWAYS been wanting to crochet a panda bear, so now was our chance!  I absolutely melted when Ryan sketched this little guy up!

And so we began!  I worked on crocheting a very round ball first starting with white, then switching to black, and then switching back to white. 

Ryan used his phenomenal attention to detail to help add the safety eyes by first placing them through oval pieces of black felt, and then stitching the nose and mouth.  Who could resist such a sweet face?  We then stuffed him up to give his full roundness :)

Next I worked on the scarf.  I started with a green row of half double crochets, a white row of single crochets, and then another green row of half double crochets.  These striped scarves add a nice pop of colour to the teddies!

I added some fringe to the ends of these scarves.  You can watch a video on how to do this here or follow this series of pictures below:

I added five strands of fringe on each side, alternating between green and white.  I then trimmed the strands to my desired length.

Then we wrapped the scarf around our panda, overlapping the ends and making sure it was positioned very close to his eyes, nose and mouth (adding to the snuggliness look)!  You can either sew or glue the scarf on.  It’s nice that the scarf covers the transition from the white to black yarn of the body.

I crocheted some ears and then sewed them onto his head.  We added the ears after the scarf to make the positioning easier.

Next we got ready to attach him to our tree!  We used this black cord and ornament hooks to do so…

We used a needle to thread the black cord through…

And tied a knot on the top.

We then hid the knot within the panda’s stuffing.  With this loop, he’s now ready to be attached to the tree with the ornament hook!  Of course, you could also attach these ornaments simply by looping some yarn through their heads or making a loop with a series of chain stitches.

Here are some step-by-step photos of the brown teddy.  I really like the colour of his scarf: it’s called “Aquifer”.

And here is the Koala ornament!  Ryan used white felt around his eyes, black felt for his nose, and also gave him a tiny smile.  Once again, I LOVE his scarf because pink is my favourite colour :)  Pink and grey make such a great colour combo!

Did any of you notice any differences in the quality of the sneak peek photos?  Up till now, I’ve been using my point and shoot camera to take photos for my blog.  But recently, Ryan and I got a digital SLR camera!  Ryan has taken a keen interest in photography and has been learning how to use it over these past few days, soaking up information like a sponge.  I have no doubts that he’ll be a great photographer as he is very creative and has a great eye.  He’ll have to teach me how to use it too!

Now, may I present to you these beautiful photos that Ryan graciously helped me take :)  First up, we have Panda!

Next is Brown Teddy!

And lastly we have Koala!  Koala has slightly bigger and more curved ears than the other two…

Here are my three teddy ornaments together!  I love their different facial expressions and their colourful scarves together! 

The actual ornaments from our tree are in the background.  Don’t you love the roundness of all these ornaments?

The overlapping scarf and fringe gives the side a cute look :)

This is one of my favourite shots.  I always try to take pictures of me holding my amigurumi so you can see the relative size.  I’m obsessed with this gold nail polish at the moment because it’s perfect for the Christmas season with its beautiful shimmeriness!

And now to finally hang our amigurumi teddy ornaments!

Using the black cord and ornament hooks adds a more discrete way of hanging them as the focus is more on the ornaments themselves (the cord and hook blend in).

They all stand out so nicely against our white tree!

Last week I tweeted a picture showing our very first Christmas tree, and now you can see it with our special additions!  Don’t the blue, silver and white ornaments + our new amigurumi teddies look stunning on our tree?

They all look so cute together!  Maybe we’ll have a new Christmas tradition where we design some new amigurumi ornaments every year :)  Then we’ll eventually have a fully “amigurumi-fied” tree!  How cute would that be?

I hope you all like these teddy ornaments we designed and created!  They’re relatively quick to make since you only have to attach ears and a scarf (no arms, legs or tails).  I wanted to post them in early December so you would all have enough time to make them for your own Christmas trees!  These crocheted ornaments would certainly add a splash of cuteness and craftiness to any tree.  They’d make pretty cute stocking stuffers as well!  ***The free pattern can be found HERE!***

I had to end off with a photo of me wearing a colourful scarf with these three cuties :)  Thanks for reading and for your wonderful response so far to these teddies!  Leave a comment below and let me know who your favourite teddy is and whether you’ll be making any for your own tree!  We love reading each and every single comment :)

[Update: People have been sending me photos of their own teddy ornaments, and I’ve compiled them all in a Crochet Corner post!  Check out everyone’s own rendition of my teddy ornaments here.]

My mom absolutely loved the beautiful puff stitches of the crocheted slouchy beanies I made for myself and my brother and sister.  Because my mom does not wear hats, she asked if I could make her a scarf using puff stitches!  I thought this was a great idea as I loved the texture and staggered rows of these stitches, so I knew that a scarf using them would turn out beautifully!

My mom and I went to Michaels together to pick out the yarn for her scarf.  One of our biggest pet peeves is “itchy” material for scarves and sweaters: we went down the aisles in search of soft yarn that would not irritate the skin.  She also wanted a neutral colour that would match with all of her outfits.  In the end, we bought the wonderfully soft and luxurious Bernat Satin yarn in “Sandstone”. 

I made up my own pattern for this scarf and started off making a series of 26 chain stitches.

Next I worked 12 puff stitches in the first row with ch-1’s in between.

Then I worked twelve puff stitches in the chain-1 spaces.

I continued with this simple pattern for a couple more rows…

And then many more rows…

Until the scarf was our desired length!  If you want, you could always add some fringe to the ends of your scarf.  See a simple video on how to do this here.  My mom did not want any fringe, so we left it as is :) 

Can you guess how many balls of yarn I used?

My mom wanted her scarf quite long.  After three balls of yarn, it ended up being 94” long.

Here is the very simple pattern I made up for this Puff Stitch Scarf.

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Materials:

• 5 mm crochet hook
• Yarn (medium weight)

Puff Stitch: Yarn over, insert hook in indicated stitch and draw up a loop (3 loops on hook), [yarn over, insert hook in same stitch and draw up a loop] 3 times (9 loops on hook), yarn over and draw through first 8 loops on hook, yarn over and draw through remaining 2 loops on hook.  *Watch video showing how to make puff stitch here.

Chain 26.

R1: Work puff stitch in fourth chain from hook.  *Ch 1, skip next ch, puff stitch in next ch*, rep 11 times (12 puff sts).

R2: Ch 3, *Puff stitch in next ch-1 sp, ch 1*, rep 11 times.  Puff stitch in last ch-3 space (12 puff sts).

Repeat Row 2 until desired length (for my scarf, until Row 150 or 94”).  Finish off and weave in ends. 

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Before I gave my mom her scarf, I thought I’d model it so you all could see what it looks like on!  We went for lunch at a Japanese restaurant and I loved the beautiful floral pattern of this booth :)

It was a good thing I brought this scarf along because it turned out to be quite chilly and windy that day…

If you’re like me, you’ve probably been wearing your scarves in a limited number of ways.  I highly recommend checking out Wendy’s “25 Ways to Wear a Scarf in 4.5 Minutes” video if you haven’t seen it yet!  Who knew there were so many different ways to wear a scarf?  Wendy of Wendy’s Lookbook is one of my favourite bloggers because of her exhuberant and quirky personality, impeccable style, and creative and beautifully-edited videos and photos.  She also has a great story behind her as she overcame so much growing up in foster care to get where she is today.  Check out Wendy’s inspiring blog and her helpful videos :) 

  Here I am wearing my scarf a number of different ways: this is “The Twist & Pull”!

Next up is “The European Loop“…

Here we have “The Basic Loop”:

And here I wrapped the scarf around multiple times since it’s long enough to do this :)

Another great option is to sew the ends together to create a circle or infinity scarf, which is very popular nowadays.  The textured look of the many folded layers really frames the face nicely.  I absolutely love wearing circle scarves this season!  I just may have to crochet myself one of these, maybe in a bright pink or green or some other fun colour :)

[UPDATE: I made a “Puff Stitch Cowl” for my sister where I did sew the ends together.  Check it out HERE.  It is 2/3rds the length of the original scarf I made for my mom!]

Do check out my “Urban Jungle Slouchy Beanie” post here if you haven’t seen it!  This beanie also uses the puff stitch, and a free pattern is available on-line.  You can create a matching set with the puff stitch beanies and my puff stitch scarf :)  They’d make great Christmas gifts!

Happy crocheting!