All About Ami
a blog about me and my love for amigurumi
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I can’t believe it’s been a year since my brother graduated from high school already! Our family had a great time attending his commencement and grad, and he’s had a wonderful first year of university. I made him this little ”Graduation Teddy” to help him commemorate this special time in his life, complete with a diploma, mortarboard and tassel matching his school colours. Since graduation season is upon us once again, some others have used my free pattern to make sweet Graduation Teddies for their friends too!
Makayla of Illinois made this teddy for her cousin who is graduating! I love the purple she used, and she did an absolutely fantastic job with the diploma, mortarboard, and yellow and red tassel. I’m sure her cousin loved this special, personalized gift! What a cutie!
Emily was new to crochet, so she watched some videos and learned how to read crochet patterns as she attempted her own Graduation Teddy. She did a wonderful job, particularly since this is her first amigurumi project! I love the light, airy colours she chose, and I think she did a superb job stitching the nose. Emily wanted to include the year on her hat, so she used glue! Way to go, Emily :)
Nicollette of Louisiana found my pattern and made this bright orange Graduation Teddy for her sister-in-law! I love how everyone uses such different colours for their teddies :) She stitched on the year as well!
Maria of Indiana made this Graduation Teddy in a similar blue colour that I used! He looks very dashing with his white and blue tassel! She also did a fabulous job stitching “2012” on the hat as it is very bold and thick- the year really stands out!
Mandy made this Graduation Teddy using a yarn called “Oatmeal”- she decided to name her teddy “Oatmeal” too! What a cute name :) He has a lot of texture with this variegated yarn, and he looks very proud to be graduating!
Mandy had a great idea of also making a Graduation Cupcake Bear! She said that this project went by really fast, and she added polly pellets to the cupcake liner to give it some weight. This is such a great idea as not having to crochet the body and limbs and attach them together will save a lot of time! And as Mandy says, there are so many fun and fabulous cupcake liners out there to really make this project unique!
Fadilah of Rojak made this bright green Graduation Teddy and even added a little bit of felt to the neck as his graduation robe! That’s such a cute idea :)
Fadilah didn’t make just one teddy! Her friend asked her to make one for her boyfriend, so she made this purple one for him and a green teddy keychain for her! I love how Fadilah wrapped up the purple teddy so beautifully and even had the teddy holding a lovely bouquet of flowers! I’m sure her friends were very touched when they received these special gifts.
Since Fadilah had many friends graduating, she made many Graduation Teddy keychains in a vast array of colours! Similar to Mandy’s idea, this is a great way to save time when you have a lot of gifts to make. It must’ve been fun handing out these special bears to her friends with their adorable sideways graduation caps :)
I love seeing how other people’s creations turn out using my patterns as well as how they modify them. If you have a special grad in your life, do check out my free Graduation Teddy pattern as well as the step-by-step photos to personalize a special teddy for them! Thanks for sharing your pictures and stories with me, everyone! Congrats to all the new grads of 2012!
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Hey everyone! It’s been a long time since my last Crochet Corner post, but I thought it’d be another great opportunity to highlight YOUR work based on my patterns since Valentine’s Day was this week! Valentine Teddy still remains very popular, and I absolutely love seeing photos of your teddies since everybody has a different take on him (see my first Crochet Corner post on Valentine Teddy here). Here is my fuzzy cutie in case you haven’t seen him before:
I love how Ziale of Florence, Italy gave her teddy red pants to match his red bow! Her Valentine Teddy looks very suave and ready to go out on the town, doesn’t he? What a great idea! A matching girl teddy wearing a red dress and a red bow on her ear would be perfect!
Emilee of California gave this sweetie to her Mom for Valentine’s Day, and she tells me that her Mom absolutely loved it! Who wouldn’t? Emilee even used the same yarn that I did, which is why they look so similar! She didn’t have a dog slicker brush, so she fluffed up her little guy with a brush they use for their cats! This is only Emilee’s second amigurumi project and fourth crochet project ever. She did such a great job! Beginners can do absolutely beautiful work :) I would’ve guessed Emilee had years of experience by looking at her Valentine Teddy!
Shannen of Sweet N’ Cute Creations is another amigurumi artist who I’ve become friends with since since starting my blog (we’re both on tumblr!). She is a sweet girl who is only 16 years old- she is definitely inspiring the younger generation! Shannen provides many cute free patterns on her blog here, and is very prolific as she’s done many many amigurumi projects! Here’s a big-eyed teddy that she made using my pattern :) Keep up all your great work, Shannen!
Julie of One Little Red Fox made a grey Valentine Teddy with a snazzy gingham bow. What a great idea to use a different colour! Julie says that she loves to crochet since she finds it easy and because it helps her with her insomnia. Crochet certainly helps pass the time away…
Lastly, Malarie from California was looking for a gift for her boyfriend, so she decided to give my pattern a try even though she was new to amigurumi. Malarie loves to crochet, but her carpal tunnel hinders her from crocheting all the time. And so, she spread out her crocheting over time and was very happy with the results. Her boyfriend absolutely loved him! You did a wonderful job, Malarie, and I love the little buttons you added. Thank you for sharing your story with us! Keep on crocheting with all your love and patience!
If you’re interested in making your own Valentine Teddy, check out my free pattern here! It’s neat to think that these Valentine Teddies are being made and loved all over the world :) Thank you so much to everyone who’s taken the time to send me photos! I still have more photos to share, so if you didn’t see your work yet, it’ll probably be featured in the coming weeks! Happy crocheting :)
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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 :)
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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.
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.
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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.]
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I’m so excited to begin my “Crochet Corner” series where I feature YOUR work using my crochet patterns and tutorials! I put a lot of effort into trying to create the right shapes and meticulously writing down my patterns, and I always wonder if people will be able to follow them or if anyone will even try them at all! And so, I’m always delighted to hear that people have indeed tried my patterns and I LOVE seeing pictures. I think it’s wonderful how people can interpret the same pattern differently and how each crocheted creation looks unique since people put their own touches on them!
The very first Crochet Corner will feature none other than Valentine Teddy! This is the second original pattern I made and it was very soon after I started my blog (I started my blog in January 2011 and posted him in February). I loved using the dog slicker brush to fuzz this guy up, and I’m so happy that he was well-received :) Many people fell in love with him…
Kay of I’m Hooked was the very first person to show me her work using my patterns. Since I had just recently started my blog, I was ecstatic that someone had actually used my pattern and was successful in creating their own teddy! Kay had previous crochet experience making purses, clutches and mini makeup bags, but she had never made amigurumi before. When she came across my pattern, she decided to try her hand at it with this teddy! She even documented the whole process step-by-step in her blog post here which was also her first official tumblr post! Kay was also the one who provided the pattern I used to make my Penguin here. Kay has been on hiatus from her blog because she just gave birth to a baby girl in June- congrats, Kay! I love the gray colour she used for this teddy since it’s different from the typical brown. His huge eyes make him look super adorable :)
Irma of Our Useless Blog made her own rendition of Valentine Teddy all the way from Holland. She used yarn that was fuzzy to begin with and in her blog post she talks about how challenging it was to use since it would frequently become tangled. Despite having to make the body parts numerous times, she persevered and finished this super soft teddy! I love how he turned out, Irma :) He looks so cuddly!
Yolanda of Alberta, Canada wanted to crochet a teddy bear for her boyfriend when she stumbled upon my pattern. This was the very first amigurumi she ever made! I love how she even made the dapper red bowtie and red heart to accompany him :) Yolanda said her boyfriend absolutely loved this teddy she made just for him!
Serena of Malaysia made these two adorable teddies named Lexie and Ace during the summer when she had no school. I absolutely love how she made Lexie a girl by placing the bow on her head :) Serena actually went and found the exact same yarn I used which is why they look so similar to mine! It’s amazing because Serena had no previous crochet experience, but she watched many videos on youtube just so that she could learn to make these teddies! Isn’t that remarkable? When Serena left the country for school, her mom asked if she could keep the teddies since she loved them so much. She tells Serena that everytime she sees these teddies, she’s reminded of her :) Isn’t that sweet? Lexie and Ace make such a cute pair!
I love hearing the stories behind all these teddies, from what it was like making them to who they were given to. All of the people in this post had very limited amigurumi experience, but look what they accomplished! I find that very inspirational, and I hope you do too :) If you’ve been hesitant about starting or wondering if you could do it, I’d strongly encourage you to give it a try! Be sure to check out my “Amigurumi for Beginners” blog post if you don’t know where to begin. Making amigurumi is a fun hobby, and they make such great, personalized gifts. Everyone’s creations turn out differently, and even people with no crochet experience can make such beautiful amigurumi!
If you did not see your Valentine Teddy in this post, that means he’ll be featured in another upcoming post :) Please feel free to keep sending me pictures and telling me the stories behind them (e-mail all_about_ami@hotmail.com, post on my facebook page or tweet me)! Or, try making them for the very first time! The pattern for my Valentine Teddy can be found here. Happy crocheting, and thanks for sending in your pictures and sharing your stories, everyone!
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