Tag Archives: amigurumi

Crochet Cake Pops

Cake pops…. I love cake pops.

My friend Anel has a business where she gets to make beautiful, delicious cake pops all day long and I’m not jealous at all.  Not one little bit.  There’s no way I’d be able to let that deliciousness out of my sight, I’d gobble it all up.  All of it.  But when Anel asked me to make her some crochet cake pops I jumped at the chance!  I could have the best of both worlds, the cuteness without the sugar come down.

The brief was broad: no theme, just whatever you want.  I love and hate these challenges.  I always spend half a day staring at my hands, inspiration-less.  But I’m doing some preparation for the first King’s Day in more than 100 years, so making something Dutchie was pretty much a given.

Happy Dutch Spring crochet cake pop collection on missneriss.com

Tulips are so perfectly Dutch, that it was obvious that I included one.  Perhaps I’ll even make a collection for myself.

Tulip crochet cake pop on missneriss.com

Spring has really kicked into gear here in Holland, and flowers are peeking out from every patch of grass and garden, it’s probably the most beautiful time of the year here.

Spring Bloom crochet cake pop on missneriss.com

Pharell has taken the world by storm, simply by being Happy.  Can’t be a bad thing, right?

The original smiley face crochet cake pop on missneriss.com

Miffy (or Nijntje as we call her), is one of my favourite kid’s characters, and my daughter loves her.  It’s going to be a fight to get this one out of the house.

Miffy crochet cake pop on missneriss.com

With King’s Day and the World Cup fast approaching, national pride is about to go completely mental here in Holland.  Flags, Orange, and the Conga line all feature very heavily in times of celebration, so I have to be ready!

Dutch Flag crochet cake pop on missneriss.com

I loved making these for Anel, but just looking at the photos makes me want one of the real things.  Do pop over and visit Little Cakes, the creations are amazing and delicious. Don’t believe me, look at some of these, you’ll change your mind!

Told you so.

Moogly’s Chainless Starting Double Crochet

While making my beautiful Candace Scarf in the last couple of weeks, I decided to incorporate this new technique that I learned from being a regular visitor to the Moogly Blog.

In pretty much every single pattern you read, when crocheting to the end of the row the instruction will be “Chain 2, turn,” which is a great, fast and simple way to keep going when making items that are worked in rows.  However, the down side is that there are always holes where the chain 2 is.  Now, this probably isn’t noticeable at all to the wearer, unless they crochet.  But to me it’s basically like a pair of dog’s bollocks.  Fairly obvious.

Here’s what the standard chain 2 turn begin looks like:

Big gap, using chain 2 begin to a rowAnd here’s how it looks when you use the Chainless Starting Double Crochet:

No gap, using chainless starting double crochet

And to compare:

The two methods side by side

For the instructions you can head over to Youtube and watch the tutorial made by Tamara from Moogly:

Or you can check out the photo tutorial here.  Obviously if you’re a lefty like me you have to flip everything over in your mind’s eye for it to make sense.

I love it when I come across these little hacks, so I’ll be sure to share more of them with you as I find them.

Pinned today:

Scotty’s Place: The Sampler Blanket .. #crochet

Pinned today:

Small #crochet #amigurumi piggies, seen at missneriss.com

Small pigs #amigurumi #crochet totally cute!

Meet Kevin the Minion

Here he is, finished!

Kevin the Minion - as seen on missneriss.com

(click the image to pin it)

I loved making him, and it was a great experiment without a pattern.  Obviously with my critical eye there are loads of changes that I would make, so am considering making even more, and writing the pattern down.  Plus I’d love to make the possessed minion too…

What do you think?  Worth the investment in time?

Image

WIP Wednesday

It’s taken ages, but finally I get to make Kevin the minion! I’m loving this little guy, and can’t wait to see how he ends up when he’s all done.

I initially went searching for a pattern, but the only one that I loved was All About Ami’s but it was much too big, so I decided to make my own.

He’s working up quickly too, which is what I love about amigurumi projects – instant gratification!

How much do you love minions?  Probably not as much as I do….

Fresh off the Hook – Elephant Lovey

When a friend asked if I would make her something for a baby boy, all I could think of was this beautiful Elephant Snuggle by local Amsterdam designer Dendennis, so even though the request came through at about 9pm and I was planning on an early night, I couldn’t wait to get started.

In real life the elephant is even better looking than in the photos!

Elephant Snuggle on missneriss.com - free pattern

Elephant Snuggle on missneriss.com - free pattern

Elephant Snuggle on missneriss.com - free pattern

Best news of all, the pattern is absolutely free!

->  Get the Elephant Snuggle here  <-

I used Drops Paris for this project, which you can order via Wool Warehouse* and Caro’s Atelier*.

If you’d like me to make you one of these, feel free to shoot me an email from my contact page, and don’t forget to follow me on Facebook and Instagram too!

*Affiliate Link

Finding my Mojo

Somewhere in January my crochet mojo just packed its bags and buggered off on holiday. No matter how hard I tried, I just could not force myself to enjoy any projects, new or old. Feelings of self-doubt plagued me for most of the month; I wasn’t sure I ever wanted to pick up a crochet hook again. Thankfully for me, January was a slow month, order wise. I only had a small backlog to work through. I suppose it was a combination of the winter blues with a bit of post Christmas burnout, I just needed some time for myself.

However, as quick as it came, it was gone! Now I’m back to feeling as enthusiastic as ever. I have a few pattern ideas swirling around and a couple of projects from my favourite designers that I can’t wait to make, including A Morning Cup if Jo’s new Giraffe pattern.

Meanwhile, even though I’d completely lost my mojo, I’ve been plugging away at the #CrochetMoodBlanket2014 project, crocheting a hexagon a day, reflecting my mood. I’ll admit to cheating a bit; I didn’t feel like crocheting a few days, so I added a “filler” colour. Here’s January’s progress:

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I love the colours I chose, they reflect my own personal tastes perfectly. I’m really a pinks and blues kind of girl. Like my mum, I think turquoise is my favourite colour.

This is the mood palette; I’ve added a few interpretations since, because my moods are way more complex than “Happy,” or “Sick,” it. Turns out. Who’d have thought…?

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I share pictures all the time on Instagram, so come join me. I’d love to see your photos too. It’s my favourite social media network, as let’s face it. I love looking at other peoples’ photos. I don’t care if we’re never likely to meet, it makes me feel as though we might… So add me here: Miss__Neriss

Here’s to longer days (and cooler weather for my Southern Hemisphere lovelies).

Special Request: Pippi Longstocking

When I was contacted recently by an acquaintance to make a Pippi Longstocking doll for her daughter I did some digging around the internet to find a pattern, only to come up empty. I couldn’t find anything that I really loved. Lots of options, but nothing that that fit the brief.

So, I decided that now was the time to start designing my own Pippi! Something that was exciting and a bit nerv-wracking at the same time because I’d never even made a doll before. I’ve made loads of stuffed animals and characters, but never a doll.

Here’s how it turned out:

Pippi Longstocking, as seen on missneriss.com

Pippi Longstocking, as seen on missneriss.com

Pippi Longstocking, as seen on missneriss.com

I’m busy working on a pattern for the doll. Whether it becomes a Pippi pattern listed for free (due to copyright), or a general doll pattern remains to be seen. What would you prefer? A Pippi Longstocking pattern?

Link

Pinned today:

Pudge the Pup – pattern on Craftsy. Seen on missneriss.com #amigurumi #crochet