All About Ami
a blog about my love of ami-gurumi & crochet
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Two years ago on this day, I wrote my very first blog post! I still remember how excited I was to finally start a blog and share my brand new hobby with the world :) I never in my wildest dreams imagined how far we would come in this amigurumi-making and blogging journey! We feel so blessed and thankful to God that we can share our passion and creativity with you all through “All About Ami”. Thank you to all our readers who have been with us since the very beginning and to those who have recently found out about our work, in large part due to Pinterest, Craftgawker and Ravelry! It is always such a joy reading your thoughtful, encouraging comments and even getting ideas of what to do on our travels (e.g. Paris & Tokyo)!
I spent the vast majority of this past year pregnant, so my crochet blog took somewhat of a turn with many baby-related projects! “All About Ami” has been such a wonderful way for us to chronicle where we are on our life journey, from being a newly married couple, to expecting a baby, and now as new parents! Thanks for coming along this journey with us and uplifting us in your prayers, thoughts and messages! God has blessed us with such a precious gift in baby Myla this past year and we are so thankful to be given the opportunity to be parents. She is growing up so quickly before our eyes as she is almost 3 months old!!!
253 posts, 3700 Facebook fans, 599 Twitter followers, 633 Instagram followers and 5649 Tumblr followers later, here we are. I’ve blogged about 15 original amigurumi designs and on my Facebook page I asked which ones you thought were my most popular! Many of you guessed correctly: the ones pictured above are my most popular amigurumi, namely Dragon, the Spring Bunnies & the Teddy Ornaments! Which one of our designs is your favourite? Surprisingly, our most popular blog post is not an amigurumi! Can anyone guess which crochet project garnered the most views?
Thanks again for all your support, and we pray that “All About Ami” will continue to inspire you to take up a new hobby, try out new projects and go beyond what you think you can do! Let’s continue to use our God-given talents and passions to love and connect with others! We hope that we can continue to bring smiles to your faces and help bring some positivity and love into your lives, especially on those days when you need it most! God bless :)
~ Stephanie, Ryan & Myla
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The blog will be quiet for a while as we travel to Tokyo, Japan! Thank you so much to everyone who gave such thoughtful tips and recommendations for our trip! Hopefully we’ll be able to get lots of inspiration for future projects, and we can’t wait to share our adventures with you when we get back :)
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Since this past Tuesday was the first official day of Spring, I thought I would do a Crochet Corner post on my Spring Bunnies! I’m hoping the weather will be Spring-like, but we’re known to have unexpected blasts of winter where I live *fingers crossed*. It was also exactly one year ago when my first pattern for CRAFT got published on their website. I was beyond thrilled when former editor-in-chief Natalie Zee Drieu commissioned me to design a Spring project even though I had only been blogging for two months. After it went live, Natalie told me that the Spring Bunnies pattern was extremely popular, and I’ve seen more final pictures of the Spring Bunnies than any of my other amigurumi designs! So, without further ado, let’s check out some Spring Bunnies that have been popping up all over the world!
First up, we have Grace of Craft by Grace from Indonesia. It’s neat because Grace used my “Amigurumi for Beginners” post and the Spring Bunnies project to teach some people to learn how to crochet! She started from the very beginning, teaching the basic stitches and how to read a crochet pattern. Below is Grace’s first Spring Bunny.
Grace taught Erni how to crochet, and here is her first ever amigurumi project! They took this picture during their last class together. Great job, Grace and Erni! You make a wonderful teacher-student combo!
Oraflana made this beautiful pink Spring Bunny. I love how everyone chooses their favourite fabric for the lining of the ears, so each Spring Bunny looks very unique. What a lovely bunny!
Christine of Oh So Pathos from Montreal, Canada made this bunny for her mom. Her mom was going through a rough period at work and wanted something ”comfy and warm-hearted” to remind her that her job wasn’t everything and that there was more to life. Christine made her mom this bunny so that she could take a moment to breathe and relax whenever she saw it. I’m sure Christine’s mom loves her handmade bunny and is always reminded how much her daughter loves her too! I love the funky fabric that Christine used and how black, white and pink contrast so nicely together.
Hilary of Buzz & Lola from Ireland made her own Spring Bunny and plans to make him a smaller friend once she masters using a smaller crochet hook! People are always surprised to hear what a tiny crochet hook I actually use, but that’s how I get those tight, small stitches :) I love the colours that Hilary used with the grey felt and pink nose on his cream body. He looks very snuggly and cute!
Bogee made her own Spring Bunny with both a flower and a carrot- lucky bunny! Bogee found it difficult to sew the felt on the feet and ears, so she actually sewed the stitches on the felt pieces first and then used fabric glue to stick the felt pieces onto the crocheted pieces. What a great trick! This bunny looks very well-made, and the stitching looks so even :) Great work, Bogee!
Kitty of Belgium used my Spring Bunnies pattern for her very first amigurumi project. She made a pair of bunnies and used yarn for the eyes. Kitty says that working on these bunnies made her fall in love with crochet all over again. I’m so happy to hear that your love for crochet has been reignited, Kitty :)
Candy from Singapore crocheted some bunnies and donated them to the Rabbit Society who is helping abandoned bunnies. I think it’s very sweet how these plush bunnies are helping their live counterparts in Singapore :) Candy did a wonderful job with her pink bunny with ears sticking straight up! So adorable!
And here is Candy’s floppy-eared bunny. Love the dainty floral fabric she used for the lining of the ears. What a sweetie!
Victoria of YarnRoundHook from the UK made these two Spring Bunnies, Flower and Petal, for her two children. Victoria writes that they are so well-loved that some stuffing is even escaping! She also points out that Flower turned out bigger than Petal- it’s interesting even how a little difference in the weight of the yarn can make a difference in the overall size of the amigurumi. They both look very well-made and very cute, Victoria! I’m so happy to hear that Flower and Petal are getting so much love from your children!
As always, I have many more pictures of Spring Bunnies to show you, but I’ll save them for a future post. Be sure to check out my Spring Bunnies step-by-step blog post here and download the free pattern on the CRAFT website here. Keep sending me your pictures on facebook, twitter and e-mail! I hope your Spring has been off to a great start and that you’ve enjoyed reading about all these amigurumi bunnies who’ve been brightening up people’s days all around the world :)
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When Craftzine asked me to make a Spring amigurumi pattern for them, I excitedly jumped at the opportunity. Several months ago, I was inspired by a photo I saw on tumblr (there was no source at the time) of a floppy-eared bunny with big feet adorned with a pretty flower. As soon as I saw that photo, I knew I wanted to try making something similar. I recently found out that the bunny was made by Lue and Sue who does absolutely beautiful work. Ryan and I had an idea to use the same pattern to make two bunnies: a boy bunny with ears sticking straight up, and a girl bunny with floppy ears. The boy bunny could be holding a carrot in hopes of wooing the girl bunny! Here is the sketch that Ryan drew up:
I first worked on crocheting a wide head with big eyes positioned towards the bottom of the face.
Instead of doing the typical nose I’ve done previously for other bears and bunnies (sewing a small nose on a piece of round felt), we were inspired by the cute noses found on the adorable stuffed animals by Jennylovesbenny where many of the noses extend all the way down the bottom of the head. Here is a close-up of the nose (detailed step-by-step sewing instructions drawn by Ryan can be found on the Craft blog post).
Instead of using felt for the lining of the ears, I decided to try using a pretty fabric as other amigurumi crafters have used. It was fun going to my local fabric store in search of the perfect fabric. I had to find one with a small enough pattern that would show up (fabric with big patterns would not work very well!). It was funny as I asked the sales associate to cut me the smallest amount of fabric possible. She asked me what I was using this for. I answered, “the lining of a bunny’s ears”. She laughed. Most people in there were buying yards and yards of fabric for clothing and and curtains!
For the feet, I decided to still use felt to contrast the fabric.
Once all the pieces had been crocheted, I was ready for assembly!
I attached the body to the head, the ears to the head (and bent one ear to give him an extra cute look), and then the legs to the body.
And here he is all complete!
I then crocheted a little carrot for him.
He’s all ready to court the girl bunny! Now it’s time to make her…
I used the exact same pattern to make this girl bunny, except I positioned her ears pointing down. I think it’s sweet how they have matching fabric for their ears!
You can see where I positioned the ears better in this photo…
Now it was time to make her decorative flower! I absolutely love crocheting flowers, and I can’t wait to use them in other ways (I want one in my hair too!). I crocheted this round pattern and then rolled it up inwards in a clockwise direction. I then secured the layers by running a sewing needle through them. The result is a beautifully layered flower!
And now to attach the flower to the side of her head. This decorative piece reminded me of trendy birdcage veils or flowers on floppy derby hats that are found on the side of the head too!
They’re both done! I was so excited to place them side by side!
Here they are from the back with their cute little tails to give them balance, enabling them to sit more easily…
And here they are from the side. I think they look so adorable from this angle! You can see the flower so well.
Here’s another photo of them back to back. I love this photo :)
And this is where they now sit happily at the corner of my desk. I like how you can see their reflections in this photo. They keep me motivated!
The pattern for these Spring Bunnies can be found HERE. Do give them a try! They’re fairly quick to make, and the sky’s the limit with how you can customize your own spring bunnies with all the patterned fabric and colour combos out there for the yarn and felt. Thank you for all your kind words and encouragement, and it’s great to hear how many of you who have never tried to make amigurumi before have been inspired to give it a try! Thank you also to Craftzine who have been very supportive of my work, and for giving me this opportunity!
[Update: People have been sending me photos of their own Spring Bunnies, and I’ve compiled some of them in a Crochet Corner post! Check out everyone’s own rendition of my Spring Bunnies here.]
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Here’s one my favourite pics of the Spring Bunnies I made for Craftzine. It’s currently my desktop background =D The pattern was posted here on Friday, and some ppl already made them over the weekend! You guys are quick! I’m working on the full blog post right now, and there are many more pics to come!
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Here’s a special project I made for Craftzine: matching Spring bunnies!!! Aren’t they absolutely adorable? Check out the pattern here (download the PDF file). Full blog post with step-by-step photos to come next week :)
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