These past two months have been such a whirlwind for me. I had the goal to get all the patterns for the book to the pattern testers by the middle of July and to get all the preliminary text files and photos for most of the patterns to my wonderful friend, the super talented Sylvie by the end of last week. It was a tall order, but somehow I did it! Continue reading
Tag Archives: crochet
How to Make Your Amigurumi’s Head Turn: A Video!
I have a wonderful surprise for you today! I recently discovered an inexpensive and super fast way to give your squirrel amigurumi a head that turns. The problem with amigurumi is that they are so small. I haven’t been able to find commercially made doll joints in the right size. But what is a doll joint really? It’s just a post with a fixed head and a washer that pops on to the other end. If you look around the Internet, you’ll find doll makers who have come up with all sorts of solutions: buttons and thread, screws and washers, and my personal favorite — safety eyes!
Let’s use safety eyes to make our squirrel’s heads turn! The concept is pretty simple. Just work the head section of my squirrel pattern through the last round, leaving 6 stitches remaining and a little hole. Fasten off your stitch, leaving a long tail. Thread this tail through the remaining stitches. You do the same thing with the opening at the neck of the body. You’ll insert the head (eye) of a safety eye into the hole on the head of your squirrel and pull the tail tightly to close the hole around the post of the safety eye. Then snap on the washer and fit the hole on the body around the washer. Pull that tail tight to close it around the post and ta-da you have a movable head. If that didn’t make sense, you’re in luck… I made a funny little video to demonstrate. Enjoy! Continue reading
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The Big Acorn Race Update: Tall ‘n’ Fast Flowers
The past six weeks have been all about flowers – well, one flower in particular. The Tall ‘n’ Fast Flower is a very special one that is native to Squirrel Picnic. In “The Big Acorn Race” story, Podge has to grow a flower, fast. Luckily she has a packet of seeds that will do the trick. Sure enough, her Tall ‘n’ Fast Flower grows both tall and fast. You’ll have to excuse my cryptic description there – I just don’t want to spoil the story.
What I can tell you is that just like many of the items in the story, there will be patterns to make your own Tall ‘n’ Fast Flowers. This month I designed a Tall ‘n’ Fast Flower barrette, wall hanging, and 14” round pillow. I even designed a seed packet phone case! So far these are my favorite patterns from the book. I hope you enjoy these photos of them… Continue reading
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Podge’s 30 Day Healthy Habit Challenge
For the month of June, Podge and I adopted a 30 day healthy habit challenge. The goal was to exercise for 30 minutes every day and post photos each day on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
I’ve heard that it takes 30 days to adopt any new habit, and 30 days is a comfortable amount of time to try something new. The idea is that if after 30 days you don’t want to do it anymore, there’s no harm in calling it quits. It’s like a trial period. Then the next month you try a different healthy habit to see if you can get it to stick.
I can’t say that this challenge was always easy. There were some days when we found ourselves sore or tired. On those days we gave ourselves a break with yoga or physical therapy (exercises I have to do for my knees). We learned that it is important to listen to your body and be gentle when needed. Despite a crazy schedule, deadlines, and travel, we did it! And we feel great.
I wasn’t sure when we started if I would be willing to continue exercising every day after the month was up, but once you get started, it’s pretty easy to keep going. I say let’s do it! I mean, we have all the fitness gear. Might as well keep using it…
Even Podge has her own workout accessories. Over the course of the month, I made her a headband, leg warmers, gym towel, and a yoga mat and bag. Now you can make them for your squirrel friend, too, with my patterns below. And enjoy the gallery of photos from our month of exercise. Some of these really crack me up! Continue reading
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The Big Acorn Race Update: We’ve Got a Cover!
This has been an exciting month! It’s also been extraordinarily busy. (Isn’t it funny how the two always seem to go hand in hand?) I promise to write a separate post about designing and creating all the new patterns, working with pattern testers, choosing fonts, and hashing out what will go in the techniques section. But for now I just really want to share with you something near and dear to my heart, something I’ve dreamed of for over two years now… we have a cover for Squirrel Picnic’s very first story and pattern book!
Big love and thanks go out to Sylvie Abecassis for designing the graphics and working her magic on my photos. I am always amazed by the talent she possesses. She has a big heart, a wealth of design knowledge and skill, and a generous and caring spirit. I can’t thank her enough for this beautiful gift.
Now that I have a cover, expect to see it everywhere! Speaking of which, I’m working on a website for the book where you will be able to find news and updates and any interactive features I’m able to create. That all may be a little ways down the road, but I’m excited about this next step in the adventure. Thanks as always to every one of you. I hope you are enjoying this journey. I’m sure happy to have you along for the ride.
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Let’s Doodle Stitch!
I hope you enjoyed the tutorial last Friday on how to use satin stitch embroidery to give your amigurumi some spectacular looking eyes. I had a lot of fun stitching it, and to tell you the truth, I didn’t stop with the face. In this post I’ll tell you more about how stitch-crazy I went with this bear, and I’d like to also address all of you who asked me about where you can go to get lessons in embroidery. Continue reading
Squirrel Picnic 
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