Ringo the Flamingo

Here's Ringo, the friendly flamingo! Made for my youngest son, who plays the drums and is a Beatle fan :-)

The pattern is from the book Crocheted Wild Animals by Vanessa Mooncie. In 2019 I made the owl from that book.

The yarn that I used is cotton 8 ply from Bendigo Woollen Mills, plus a bit of variegated yarn from Spotlight for the feathers.

The best thing about finishing a project is that I get to do a photo shoot for the blog and the socials!

Now to decide what I shall crochet next... Any suggestions?

SIL

 

 

Last year, when I had made an amiguruME doll of my BFF, my sister-in-law asked if I could make one of her. Of course!

 

 

She is a role play actor and asked me to make a doll of a specific character that she often plays: a cleaning lady. You can hire her to come to your conference or business event and she will appear at the end to summarise the day's events in a humouristic manner. So clever! You can read more about it on her website Lach op de Dag (in Dutch, obviously).

 

 

It took me a long time to finish this doll, but here she is! The eighth amiguruME doll I have made - you can see them all if you search for the amiguruME tag on this blog.

Progress

 

 

My Sea Colours blanket is progressing nicely - about one quarter is done now. I'm really enjoying crocheting it.

 

 

I ran out of white yarn recently and had to order more from Bendigo Woollen Mills. While waiting for that order, I started another project: a flamingo! My youngest son had asked me to make one for him.

 

 

The pattern is from the book Crocheted Wild Animals by Vanessa Mooncie. In 2019 I made an owl for my middle son from that same book.

 

 

I like having more than one project on the go, as when you get tired of one, you can work on the other for a bit. I'm about to start on a third project as well, a housewarming present for a friend. Just waiting for the yarn to arrive... Stay tuned!

Sea creatures

 

 

We've painted the walls in our new house aqua. When it was still empty it looked like a big aquarium and I said I'd make some sea creatures to decorate it.

 

 

And so I did! I bought the book Crocheted Sea Creatures by Vanessa Mooncie and so far I have made a starfish and an octopus. I also want to make a sea urchin, and maybe a nautilus and a puffer fish...

 

 

The creatures look very good in our aquarium living room, don't you think? ;-)

The last post of the year

 

 

2020 is almost over, and like everyone else I am glad to see the end of this year. Although the Covid situation here in Queensland, Australia, isn't nearly as bad as in many other places around the world, the pandemic has still had a large impact on our lives. The worst thing for me personally was that I couldn't travel to the Netherlands when a loved one got sick and died back in July.

Crochet, along with reading and running, has been a good way for me to deal with everything 2020 threw at me. I finished 12 projects this year - big ones, like my Up North Cardigan and the Lotus & Blossom Mandala, and small ones like the four colourful dishcloths (the fourth one was finished yesterday!):

 

 

I didn't do any sewing, quilting or knitting in 2020. I did discover a new craft: embroidery. I made two pieces and I really like both of them, but I don't think I'll be making any more anytime soon.

 

 

 

The best thing for us in 2020 was that after almost 14 years in Australia we finally bought our own house!

 

We moved in a month ago and are very much enjoying making it ours. The mandala has found a spot in the living room:

 

 

While unpacking boxes I came across this quilt that I made many years ago. I put it up on the wall over the dining table - everyone loves it!

 

 

Wooyung, Thinking of Holland and My Calendar are in the hallway:

 

 

Cycle of Life is also in the living room:

 

 

And my whole amigurumi family is on display on top of the bookcase!

 

 

There are some other quilts that still need to be put up on the walls, and of course it's too hot at the moment to have quilts on the beds.

Meanwhile some new balls of yarn have arrived for my next crochet project...

 

 

 

I hope you will visit this blog again in 2021 to find out what I am going to make with these!

Having said that, thanks for visiting this year, I appreciate it. And I would like to wish all my readers a happy, creative, and especially healthy 2021 - here's hoping that life will become a bit more normal soon.

Koala

Staying at home most of the time because of the Covid-19 crisis means having a lot of time to crochet. Yesterday I finished this cute little guy - a present for friends who have recently moved to Australia from overseas, and are expecting their first baby in April.



It's not really meant to be a toy for the baby (given the presence of buttons and safety eyes), but rather a decorative item for his or her room. I'm planning to make a baby-safe toy as well - possibly an octopus.



The pattern for this koala can be found here. I added the smile, and left out the tail - koalas don't have tails!

BFF

Today my BFF in the Netherlands turns 50. As a birthday present I made an amiguruME doll for/of her.



I chose some photos made during the time we spent together in the Netherlands last year as inspiration for her outfit. I added a denim jacket that can be taken off.



Making the doll was so much fun, and I couldn't wait to hear if it had arrived safely - and if she liked it. I guess the photo she sent me says it all. How I wish I was there when she opened it!



This was the seventh amiguruME doll I have made - that book was a good investment!
At the moment I have no plans to make another doll, but I'm sure there will be more in the future...

My amigurumi family

This weekend I finished my latest amiguruME doll: my husband! Our amigurumi family is now complete :-)



I've portrayed him in running gear, as he usually accompanies me to parkrun and various running events. We don't run together, as he is much faster than I am, but he always waits and cheers for me at the finish line!



I have loved making these dolls and think I will probably make some more... Stay tuned to find out who will be next!

Owl

My middle son asked if I could make an owl for him.



Of course!



He loves the owl and has called it Witje (that's Dutch - it means 'little white one').



The pattern is from this book that I found in the local library:



Thinking of buying a copy, as there are are quite a few animals in it that I would like to make - isn't that elephant cute? And there's also a snake in it that I love, and a flamingo...

Gymnast

Here is my fifth amiguruME doll: my oldest son Hugo, the gymnast!



He's wearing his Queensland State Team uniform, in which he competed last year at the National Championships. Sadly he injured his knee there, so he hasn't been able to do gymnastics in the last 12 months (you can read the whole story here). He did start running at the end of last year though, and will run the half marathon with me in July!

Here I am with my boys:



Now it's my husband's turn to be made into an amigurumi doll!

Guitar boy

May I present my fourth amiguruME doll: my middle son Ernst with his beloved guitar.



Like the other three dolls, this one is based on the patterns in the book AmiguruME by Alison Hoffman.



Here we are together. His doll is larger than mine, but IRL I am still 0.5 cm taller! (not much longer, I know)



And here I am with two of my boys. A Hugo doll will be next, of course...



Here are Ernst and his doll side by side. Well, there is a bit of a likeness, isn't there?



Anyway, he's happy with it and so am I!