Busy days...

I have been busy lately. Lots of things are happening in my life at the moment but amongst the chaos I have made two bags this week for my shop.

I really love this fabric ...
... especially the owl on the back, gives it that extra special touch I think!

I am also in love with this retro style print featuring birds and flowers.

I seem to be moving back and forth between sewing and crochet a lot at the moment. Pictures of my amigurumi are coming soon but this weekend is going to be a busy one as I'm off to Newcastle on Saturday to watch my sister's dance show. Hopefully I will get time to do a spot of crochet on the way....

I'm hooked!!

I've recently discovered the new Japanese crochet craze that is taking over the world; Amigurumi. I am now totally addicted and can't put my hook down! I'd seen Amigurumi books in shops before but never looked closely because I was more interested in vintage crochet patterns or granny squares and other motifs. However I now know 4 people who are having babies between June and August so I thought it would be nice to make some presents. I first bought the above book Seriously Cute Crochet by Nicki Trench because I own other books written by her and I love her style. This book certainly lives up to its name. The characters are adorable. There are lots of animals and they are all really easy and quick to make. If you can double crochet, increase and decrease you can make amigurumi.

For anybody who doesn't know, amigurumi are small crocheted characters that traditionally have larger heads and slightly out of proportion bodies making them very cute looking. Quickly becoming addicted to making these characters due to the speed in which they can be made, I purchased Amigurumi World and Amigurumi Two! by Ana Paula Rimoli.

The first book features many small characters from all kinds of animals to eggs that hatch, they are so cute!

The second book also has small charcters but also some larger projects such has mobiles for babies. I am so glad I bought both books because her patterns are really fun to make and they will make great presents for babies and children. Ana started selling on etsy, and through great success was able to publish both books so I felt really happy to purchase her books and support somebody who has worked so hard and is so talented. She still has an etsy shop where you can buy patterns and finished characters, and also a blog where she kindly has some free patterns. Check out her flickr site to see photos of her designs and also the flickr group where other people have made things from her books. For now I am really enjoying experimenting with the patterns and I will post photos of things I have made soon.