It's Been a While... Here Are Some Cute Crochet Animals!

I really wanted to write a how-to post every month. Life/work happens I guess. I haven’t been writing, but I have been making, which is a good thing.

I’ve been making cute little crochet stuffed animals; the reason I haven’t been writing about them is because they’re not my patterns, not my ideas. I love making them, but I don’t feel like it’s ethical to write a how-to about someone else’s how-to. I see people that do that, and it makes me think less of them, so that’s not gonna be me, ain’t gonna do it.

What I will do is share the patterns I’ve made, show you the pictures of my little creations, and tell you why I love making them. I feel a crochet hiatus coming on, so I thought this would be a good time to do this. I go through crochet ups and downs - for a while, I’ll crochet nonstop, almost obsessively, annoying my husband to no end (“can you please put that down and tell Mary to get her finger out of that electrical socket?!”), and then I’ll stop and not crochet anything for months, sometimes years. Since I’m headed towards one of those Crochet Downs, here’s what I made during the Crochet Up:

First, my Crochet Patterns Pinterest Board.

The post that started it all was this amigurumi fox.

I just thought he was the cutest ever, so I decided to give it a go. I always avoided amigurumi, partially because I couldn’t pronounce it, but also because I stupidly thought it wasn’t going to be in my “vein” or be something I liked. WRONG. It’s perfect for me, because (almost) every row is different, so I don’t get bored. The reason I don’t make blankets (I’ve made one: for Mary) is because I get bored with making the same row over and over and over and over and over… ok you get it. I also got to learn a new stitch for this pattern, as well as how to do colorwork, and I love learning new things. The only part of amigurumi I don’t like is sewing all the pieces together, but I’m getting better at it, so I don’t dislike it as much as I did at first. I could spin that into a whole other post about how doing something you don’t like to achieve something that’s worth it is important, but I’ll let it go (for now).

Another part of amigurumi that fascinates me for some reason is that I get to use safety eyes and noses. At first I thought I was just going to make Frankie Fox, so I looked online and at craft stores for just a single pair of eyes and one nose, but that proved quite difficult/expensive. I ended up with the set on Amazon that I linked there, and I’m glad I did. I should be set on safety eyes and noses for life. I love using them, because even one stitch over in placement changes the whole expression of the face - it’s the part of the process that makes the project cute, or “come alive”.

Anyway, here’s my (Mary’s) Frankie Fox (that’s the Mary-Zone in the pic on the right):

Once I finished Frankie, there was no stopping - I was making more. I don’t like to sell my crochet, because then I feel obligated to do it and it’s not fun anymore, but I will make gifts for friends, which is what all of the rest of these are.

Next up was a baby humpback whale! An ocean-loving friend of ours is having a baby boy, so for her baby shower (that was in July) I made her/him Wesley the Whale.

He was a whale of a success (see what I did there?) at the baby shower! He even got passed around to all of the guests, which thoroughly embarrassed me (but in a good way), so that was cool. I felt a little bad, because my gift was opened right after another girl’s handmade gift was opened; hers did not get passed around. It basically went “oh yeah? you made something? hold my beer.” but that’s ok, the mom-to-be loved them both, and baby Brady will love them both, and that’s what matters.

I learned a new stitch (the mattress stitch) for this whale too - so far 2 for 2 on amigurumi patterns teaching me new things!

Next up, a cheeky monkey!

By this time, I was more confident in my amigurumi abilities, so I made some design changes. Dropped the fez hat, changed the tail, and did some colorwork on the belly.

This little guy was made for a friend of mine that has two cute little kiddos. This friend is one of the most thoughtful people I know, and is truly selfless and caring. To thank her for everything she’s been there for over the years, I made her kids this cheeky little monkey. They haven’t gotten it in the mail yet, but I hope they like him! I didn’t learn anything new with this guy, but I was proud of myself for being confident enough to change the pattern and make him my own!

[sidebar} Mary loved the head of this monkey - while I was making the body, she carried the head around the house everywhere, and unfortunately…she threw up on him. Just a little bit, but the fact remains. She hadn’t thrown up in WEEKS, but she decides to throw up on this monkey. Facepalm. That’s when I learned that amigurumi are washable! By hand of course, but I got all the puke off/out of him. Hey, I guess I did learn something new with this monkey! 3 for 3. [/sidebar]

Last but not least, this cute little bear wearing a cute little bee costume. This one was for a friend whose friend is having a baby - it’s her baby shower gift, which is so special to me! I love that something I made is going to be a gift for someone I don’t know. I hope she loves him!

While this was the smallest of the amigurumi I made, he took the longest, and was the most complex. He has soooo many pieces! That’s actually a little costume he’s wearing, it’s not colorwork. I didn’t learn anything new with this little bear, but I did get to flex all of my amigurumi skills, and I think I did pretty well!

I also got fancy with the pictures of this guy - Instagram ad got me, and I bought one of those small “studio lighting boxes”. I actually bought it at Christmas, and this is the first time I broke it out to use it. Once I figured out how, it actually worked pretty well!

Alright, well that’s it! Time will tell if I crank out any more of these cuties, but for now, I think I’m done.

Thanks for reading!