Book Review: Kyuuto! Japanese Crafts Amigurumi

Takamori Tomoko, Chronicle Books

I've had Kyuuto! Japanese Crafts Amigurumi sitting around for a while. I think it was a present. Then again, I may have impulse bought it. If so it's one of my better impulse buys. It's written by Tomoko Takamori, a researcher of knitting and crochet who started her career in amigurami creation in 1993.

There are several cute little amigurami creatures to make including teddy bears, sheep, tigers, kittens and jackrabbits. I decided to have a go with the little teddy pattern.

The pattern was really easy to use. The author provides a page describing the symbols and stitches used in the book which was great. I'm rubbish at following printed instructions and even I managed to follow these. I even referred back to this book whilst following someone else's pattern. The only criticism I have is that how to start crocheting was not made clear. I had to look that up somewhere else. 

Here is the teddy I made:

He needs a ribbon or something because fool that I am I stitched his head on with thread instead of the wool. He looks a little like he has terrible scarring around his neck. I think with finer wool this would look even cuter. I only have chunky cheap wool though. I will buy better wool - one day when I've finished the cheap stuff.

All in all a very excellent book. I recommend it whole-heartedly! I haven't put it away yet because I want to try more patterns from it. That's the sign of a good craft book.

Lego robots at Drink, Shop & Do

All the robots pose

Last night I made good on my promise to check out Drink, Shop & Do. Drink, Shop & Do is a design shop/cafe/bar/crafty haven. During the day you can go there to shop, have a coffee, and chill out. In the evening it's a funky bar. My favourite thing about this place is all the activities you can do there. Last night they were having a Lego robot night. With cocktails.

It was very busy so our first cocktail was had standing with no Lego (boooo) but then some people left and we nabbed their table. By this point there was little Lego left so we had a real jumble of pieces. As you can see we mainly had Duplo. 

BF's Robot

My robot rests in a cocktail glass

Oh, it was so much fun! And the cocktails were delicious! They had really interesting flavours. My favourite that I had was one called 'Oh so Pretty' that involved lychees and came with a scattering of rose petals on top. Prices for cocktails ranged from £7 to £9.50, which may seem steep but is pretty standardy for London and they were nice, so worth it.

Drink, Shop and Do is a short walk from Kings Cross. It's light and airy and full of wondrous things to look at. There were people knitting socks at one table! Amazing.

A friend's robot sits with the vast collection of tea

We all had lots of fun. I will definitely be going to more events at this place. Yay for a great find! Also - it looks like they do interesting sandwich and cake plates. This will need to be investigated later.

I recommend Drink. Shop and Do to all.

Tre La Creativity - supping lattes in the coffeehouse

Attention all! I bring news of an excellent new magazine. It's called 'Tre La Creativity'. And... it is all about using creativity to help with illness and stress. Huzah! Now I for one can attest to the wonderful benefits of doing crafty things. Nothing cheers me when ill or 'down in the dumps' quite like making something insane out of felt. In particular I believe it is important to TALK about ill health, stress, depression and all that jazz rather than hiding it behind closed doors. No more shame!  I am genuinely enthused and excited about this project.

You can see the info pack below (hopefully).

Open publication - Free publishing - More crafts

I love the front cover!

It's going to be PACKED full of inspirational articles, tutorials for making beautiful things, and all kinds of lovelies.

Tre La Creativity is also creating a wonderful fledgling online community. The Coffeehouse is a great place to kick off your shoes, enjoy a (virtual) latte and share ideas and projects with other crafty folk. I joined it just the other day and am having a whirl. I think it's going to turn out to be a goody. Come on by and have a peek!

Tre La Creativity is launching on the 6th of September. It will be stocked on-line and at independent retailers. You can pre-order now!

Squee!

Shiny pretties from Fabric Rehab

Shiny!

My delivery from Fabric Rehab arrived! Yes of course I ended up buying something from there. I have no self control and will very likely have to hide my debit card this month. Only I'll have to be really cunning about it. You have to be when hiding things from yourself.

Don't be fooled by this late posting into thinking that delivery from Fabric Rehab was slow. It wasn't. It was very prompt and gratifying. This bundle actually arrived last week. I was just too distracted by having to go back to work to blog about it. Apologies.

As you can see I bought Snow White fabric, Hansel and Gretel fabric and a charm pack from Moda.

I think the charm pack is my favourite:

'A walk in the woods' charm pack from Moda.

I love the foxes and red-riding hood. It's a good thing I've resolved to hide my debit card because I could easily buy a whole bolt of fox fabric. The designer of 'A walk in the woods' is Aneela Hoey, whose blog I just found. And it looks adorable!

I've already used some of the charm pack to make some patchwork kindle cases (which are unfortunately doomed for an unrelated reason, more on this later).

All in all I am very pleased with my purchases.

Huzah!

Book Review: Fa la la la Felt by Amanda Carestio

This book is full of amazing Christmas decorations you can make at home. The editor, Amanda Carestio, has gathered together ideas from designers all over the world. You can make tree ornaments, stockings and miscellaneous 'decorations'.

Designer: Cathy Gaubert

It has some lovely, inspiring pictures and very clear instructions. There are also templates for all of the items at the back of the book.

I was given this book as a Christmas present and it really is fabulous. It's a great book for beginners I think as the steps are very easy to follow and it also provides clear instructions on how to do a variety of stitches.

It's available on amazon, and I'm sure other places too.

Attack of the felt goldfish

Felt goldfish attacking a bemused lady.

I've spent the last few weeks making a swarm of felt goldfish. I now have nine. This is how many I could cut out of one square of orange felt. I do have more felt but I think it would be mentally unhealthy to make more. I've found myself cackling in triumph as I add each new fish to the swarm. Best to step away now I feel. I'm already pondering what I will do with nine felt goldfish.

The pattern for the fish is from Fa la la la Felt edited by Amanda Carestio. The designer of the fish was Lisa Jordan. It's an amazingly simple pattern. You can probably copy it just from these photos. More impressive is the idea itself which comes from the book. These are recommended as Christmas decorations, which I just love as an idea. What's more Christmassy than a flock of goldfish peeping out from your tree?

Close ups of four fish

They are actually 3d. Both sides of the fish are decorated and they're stuffed, which isn't immediately obvious from these photos.

I'm going to have a go at making some more of the things in this book and then I will give it a proper review. I just wanted to share my fish. My numerous, beautiful and terrifying fish.

Book Review: Creepy Cute Crochet by Christen Haden

This, as the title suggests, is a very cute book. It provides patterns for making a variety of amigurumi creatures. Amigurami is Japanese art where you make small stuffed animals or creatures using knitting or crochet. This book is all crochet.

The creatures within the book are all very imaginative and fun. You can make a vampire, a ninja, a zombie, a Spartan and many others. The photographs in the book of the creatures are all adorable and inspiring.

Haden provides clear lists of material needed to make each creature. My only criticism of this book is that it can be difficult to follow the instructions. This is not a book for those who are new to crochet. Also, you really should invest in some crochet markers (like pins to mark your place in the crochet) because I kept losing how many stitches I'd done.

Skeleton bride and groom from Creepy Cute Crochet

I made the above skeletal bride and groom from the book as a wedding gift for a friend. Well, I made the bride and my mother helped me keep to time restraints by making the groom. The stitching on the groom was not pulled quite so tight which is why he is far larger than the bride. This was no veiled comment on the groom himself. It was a little difficult to get started but once started easy to complete.

This is a fun book and I recommend it. It is available on Amazon and probably other bookshops.