All About Ami
a blog about my love of ami-gurumi & crochet
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Here is our little sweetheart Myla wearing her Shell Stitch Beanie, the first baby item I ever crocheted! Doesn’t she look simply adorable wearing it? We are so blessed and thankful that we have this playful cutie to make us laugh and smile every single day! This beanie is one of my favourite hats, and I love the beautiful open design and the pretty two-tiered flower with the wooden button! Betsy of “The Dainty Daisy” offers sizing from 0-3 months all the way up to child size (3-10 years). You can access the free pattern HERE!
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We went to Vancouver for a couple days last week and I made these “Granny Stripe Headbands” as gifts! Aren’t they pretty, especially with the layered flowers as embellishments? Working on these granny stripes reminded me of the “Granny Square Blanket” that I had so much fun making for Myla last summer :) You can find the free pattern for the headband HERE on “Tangled Happy”. I absolutely adore this free flower pattern HERE, and it’s a great way to dress up a hat or headband!
I’ve traveled to Vancouver many times throughout the years as I have family who live there. This, however, was Myla’s first trip and I was a bit nervous… She did very well on the flight though!
I thought I would share about some of the delicious food we ate in Vancouver! Ryan and I always LOVE stopping by the food court at Aberdeen Centre in Richmond for some of our favourite dishes, so we went as soon as we arrived. The crispy chicken wings are incredibly flavourful and piping hot as they make them fresh each time- we saw many tables enjoying this dish. The Hainanese Chicken is so moist, tender and delicious with the special rice. We always get these two dishes whenever we visit this food court!
We love shaved ice, and I am so happy we decided to try out “Frappé Bliss” (also in the Aberdeen Centre food court) that specializes in Taiwanese shaved ice! The first time we went we customized our own dessert with milk shaved ice, coconut milk, condensed milk, and rice balls. This was sooo good and it was my favourite dessert of the whole trip! We went back towards the end of our trip and ordered “The Garden of Eden”, consisting of mango shaved ice, mango ice cream, strawberries, kiwi and mango. This shaved ice is especially delicious because the ice itself is flavoured (without adding extra syrup or flavouring) and so finely shaved that it is very light and fluffy!
We always stop by Daiso when we visit Aberdeen Centre as well. I stocked up on cute packaging as I love giving away crocheted goodies in these adorable bags :)
That night our friends took us to “Sushi California” for some well-priced, delicious sushi! Look at how thick those slices of sashimi are! Vancouver never disappoints with its variety and freshness of sushi!
The next day we went for afternoon tea at the “Truffles Café” in the VanDusen Botanical Gardens. I looove going for high tea as it’s always such an elegant affair. The sandwiches were delicious and the view was lovely- I imagine this place would be very popular in the Spring and the Summer when the flowers and trees are all in bloom!
In the evening we went to “Sura” for some delicious Korean dishes! This was some of the best Korean food I’ve ever had, and the decor inside was beautiful. The chab-che and grilled beef were sooo yummy…
For lunch the following day our friends took us to a little French place called “Salade de Fruits”. It reminded me soo much of the French restaurants we visited in Paris last year! The waiters, waitresses and much of their clientele were all speaking French, so we knew this place was very authentic! I had their mussels and fries and they were very tasty. As you can see, there were generous portions as well!
After lunch we took a stroll towards Granville Island. Vancouver is known to be quite rainy, but we are very thankful that it was sunny and clear for most of our stay!
We enjoyed this beautiful view with our strollers :)
We ate dinner at a wonderful restaurant called “Sandbar” on Granville Island, and it was situated under the Granville Bridge! I had the most delicious ahi tuna that I’ve ever tasted, but I didn’t get a picture of it unfortunately…Myla started crying so we had to eat quickly!
The next day we visited “Bella Gelateria” for their world-famous gelato! I had the salted caramel gelato. I wore this beautiful cape sweater that I bought the first day we arrived in Aberdeen Centre- I really love its beautiful pattern and design! It also pairs very nicely with my Momzelle nursing tank that I blogged about here!
For our last meal before we headed to the airport, our friends took us to “La Brasserie” for oysters! They were so fresh and tasty….I knew I wanted to eat oysters on this trip, and this definitely hit the spot! The Brasserie Burger that I ordered was also very good :)
Here are some other shots that Ryan took of beautiful Vancouver…
Vancouver Convention Centre
Granville Bridge (Ryan calls this photo “Daddy Long Legs” ;P)
Seagulls on Granville Island
Waterfront SkyTrain Station
We are so thankful to our good friends in Vancouver who brought us to all these wonderful food spots! They are big foodies and are always in the know of new restaurants popping up in their diverse city. Our friends have babies as well, so most of these restaurants were stroller and baby-friendly (“Salade de Fruits” and “La Brasserie” were the only ones that didn’t fit our strollers since they were smaller establishments). We had a great little trip to Vancouver full of good food and wonderful company :) Vancouverites, have you been to any of these places? What are your favourite food spots?
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Do you all remember the stork pouch/hanging cocoon that I blogged about months ago HERE (click on this link to also access the free pattern)? I was soo excited to finally put it into action for Myla’s newborn shots! I initially crocheted the stork pouch thinking it would cover Myla’s entire body (with just her head poking out), but as you can see, it barely covered half of her! We have one tall baby on our hands :) Of course, we did not want to hang the stork pouch since Myla was so big for it, so instead we lay it on our carpet! Doesn’t she look so sweet with her pretty flower headband and cute arms? I will be sharing more photos from Myla’s newborn photoshoot, each with a different crocheted prop, so stay tuned!
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Here is another baby hat that I really love! This is the “Cluster Hat” by “Alli Crafts” made for newborns. It reminds me of the “Urban Jungle Slouchy Beanie” I made last year with the beautiful texture and staggered rows. Sizing is available for premies, newborns and 6 month olds on her blog for free :) Isn’t this little hat so dainty and pretty?
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I’ve been having so much fun whipping up baby hats, and here is one of my favourites! The “Shell Stitch Beanie” by Betsy of The Dainty Daisy is so beautiful, and the pattern is available for free HERE with sizing for 0-3 months, 3-6 months, 6-12 months, 12-3 years and even 3-10 years! The one I made in this photo is for 0-3 months, but I am so tempted to make more in each size :) The shells are so delicate and pretty and the addition of the double-layered flower makes this hat even more sweet!
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Here is another earflap hat I made from Alli’s Crafts. It is essentially the same as the newborn earflap hat pattern (I blogged about them here), but this one is sized for 6 month old babies (pattern found here)! I switched to brown for Row 9 and used the pattern for the “Loopy Six-Petal Flower” found here, also adding a button in the centre. I think pink and brown make a lovely colour combination, don’t you? Check out Alli’s blog as she also has earflap hat patterns for premies, newborns, 3, 6, and 9-12 month old babies and toddlers as well!
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You all know how much I love decorating cards with crocheted hearts and flowers! Here’s another farewell card I made adorned with a 5-petal flower and a button at its centre (same one I used for this cell phone cozy). Learn how to make these flowers here.
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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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