Crochet Pattern 2: Mini Kuriboh Amigurumi

Mini Kuriboh Amigurumi Pattern

Size: 9ish inches high

Time: A bit (most of the time is in the fur)

Basic Sphere Pattern: Crochet Spheres (Note: following pattern is based off of 26 Row Sphere but can be adjusted for different sizes)

Materials:

3 colors of 4 ply acrylic yarn (Pictured Brown, Green, and Light Yellow) 

Crochet hook

Yarn needle

Stuffing (acrylic or other)

Crafting felt and Super glue (for eyes) [or alternately can use clay, plastic, embroidered or needle felted eyes]

Abbreviations: 

ch - chain

sc - single crochet

inc - increase

sc2tog - single crochet two together (decrease)

sc3tog - single crochet three together (extra decrease)

st - stitch

(#) - signifies total number of stitches facing up around the loop by the end of the row

Body: Using Brown (begin stuffing as you start decreasing)

1- ch 2. 6 sc in second ch from hook. (6)

2- inc in each stitch around. (12)

3- (1 sc, inc) repeat 6 times (18)

4- 1 sc, inc, 2 sc, inc, 3 sc, inc, 2 sc, inc, 3 sc, inc, 2 sc (23)

5- 2 sc, inc, 3 sc, inc, 4 sc, inc, 3 sc, inc, 4 sc, inc, 2 sc (28)

6- 1 sc, inc, 4 sc, inc, 5 sc, inc, 4 sc, inc, 5 sc, inc, 4 sc (33)

7- 3 sc, inc, 5 sc, inc, 6 sc, inc, 5 sc, inc, 6 sc, inc, 3 sc (38)

8- 8 sc, inc, 9 sc, inc, 8 sc, inc, 9 sc, inc (42)

9- 6 sc, inc, 13 sc, inc, 13 sc, inc, 7 sc (45)

10- 9 sc, inc, 14 sc, inc, 14 sc, inc, 5 sc (48)

11- 15 sc, inc, 23 sc, inc, 8 sc (50)

12- 24 sc, inc, 25 sc (51)

13- inc, 50 sc (52)

14- sc in each st around (52)

15- 50 sc, sc2tog (51)

16- 25 sc, sc2tog, 24 sc (50)

17- 8 sc, sc2tog, 23 sc, sc2tog, 15 sc (48)

18- 5 sc, sc2tog, 14 sc, sc2tog, 14 sc, sc2tog, 9 sc (45)

19- 7 sc, sc2tog, 13 sc, sc2tog, 13 sc, sc2tog, 6 sc (42)

20- sc2tog, 9 sc, sc2tog, 8 sc, sc2tog, 9 sc, sc2tog, 8 sc (38)

21- 3 sc, sc2tog, 6 sc, sc2tog, 5 sc, sc2tog, 6 sc, sc2tog, 5 sc, sc2tog, 3 sc (33)

22- 4 sc, sc2tog, 5 sc, sc2tog, 4 sc, sc2tog, 5 sc, sc2tog, 4 sc, sc2tog, 1 sc (28)

23- 2 sc, sc2tog, 4 sc, sc2tog, 3 sc, sc2tog, 4 sc, sc2tog, 3 sc, sc2tog, 2 sc (23)

24- 2 sc, sc2tog, 3 sc, sc2tog, 2 sc, sc2tog, 3 sc, sc2tog, 2 sc, sc2tog, 1 sc (18)

25- (sc2tog, 1 sc) repeat 6 times (12)

26- 4 sc3tog. Fasten off. Weave loose end through each stitch in the opening and pull tightly to close.

(What the body should look like minus the couple of hairs at the top)

Limbs (x4): Using Green

1- Ch 6, sl first chain (6)
2- Sc around (6)
3- Again (6)
4- Sc, inc, 2sc inc sc (8)
5 - Sc inc inc 2sc inc inc sc (12)
6 - 2sc inc inc 4sc inc inc 2sc (16)
7 - Sc around (16)
8 - Again (16)
9 - Again (16)
10 - Slip 3, cast off

(What one limb looks like)

Making claws: Using Yellow Yarn

Mentally separate top of foot into three sections of 5-6-5 stitches

Start at left section, then do middle, then right

Left and right sections:

1- Sc in each st around (5)

2- sc2tog, sc2tog, sc (3)

3- sc2tog, sc (2)

4- sc2tog (1)

5- ch, cast off

Middle section:

1- Sc in each st around (6)

2- sc2tog, sc2tog, sc2tog (3)

3- sc2tog, sc (2)

4- sc2tog (1)

5- ch, cast off

Attaching limbs, eyes: (Ignore the hair that was already started in these pictures - fur will be explained more below)

I cut my eyes out of felt and both super-glued and sewed them on (with regular needle and thread).

Using yarn needle attach limbs, two on sides slightly to the front and two on bottom with the toes sticking out. Remember the fur will cover a lot of the limbs depending on how long you make it so make sure the toes are sticking out far enough.

Making him Fluffy:

 Start latch hooking yarn (using either latch hook or crochet hook and fingers) from the top. When cutting all of your yarn up make sure you cut it all approximately the same length. I wrapped it around my same (I think three?) fingers a bunch of times and cut large bunches of yarn at once. It's okay to have some longer and shorter strands since they will all be separated or brushed out later and they can also be trimmed.

 Note: I latch-hooked pieces of yarn to every stitch but you can just as well do every other if you want less fur.

 Continue latch hooking around his eyes and limbs. Note, after you are finished, you probably want to trim the hairs around his eyes to be a little shorter so that his eyes don't get too covered up. Start separating the strands of yarn. I separated a lot of the strands by hand so that he didn't get too frizzy (although he would also look good frizzy if you used a wire brush), and later on I used my hair brush a bit to make him a little fluffier.

He's finished!!! :D

Crochet 5: Mini Kuriboh

Mini Kuriboh Amigurumi

Size: 9ish inches high

Materials: Brown, Green, Light Yellow 4 ply acrylic yarn, crochet hook, yarn needle, crafting felt,    

        super glue (for eyes)

Time: A while (working just a little bit at a time)

Pattern: here!

About the Project: This was another Super belated birthday present for a friend of mine. I really wanted to crochet a Kuriboh since he was such a simple concept: just a ball body and 4 limbs. Plus I was really excited to crochet something quick and easy while also using (mostly) my own pattern (more details about pattern to be posted soon).

First thing first: I never want to latch hook/crochet fuzzy yarn on a project ever again. I know I said as much after doing the Haku dragon, but I could not resist trying it again since Kuriboh is just so darn fuzzy (Although if I ever crochet Flareon [Pokemon] or Ikkakumon [Digimon] then yes, bring on the fuzz! ). I think the effect is far superior to just using fuzzy yarn (mainly just because it's a fuller type of fuzzy plus you can control the amount of fuzz you want, but I'm sure there are probably some awesome fuzzy yarns that can achieve a similar effect). Plus it can look super professional if you brush it out a bunch with a wire brush, or you can brush it out less (which I do since I mostly use my hair brush or my fingers) which gives it more of a homemade feel (which I thought would look especially good for Kuriboh since he has crazy animation hair). However, the process of actually putting all of the yarn on takes FOREVER, and it is not nearly as kindly on the hands as simply knitting or crocheting is, especially it you are trying to do it as fast as humanly possible to get it over with. This is the reason I made a "mini" Kuriboh rather than a decent sized one. Actually crocheting Kuriboh probably took a couple hours at most. Adding all of the fuzz took days and weeks and days upon weeks and weeks upon days [plus being a college student, so really it probably did not take as long as I think it did].

My other main problem with Kuriboh was his eyes. I wanted him to have those big ol' anime eyes, but I knew if I tried to replicate that with yarn then it would probably end up looking too messy. Ideally I would have found a way to embroider eyes for him on one of those fancy sewing machines like one of my grandmas has. I also looked into painting eyes for him, but I had no idea where to find pieces of wood, plastic, or flat buttons that would be the exact right size to paint on. I have recently seen a lot of people use needle felting in their projects and I have concluded that this is definitely something I need to learn how to do, but for now I opted to just use cheap craft felt. Since this was such a simple project and I was kind of going for the 'homemade' look more than the 'professional' look anyways I think the craft felt eyes worked out 'well enough.' They are a little lopsided, a little mis-sized, a little bit of everything slightly goofy, but it just gives Kuriboh some character :) . 

Overall, this project was super fun to do because it is simple, easy. and (besides for the fuzz) quick. I was able to see the project progress very quickly even when I was not doing a lot of work on it (which was nice for a change - small amigurumi projects are so nice :D - I have sooo many ideas for Christmas :D :D :D). I will soon be posting the pattern for this project (which basically just consists of his limbs and a basic ball design).

Side note: Kuriboh is happily chilling out the rest of his life with his pal, a winged Kuriboh plush.

Side side note: HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!!!!!

[I'm a crocheter for Halloween this year... Just kidding, I'm a Trekkie... or at least a Trekkie crocheter]

And now a thousand and ten pictures of a ball growing fuzz:

Work in Progress:

The first strands of fuzz growth have begun. 

At this point Kuriboh very much represents the plant seen behind him [not intentional I swear]. He also looks a bit like a pineapple (not really) or an Oddish (also not really). 

Laying out the goofy cheap felt eyes. I ended up cutting out holes for the top shapes into the bottom shapes so that the entire eye was on level. Then I (somehow, kind of, magically) super-glued the felt together to create one solid (kind of) felt eye (well actually 2 felt eyes...).

Kuriboh now has a mullet. At this point he looked scarily like a goofy cartoon human head or something. You can tell by the squiggliness of the white part of his eyes that I sewed them on (very carefully and rather poorly since the super glue was not holding the eyes together very well. I super-glued each eye together, but I sewed the eyes to the body (for some reason it seems "sacri-crochet-gious" to use super glue at all so I try to minimize my use). 

 It's a limb! By my very own design! It's all of an inch and a half big! Took me fifteen hours (minutes) of painstakingly cautious (messy and impulsive) crocheting to develop this super complicated (...no) pattern. [but it will take me that long to finally post said pattern :P ]

 Kuriboh has Arms and Legs!!!!!!!! Or maybe just hand and feet... If he didn't already, this is when he starts to look super cute. :D

 Action pose to show off those giant claws!!!

 Kuriboh has a widow's peak! And a Frankenstein ('s monster) like hairstyle.

The fuzz growth has increased rapidly!!! Now he resembles a Seedot (Pokemon). Notice the fuzz on the top is already brushed out and wavy, and the fuzz around his eyes and nose is still in 'yarn form.' I debated possibly leaving his hair in total yarn form to mimic the anime style of Kuriboh's hair, but ultimately I decided I just wanted him to be fuzzy!

Yay!!! All of the fuzz has finally come in! Now he just needs a thorough brushing and Kuriboh will have the foofy flowing locks we love him for! [as seen below ;) ]

Crochet 3: Dragon - Haku

Dragon - Haku from Spirited Away

Size: Big

Pattern Slightly modified from: here

[http://aphid777.deviantart.com/art/Small-ish-Haku-372325877]

Where you will find a beautiful, much more professional looking Haku than mine :D

Finished just before Halloween, 10/31/2013

This was an absolutely wonderful project, but I will not be doing something like it again soon. This was my third completed crochet animal [amigurumi], my first time using wire, my first time using safety eyes [which I failed at miserably since I didn't put them in as I was making it, so I ended up just super gluing them in (in my defense, I didn't have them until the dragon was done, so it was only half poor planning and half thoughtlessness/overconfidence)], and my first time in general making anything this big and this complicated. He was 100% worth it though. Actually crocheting him and putting him together was surprisingly easy [besides for some wire confusion]. The hardest part by far was the blue/green mane which was ridiculously time consuming [probably because I made it way too thick]. And a major setback towards the end was when his whiskers were made of too thick of wire and would not stay on his face properly so I had to improvise a whisker-holder on his face. Anyways, here's his short story:

The story of Haku:

So, I decided to make my friend something really cool for her birthday: not just any dragon, but Haku from Spirited Away. I found this amazing pattern by aphid777 on deviantart entitled Small-ish Haku. Little did I know that small-ish meant huge, so soon I was in way over my head. After a couple days of crocheting, it was my friend's birthday and all I had to show for it was a long, snake-like white body and the promise that I would turn it into something really cool for her belated birthday present. Fast-forward three months and Haku's body was chilling in my dorm closet, still just as incomplete, college being quite the distraction. I remembered my promise to my friend that I would have him done by Halloween, but suddenly Halloween was only a week and a half away. So I got out all of my too-long-untouched crocheting supplies and began working. The more I worked, the more awesome he looked, so I kept working. Finally, after about a week, he was done, so I packaged him up and sent him off to the magical city of Chicago where he made a belated birthday to remember! - the day after Halloween [almost kept my promise! - So close!!!]. And that is the wonderful story of Mr. Haku the Dragon

I had a bunch of fun and really fell in love with this dragon, but I think I will keep my upcoming projects to a much smaller size, and I prefer to stay away from wire. Below there is a really in depth picture journey of Haku's creation, so enjoy!

Work in Progress: 

WARNING: There are a lot of pictures, starting with the most unfinished to finished, so if you want to see the cool dragon pictures scroll more towards the bottom.

So... This was the largest [besides for a blanket I did once], most complicated thing I have ever crocheted, thus a lot of pictures are a necessity!!!

This is the early days of the dragon back in July working on his body. This was when I started to realize just how big he was going to be!

This was when I added the wire to the body. From here on out I had to crochet the thing standing up with the wire poking me in the face. I literally was walking around my house with a big trail of yarn while dodging the giant wire and crocheting meanwhile making sure my puppy didn't go after my yarn. It was intense ^ ^

This is the completed body. Even all curvy it was still longer than my bed is wide! This was as much as I got done in July since I worked on the legs, but I was unhappy with the color pink that I had so I abandoned my half-finished legs.

Finally, months later he has legs!!! I commenced work in October with my acceptable color of pink yarn and began giving this guy legs. You can also see that I stitched in his purple belly that I had made back in June.

These back legs weren't even stitched on yet, but I was so excited that he was going to be able to stand...

 Front and back legs on!!! He can stand all on his own and even hold up his own tail!

Lengthwise view of dragon thus far.

And so begins the long process of latch-hooking on his hair with a crochet hook [not a latch hook which would have been much easier but still would have taken forever].

A huge time jump later and he has all of his hair!!! Notice his hair isn't super soft and fuzzy because I didn't have a wire brush to really brush it out so I was just using my hair brush which did a poor job separating the strands of yarn and made his hair more wavy than fuzzy. [Not to mention that most of the yarn I ended up separating by hand because my hair brush was not working well enough D:  - crocheting the dragon was the easy part - the hair by far was the hardest single thing I have ever done with yarn in my life]

Yay! Another lengthwise view of the dragon. Notice the excess yarn/hair pileup by his front legs. I didn't really think it though that he would need a lot less hair when his body was curving inwards... That could have saved me a lot of work... Isn't he beautiful though! I would leave him standing up on my bed while I went to classes, and usually he'd still be standing up there when I got back! Sturdy little dragon :D

Closeup on the wavy haired dragon.

 Hanging dragon! Isn't he a cutie?

Just chilling up on my bed.

 Look he has eyes! And horns!!! I used brown animal safety eyes from Joann Fabrics. The horns are wire wrapped with yarn. I used a little bit of superglue just to ensure that the horns didn't unwrap. Also, you can't exactly put safety eyes on a crochet animal after it is already made so I cheated and superglued them in. I would've been able to fit the washers through the stitches if I hadn't used such big safety eyes [12 mm].

 Lengthwise view of the little guy with his eyes and horns.

Such a cutie! [sorry there's so many pictures, but I couldn't help it!]

 Whiskers!!!

The whiskers were sure a pain because I only had super thick wire so it was dragging his whole head down and the whiskers would flip upside down. I had to create a little whisker brace going through his face in order to keep them up. This was super poor planning on my part, but it ended up working out okay.

Lengthwise view of dragon with whiskers. Note on his hair: I ended up extending his hairline a little bit bast the third bump [the bump after his hind legs] but I never took a picture of the minor hair extension. Just a note though.

Now that Mr. Dragon is complete, time to take a couple last pictures and then pack him up :(

Notice I added some black felt lashes around his eyes to make them more anime-like.

Dragon looking out window <3

Again, dragon looking out window <3

Dragon all packed up </3

Note: I ended up using a bigger box at the post office for no extra cost, but I had to squeeze him in this box just in case. Hard to believe such a big animal could fit in such a little box. My roommate didn't think I could do it, but I made it happen - though he looks pretty uncomfortable </3

Aftermath of the dragon:

 Couldn't brush my hair for a couple weeks afterwards until I finally cleaned my brushes [just wore my hair in a messy bun every day].

 Big fuzz ball of blue yarn I have to figure out something to do with...

I will miss seeing Mr. Dragon perched on my loft whenever I get back from my classes but I have spent my time with him and now he is in an even better [and more exciting] place!

Mr. Dragon has reached his forever home as a [very belated] birthday [Halloween] gift to a wonderful friend of mine :D And he lived happily ever after <3 <3 <3 [Who said dragons couldn't live happily ever after anyways? :D ]

~Now on to the next project!