Keep and eye out for a gallery of LollyPups, I’m amazed and flattered by how many there are out there!!!

Amigurumi have fallen by the waysode in lieu of my newest obsession: SPINNING! I’ve been spinning my own yarn, and knitting up a storm for the last year and, let’s see… (March, April, May…) 3 months. 15 months since I started, whew! It’s incredibly relaxing, which is good because I have a very stressful life right now. There’s just something about leaning back a little, letting the fiber slip lightly through your fingers, colors blending together and twisting as the wheel spins ’round, and ’round, and ’round… Mesmerizing.

I’d like to branch out into knit toys someday, but I need to get back to the basics and make some more amigurumis. I just destashed 1/3 of my acrylic stash for a rummage sale, but no worries, I still have at least one skein of every color imaginable! And I had a request for a LollyPup from a friend.

News updates:

• I’m no longer with Sophistipets, it was not an amicable parting of ways but it’s water under the bridge now. My followers (few though you may be) are still encouraged to check out the website, just know that I am not affiliated with the company now!
• I got my own place! Well, my mom lives with me- she’s disabled, an amputee, uses a wheelchair to get around. We have our ups and downs, but for the most part we get along quite well and are loving our apartment (even if it still doesn’t have any pictures on the walls, and Mount Unpacked Boxes dominates our living room after 2 months…)
• The Chibi of ChibiAmi lives with me now, she’s my mom’s little Shih Tsu Chibi-Chan (it means “little one” in Japanese). She can be a pest at times but I have to admit I love having a little furry thing to come home to at the end of the day. XD

There’s always more to say, but little enough time to say it all in, sigh…

This year the Blogathon will go from 9am on Saturday, July 25th, until 9am on Sunday, July 26th. Please pop on over to  bloggingforkids.shebecameabutterfly.net and share in the lives of the precious warriors, survivors, and angels! If you are able to make a donation for Band of Parents, the link is there too and any amount is greatly appreciated. We’re stronger together!

You can read my story at www.caringbridge.org/or/rachel.

Another great NB fundraiser is lunchforlife.org, they ask that you give up your lunch for a day and donate the cost of that lunch instead. On the same idea, I’ve been pondering a sale in my etsy store (www.chibiami.etsy.com), where I will crochet play foods- cupcakes, eggs and bacon, fruits and veggies- with the proceeds going to Lunch For Life to continue the work of raising awareness, supporting each other, advocating for our kids, and funding research.

For some reason, my links aren’t working. Please copy/paste the URLs to see where all the action’s at!

After all the confusion with LollyPup’s foot pattern, I think I need some people to test this pattern for me before I publish it on Ravelry…

My niece’s best friend rescued a beret from her mom’s Goodwill bag, and both girls fell in love with it. No tag,  so we don’t know where it came from, but it seems simple enough and I decided to write my own pattern. It’s named after Savannah aka Savy.

Suggested yarns: Caron Simply Soft, Vanna’s Choice, other soft sport or worsted weight that will drape

Hook: G or H, whatever needed to obtain gauge

Gauge: approximately 2.5″ across after Row 3

Abbreviations:

• ch- chain
• ML- magic loop
• st- stitch
• sp- space
• sk-skip
• sc- single crochet
• hdc- half-double crochet
• dc- double crochet

Start with either a magic loop or ch 2, join with sl st

1. ch 2 (counts as first dc), dc 7 times in ring, join with sl st – 8 dc
2. ch 2, 2dc in each st around, join – 16 dc
3. ch 2, 2dc in each st around, join – 32 dc
4. ch 2, dc even – 32 dc
5. ch 2, (hdc in next 2 sts, 2 hdc in next st) around – 42  hdc
6. ch 2, (hdc in next 2 sts, 2 hdc in next st) around – 56 hdc
7. Start mesh: (ch 5, sk 1 st, sc in next st) around  – 28 loops
8. (ch5, sc to join to middle of next loop) around – 28 loops
9. repeat row 8 for 6 more rows; join last ch5 to next loop of previous round with a hdc – 28 loops
10. Start ribbing, working in a spiral without joining: hdc in first st, next to  joining hdc from last row. 2hdc in each ch-5 space around – 56 hdc
11. (hdc around front post of next hdc, hdc around back post of next hdc) around – 56 hdc
12. repeat row 10 until ribbing is 2″ wide, sc around next front post, sl st around next back post (sc and sl st taper the ribbing so it’s flush with the rest),  fasten off, weave in ends

The girls like to wear it low on the back of the head, they say this is “trendy” but what would I know, I’m just Auntie!

So now I am the assistant and right-hand gal to Bobbi at SophistiPets. SP is a new branch of the kitty accessory company PurrfectPerches, which is phasing out the toys and focusing on the cat furniture. The two sister sites link to each other, visit them at www.PurrfectPerches.com and www.SophistiPets.com!

Some of my crocheted toys will be popping up on the SP site as well as my etsy store, although building the website, developing new products, and “pimping” the business all keep me busy busy busy!

Keep an eye out for Pickwick the wingless Dodo…

Some of my recent projects:

I opened a shop on Etsy a few minutes ago! So far there’s only 1 item listed, but I’ll put up more in days to come: chibiami.etsy.com

The pictures are a bit blurry, but you get the idea.

http://www.crochetme.com/amigurumi-double-ring (I can’t get the link function to work yet)

For the smaller detail like mouse ears and puppy eye patches I only use one loop, since it will be sewn on firmly and is not likely to come loose, no matter how hard the kids play with it. And by “kids,” of course I mean furbabies as well as little humanoids.

Ah, magic ring, how well you work! How tightly you close! How much nicer than the old chain-loop method!