DIY Life

About a month or so ago, a set of Lord of the Rings amigurumi made by Sammi Resendes (Craftster user Artoo1121) and her boyfriend were prominently featured on a number of sites. The dolls were unusually detailed, with full cloth outfits resembling their film costumes, painted "embroidery," and tiny polymer clay accessories like helmets and staffs. However, there were no instructions for you to make them at home.

Since then, however, Sammi has posted free instructions for how to make the Fellowship of the Ring in crocheted doll form on her blog, Geek Central Station. There are several patterns:

• The Hobbits and Gimli
• Aragorn and Boromir
• Gandalf and Legolas

The hitch? The clothing patterns aren't free: they can be purchased from the Geek Central Station Etsy shop for $7. That price seems reasonable to me, given how much work went into them.

In the meantime, amigurumi lovers will want to keep an eye on Geek Central Station: Indiana Jones is the latest character to join the fun, and a line of Star Wars dolls has also appeared, with some patterns available for purchase. Sammi says the cast of Futurama will be next! [via]

I have to admit that Spongebob Squarepants is one of my guilty pleasures: the antics of the little "absorbent, yellow, and porous" ocean dweller are always good medicine for a bad day.

So I was delighted to see this amigurumi version of Sheldon J. Plankton, the evil nemesis of our hero Spongebob's employer, Mr. Krabs. He was created by Craftster user LadyLuigi, and is one of the site's new featured projects.

To make this amigurumi, you need a passable knowledge of crochet: the instructions given for Plankton (on the fifth page of replies) may not be enough for a beginner. But if you have crocheted a few things before, you shouldn't experience any real problems.

Required supplies include:

• an H hook (approximate size)
• a couple of pipe cleaners
• black embroidery floss
• stuffing
• scrap yarn in the following colors: olive green (you'll need the most of this), pale yellow or cream, red, and white

Plankton may ordinarily be 1% evil and 99% hot gas, but in this case, he's primarily made of yarn -- and 100% adorable. I bet he won't even try to steal your Krabby Patties.

Earlier today, in the first part of this series, I posted 25 free patterns for lovable rabbits and baby sheep to knit.

Knitting is dandy, but what if you prefer a hook to a handful of needles? You're not alone: I've also come to love crochet just as much as I love knitting. Also, the knit-able patterns were heavy on bunnies, with very few lambs; crochet designers have balanced that with some absurdly cute lamb amigurumi patterns.

Between Part I and Part II, there are more than 50 patterns. However, all the commentary you'll need on yarn choices, eyes, noses, knit and crochet tips, and so on is back in the first post with the knitting patterns. For the crochet patterns, read on after the break!

With Easter coming later this week, I have bunnies and lambs on the brain. Although I may secretly just be indulging my own interest in the extreme cuteness of baby animals (against which I can fairly be described as "powerless"), I can't think of a better excuse to find as many adorable free patterns as I can... and post them up here for you.

Most of these are easy: there are plenty of little friends here that you should be able to make up in an evening or two. But if it takes you longer, no worries -- bunnies and lambs are great anytime! And if you don't want to make toys, there are patterns for household items here, too, like plenty of bunny-shaped egg cozies.

You'll find more than 50 squee-worthy ideas, between the ones after the break and the ones in Part II (coming up later today).

Ana Paula Rimoli is one of the most popular amigurumi designers in the English-speaking Internet world, for good reason: the cuteness, oh, the cuteness. A new pattern from her is always worth a look... then, after you make it, a hug. It'll be that adorable.

Last week, Ana Paula posted her latest opus: free instructions to crochet an amigurumi bear with a tiny pot of honey. To make the bear, you'll need:

• Two shades of worsted weight yarn: one for the bear, one for the jar.
• F/5 crochet hook (yes, smaller than you'd normally use for this yarn weight: amigurumi are meant to be tightly crocheted)
• Two scraps of felt: white for the jar label, and a color that coordinates with the yarn chosen for the bear's body (the felt makes the face)
• Thread to sew on the felt for the bear's face
• Black scrap yarn or embroidery floss, for the jar label and the bear's features
• 2 small black safety eyes
• Stuffing

If you like this sweet little bear, you'll probably love Ana Paula's new book. It's called Amigurumi World: Seriously Cute Crochet, and it was published in late February. It looks like she's planning a giveaway, so keep an eye on her blog for details.

Nick Jr.'s Yo Gabba Gabba! is a cute show about five weird little monsters. Oh, sure, it's "for kids," but thanks to the great character design and the participation of several members of the humorous underground rock band The Aquabats, plenty of adults love it, too.

Craftster's Soulmom designed this amigurumi pattern for Muno, one of the monster characters. It uses just red yarn and black and white embroidery thread, but you could also embroider the features with yarn, or make the eye out of black and white felt circles.

This follows on the heels of another Yo Gabba Gabba! amigurumi, Brobee, which recently made the craft blog rounds. Initially, no pattern was available, but Brobee's creator, Craftster's alliecat30, has now posted it. Brobee requires two colors of green yarn, as well as yarn in red and black, and some notions like safety eyes.

Now, who's going to make Foofa, Plex, and Toodee? We're waiting. (While we wait, we might try making these no-sew Yo Gabba Gabba! character pillows from the Nick Jr. site. We might even try sewing them, to make them last longer.)

Last week saw the release of a new issue of The AntiCraft, the free online craft magazine for people who might prefer spiders and bats to sunshine and daisies. This time, it's all about crochet... and setting cheese on fire.

The new issue is, more or less, amigurumi-themed. Like most concepts tackled at the site, it's been interpreted with a darkly funny twist: sure, there are cute animals, but one is Cthulhu and the other is a Dungeons and Dragons monster called a "Beholder" (it has a lot of eyes). There's also a small "eyeball" bag for jewelry or dice, a chainsaw and ax for horror fans, and a (knitted) cover for knitting needles shaped like an anatomical heart.

One of these days, someone is going to come up with an amigurumi version of the Cloverfield monster, or the smaller-but-equally-distressing critter from the 2006 Korean film, The Host. Interested parties will have this issue of The AntiCraft to tide them over until that day comes.

Just like the change in the year, everything old is new again, right? In the last few years, I've watched the media icons of my childhood and early teen years become popular again with today's kids (and with nostalgia buffs around my own age). The Transformers are the most obvious and, it seems, successful resurgence, but the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have also regained a lot of ground lost in the mid-to-late 1990s.

Craftster user atsuko created these adorable amigurumi Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles -- the whole team! -- for her young daughter's Christmas present. She cobbled the pattern together from other simple patterns, with permission.

They're simple to crochet, and if you want to leave off the "Teenage Mutant Ninja" part, they'd probably also make pretty cute just-plain-turtles; advanced crocheters could even try to make little outfits for them. You need worsted weight yarn in two shades of green, a yellowish shade, and the colors for the masks. According to Wikipedia, they are:

• Blue for Leonardo (the "good boy")
• Red for Raphael (the "bad boy")
• Orange for Michelangelo (the "funny one")
• Purple for Donatello (the "smart one")

Turtle power!

Christmas is in less than a week: is all of your shopping done? It's getting a bit late to order anything (especially if you don't want to pony up for pricey overnight shipping), but if you're shopping for crafty friends, there's probably a lot available in your own town.

However, bead, paint, and yarn choices are completely subjective, you may not know what tools your loved ones need (beading loom? spinning wheel? umbrella swift? easel?), kits can be hit-or-miss, and I'm not sure anyone needs craft-themed sweatshirts. (Ever.) Have major advances in the world of crochet hooks or embroidery hoops really been made in the past year? Probably not. So when I thought about what makes a great holiday gift in the DIY realm, I kept coming back to one thing....

Please join us after the break to find the best of the latest craft books! There's certainly something here to please almost every creative person on your list: beaders and jewelry makers, people straddling the mixed-media art/craft divide, knitters, crocheters, scrapbookers, and anyone else who likes to learn how to make interesting things with their hands.

(Even better, you shouldn't have any problem finding most of these books at 4:00 in the afternoon on December 24th.)

There are some adorable new holiday crochet patterns at the Lion Brand Yarn site: an amigurumi Penguin, Reindeer, Santa, Snowman, Gingerbread House, and Gingerbread Man. The latter two make good ornaments, and there's also a Candy Cane Coat Hanger for kids to make. The only problem isn't really a problem: you have to be registered at the Lion Brand site before you can actually see the free patterns themselves (but click the first link in this article to see a list with photos).

Several of these amigurumi are made in their new Vanna's Choice acrylic yarn. I have to confess that I'm less-than-interested in using that yarn; I don't like to work with 100% acrylic. Because amigurumi should be crocheted tightly, the elasticity that wool adds to a yarn can be really helpful, and it's kinder to your poor hands and wrists. Vanna's Choice is worsted weight, so you'll have no problem using Wool-Ease or something nicer.

If you want to use Wool-Ease, try Mushroom for the body of the reindeer -- it's a lighter color than Vanna's Choice Taupe, but not too pale -- Cocoa for the feet, Cranberry for the collar, and Gold for the bell. The corresponding colors would also work for the penguin. He's mostly black and white but has some gold and red elements; you'll need to choose a green that you like, too.

These crocheted toys should only take an evening or two to make. They might be the sweetest hand-made stocking stuffers I've seen this year.

Carol Meldrum's book Knitted Icons came out recently. It features ten-inch-tall knit versions of various celebrities, ranging from Chairman Mao to Gandhi, Queen Elizabeth II to Madonna. At this writing, it's the featured book at Urban Outfitters' online shop, and as such, they have a free pattern from the book for you to download.

You can make this adorable Audrey Hepburn doll, which depicts the beloved actress as Holly Golightly in her iconic Breakfast at Tiffany's gown and updo. (Sadly, Holly's eyelash-embellished sleep mask is not part of the outfit.) It's done in four different Rowan yarns, and even has a tiny tiara, necklace, and cigarette holder.

It would make a wonderful holiday gift for your most stylish friend, albeit a kitschy one. Here's a direct link to the zipped PDF file: Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly.

Roman Sock is the nom de blog of a young Edinburgh lass, Brie. She's been blogging for about six months, and since then, she's turned out some of the most distinctive and interesting crocheted amigurumi patterns I've yet seen on the Web. Best of all, they're free.

What I appreciate most about Brie's work is her design sense. The patterns she creates don't share the generic look that you see in a lot of amigurumi patterns (basic humanoid bunnies and cats come to mind -- their cuteness is not in doubt, but originality is sometimes lacking). I have no idea if (or how much) she sketches out her ideas or uses reference photos beforehand, but they look like they jumped out of the sketchbook of a particularly good illustrator... one who likes their animals two parts realistic and one part cartoon.

Don't miss it: you can read more about her wonderful world of quirky animals and creative crochet after the break! The pattern links are there, too.

Every week, the sites Knitting Pattern Central and Crochet Pattern Central post new free patterns that they've heard of or that have been sent to them. Several dozen patterns are often posted each week, and sometimes it can be tedious to look at them all to find the good ones... so I've done it for you. Then I've categorized them, alphabetized them, and written brief descriptions for each.

These patterns were all posted to the aforementioned sites in October, 2007, though some may have made their initial appearance on the web somewhat earlier. A few may have been posted in late September or the first few days of November: they were interesting enough to include here!

If you prove to like this feature, I'll continue to do it for you every month. You'll find patterns of all kinds after the break: sweaters for men, women, and babies, handbags, scarves and shawls, hats, toys, animals, socks, mittens, you name it.

The Nightmare Before Christmas was released in 2003 1993. It quickly went from being a cult favorite to being a Halloween classic: if Christmas has multiple versions of A Christmas Carol, and full ownership of Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, Nightmare could be the definitive Halloween movie. (We won't tell Sleepy Hollow about this. Heads might roll!)

One of the most endearing characters in Nightmare is Zero, Jack Skellington's ghostly dog. Zero does very little but behave like a living dog, bounding happily around, being affectionate towards his friends. He has a pumpkin nose and a dog-shaped head, but otherwise looks like a sheet draped over a dog's form.

Livejournal user Lizville has created a Zero crochet pattern! Not exactly amigurumi -- the "sheet" part of the character's design keeps it from being crocheted entirely in the round -- but impossibly cute, down to his little embroidered orange nose. You may want to make one for yourself; however, since the 3-D version of the film is currently in theaters, you may also find yourself making one for a young friend who's seeing the movie for the first time.

(And if you love The Nightmare Before Christmas, be sure to check out Jackyll & Hide, Knitty's clever Jack Skellington hat/mask!)

[via Craftster.]

Edited: Yeah, I know it was 1993! Weird error.

For the whole month of August, I've been talking about amigurumi: a style of pointedly adorable crocheted or knitted toy, developed in Japan, that has become popular among English-speaking crafters. It could never have happened without two things: the availability of design-conscious Japanese craft books in other countries, and the Internet's ability to spread trends -- and make those books even more available.

Japanese craft books in general have become hot in the English-speaking craft scene. Until recently, translations were mostly limited to books that were released in the US by the publisher Ondori, usually about beading. Things are changing, as books like Fleece Dog and Sock and Glove (aka Sock Monkeys and Glove Dogs), and various offerings from Aranzi-Aronzo, have hit stores in the last few months. But there are still many cute, interesting books that will never be translated into English.

The good news is that, with only slightly more effort than buying them from your local bookstore or Amazon, you can get the best in Japanese craft books for yourself.

Find out how after the break! Don't worry: you don't need to be able to read or speak Japanese.