All About Ami
a blog about my love of ami-gurumi & crochet
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It’s been one month since we released our Chinese New Year Snake pattern, and it’s been wonderful seeing your versions! Thank you for sending us pictures and for the warm feedback :) We wanted to include all the ones we’ve seen so far, so this is the biggest Crochet Corner post yet with a whopping 16 Snakes! Let’s take a look at some of the amigurumi Snakes who’ve been slithering around the globe!
Jing from New York City was the first one to show me her Snake on Instagram less than 24 hours after I posted the pattern! I was astounded by how quick she was- her little Snake looks great! You can see her other crocheted creations on her blog here.
BeaLee’s Jewellery & Craft from the United Kingdom made this adorable Snake! Love the long slithery tongue and the great shapes!
Amigurumi Wizard from the Netherlands made this little cutie! I love how he is tilting his head looking up :) I really admire Amigurumi Wizard’s work (he decorated his entire Christmas tree with amigurumi ornaments!) - you can check out his blog here and even purchase some of his super cute creations here.
Fishmamma from Taiwan made this little one! She used yarn for the tongue and scales and felt for the eyes, making him more child-friendly :) He’s wider than other snakes I’ve seen, but this makes him super cute!
Jennygurumi from Ohio made her own version of my Snake too! Love the beautiful detailing she did :) You can check out her other crocheted creations on her cute blog here!
Kawaii Cuteness chose a vibrant blue colour for her Snake! She also crocheted the tongue too!
Monet from Wisconsin also used blue yarn for her Snake! I love to see that people are thinking outside the box and using different colours than your traditional green!
Ania did a phenomenal job with her Snake! I love the head positioning, the big eyes and the beautiful detailing. She said she had a lot of fun making him, and he turned out great!
Phaikki tagged me on Instagram to show me her latest creation named Ular-larr…I love it when people name their amigurumi ;) She just started making amigurumi at the end of last year and since then has become addicted! Your Ular-larr is super cute, Phaikki! Glad you’re enjoying your new hobby so much!
Carmen of Crafty Queens from Holland made this delicate little brown Snake! Looks like he’s indulging in some sweets with his long tongue!
Vy from Illinois made a Ms. Snake with a flower atop her head! What a way to personalize your own Snake :)
Kim-Hoa from California made this little guy to help celebrate Chinese New Year too! He looks so well-made as she did a great job with all the details, from the beautifully-stitched body, to the nose, the fangs and the tongue. He’s soaking in the California sun near the window :)
Crystal from Toronto stumbled upon my blog through Pinterest a few months ago and has made several items from my patterns, including her own Snake! And is that a crocheted basket I spy behind her Snake? Crystal has definitely been a busy crocheter!
Rebecca was inspired to make her Snake Slytherin-style for her friend who was born in the Year of the Snake and is a big Harry Potter and Slytherin fan! Rebecca used black felt for the tongue and grey felt for the belly. It’s neat how everyone adapts my pattern to make it their own!
Peggy from New Jersey made this little guy as a Chinese New Year gift for her 5 year old daughter! He looks great, and I’m sure her daughter loves him!
Rachel from Australia made her own Snake using Chinese New Year colours! Rachel took her little Snake out for some Chinese New Year festivities and snapped some photos along the way- some tourists saw her and asked to take some photos with her little Snake too since they found him so adorable! How cute is that? My Graduation Teddy was Rachel’s first real amigurumi, and since then she’s made many more, including my Despicable Me Minion! You can check out her crochet projects on her blog here.
Hope you enjoyed seeing all these friendly little Snakes from around the world! If you’ve been inspired to make your own after seeing all these little guys, you can access the free pattern HERE and see the story behind him HERE! Thank you for sending me your pics, everyone! Keep sending me pics of your work through e-mail (all_about_ami@hotmail.com), Facebook, Twitter (@AllAboutAmi) and Instagram (@AllAboutAmi)! You can also check out my other “Crochet Corner” posts HERE!
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Do you have any super bulky yarn from previous projects that you would like to use up? I had a quite a bit left over from making chunky cowls for myself and for my friends this winter. After looking through the Ravelry database, I came across this adorable baby hat pattern by Catherine Wiggins. These super bulky newborn hats work up extremely quickly with only 8 rows and a 10 mm crochet hook. I love the addition of the ribbons to finish off these hats- the ribbon bows give a very sophisticated and polished look! Get the free pattern HERE! You may recognize these yarns since I used the pink yarn to make my “Long Double Crochet Cowl” and the beige yarn to make my “Chunky Double Crochet Cowl”!
And for all you nursing mamas and mamas-to-be, don’t forget to enter my $30 Momzelle giveaway (closing February 28) and access the discount codes for Momzelle nursing clothing and beautiful nursing scarves called CoverBoos in my blog post HERE!
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With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, I thought I’d do a round-up of special Valentine crocheted projects that you could make for your loved ones or for yourself to celebrate ♥ The free patterns are available for all of these projects (click through the links to access them)!
Row 1: Valentine Teddy by me (my second ever original design!), Hearts by Little Birdie Secrets (I LOVE using these hearts to embellish cards- see here and here), Valentine Popsicles by Jennygurumi (her first original design!)
Row 2: Lovebirds by Lion Brand (a cute set that you can personalize with your own special colours, a hat, or maybe initials), Amigurumi Hearts by Roxycraft (perfect if you want a 3-D heart instead of the 2-D ones above), Sweetheart Bunny by me (my Valentine project from last year!)
Row 3: Heart Box of Chocolates by Red Heart (How amazing is this? These chocolates will last forever…and are calorie-free ;D), Valentine Envelopes by Lion Brand (such a cute way to send a special letter or photo), Chocolate Truffle Scarf by Twinkie Chan (super kawaii for chocolate lovers to wear proudly!)
Hope these give you some ideas of how you can add some crocheted touches to your Valentine’s Day! They’re a fun take on your traditional chocolate, flowers, and stuffies that are typically gifted for the occasion! Much love to you all ♥
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It’s the Year of the Snake this year! Crochet this cute, friendly snake complete with fangs, a slithery tongue and scaled body to celebrate! Snakes typically have a bad rap as sinister villains, but this little guy is determined to break the stereotype :)
Materials:
- green yarn (I used Lion Brand Cotton-Ease Yarn in ‘Lime’)
- 2.00 mm crochet hook
- yarn needle
- fiberfill
- beige felt (for scaled body), red felt (for tongue), white felt (for fangs)
- 12 mm safety eyes
- black embroidery floss (for nose), tan embroidery floss (for scaled body)
- glue gun
Note: I worked in continuous rounds (vs. joined rounds).
***PLEASE follow along with my blog post HERE to read about the background story of this Snake and to see more step-by-step photos!!!***
HEAD
[We are working from the bottom of the head to the top of the head in order to get a flat base.]
Using green yarn,
Chain 5
R1: Starting from second chain from hook, Sc 3. 3 sc in next sc (which is the first ch). Turn and Sc 3. 3 sc in next sc (this is the fifth chain). [We are making an oval by crocheting around the chain]. (12 sts)
R2: Sc 4, 2 sc in next sc, Sc 5, 2 sc in next sc, Sc 1. (14 sts)
R3: *Sc 1, 2 sc in next sc*, rep 7 times (21 sts)
R4: *Sc 2, 2 sc in next sc*, rep 7 times (28 sts)
R5: *Sc 3, 2 sc in next sc*, rep 7 times (35 sts)
R6: *Sc 4, 2 sc in next sc*, rep 7 times (42 sts)
R7-13: Sc 42
Position safety eyes and embroider nose on short side of oval. Nose is embroidered by making two “L” shapes.
R14: *Sc 5, dec 1*, rep 6 times (36 sts)
R15: Sc 36
R16: *Sc 4, dec 1*, rep 6 times (30 sts)
R17: *Sc 3, dec 1*, rep 6 times (24 sts)
Cut oval shape out of cardboard and place on bottom of head. Begin stuffing head.
R18: *Sc 2, dec 1*, rep 6 times (18 sts)
R19: *Sc 1, dec 1*, rep 6 times (12 sts)
Stuff head firmly.
R20: *Dec 1*, rep 6 times (6 sts)
Fasten off and weave in end.
BODY
Using green yarn,
Chain 9
R1: Starting from second chain from hook, Sc 7. 3 sc in next sc (which is the first ch). Turn and Sc 7. 3 sc in next sc (this is the 9th chain). [We are making an oval by crocheting around the chain]. (20 sts)
R2: *Sc 4, 2 sc in next sc*, rep 4 times (24 sts)
R3-R11: Sc 24
Fasten off and leave long end for sewing. Stuff body firmly. Attach body to head, aligning back of body to back of head so that body is leaning back slightly.
TAIL
Overall, we will be crocheting the wide part of the tail (in the shape of an oval) by picking up stitches from the back of the body and then crocheting towards the tip. See this video HERE to learn how to pick up stitches. The tail should appear like a continuation of the body and be placed approximately where the faded oval is:
We will be crocheting the bottom “U” shape of the tail first:
Using green yarn,
R1: Hold Snake’s head and body so that the back is facing towards you. Starting from bottom right side, pick up a stitch. Chain 1. Pick up 7 more stitches along bottom row. Ensure that Snake will stand by himself at this point. (8 sts)
***I picked up the first stitch between Rounds 3 and 4 of the body. Choose an appropriate first stitch so that the 8 sts of Row 1 are centered along the back of the body.
R2: Sl stitch to one stitch above and slightly left. Turn and sc 8. (8 sts)
R3: Sl stitch to one stitch above and slightly right. Turn and sc 8. (8 sts).
R4: Sl stitch to one stitch above and slightly right. Turn and sc 8. (8 sts).
R5: Sl stitch to one stitch above and slightly left. Turn and sc 8. Sc 1 above (left side of oval). Sc 4 by picking up stitches along top of oval. Sc 1 down (right side of oval). (14 sts)
R6-7: Sc 14 (14 sts)
Stuff tail lightly.
R8: *Sc 5, dec 1*, rep 2 times (12 sts)
R9: *Sc 2, dec 1*, rep 3 times (9 sts)
R10: *Sc 1, dec 1*, rep 3 times (6 sts)
R11: Sc 6 (6 sts)
R12: *Dec 1*, rep 3 times (3 sts)
Fasten off and weave in end.
Adding details:
- Cut out below shape from beige felt. Drape it across Snake`s body and tail to make sure it is the correct length. Sew felt piece onto body. Add lines of tan embroidery floss down the felt piece for the scaled body.
- To make the fangs, pinch a corner of white felt together. Add a drop of glue from a glue gun to hold the sides together. Snip the corner off. Make 2 fangs.
- Cut out a long narrow piece of red felt and snip a “v” at the tip for the tongue. Glue two white fangs and red tongue in place.
Have a very Happy Chinese New Year, and have fun making this friendly little snake :) He would make a perfect gift for expectant mothers whose babies will be born in the Year of the Snake, or for friends who were born in the Year of the Snake as well! Once again, please check out my full blog post HERE to read about how this little Snake came to be and to see more pics of him! Post your finished Snake pics on my Facebook page, Twitter, Instagram or e-mail them to me (all_about_ami@hotmail.com) so we can all enjoy them :)
This pattern is an original pattern by Stephanie of All About Ami (February 2013). 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.
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Can you believe it’s almost been one whole year since we released an original amigurumi pattern/design (Snuggles the Penguin)? Thank you for being so patient with us, particularly since this blog is called “All About Ami [gurumi]” yet we haven’t made many in recent months. Being pregnant for most of last year meant that I crocheted mostly baby-related items, and I had almost no time to crochet during the first couple of months after Myla’s birth! I wondered what our next original amigurumi project would be and was a little nervous about it since we hadn’t embarked on our typical process (sketch, figuring out shapes, writing up pattern) in a very long time!
Once again, Ryan was the great encourager as he said we HAD to make something for Chinese New Year since it was our tradition. The Chinese New Year Doll was our very first original design and last year Ryan was the one who encouraged us to make a Chinese New Year Dragon even though it seemed challenging. Who knew that Dragon would become our most popular amigurumi!
When we excitedly looked up what zodiac animal the year 2013 was, we found out it was the Year of the Snake. There were other amigurumi snakes out there (your typical long, slithery snakes), but we wanted to try to make a cute chibi version that looked different. Making a cute snake was another great challenge as snakes seem to be typically sinister villains in popular culture! Thinking of snakes conjured up images of Voldemort and Slytherin, Orochimaru from Naruto, Kaa from the Jungle Book and Snake Jafar! We knew we had our work cut out for us… We looked up different images of snakes and Ryan came up with this initial rough sketch:
We wanted our snake to have really big eyes, so we even stuck the 12 mm safety eyes in the sketch so we knew approximately how big the head and body needed to be!
After putting Myla to bed, we began working on our Snake in the evenings! I started off with the head, crocheting around a series of chain stiches to get an oval shape. Typically I crochet my amigurumi heads from top to bottom, but we worked from bottom to top to get a very flat base with a domed top.
We placed the eyes on the short side of the oval…
To get a very flat base, Ryan cut an oval shape out of cardboard and placed it on the bottom of the head before stuffing it!
Here is the finished snake head all closed up after the eyes have been positioned, nose has been embroidered (two “L” shapes), cardboard has been placed and head has been stuffed!
Next up was the body! Once again, I crocheted around a series of chain stitches to get an oval shape. As I was working on it, Ryan said it reminded him of the sock cell phone cozies I made a while ago!
We then stuffed the little body and attached it to the head so that the body was aligned with the back of the head (not in the middle). We wanted the head to be leaning back a bit and not standing straight up at a 90 degree angle.
Once the body and head were attached together, it was time for the tail! This proved to be the most frustrating/challenging part as we had to redo it multiple times to get the correct shape and placement. We wanted the tail to be approximately where the faded oval is in this pic:
Instead of opting to crochet a separate tail and then attach it later, I decided to use the technique of picking up stitches from the body and then crocheting outwards for a more seamless transition so that it appeared that the tail was a continuation of the body. I learned this technique from FullMetalPiglet when I made Luigi. If you’ve never picked up stitches before, you can watch this video here.
With the Snake’s back facing towards me, I started picking up stitches from the right side and went along the row towards the left. I checked to make sure that Snake could sit by himself at this point just with this row of stitches.
I then crocheted back along the new row, slip stitching along the sides (more detailed instructions will be in the pattern post). As you can see, the oval is forming.
I did this a couple more times to get a solid base so that Snake would be leaning back with this tail…
Then I could finally complete the oval by picking up stitches along the sides and top. From there, I continued crocheting around the oval, decreasing along the way to form a pointed tip.
Here are some different views of the tail protruding from the body! Snake is kind of looking like a little green worm here!
And here are some close-up’s of the tail so you can see the exact shape and approximately where I picked up stitches…
Next up was the detailing! Ryan cut out the shape below out of beige felt and draped it across Snake’s body and tail to make sure it was the correct length.
Then he sewed this beige felt piece onto Snake’s body and tail. After that, Ryan added lines of tan embroidery floss to the beige felt for the scaled body, reminiscent of little Dragon’s scaled body!
To make the fangs, Ryan pinched a corner of white felt together. He used the glue gun to add a drop of glue to hold the sides together and then snipped the corner off.
He also cut out a long narrow piece of red felt and snipped a “v” at the tip for the tongue. Ryan then glued the two white fangs and red tongue in place!
After all the detailing was complete, here was our finished product! May I present to you…*drumroll please*….our Chinese New Year Snake!
We showed little Snakey to Myla, rocking him back and forth making fiss fiss noises ;) Myla was definitely intrigued about who this little guy was! We also thought it was neat that the stitches kind of look like scales!
Here are all of our Chinese New Year amigurumi so far :) First we made Chinese New Year Doll carrying a little bunny for the Year of the Rabbit in 2011. Last year we made Dragon for 2012 and of course this year we have Snake for 2013! I know Dragon was a popular gift for many expectant moms in 2012 as they were all having Dragon Babies….including us as Myla is a Dragon Baby! If you know any expectant moms, if you are expecting a baby in 2013, or maybe you yourself are a snake or who have friends who are snakes, our little amigurumi Snake could be a popular gift :) After all, the Year of the Snake won’t come around for another 12 years!
Haha, we just had to pose our tiny bunny with Snake!
Lil Bunny: “You’re a friendly snake, right?…Riiiight?…*shudder*”
We are very pleased with how this little guy turned out! We tried our best to create a cute, friendly chibi snake that went against the stereotype ;) It felt good to go about the whole amigurumi designing process again after such a long time, and we hope you enjoyed reading about it!
We wish you a Happy Chinese New Year (officially on February 10th this year)! Does anyone have any special plans to celebrate? We will be having hot pot and eating yummy rice cake (or lian gao, one of my fave desserts)! Thank you for reading, and have a wonderful Year of the Snake!
***The FREE pattern for this amigurumi Snake and more detailed instructions and photos can be found HERE***
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When I was pregnant, I tried to crochet as many baby-related items as I could since I knew I would be tired and have much less time when baby actually arrived! I really wanted to make a matching mommy and baby hat set, and when I stumbled upon Brittney Waterhouse’s free pattern for her “In Bloom Cap” on Ravelry HERE, I immediately gave it a try! Around the same time, I found Alli Crafts’ free pattern for her “Cluster Hat” HERE, so I decided to use the same yarn and make matching hats!
As you’ll note, the hats are not identical as they use different patterns: the adult hat uses bobble stitches while the baby hat uses clusters. I found the diagram at the end of the adult pattern very helpful, and Brittney also provides a free pattern for a beret version as an alternative to the cap version (which is the one I made). It is also important to note that the baby hat might run a bit small as it fits Myla’s 3 month old head even though it’s designed for 6 month olds! Alli also provides free patterns for this cluster hat in premie and newborn sizes. I crocheted the baby hat band the same as the adult hat band (single crocheting in back loops only) and added two wooden buttons onto each hat to make them match even more!
I think this set would make a great baby shower gift: that way, both mommy and baby get something chic and cozy to wear….and who doesn’t love matching sets? We had a lot of fun sporting our matching hats on the weekend as everyone thought they were very cute! Once again, you can find the adult hat pattern HERE and the baby hat pattern HERE!!!
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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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Over the Christmas break, a friend came to visit us and she was wearing a gorgeous long cowl that she wrapped around her neck twice. It looked incredibly warm and comfy and it was quite the statement piece. Ryan and I thought it would be neat to adapt my “Chunky Double Crochet Cowl” pattern that I had just posted HERE to make one similar to hers! Rather than working in rounds and joining the ends at the completion of each round, I decided to crochet this long cowl row by row and then join the ends at the very end. Since I chose a neutral colour for my first cowl, I wanted a fun, bright colour for my next one. I used “Lion Brand’s Wool-Ease Thick & Quick Yarn” in a beautiful shade called ”Raspberrry” since pink is my favourite colour!
To begin, I chained 27…
Then in the third chain from the hook, I started double crocheting and skipping 1 until the end of the row.
Next I chained 2, turned, and then double crocheted in the spaces of the previous row with chain 1’s in between (for those relatively new to crochet, please refer to this video HERE that differentiates between crocheting in the chain space vs. the chain itself). The last double crochet was worked in the space between the initial chains and the first double crochet.
As pictured below, each row consists of 14 double crochets (initial chain 2 always counts as 1 dc) and 13 spaces. Thus, you can still get the look of the staggered double crochets as in my original cowl while working row-by-row (this is similar to the staggered look of my “Puff Stitch Scarf”).
I continued this pattern row after row until my desired length. Because I wanted this cowl to be very long so that I could wrap it twice, my finished cowl had 63 rows!
2.5 skeins later after I completed my last row, I whip stitched the ends together.
Here is the official pattern for my “Long Double Crochet Cowl”:
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Materials:
- 10 mm crochet hook
- Super bulky yarn (6)- I used 2.5 skeins for my cowl
Chain 27
Row 1: In third chain from hook, double crochet (initial chains count as 1 dc). *Sk 1, Ch 1, dc* until end (14 dc).
Row 2: Chain 2, turn (initial chain 2 counts as 1 dc). *Dc in each ch 1 space, ch 1* until end (14 dc). Last dc is worked in space between dc and chain 2 from previous row. [Refer to this video HERE to differentiate between crocheting in the chain space vs. the chain itself.]
Round 3-63 (or desired length): Repeat Row 2
Fasten off and leave long end for sewing. Whip stitch ends of cowl together. When folded in half, my cowl was 86 cm or 34” in length which allowed me to wear the cowl looped twice comfortably. For those interested, my cowl was also 28 cm or 11” wide.
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Here is my finished “Long Double Crochet Cowl”! As you can see, it is very long indeed!
You could always wear it long like this…
But I prefer to wear it looped twice! This cowl will definitely help keep you warm for the rest of the winter. It is so snuggly and comfy!
Look at these gorgeous folds, layers and texture! It really is quite the statement piece…I think it looks very high fashion :)
Here’s a photo from my Instagram (@AllAboutAmi).
If you like this cowl, be sure to check out the step-by-step tutorial and free pattern for my “Chunky Double Crochet Cowl” HERE. This cowl is worked in rounds and works up very quickly!
These cowls are fun crochet projects that make great gifts for friends, family, or of course for yourself! They are so simple to make, and are such great winter accessories. With so many beautiful yarn colours available, you could make cowls in every shade to match any outfit ;) Have you already crocheted any cowls this winter? Will you be trying this new pattern out? Once again, I would love to see pictures! You can find me on Facebook, Twitter (@AllAboutAmi), Instagram (@AllAboutAmi) and e-mail (all_about_ami@hotmail.com)! Let’s stay warm and cozy the rest of the winter with these cowls, everyone :)
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Sneak peek of upcoming blog post & free pattern: Long Double Crochet Cowl (an adaptation of my “Chunky Double Crochet Cowl”)
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