Heart Cactus Amigurumi

I know it's still January, but Valentines day is just less than a month from now! Besides, I think we should celebrate love everyday, don't you agree? Not just romantic love, but all the kinds of love we feel - love for our family, for our friends, for our pets, for our hobbies, for our food, for our passion, everything! And I believe that if everyone takes time to celebrate love everyday, even just for a while, the world will be a so much better place. Feels like I just answered a beauty pageant question.

Anyway, enough of the beauty pageant feel and let me go back to my beautiful reality of crochet. For the past days I have been thinking of what to post for Valentine's day. I had several ideas which I eventually scrapped, because I realised they're a bit time consuming, and I've been a bit busy (again!) lately because of work and school. So I thought of doing something simple in the meantime, and while I was looking for inspiration in Pinterest, I came across this cute pattern for heart amigurumis. Maybe I can make a keychain out of it? And then I saw my immortal succulent on my bedside table, and finally the idea hit me. I'm going to make a heart-shaped cactus. So cute!

Materials
Hook: 4mm crochet hook
Yarns:
Gantsilyo Guru Milk Cotton Light Lime (green)
Gantsilyo Guru Milk Cotton Light Wood (brown)
some yarn of your choice for the flower


Stitches Used
ch (chain)
sc (single crochet)
sl st (slip stitch)
sc2tog (sc decrease / sc 2 together)


Heart Amigurumi Pattern

The design for the heart amigurumi was inspired by the pattern I found here. This pattern had 3 different sizes of hearts, but I wanted an even smaller size because I want my cactus to be cute and not too bulky, so I tweaked it a bit. But if you want to make yours bigger, maybe something you can use as a centerpiece (or if you simply want a heart-shaped pillow), do check out that cute pattern. :)

Heart Base

Using green yarn, make a magic ring. Note: do not join at any point, continue working in the round.

Row 1: ch 1, sc 4 in the ring. (4sts)

Row 2: *2 sc in the first st, sc in the next. Repeat from * around. (6 sts)

Row 3: *2 sc in the first st, sc in the next. Repeat from * around. (9 sts)

Row 4: *2 sc in the first st, sc in the next 2 sts. Repeat from * around. (12 sts)

Row 5: *2 sc in the first st, sc in the next 3 sts. Repeat from * around. (15 sts)

Row 6: *2 sc in the first st, sc in the next 4 sts. Repeat from * around. (18 sts)

Row 7: *2 sc in the first st, sc in the next 5 sts. Repeat from * around. (21 sts)

Row 8: *2 sc in the first st, sc in the next 6 sts. Repeat from * around. (24 sts)

Row 9: *2 sc in the first st, sc in the next 7 sts. Repeat from * around. (27 sts)

Row 10: *2 sc in the first st, sc in the next 8 sts. Repeat from * around. Do not fasten off. (30 sts)


Heart Bumps

Now we're going to start making one bump of the heart. We will have to fasten of at the end of one bump, and then rejoin the yarn for the other bump.

Continuing from where we finished in the heart base:

Row 11: 1 sc in the next 15 sts. (15 sts)

Row 12: Skip the next 15 sts and sc in the first st of row 11, sc in the remaining 14 sts. (15 sts)

Row 13: *sc2tog, sc in the next 3 sts. Repeat from * 3 times. (12 sts)

Row 14: sc2tog 6 times. (6 sts) Fasten off, and weave the tail of the yarn to tighten the opening of the bump.

Start stuffing your heart at this point.

Hold the heart such as the finished bump is on the right side if you are right-handed, and on the left side otherwise. Remember how in row 11, we only did 15 sc's on the first 15 stitches? So we still have 15 stitches left that are unworked from round 10. Join your yarn on the first unworked stitch in the center of the heart base, right where row 11 of the first bump ends (refer to image here; sorry I wasn't able to take pictures while doing this!).

Row 15: sc in each st around, and then sl st to the bottom center of the finished bump. This is to avoid having an opening right in the middle of the two bumps (refer to image here). (15 sts)

Row 16: sc in each st around, skip the sl st. (15 sts)

Row 17: *sc2tog, sc in the next 3 sts. Repeat from * 3 times (12 sts)

Finish stuffing your heart.

Row 18: *sc2tog 6 times. (6 sts) Finish off like we did in the first bump.


Soil Pattern

For the soil, it depends on how big your container is going to be, so you can add/remove increase rows in this pattern to fit your "pot."

Using brown yarn, make a magic ring.

Row 1: ch 1, sc 6 into the ring. Do not join. (6 sts)

Row 2: 2 sc in each st around. (12 sts)

Row 3: *2 sc in the first st, sc in the next st. Repeat from * around. (18 sts)

Row 4: *2 sc in the first st, sc in the next 2 sts. Repeat from * around. (24 sts)
Note: You can stop the increase at this row and proceed to row 6 if your container is small.

Row 5: *2 sc in the first st, sc in the next 3 sts. Repeat from * around. (30 sts)

Row 6-12: sc in each st around. (30 sts)
Note: You can add another round of increase here (to 36 sts) if your container is big, and you can also add more rows of sc's if your container is deep.

Row 13: *sc2tog in the first st, sc in the next 3 sts. Repeat from * around. (24 sts)

Row 14: *sc2tog in the first st, sc in the next 2 sts. Repeat from * around. (18 sts)

Fill your soil ball with stuffing at this point.

Row 15: *sc2tog in the first st, sc in the next st. Repeat from * around. (12 sts)

Row 16: sc2tog around. (6 sts) Fasten off.


Flower Pattern

For the flower, I used the flower pattern I found here (the flower pattern is somewhere at the bottom part of the post). It's pretty simple and very easy to make, and I already used this for making my cactus amigurumi gifts last Christmas (stay tuned, I will be posting these too, soon!).


Assembling the Cactus

First, attach your flower to the heart amigurumi. You can either sew it, or just use hot glue if you are a bit lazy like me (haha!). You can attach in anywhere you want, on one of the bumps, on the front side, etc.

And then attach your heart amigurumi to the soil, again either by sewing or using hot glue. Note, however, that since our heart has a small tip at the bottom and is therefore top-heavy, if you use hot glue it might not be very stable especially if you made a big heart. You can flatten the bottom part a bit to have more surface to glue on to the soil.

Finally, put your cactus in a container of your choice - pot, teacup, can, what-have-you! As for me, I used a cupcake paper cup, which happens to be a square in this one.

And there you have it! This design is so simple and cute, and not overly romantic-looking, so you can give this to your friends or your family as a simple Valentines token.

Again I apologize for the lack of pictures to guide you along the way of constructing the challenging or confusing parts of this design. Next time I will do my best to stop myself mid-crochet, and take pictures first before finishing everything off!

Enjoy crocheting AF! \m/



This pattern is free and not for sale. Please credit and link back to this site when sharing, using for business, etc. Thanks! :)

2-in-1 Beanie: Messy Bun and Slouchy Beanie (convertible!)

Messy bun beanies have been so trendy lately, and of course I thought of making one for myself too! I often wear my hair in a bun especially when it's windy and when it's humid, because my hair can get really stubborn and bushy and frizzy.. I sometimes think I have Hermione hair. Haha! And because I bleached and colored my hair a couple of months ago, my hair really became dry and can get out of hand sometimes.

But enough of my hair! Going back, I saw a lot of crochet patterns of messy bun beanies in Pinterest, and I mean a lot. And I get why it's gaining popularity, buns are also popular nowadays (even for men!). I think this is a good idea, because really, nobody wants to wear a bonnet with their buns bulging out on top of their heads, nor let down your hair just to wear your beanie, and then have your hair get untidy and all over the place (just like mine). You want to be warm, and at the same time keep your hair out of the way. Therefore, messy bun beanies! Thank you to whoever came up with this idea.

While I think messy bun beanies are useful, I also thought, what if I do want to let my hair down? Because sometimes I get slight headaches when my hair has been tied for quite a while. Does this mean I have to bring two beanies when I go out? It's a bit awkward to wear a beanie with a hole on top when I don't have a bun going on.. So the idea hit me, and I came up with the 2-in-1 Messy Bun and Slouchy Beanie! It's convertible, you can wear it as a messy bun beanie or a slouchy beanie, whichever you feel like doing.

There are two "techniques" that I used in making this convertible beanie possible. The first one is the draw-string feature, which I got from making draw-string pouches before. I used this one to close off the bun hole on top of the beanie. The second one is the folding beanie brim which I also got from making one of my handmade gifts last Christmas. So I put them together and, ta-da! Two-in-one beanie.

I'm shy!

Materials

Hook: 5mm crochet hook

Yarns:

Gantsilyo Guru Milk Cotton Light

Stitches used

ch (chain)

dc (double crochet)

sl st (slip stitch)

sc (single crochet)

blo (back loop only)

Base Beanie Pattern

Pattern here. Additional instructions below.

For the main beanie, I used the pattern above, and I switched colors at some rows to have a striped effect. I added 3 more rows right before the brim (after the 11th row). Note that by the end of this part, your beanie should be just the right length and size to fit your head without covering your eyes. This length will be the length of your messy bun beanie.

After adding in the extra rows, start making the brim as instructed in the pattern above. If you want to make your slouchy beanie more slouchy, add a few more chains to your brim to make it longer.

Adding the draw-string:

What we want to happen at this part is, when you are wearing the hat as a bun beanie, the draw string should be perfectly fit with the hole (no extra dangling parts) so it looks clean. 

Ch 48, do not fasten off yet. Weave your chain through the first row of the beanie (the first dc row after the hole) every 2 dc posts, until the two ends of your chain meet. You can either insert add a bead to each end of the chain to keep them from slipping through the dc posts, or tie a knot to the ends. I did knots because I didn't have beads, however if you choose to do this you have to tie a really thick knot. Add or remove chains as needed, then fasten off. Again, we want the draw string length to be the same length as the hole, after the knots or beads.

So if you want to wear this beanie with your messy bun, simply fold up the brim and wear it like a normal beanie. If you want to hide the ends of the drawstring, you can push them through the dc posts.

And if you want to wear it as a slouchy beanie, just pull both ends of the draw-string chain until the hole on top closes off, and then tie them together. If you also want to hide the drawstring, tie them on the inside part of the beanie.

That's pretty much it! Hit me up with your comments, suggestions and stuff on the comments section below, and I hope you enjoy this patterns as much as you enjoy crocheting AF! \m/

This pattern is free and not for sale. Please credit and link back to this site when sharing, using for business, etc. Thanks! :)

Simple Men's Beanie

As I mentioned in my previous post, the cherry blossom beanie I made for my friend was originally intended for her birthday. Since her and her fiance's birthdays are only 10 days apart, I decided to make him one too. I wanted to give them a couple-something that they can wear together, so I used the same blue yarn I made the cherry blossom beanie with to accent his own beanie.

This pattern is pretty simple and straightforward, and fast too, since I used double crochets all through out. It's also very basic, and can be used as a "foundation beanie" when you want to add decorations like ears or flowers, or bows, etc.

The beanie's size is a bit big, because my friend's fiance is a big guy. I forgot to measure it before giving it to them, but you can make adjustments as you go whenever you think the beanie's becoming too big by skipping an increase row. In my pattern below, I added two versions for large and extra-large.

Although I made this beanie for a guy, because of it's simple design, it can be for any gender. It can even be for kids too. Just adjust the size by adding or removing rows with increases. You can experiment with the pattern because it doesn't require any number of stitch at any point.

Materials
Hook: 5mm crochet hook
Yarns:
Dapper Dreamer Stardust Black
Dapper Dreamer Stardust Powder Blue

Stitches Used
ch (chain)
dc (double crochet)
sl st (slip stitch)
dc2tog (dc together)


Beanie
Note: Counts inside [ ]  are for the large size.

Using the black yarn, make a magic ring.

Row 1: ch 2, 11 dc in ring. Join with a sl st to the first dc. (11 sts)

Row 2: ch 2, 2 dc in each st around. Join with a sl st to the first dc. (22 sts)

Row 3: ch 2, *2 dc in the first st, dc in the next st* repeat around. Join with a sl st to the first dc. (33 sts)

Row 4: ch 2, *2 dc in the first st, dc in the next 2 sts* repeat around. Join with a sl st to the first dc. (44 sts)

Row 5: ch 2, *2 dc in the first st, dc in the next 3 sts* repeat around. Join with a sl st to the first dc. (55 sts)

Row 6: ch 2, *2 dc in the first st, dc in the next 4 sts* repeat around. Join with a sl st to the first dc. (66 sts)

Row 7: ch 2, *2 dc in the first st, dc in the next 10 sts* repeat around. Join with a sl st to the first dc. (72 sts)

Row 8: ch 2, *2 dc in the first st, dc in the next 11 sts* repeat around. Join with a sl st to the first dc. (78 sts)

Row 9: ch 2, [2 dc on each st around] *2 dc in the first st, dc in the next 12 sts* repeat around. Join with a sl st to the first dc. ([78 sts] 84 sts)

Rows 10 - 13: ch 2, dc in each st around. Join with a sl st to the first dc.

Row 14: Switch to blue yarn. Ch 2, dc on each st around. Join with a sl st to the first dc.

Row 15: Switch to black yarn. Ch 2, dc on each st around. Join with a sl st to the first dc.

Row 16: Repeat row 14.

Row 17: Switch to black yarn. Ch 2, *dc2tog in the next st, dc in next [11 sts] 12 sts. Join with a sl st to the first dc. ([72] 78 sts)

Row 18: ch 2, dc in each st around. Join with a sl st to the first dc. Fasten off.

This pattern is really basic, and you can make it with many different variations. You can add more stripes, or have no stripes at all. You can also use different colors if you want. You can even use sc or hdc for the striped parts for a thinner stripe effect, or a combination for a varied effect; just remember to adjust the length accordingly.

I would recommend this pattern when you want to whip up something handmade and personal and give it as a gift, but either you are lacking time or you are just starting to learn crochet. The pattern is really simple and not intimidating with many different stitches. The resulting beanie is also simple which makes it good for daily wear.

So that's it! I really like this pattern for its simplicity and I can easily say it's one of my favorites. I hope you guys find this pattern useful too. As always, leave your thoughts on the comments section below, and have a nice day crocheting AF! \m/


This pattern is free and not for sale. Please credit and link back to this site when sharing, using for business, etc. Thanks! :)

Sakura (Cherry Blossom) Beanie Pattern

This beanie was one of the first gifts I made last year. It was for my travel buddy who loved cherry blossoms so much, so when I was browsing for crochet projects and I chanced upon this pattern for cherry blossoms, I thought I'd make her something with cherry blossoms in it. And what else should it be but a beanie! I think it's great for travelling especially to cold places, and also great for hiding your hair after sleepless nights of taking care of your child. Yes, she has a little one, and I also made her something (that I will be posting in a couple of weeks).

I'm trying hard to justify my decision of giving her a beanie, and while all these things that I said are true, I have to admit that I chose to make her a beanie because it's fast and simple. Hahaha! But it's also useful, right?

I originally intended to give her this beanie as a birthday present (her birthday was on November). However, I also had plans on making beanies for our other friends, and then I realized! If I gave her this beanie on her birthday, I would have to give her something else for Christmas, while everyone else will be getting beanies. She will be the odd one out and I don't want that; I like giving almost the same gifts to my friends, and it's complicated to explain why (haha!). Also, if I gave her a beanie before Christmas and our friends find out about it, they will have an idea that I will also be giving them the same thing for Christmas. No more surprise! So finally I decided against it, and although I finished her beanie before her birthday, I held on to it and gave it to her for Christmas.

Such a long story! So anyway here's the pattern now:



Materials
Hooks:
For the beanie - 5mm crochet hook
For the cherry blossoms - 4mm crochet hook
Yarns:
Dapper Dreamer Stardust Powder Blue
Gantsilyo Guru Milk Cotton Light Pastel Pink
some brown yarn
some dark pink yarn

Note: In the cherry blossom pattern I used (found below), it required a 3.5mm hook. You can opt to use this; I only used 4mm since I didn't have a 3.5mm yarn on hand.


Stitches Used
ch (chain)
hdc (half double crochet)
sl st (slip stitch)
hdc2tog (hdc together)
fpdc (front post double crochet)
bpdc (back post double crochet)

Beanie

Using the blue yarn and your 5mm hook, make a magic ring.

Row 1: ch 2, 11 hdc in the ring. Join with a sl st to the first hdc. (11 sts)

Row 2: ch 2, 2 hdc in each st around. Join with a sl st to the first hdc. (22 sts)

Row 3: ch 2, *2 hdc in the first st, hdc in the next st* repeat around 11 times. Join with a sl st to the first hdc. (33 sts)

Row 4: ch 2, *2 hdc in the first st, hdc in the next 2 sts* repeat around. Join with a sl st to the first hdc. (44 sts)

Row 5: ch 2, *2 hdc in the first st, hdc in the next 10 sts* repeat around. Join with a sl st to the first hdc. (48 sts)

Row 6: ch 2, *2 hdc in the first st, hdc in the next 11 sts* repeat around. Join with a sl st to the first hdc. (52 sts)

Row 7: ch 2, *2 hdc in the first st, hdc in the next 12 sts* repeat around. Join with a sl st to the first hdc. (56 DC)

Row 8: ch 2, *2 hdc in the first st, hdc in the next 13 sts* repeat around. Join with a sl st to the first hdc. (60 DC)

Row 9: ch 2, *2 hdc in the first st, hdc in the next 14 sts* repeat around. Join with a sl st to the first hdc. (64 DC)

Row 10: ch 2, *2 hdc in the first st, hdc in the next 15 sts* repeat around. Join with a sl st to the first hdc. (68 DC)

Row 11: ch 2, *2 hdc in the first st, hdc in the next 16 sts* repeat around. Join with a sl st to the first hdc. (72 dc)

Row 12: ch 2, *2 hdc in the first st, hdc in the next 17 sts* repeat around. Join with a sl st to the first hdc. (76 dc)

Rows 13 - 18: ch2,  hdc all around. Join with a sl st to the first hdc.

Row 19: ch 2, *hdc2tog in the next st, hdc in the next 17 sts* repeat around. Join with a sl st to the first hdc. (72 dc)

Row 20: ch 2, *fpdc in the next st, bpdc in the next* repeat around. Join with a sl st to the first fpdc.

Rows 21-22: Repeat row 20


Flowers

For the cherry blossoms, I used the pattern I found here. It's very simple and easy. For my beanie, I made 3 flowers; you can choose to add more flowers if you want to, especially if you used a 3.5mm hook and made smaller flowers.


Assembly

For the branch, I used the brown yarn to stitch a branch shape on one side of the beanie. I just winged it, making the lower part of the branch a bit thicker than the tips. I made 3 branch tips, and of course you can put more if you want. I attached a flower to each tip of the branch; and again if you want, you can add more flowers on the branches as well.

And that's it! It's pretty simple, although I admit I struggled a bit in making the branches. I had to redo it multiple times since I'm not really good at sewing. I like how the ribbed brim of the beanie turned out; it was my first time using the fpdc and bpdc stitches. Before this, I only knew how to make the ribbed effect by stitching on the back loops only, but that will only work if you're making the beanie from top to bottom. So for this beanie, I wasn't only able to finish a gift for a friend, but I also learned something new.

As you can see in the picture, the cherry blossom branch is a bit subtle especially if it's on the side of the head. You can make the cherry blossom more pronounced by adding more sub-branches, and then attaching flowers on each additional branch.

I would also recommend making smaller flowers, since in this beanie the cherry blossoms looked a bit bigger than I wanted them to. Also I think with smaller flowers, it will be closer to how cherry blossoms actually look like. You'll also be able to put more flowers to make the design more obvious without overloading the beanie. And lastly, I think smaller flowers will look cuter too. :)

Before I end this post, I just want to share one brilliant Japanese concept, mono no aware, a term that describes the impermanence of life. Cherry blossoms only bloom for about a week each year, making it special and very much valued. If we think about it, our lives can be viewed the same. Just like the sakura, life is delicate and beautiful, and tragically short.

Mono no Aware. Thank you to my friend Summer for sharing this concept with me.
Photo by me in Tokyo, 2014.

For questions, suggestions, anything you want to say - just leave them in the comments section below. As usual, enjoy crocheting AF beautiful people! \m/


This pattern is free and not for sale. Please credit and link back to this site when sharing, using for business, etc. Thanks! :)

Hello 2017!

Happy New Year!!

Yeah I just wanted to say that :)

I know I haven't been posting any patterns lately, I've been busy with all the holiday buzz and making all those Christmas presents for friends and family. Yes, I started making them last July and just finished on time. Almost half a year! You probably won't believe me but I think you will once I start posting the gifts I made in the following days. ;) I think I made roughly 30 crocheted gifts for Christmas. That was a lot! And I'm still actually doing a couple more for the friends I wasn't able to meet over the holidays. Crazy!

You might think I must have regretted choosing to give handmade gifts. But I don't! I think it was a really great decision, for a number of reasons:

• I really, really enjoy crochet
• I was able to practice my crochet skills
• I was able to give gifts with my own personal touch
• I was able to design new patterns that I will post in this blog soon
• I can now build my crochet portfolio for my upcoming crochet business

Neat, right? Making these handmade gifts served a lot of purposes. Now that the season of gift-giving is over, I'm a bit worried about what I will be doing next! Hopefully stuff for my crochet business. Please support me! :)

Looking back at 2016, a lot of people might think it was a terrible year, and I might just agree that it really was horrible for some parts. But for me, there are still a lot of things to be thankful for this 2016. And this is one of them. 2016 was the year I learned how to crochet, from my first (failed) coaster to bigger projects like beanies, and for this I am grateful. :)

Now that 2017 has come, new year won't be complete without a new year's resolution (cliche, I know)! For me, I will be posting more patterns this year, hopefully twice to four times in a month. I'm planning on publishing my patterns every Thursday, so stay tuned!

Looking forward to a great year of crocheting AF! \m/