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?

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.

I love living in Shanghai but I have noticed I’m already running low on a few things I didn’t think I would have a problem finding here. I don’t even know how to begin looking for these items and have tried googling them but no luck. Here are the things I miss the most from America:

via Urban Decay

1. Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer (Original) – They do NOT have this in Sephora or any luxury department store here. Nobody uses it here and my sad monolids can’t hold makeup at all without this.

via: Sephora

2. Philosophy Purity Facial Cleanser – This cleansing milk is by far the best face wash for not only me but my husband. It doesn’t dry out our face like most foaming washes and the hubs doesn’t break out with this! They actually don’t sell any Philosophy products in China.. Boo.

via Burt's Bees

3. Burt’s Bees Lip Balm – This actually makes me want to cry. I am literally at the end of the stick and have no more left. The weather is SO COLD, windy and my lips are chapped. I don’t know why I thought this would be easy to find here but it’s not. 

via Clarisonic

4. Clarisonic Refills: My BFF HJ got me this as a gift and it has been one of the best things for my skin care. I use the sensitive refills and get this… I convinced W to use it too and trust me, he does not know how to wash his face properly without this! I wish I would have purchased a few more refills, I only bought one. 

Source

5. Fiber or Polyfil – I am sure they sell this in Shanghai but I just don’t know where to get it. You’re probably wondering what it is? You know the stuff (literally) they put in your teddy bears? Yup! That’s what it is and I also need animal eyes… for my anniegurumis. (Annie making amigurumi) 

These are the only things that I really noticed and obviously love. Sigh, it hasn’t even been two months yet and I already need stuff. At least I know what I’ll need to stock up on when I’m back in the States next year!

What are some things you can’t live without?

It’s a baby boom recently! A lot of my friends and family are pregnant and guess what that means? Crochet time!!

I got to meet my Weddingbee friend Laura and her son Sam yesterday. It was great because it didn’t feel like I met her for the first time but it was as if we had been friends forever! (well, online we were of course)

I wanted to make something special for her son. I made my own version Of a bear and I named him “Sam the bear” after the wonderful baby it was made for. And I was really happy with how he turned out! If I ever make another “Sam the bear” I will always use the name!

“Sam the bear”

My friend Jess who is due in September was telling me how much she loves sheep. First of all, she has no idea that I made this for her and I plan on giving her this in august at her baby shower. She doesn’t know about this blog so I feel it’s safe to post.

I had a really hard time finding a sheep pattern that I liked so I made my own pattern for her baby! As soon as I know what the name of her baby is, I will name the sheep after him.

“_____ the sheep”

My husband’s cousin had her baby shower a while ago and this was the biggest project I had done at the time. I didn’t really know what to make for her but I thought to myself…. Who doesn’t love totoro?!?! So I made her baby a giant totoro! Honestly, this took so long to make and I’m so pleased with how it turned out! He was gigantic!

I have so many more things I’m working on now and I’m excited to show them. I’ll wait until they’re finished to post but the more I make, the better I get at crocheting!

Did I also mention thy I attached my own label to everything I make?  makes it seem legit!

I might start selling my crafts after I make more things and see what I think is sellable. Good idea or bad idea?