I made these owls (mobile) for our friends Wendy and Mike’s baby, Cameron. Oh my goodness, isn’t he SO CUTE? Sorry I blocked out his eyes but I wanted to maintain some sort of privacy for them since they don’t have a blog or anything public.  

I’m been making these owls non-stop for friends. I think Owls are kind of my trademark… I don’t know why but I gravitate towards them. Maybe it’s because of their expressions and how cute they are. *shrugs* I’m not sure. 

The only thing with these owls are that they take SO much time to make! The bellies are a different color so there are lots of weaving in and that takes the most time. But I do love making them. I’m making a few more mobiles for friends that have babies right now, but since I’m pregnant… it’s been harder and harder to keep up. My energy level is really low these days… I’m always tired. 

I have a big update about my visit to the doctor’s… I’ll try to blog about it before the end of the week. It’s all good news.  

What do you think of these owls? Do you like them? I’m also selling them to friends… I would open an etsy shop but I can’t keep up. LOL I need to make some for my own son too! Hmm… Just have to figure out what color combination. 

My EDD twin (who is also a Weddingbee sister) received my creations today!!! It took a MONTH for it to get there but I’m glad it finally did. Since she and I were both bloggers for Weddingbee, I thought it would be cute to make her a bee mobile! I don’t know if Blobby is a boy or girl so I added some flowers but nothing TOOOOO feminine.  

Since Amy is a cat lover, I wanted to make a squishy, soft, kitty amigurumi… largish in size. So I winged it, and I think it turned out pretty cute. I thought it looked too plain so I added a heart, doesn’t he looks adorable? I hope blobby likes it!

As many of you know, Amy is due the same date as I am. She’s been such a comfort and joy to share pregnancy with! We also have times where we give each other advice, give each other a shoulder to lean on and also share excitement with! I’m so thankful for her friendship.

I am currently SICK. I have a runny, stuffy nose and my throat is starting to hurt. Ugh. Being pregnant and sick sucks but I hope to get better soon. So I’m taking a break from crochet (it’s no fun while sick) and resting in bed while old episodes of Desperate Housewives. LOL I love those women, they are all hilarious. 

Hope everyone is doing well!

Hello everyone! I’ve been so busy working on crochet projects for friends all around the globe. I never realized how truly time-consuming it is to crochet, until pregnancy! Wow. I feel some serious fatigue from it but at the same time I enjoy it SO much.

The above picture is an owl mobile/decoration that I made for my friend Wendy. She just had a son a few weeks ago and I wanted to make her little boy something special for his room.

The owl expressions are something I had in mine like…

1. “hoot hoot! So
HAPPY!

2. “HUH?! Bed time?

3. Good night!

Ever since I posted this picture on instagram (anniegurumi) and WeChat, it’s been a hit! I got some people who want to pay me for a mobile. (Thankfully, since shipping anywhere but China is pretty expensive)

Currently, I’m working on another owl set, this time with a lavender theme for a Weddingbee friend in Australia. She’s having a little girl in April and I’m pretty sure she doesn’t read my blog so it’s safe to post it here! She offered to pay me or buy me things in Australia for our baby. I’m very excited to finish this mobile, my plan is to have it with some flowers and leaves on a vine that holds it up.

I’ve had always had trouble with sewing and embroidery. No matter what I do, it seems that it is always crooked or just doesn’t look right. It wasn’t until the owl mobile for Wendy that my embroidery got better! The above pictures are the eyes I made for the purple owls. It looks pretty good right? After a few more projects, I might upload a video on how to do this.

Anyone interested?

I hung up the pictures from my shower, I think they look pretty nice on the wall instead of the bookshelf. It makes me so happy how color it is and how everything is mostly handmade. The hubs and I don’t want to buy too many electronic toys that have bright lights and sounds. But who knows, maybe that’ll change once we have him but we want to keep things simple. We’ve been asking friends to buy clothes or books instead.

I cleared a dresser and we’re planning on using it as a changing area for Boram. The hubs suggested I make another mobile to hang up so he can look up and be a little distracted while we change the diaper. He loves all my crocheted items and he prefers them over bought mobiles. Awww, isn’t he so sweet?

Boram loves music, he kicks so much when I play piano that I think he’s dancing in my belly. It makes me smile, I sing and play, enjoying my time with the baby in my stomach. Loving every single moment of this pregnancy and feeling so happy.

Whoa. That was a long entry. But yes, I’ve been a bit busy but doing well! I had a little moment where I really got homesick and missed my friends back in America. But I know they’re always here for me, even if it’s through email/text/FaceTime. 

I’ve been so busy making crocheted things for other people’s babies that I had no time for my own. But I am happy to say that I just finished this last week. Isn’t it adorable? I made the same one for my niece, Zoe and I know the BFF loves it!

The hubs wants to hang it on the wall right by our crib so little Boram can look up and see happy amigurumis. It makes me excited to make my own things, I also kind of wish I had amigurumis that other people made too though. But living in China, I don’t have any friends that are local and who knit/crochet so I’ll have to do it on my own.

It’s so hard because the types of yarn that I like to use for these kinds of projects is Red Heart. Their yarns have a stiff texture which makes it great for these types of decorations. So if the people at Red Heart Yarns feel generous and want to send me yarn so I can make more things for my baby, please… Please! Send it to me.  

I just sent two things yesterday that I made for friends and I have to say… I’m really sorry to the rest of my friends having babies. I just can’t afford to send my creations to America anymore. It cost me $50 (usd!!!) to send and it’s going to take a MONTH. ugh. I can’t even imagine how much it would cost to send a real package full of things I bought. It’s funny how the boxes only had my amigurumis and it costs so much more to ship than the actual item itself. Boo.

But in the mean time… does anyone have some cute patterns they’d like to share? Crochet please… and nothing too difficult. I’m having a hard time finding anything cute for a boy but plenty for a girl. I want to decorate our nursery more with some amigurumi and I haven’t quite figured out what I want to make yet. But I’m sure I’ll be following something along the theme of the pictures that I frame and this mobile.

And if anybody is trying to contact me by email (using my anniegurumi account), sadly I can’t receive mail at the moment so it’s best to leave a comment or use my personal email address. (Sorry about that!) I’m starting to run out of RH yarn so this is mostly if the kind people at Red Heart wants to send me some yarn, but I doubt they even know my blog exists.  

What do you think of our latest addition to the nursery?  

I started crocheting again! I’m starting to make things for the little kids in my life and hopefully these will all be Christmas gifts.

Everything that I have made are my own patterns. I draw a sketch and then I try to make it. That’s what I did for the angry bird hats. Those are for my nieces: Claire and Aerin. The bro sent me an email months ago that had an angry bird hat. I told him that I’d make his babies some as soon as I can figure it out. Luckily, it’s simple shapes so it was pretty easy to make. (though, time-consuming)

I started making my owl hats again and decided to leave out the ear flap and braids on most of them. So, I guess it’s more of a bird hat. Do you see the teal owl hat with braids? That’s for my niece Zoe!

I’m also in the process of making some despicable me hats too! I know some of my friends kids love it so I’m going to give it a try. I’ll probably draw a sketch and then make it.

What other animals and cartoon characters should I make? I don’t want anything too complicated since there are so many babies I need to make things for.

What do you think of what I made so far? Is anyone else working on things?

The past few days have been rather busy. We are heading to Hong Kong this Friday and we’re visiting family, friends and eating lots of Cantonese food. (YAY!) The weather’s going to be hot and muggy, kind of like Shanghai.

The above picture is inside Plaza 66 Mall, I love the lights and their decor always makes me smile. Last night, we had dinner with a new friend E. She’s really nice, her English is quite good and she’s Shanghainese. She has a husband, who is Dutch and we instantly clicked. I believe we’ll be taking painting classes together, I think it’s traditional Chinese watercolor class but won’t know for sure until we actually go.

E, hubs and I ate at one of E’s favorite (upscale) Shanghainese restaurant. It’s inside Plaza 66 and is located on the 5th floor. Xia Mian Guan is really authentic according to our friend and is a fancy version of traditional Shanghainese food. We had dao miu (snow pea leaves and of course I wrote that the way Cantonese people would say it), fish soup that was very delicious and milky, cold appetizers and my favorite: hairy crab (and roe) with shrimp. YUM.

I would only suggest Xia Mian Guan if you’re looking for traditional Shanghainese food that is fancy and will be a lot more expensive than your regular Shanghainese places. This is great for taking people out for a treat but I would save your money and go to Chun. Hmmm… I’m not even sure if I wrote about going there, it was a great experience and the food was amazing. (Only four tables there though and very local)

Anyway, we all had a great time talking and I felt very happy to meet her. She’s really nice and it’s awesome that her English is so good! She even taught me a few Shanghainese phrases.

Hello: “Nong ho” Korean pronunciation: 농호
Thank you: “Xia Xia” is the way it’s spelled but the locals say “Xia Ya” 샤야
Good bye: “Ze Wei” 즈왜이

I’m going to try these out with our doorman and my doctors who are all Shanghainese.

I made myself lunch the other day and I stumbled onto something amazing. I had spaghetti and looked in the fridge to see what else I can eat with it. I had an avocado and greek yogurt. Guess what? It tastes buttery and creamy like an alfredo sauce! I used garlic, sea salt and ground pepper to season and it was heavenly. Healthy alternative too.

We’ll be seeing the hubby’s friends (gosh, they’ve known each other since they were in grade school) and one of them had a baby six months ago. I made a few gifts for little Sophie, a rabbit hat (with dual tone ears), a little rabbit amigurumi and a flowered headband.

The flowered headband was inspired by the mobile I made little Zoe. It’s actually the left over yarn from her mobile and I thought… hmm, wouldn’t it be pretty to make a headband using the same flowers and leaves? So I gave it a try and made it! The green adjustable strap reminds me of vines and I wanted to make it pretty so I added leaves and flowers to it as well, but at the bottom.

What do you guys think? I feel like it’s so little to give as a gift but at the same time, it took a bit of time for me to make. Plus he’s a really good friend of the hubs so I wanted to give them something I made. I would have sent them baby gifts (and I even have a blanket that I made when the baby was born) but I can’t figure out for the life of me how to send something from the post office by myself. Sad. LOL

I’ve been so tired recently, I don’t know if I’m still recovering from the surgery or what. But my body is feeling a bit run down and I’m really hoping that I’ll feel better before we go to Hong Kong on Friday!

Please send hugs, prayers, good thoughts… rainbows, glitter, unicorns…..

Ya know, happy stuff.

I’m not finished with this little guy yet but I just couldn’t wait to show my WIP (Work In Progress). His name is 爱 “Ai” (Pronounced “eye”) and his name means love in Chinese. I drew a picture of what I wanted, a round amigurumi with a heart on his chest and on his sleeves. You know the saying “wearing your heart on your sleeve”… that’s where I got the idea from!

I made the heart really big because when you’re in love, at least… when I’m in love… my heart tends to outgrow the rest of me. And having an awesome husband helps keep my heart like this. I gave him blushing cheeks and a huge smile. I can’t wait to throw some arms and legs on him. I haven’t decided what colors I am going to use for him but I love him so far!

爱 and 困 are hanging out. I can’t wait till I complete my serious of Chinese Feeling Amigurumi Dolls.

I couldn’t resist a pic with them! When I finish his arms and legs, I’ll post more pictures! I hope you like them so far. I can’t decide which one of my sketches to do next. Hmmmm….. I guess we’ll see!

Edit:
I finished him!

Long arms and little feet with a heart on his sleeve. I’m in love with Love!

• anniegurumi: Chinese Feeling Amigurumi Dolls: 困 Kun (Sleepy)

I’ve been working on a project everyone! There are music things happening and now I’m on a mission for my “anniegurumi” projects. I’m designing a line of amigurumi after my Chinese lessons. I thought it would be fun to incorporate different feelings in Chinese as inspiration for my dolls. This little guy’s name is 困 (pinyin: kun) pronounced “coon” like cocoon. 困 is the character for “sleepy”. So I made him with his eyes closed and striped arms and legs. 

Since I’m making these dolls from scratch, I drew a picture of what I want him to look like. I wanted him to have a pear shaped body and the small part of the pear to be his face. I wanted a yawning face with his eyes closed. 

I made his legs in alternating colors!

I made the body and I was quite please with how it turned out. I wanted his legs and arms to be striped but opposite of each other. 

The hubs thought it would be cute to have really long arms and the stripes to be thinner. So that’s what I did! I also wanted the arms and leg long since I want a child to be able to hold him easily if they are walking around. Isn’t he adorable? I’m planning on making him a hat like my picture but I couldn’t wait to share him with you!

I love 困 and can’t wait to work on the other “feeling” anniegurumi. If you’re wondering why I call them anniegurumi, it’s because it’s a play on words. Annie making amigurumi (the Japanese art of crocheted dolls). Enjoy! 困 sends sweet dreams to all of you! ZZzzZZzzZZzzZzzZZzzz

• anniegurumi: Chinese Feeling Amigurumi Dolls: 爱 Ai, Love

Elyse and her husband Brad came to visit Shanghai the past few days and since Elyse loves elephants, I made her an anniegurumi! I used the Lion Brand Elephant pattern but I was a little sad that the eyes weren’t exactly even. I put it on like I do with any other amigurumi using the same row but it wasn’t straight when I finished. But I adjusted the elephant by tugging here and there and then the eyes were even again. 

The elephant from the side is so cute. I just love his gigantic ears and his round body. I really wanted to make a green colored one since it has meaning for E but I couldn’t find any green that I like so I figured a pink elephant is just as cute!

Perhaps this little guy is in search of peanuts? Too bad I only have peanut butter at our place.

Look at his tail. I want to squeeze him!

We had a great time with both E&B in Shanghai. We took them to a traditional Shanghainese meal, hot pot, relaxing foot massages, The Chocolate World Wonderland Exhibit in Shanghai and we ate A LOT. It was so nice having them here because we miss friends from home. I’ve been feeling a little out of touch with my friends from home since everyone is so busy. I rarely hear from anyone anymore and although it makes me sad, that’s life! It’s a busy time with babies, work and life. It’s a bit crazy how fast time is moving along… in a week or so, we’ve been here for three months. Wow! But I really do love it here.

My cousin in law Wilson and his delightful wife Laura are having a baby shower very soon. Wilson loves to eat chicken. Literally. He dreams of chicken and never stops talking about chicken. So I thought the perfect gift for them would be a clever way of displaying his love for chicken and his upcoming little baby girl.

I made chicken drumsticks in a KFC bucket! I can’t take complete credit for the KFC spin, my friend Aki suggested it and I knew it would be perfect. Not only that but I thought it would be cute to add two chicks, one that is perfectly happy, the other…. well you can tell from the eyes that he’s not exactly happy.

Months and months of researching, testing and basically coming up with the pattern on my own by using several patterns that I found online. This project took a lot of work to make it just right. At first I used a cream colored yarn to use as the bone part of the drumstick but I’ve never seen that in a real bucket of fried chicken so I decided to keep it all the color of delicious fried chicken.

Take a look at the slideshow, I hope you enjoy my KF(C)C! Makes a cute gift for any chicken lover.

[edit] Also… I repackaged it and here’s what I came up with:

A family meal!

I decided to put the hoodie blanket in the KFC bucket instead and it fit (and filled) it perfectly.

Of course a box full of drumsticks!

A box of chickens…

I hope you enjoyed one of the largest projects I have ever made. Now I wonder what fast food theme I’ll do next….