Wednesday 23 December 2015

2016 Greetings

My crew and I wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy 2016.
I hope you have enjoyed watching my progress in the amigurumi world this year.

Till next year, happy amiguruming!
Mary


Tuesday 22 December 2015

Arthur Monkey The Ami

by Mary’s Amiland, November 2015


Arthur Monkey is one of the two characters I made for the Circus Design Contest held in November this year.
As soon as I came to know about the contest I started working on Arthur, his character was designed over a week end but took almost a month to finalize all the details. I have redone him many times before getting to his final version. I wanted something original but not too exotic.
I’m so proud how he performed at the contest, he did not win but came in a very good position for as much as I’m concerned.


Saturday 19 December 2015

Oscar Mouse The Ami

by Mary’s Amiland, November 2015
   
Oscar Mouse has been quite a fun character to work on.
I have been in doubt till the very end whether to crochet the shoes in green. Do you know what? Green is the perfect colour for such a cool guy, don’t you think?
Love him so much and so proud he took part to the Circus Design Contest back in November this year.
After the contest I made a version in gray with blue eyes, I hope you like him :)





Tuesday 1 December 2015

Circus Design Contest - Arthur The Monkey

Arthur The Monkey welcomes the people at the entrance of the circus, and he entertains the audience between one performance and the other. One day he will have his own show, he is studying to become a tiger tamer.
Support my entry by voting at this link
Voting period is up December 9th 2015.

Circus Design Contest - Oscar The Mouse

For the Circus Design Contest I wanted to create a character which was different from the ones you would expect to see in the contest. At the end I had an idea, why not to design the owner of the circus?
In my fantastic world Oscar The Mouse is the owner of the circus. He presents the show every night, and the clapping after each performance makes him feel proud of his circus and rewards him of the hard work behind the scenes to make it a success.
Support my entry by voting at this link 
Voting period is up December 9th 2015






Saturday 14 November 2015

Mary’s Amiland at RESOBOX's Exhibition

Today I have finished tagging all my amis, and now I’m ready to ship them off to New York.
For Italy I have chosen two themes that are very important for our culture, football and fashion.
Nick Bear is for football (on the top left), and Patty Pig, my trendy girl as I call her, is for fashion (on the top right).

Resobox
December 11, 2015 – February 28, 2016
The Second World Amigurumi Exhibition



Sunday 1 November 2015

Dana Sheep The Ami

by Mary's Amiland, October 2015

Dana character was born little by little, after Patty Pig and Charley Bull Cow. She is romantic and a bit shy. Dana loves going out with Patty Pig, her best friend, and spending the afternoon chatting, and telling each other their girl secrets.




Sunday 25 October 2015

Nick Bear The Ami

by Mary's Amiland, October 2015

I have been selected as one of the amigurumi artists of World Amigurumi Exhibition 2015 at RESOBOX.
I feel so excited that my pieces will be part of their gallery!
In order to participate to the exhibition each artist must submit at least one amigurumi that shows a characteristic or feature of their country or local area.
I have decided to make a football player with the Italian team outfit. I got inspired by a photo of Andrea Pirlo who was wearing orange football sneakers.... love them!



Monday 5 October 2015

WIP: Dana Sheep The Ami

I have been working on my third farm animal for a while now. It is the turn of a sheep, she is called Dana and is Patty Pig's best friend. 
I was hoping to be able to post a pic of her by now, but I had to redo a few things. Anyway, whenever I get stuck with the project, it is enough to look at this funny picture to go back on track.

Saturday 26 September 2015

Charley Bull Cow The Ami

by Mary's Amiland, August 2015

Charley is my second pattern of farm animals, although his character was born first.
As a perfect gentlemen he gave way to Patty Pig who was impatient for coming to life.
That is not surprising, he is a sweet and joyful boy, he likes studying and playing with his friends after school.


Sunday 20 September 2015

Amigurumi Worldwide Lovers

I have just created a group board on Pinterest for amigurumi lovers.
If you like to pin your cuties, here is the link to the board
https://www.pinterest.com/MarysAmiland/amigurumi-worldwide-lovers/

Follow the board and comment "ADD ME" in any pin.

Invite your friends if you wish :)

Happy Pinning!

Tuesday 8 September 2015

Happy 2nd Birthday Mary's Amiland

I’m quite happy with the progression I have made as a designer. In the last year I have spent more time at drawing my characters, thinking of all the details in advance to the execution of the project. This way the development of the pattern has become much simpler, and crocheting much fun.
It makes me feel proud to say that all my amigurumis are my original design!


Tuesday 1 September 2015

Willy Dog The Ami

by Mary's Amiland, June 2015

Willy was born on a rainy afternoon at my desk when I made a beautiful sketch, myself who is not able to draw!
I guess my hand knew exactly which lines to draw as this cuddly guy had grown in my mind over the past months. Eventually, when I decided to give Willy birth all was ready, and drawing was a simple exercise at that point.
It is crocheted in all his parts so he can be the best friend also for young children.

Willy was featured in Entwine The Crochet Magazine in July 2015 issue.


Saturday 22 August 2015

Minou Cat The Ami

by Mary’s Amiland, August 2015

I made this pattern soon after I had started designing amigurumi, and it is still one of my favourite works. I have decided to enhance the instructions with the learning gained in these years and to put the pattern in the format I currently use.
At the beginning of my adventure as designer I was not used to give names to my characters, nowadays they all have one even before coming to life. While I was refreshing the pattern, I named this lovely cat Minou after a cat I had when I was a child.

One a funny note Minou (on the left) is taller than the first one made a year ago... same pattern, same yarn and same crocheter :)

Wednesday 19 August 2015

WIP: Charley Bull Cow The Ami

I’m working on something new, another farm animal. This time it is a HE and he is called Charley.
Here is my source of inspiration, a young bull cow.
I hope to be able to give him the joyful character I have in mind.


Sunday 2 August 2015

Patty Pig The Ami

by Mary’s Amiland, July 2015

When inspiration comes unexpectedly, it makes you do just the right thing. This is what happened with Patty, I made her sketch in thirty minutes and it was love at first glance!
Among the farm animals that I have drawn, she is the one with the strongest personality. She knows exactly what she wants… indeed she made me do her pattern first.
Patty loves fashion, so I had to think of a trendy outfit for her. I came up with the idea to make a dungarees, and a set made of a tiny purse and a bag enhanced with embroidered French knots on the top.
She is ready to go out shopping!

I’m in love with this character, is she not absolutely cool?

*Special Thanks* to Tanya Naser from HodgePodgeCrochet who kindly agreed on including her beautiful eyes’ pattern with my ami.






Monday 20 July 2015

WIP: Patty Pig's Accessories

If somebody told me I would have fun making clothes and accessories for my dolls at my age,  I would not believe it!
Nowadays it is normal and not surprising at all…

I have been playing around with some accessories for Patty Pig, my next amigurumi. Here is what I have come up with, a nice embroidery bag with a small purse. Are they not trendy?


Sunday 12 July 2015

WIP: Patty Pig The Ami

I have been working on a new project.
It is a She and she is called Patty. This time I have looked for inspiration among farm animals and this cute thing has been my model.
I’m proceeding at full steam with no much frogging at the moment, so I hope to be able to show my WIP soon.

Wednesday 1 July 2015

Jeffrey Bunny The Ami

by Mary’s Amiland, May 2015

I love bunnies, I can never have enough to make them but this time I wanted to make a bunny that was special and unique: Jeffrey had to be THE bunny in my collection of amigurumis.
I have worked so hard since I made his sketch back in March this year.
First I experimented how to make the limbs moveable without using plastic joints as I wanted to create a toy suitable for young children. Then I spent countless hours on his clothes remaking them over and over and eventually his dungarees came into shape.
Finally I asked a bunch of fine crocheters to test the pattern for me on Ravelry. In a matter of few days I received all their feedbacks which helped me to write the pattern as clearer as possible.

Today I can proudly say that Jeffrey bunny is finished, love the way he turned out!

Saturday 23 May 2015

Single Crochet Invisible Decrease

I have discovered this stitch some time ago and I have been using it ever since. It makes appear the surface of amigurumis uniform avoiding bumps and holes where the decrease has been made.

How to make it:

1) insert your hook into the front loops of the next two stitches



2) yarn over and pull through those first two stitches on hook



3) yarn over the hook and pull through the remaining two loops on the hook



Congratulation you have just made your first invisible decrease!
 

Thursday 21 May 2015

Coupon codes - get up to 20% off on your purchase

From today you can buy more of my amigurumi patterns saving some money on your purchases.
I have created three permanent coupon codes that you can use on Ravelry and Etsy.

Check my shops at this link , grab your favourite patterns and…do not forget to send me a pic of your work!

Coupon codes:
PINK10     - get 10% discount on purchases over $8
BLUE15    - get 15% discount on purchases over $12
GREEN20 - get 20% discount on purchases over $16

Friday 24 April 2015

Crocheting two identical items of amigurumis

Today I would like to share a tip that you should always bear in mind any time you have to crochet two identical items e.g. legs, arms, ears or whatever parts of your amigurumis.
Plan to do it one after the other at the same time because even though you follow the same pattern, use the same hook and yarn the result could be very different.
Look at what happened to the ears of my bunny, one was done in the evening and the other one the morning after. I ended up redoing them to be sure they had the same size.



If you are wondering why this happens I can only answer that it depends on your mood or at least this is the only answer I have been able to think of.

Sunday 19 April 2015

WIP: Jeffrey Bunny The Ami

For my new bunny I wanted to try something new. I wanted Jeffrey to have movable arts and removable clothes.
I’m happy with the shape of the body and I have almost agreed on the clothes which have been quite a challenge to design. Soon I realised that it is not as crocheting items for human beings, anyway I used all the expertises I have gained over time and this time my sewing knowledge came to help as literally I followed the steps a tailor would take to make the clothes to fit to his/her customer’s body shape.
I’m having so much fun!




Sunday 29 March 2015

What you need to know for making great amigurumi

Today I would like to share with you my Pinterest board Ideas for Amigurumi that I feed with tips and tutorials from great amigurumi makers that I find on the web.
I started it off at the beginning of my journey in the amigurumi world and I’m always amazed how much I have learnt thanks to the knowledge spread across the world by great crocheters generous enough to share their experience with the rest of the world.

Saturday 21 March 2015

Rose Butterfly and Dan Bumblebee The Amis

Dan Bumblebee has found a fiancée, her name is Rose Butterfly. Are they not cute together?

Saturday 14 March 2015

Little Cat The Ami

March 2015, by Mary's Amiland


I needed a keychain so I thought to use Little Cat The Ami and take this chance for refreshing the pattern adding more photos and changing some stitches here and there.


Sunday 8 March 2015

Rose Butterfly The Ami

by Mary’s Amiland, March 2015



Rose had been in my plans for a long time but I was afraid to start her because I expected her wings would give me lots of headaches. I wanted to include a mandala motif in her wings, I spent long hours experimenting, combining colours and …”frogging” (i.e. ripping out) before I could come up with something I liked. Despite everything I had a wonderful time designing and then crocheting Rose, her smiling face makes me proud and rewards me of all the efforts.


Rose is my third insect and she is part of a bigger project of mine. In my fantastic world she is the fiancée of Dan Bumblebee which is the first insect of this project. The series will end with a fiancé for Lily Ladybug but I have not decided yet which insect might be… looking forward to it!


Sunday 15 February 2015

WIP Update: Rose Butterfly The Ami

WIP Update: Rose Butterfly starts taking shape, still playing around with her wings but I think now I know what I need to do. Looking forward to seeing how she will turn out.


Sunday 8 February 2015

Amigurumi Worldwide Gallery

I spend hours watching everybody else work and cannot get enough so I thought it would be great we could have a place to go to for inspiration. That's why I have created a Facebook Group called Amigurumi Worldwide Gallery where all are welcome to show their projects and designs.

Join in if you wish and show off your amigurumis at this link

Saturday 31 January 2015

Teo Bear The Ami

by Mary's Amiland, November 2014

Teo has been so much fun to design and I hope you will have as much fun at crocheting him. His outfit has been inspired by a famous American football team.
What I love of him is his funny expression, he makes me smile any time I look at him.

Teo was featured in Entwine The Crochet Magazine in December 2014 issue.




Saturday 10 January 2015

WIP Update - Butterfly

WIP: it is time for me to get my butterfly done, I have made the sketch and now I’m trying to translate it into an amigurumi pattern. I’m experimenting shapes and colours combos and while I’m doing so I keep in mind Dan Bumblebee. Why? Because my butterfly, Rose, is going to become his fiancée !

Tuesday 6 January 2015

Appling safety eyes and nose

I do not know about you but I have always been fighting with safety eyes. Any time I had to apply them it had taken me a while until I was able to complete the task.
Now I know why, I have always done the wrong thing!
I thought to share with you my discovery in this field hoping you may benefit of it.

You have already inserted the eyes and/or the nose in the amigurumi’s head and you are ready to fix them in the back.

First thing to do is to warm up the concave part of the washer. I usually put it close to the cooktop holding it with a pair of pliers for few seconds.


Next you place the warmed washer on the rod of the eye in the back part of the amigurumi's head with the dome side facing you. Push it down helping yourself with the small plastic dishes that come along with the safety eyes purchase.


When the washer goes cold again it will harden and not come apart.
You are now done!

Isn’t easy ..... if you know what to do?

Saturday 3 January 2015

Mom and Baby Koalas The Amis

by Mary’s Amiland, December 2014


I could not start the year better, I entered the design contest with the theme “Parent and baby animals” on amigurumipatterns.net at the end of December 2014.

This is another milestone in my adventure in the amigurumis world, only a year ago I did not feel I could take part of it. This time, instead, I have taken the challenge and created these two cute koalas, Mom Tina and Baby Oscar.