from the crochetgirl hotel

Watermelon Tapestry Tote

Thu, 31 Aug 2006 18:53:50 GMT

I made this bag for a special friend's birthday. It's not my pattern, but it's so good that I wish it was! This was my first crocheted bag, and generally first bag that I've ever made, and it was tons of fun to do. I must make one for myself now!

It's a free pattern and I have the PDF file for it. If anyone wants it, I can email it to you. I believe it can also be found at http://www.crochetpatterncentral.com/ titled as Tapestry Tote Bag.

I made some adjustments though. I wanted a shoulder bag, so I made the bag handle longer. I also couldn't follow the instructions for the handle so I just winged it. The yarn I used for it was from Red Heart Super Saver.

Well here are my pictures:

My lovely friend with her bag... and also a little preview of another ami! I hope you don't mind this pic, Hannah!

Ami the Amigurumist with the Crafty Caterpillar

Thu, 24 Aug 2006 09:40:00 GMT

Well this was supposed to be my etsycraft contest listing, but in the words of Tori Amos I was such a "dingaling." I completely thought the deadline was for Aug. 24th, but it turns out it was Aug. 22nd. I've decided to list it anyways, although the contest is over. Maybe some kind soul will want to take her home. I'm really sad because I truly felt in my heart that I had a good chance of making it to the final 4. Now I'll never know.

The contest was to use the logo "Craft:" So at first I was thinking of making a cute caterpillar with the letters written on it. Then I moved on to thinking of making a craftster doll crocheting a banner with Craft: written on it. And finally in my final move, I thought it would be genius to combine the two: Have my doll be crocheting an amigurumi crafty caterpillar herself!

So ouila, this is how she turned out to be!

And here are the winners of the contest: http://blog.etsy.com/?p=96
You can also see my listing here: http://www.etsy.com/view_item.php?listing_id=410032

So tell me what you think...and comfort me!! *cries*

Fish Collar for my cat, Penny!

Sat, 12 Aug 2006 08:18:53 GMT

Well I'm trying to update more regularly. I made this a couple of weeks ago. It's not very pratical as a collar, but it was still fun to try it on him. I used Red Heart Super Saver [Pale Yellow] for the fish and Caron Simply Soft [White] for the collar so it would be nice and soft for Penny. But I think next time, I would make the collar a different color so that it stands out more!

You can't really see in the pics, but I made these 3 little bands on the white collar so that it could be tightened or loosened by pulling through to the other side. The collar was done simply in 1 sc all across. For the fish pendent, I freeformed until I got the shape I wanted.

Just the fish wrapped around him and his collar before I made his white one.

It's a bit big on this dog :p

Pretty cute on Kero

Best on Penny

Penny stares longingly at the outside world...

some close-up action

All tuckered out.

<3 Grand Opening of Ami Amour! <3

Sat, 05 Aug 2006 14:23:54 GMT

Well, I thought my online store would never open, but the day has finally arrived. You can check out "Ami Amour" at http://toriem.etsy.com
Browse around etsy too, they have lots of wonderful stuff there.

I've only listed 2 items so far, but it will grow! In the meanwhile, I think the 2 that I did list are pretty special.

Up first as I promised is the catwalking Captain Jack Sparrow!

Specs:
19 inches tall
-Has removeable bandanna, vest, and scarf belt
-Has a 'P' tatoo on his right arm hiding under a sleeve
-Each dreadlock has been individually made and placed
-Able to be posed in various ways

Let's take a look shall we?

It looks like Jack Sparrow is also taking a look...

Pirates are branded for life

Check out those spiffy boots for cat-walking

Captain Jack Sparrow doesn't like to be stabbed in the back

He wonders where his hat has gone...

In the end, you better be careful, lest he literally steals your heart away!

"I've got a jaaar of diiirt!"

http://www.etsy.com/view_item.php?listing_id=361700

the Amazing Teal Kiwi!

Sat, 05 Aug 2006 02:08:54 GMT

Hey guys, sorry for the lack of updates. My internet was just horrible for the past month but it's all fixed now. So hopefully I can update more regularly now. I promise you though I have been working hard on my amis.

My shop is going to go online August 5th, and I will also be debuting Captain Jack Sparrow here then, which is tomorrow! I've also thought of a name for my store, it is going to be called Ami Amour!

Also the_leh, I'm almost done with Tori Ami, so you can choose first whether you want her or not. I'll be emailing you soon ^^

In the meanwhile for those of you starving for some ami action, Ami Amour proudly presents...

...THE STUDY OF A TEAL KIWI!

In the wild and open grass, the Teal Kiwi nests.

The protective Teal Kiwi watches over the egg, checking for crack lines.

When Teal Kiwis get domesticated!

The Teal Kiwi is tamed by a boy!

Also don't miss the rare, never-seen-before footage of the AMAZING FLYING TEAL KIWI!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5iNU87SRXA

Jenny S. - a teacher that rocks

Sat, 15 Jul 2006 08:24:06 GMT

I made this ami for my friend lammygirl and so she's totally based on her. The ami's name is Jenny S. She's a teacher by day and bass player by night.

There were several new things I learned making her. I'm happy with the way the bass guitar turned out because it was a little tricky with the different shapes. I also learned how to overlap the different yarns so that under the skirt is actually a body too. I learned a new hairstyle too! Although hair takes awhile to do I really enjoy doing them. It makes me feel like a hairstylist haha.

So... tada... here's Jenny!

I was going to write in chalk on the blackboard, but I didn't have any at the time. Then I was going to do it by Photoshop, but our comp got reformatted and so I can't do that either. It was going to have something like "Today's Agenda" and Ms. S. on it and other various teacher stuff...perhaps a lesson on George Orwell's Animal Farm. Well, use your imagination!

And a little preview of my next ami I will post pictures of.

Mr. Neko

Thu, 06 Jul 2006 07:55:17 GMT

This was my first ever amigurumi that got me into the craze. He was also my second crochet project. His name is Mr. Neko. I love cats and this pattern was especially cute. I gave him away mangamango who's given him a nice loving home, but I need to make one for my own one day!

The Amineko pattern can be found here:
http://www5a.biglobe.ne.jp/~mite/diagram/crochetedCat.html

Here's a crochetalong thread with pics of the same pattern that everyone's done. They have some great advice there. All the Nekos look so different too!
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=87570.0

Presenting Mr. Neko:

Selling Tori Ami...

Wed, 05 Jul 2006 07:53:55 GMT

Hey everyone, I want to open up my craft store on www.etsy.com soon. People have been expressing interest in buying Tori Ami and that has really encouraged me. I don't know if I would make the same doll over and over because that would be boring, so I was thinking of making different Tori dolls - like the previous Tori would be called Sessions Tori Ami. I could make Tori Ami's by different eras, photo shoots. Tori has such great iconic moments and there's so many different things I could choose from. I hope my ambition isn't too great tho, but I would like to give it a try. What do you guys think?

Also, I wanted feedback as to pricing. These do take some time to make, but I want it to be reasonable price for the customer as well as fair to me. I was thinking somewhere around the range of $40 to $50. Next time I make one, I'm going to count the hours I spend on it. It usually takes me a day to make one of these.

I think I will try and sell the crochet pattern for Sessions Tori Ami on etsy as well. I've never written an official pattern yet so I must do research on it. I might need a few pattern testers. I guess their incentive would be they would get the pattern for free. :)

The Briefing

Tue, 04 Jul 2006 08:01:13 GMT

Well I've currently crocheted 5 amigurumis in total which I need to post pictures of.

1. Mr. Neko
2. O!Pilseung! (crocheted for another upcoming b-day)
3. Tori Ami - you've all seen her.
4. Jenny S.
5. Poring

I will post pictures when I can grab ahold of the digital camera which my sis is currently using at AX (Anime Expo).

Currently planned projects:

-Captain Jack Sparrow (hopefully I can finish in time for the movie!)
-Ah Young Doll (a cute teenager doll for my cousin for her b-day... so many b-days in August!)

and then what is next is up for grabs...I have many characters planned (X-Men, Bjork, anime, original creations), but what I want to do will depend on my fancy.

Tori Ami

Sun, 02 Jul 2006 19:56:41 GMT

Here is my Tori Amos amigurumi, otherwise known as Tori Ami. She took a while to make because I was working on her on and off, but I'm really satisfied the way she came out.

Height: 19 inces from head to foot. 12 inches, sitting up.
Outfit: from Sessions on West 54th. Altered to give her a dress and I also made it sleeveless.
Shoes: Black heels, because she wouldn't be Tori without fabulous shoes!
Mouth: She has two different mouths that can be attached by velcro. One cute looking heart mouth, and one for singing in her Tori demon mode.

Demon Tori. yessaid.

Cute Tori loving the piano. Notice her shoes!

The famous straddle.

The very first post!

Sat, 01 Jul 2006 10:00:49 GMT

I've decided to change my community name for my crochet blog to crochetgrlhotel from crochethotel. It's missing an i in girl, not because I like abbreviations and talking in netspeak, but because livejournal will not allow you to make names longer than 15 letters! I'll be posting pics of Tori Ami very soon.