The Adventures of PooPoo the Giant Amisaru

I came across some thick acrylic yarn on sale and couldn't help myself...ended up buying it along with a huge 10mm crochet hook.  The result?  PooPoo the giant crochet monkey!!  He's HUGE!  I started off making the head first...once I saw the size of it, I couldn't stop until he was finished!

PooPoo loves motorbikes and keeping fit and active :)

Here he is:

Size comparison with a normal Amisaru

Oh PooPoo, where's your helmet, you daredevil you!

Ahh that's better...safety first!

Oh no, a straw hat is not a good substitute for a helmet!

Keeping fit on the rowing machine

PooPoo visited me at work, but didn't help me much :\

Picking figs!  PooPoo loves figs!

Oh no PooPoo, don't jump!

Crossfit Cat

One of my hobbies before I got back in to crocheting was Crossfit.  Crossfit is a functional fitness movement that originated in America a few years ago and has taken the world by storm.  It's practical and utilises a whole range of different exercises for a great all-round fitness program.  Barbells, kettlebells, box jumps, rowing, gymnastics, running just to name a few.  I made a lot of friends within the Crossfit community and here is my first Crossfit cat complete with her own kettlebell.

This is her kettlebell next to a real one, the red one weighs 28kg and is generally used in a "kettlebell swing"

This is Annie Sakamoto a Crossfit trainer, demonstrating kettlebell swings (yes, 28kg is HEAVY!)

Camille LeBlanc-Bazinet, a well known Canadian Crossfit athlete showing good form on the gymnastics rings, wearing the common female uniform of small shorts and small top.

I was asked to make this Crossfit Amineko by a guy up in sunny Queensland as a present for his girlfriend, a Crossfit trainer, so I put her in typical workout uniform of short shorts and bright shoes, and also customised the green t-shirt to represent the gym she works at. She was lucky enough to compete in the Crossfit Games in 2011 and the number 121 is her team number.  It's these small personal touches that really make these Amineko mean something to their new owners.  I hope she likes it!

Supercat and Batcat

Here are a pair of Amineko made for a pair of young brothers for Christmas.  Having made a Supercat before, I knew it could be done again, though this time I had the challenge of trying to make a Batcat.  I made these for the grandsons of a friend of my mother's, so the brief was for any well-known superheroes, they just had to be different ones.

I thought about Ironman, the Incredible Hulk, Flash Gordon, Spiderman but chose what I thought would be the easiest to recognise.  I was really happy with how Supercat had turned out the first time I'd made him, and this time around I was even more impressed with Batcat!  He's adorable if I may say so myself!

Ramblings of a Crafter

Well what can I say?  What a big year this has been for me.  I looked back over 2012 thinking, "Hmmm I haven't really done all that much, another year has just plodded on by."  But when I really thought about it, I'd actually managed to fit quite a lot into these last 365 days. 

I started off the year wanting to reclaim my childhood obsession with craft as a hobby, so embarked upon a journey.  First stop was making sock monkeys.  My enthusiasm meant I bought a lot of pairs of stripey socks, buttons, thread etc ready to take on the world.  Unfortunately my interest in pulling out the sewing machine, cutting ends of threads and lining up stripey legs quickly led to frustration and my bits and bobs have now been consigned to a shoebox packed securely within a storage box out of sight.

I'm sure I'll pull these babies out again one day and finish them off

I actually managed to finish one.  Yay for me!

So onto my next project...

Somehow I came across the book "Hello My Name Is Amineko" by Nekoyama.  I hadn't crocheted for many years but thought I'd try this out, after all, it didn't need any machinery, didn't make mess and was completely portable.  I started off making one in front of the tv...and that's where it all began.  I made one, then two and quickly grew into a family.  This extended into a monkey family, a one-off gorilla and a ginormineko.  I've made 50+ crochet creatures this year, more than one a week! 

So what now for 2013?  Well now that I've gotten the ball rolling with Amineko, I've got so many plans, ideas, thoughts arrrgghhhh.  Too much to do, not enough time.  Here's a list of things I have planned for 2013:

* more crochet creatures (zombies, monsters and a giraffe)
* get started on a bit of woodwork.  I've got these beautiful handmade wooden fenders for my bicycle and was so enamoured of these that I bought offcuts of different colours and would like to make jewellery out of these, or something.  A scroll saw has been added to my wishlist.

* and have just bought a Sizzix die cut machine, so would also like to play around with paper a bit once it comes in.  Pretty labels to send out with my cats!

In the meantime, my year was also filled with doing other things I love.  My day job is within the Dental Industry.  I make false teeth.  What??!!  Yes I hear you, I MAKE false teeth for a living.  More specifically, single crowns, bridges and implants.  The dentist takes an impression of the patient's mouth and sends it to us.  We pour it up in plaster and work on this model to make a tooth (or teeth) out of wax, which is then cast in a gold alloy and porcelain is built up on top of the gold to match the existing teeth.  Nifty, huh?  I only just started learning the porcelain build-up technique this year so will spend 2013 refining my work, but who knows, 2014 could lead to making other things out of porcelain...more jewellery perhaps?  My favourite part of the crown-making process is painting on the colours and stains to make the tooth look realistic.  We add touches of blue to cusp tips to make them look translucent and add tiny dots of brown into the fissures/valleys to give depth.  Absolutely love it and can't wait to get better!

PFMs, Porcelain Fused to Metal crowns.

Umm, yeah we can also make poo.  This was made out of plaster and coloured with coffee grinds.  My colleague also added his breakfast cereal to it to make it look more authentic.

Except it turned out kinda looking like a cookie.  It's best we stick to making teeth.

Ok so there it is, 2012 done and dusted.  On to bigger, better and brighter things in 2013!

Princess, Megsy and Jellicle

After making many character-type Amineko, I've been tasked with making 3 Amineko to match real cats.  Princess is a charcoal cat with a white arm and chest, Megsy is an orange and white tabby and Jellicle is a tortoiseshell cat (mostly black and white).  Another fun project for me to work on!

www.facebook.com/AminekoTheCrochetCat


Princess



Jellicle and Megsy



Work in progress

 











 

Megsy getting photobombed!





Princess is for a good friend from the gym.  We have an annual Chrismukkah party every year and she wasn't sure about going this year.  This is my devious way of getting her to be there!  Do you think it'll work?

Will the real Megsy and Jellicle please stand up?

Jimmy Monkey

Jimmy Monkey was made for a friend who wanted to give him to her brother for Christmas.  The brief?  To make an Amisaru matching the original Jimmy Monkey who was a favoured childhood toy of her brother's.

He loved his Jimmy Monkey so much that when he moved to Singapore, he opened a cafe named after his beloved friend.  Jimmy Monkey Cafe & Bar (www.jimmymonkey.com)

http://www.facebook.com/jimmymonkeycafe

Here is the original Jimmy in his cafe:

 

Here is Amisaru Jimmy in progress:

And here is the adorable Amisaru Jimmy in all his glory, finished and ready to go...he was such a lovely project to work on...hopefully he enjoys his new home in Singapore.  If you're ever down that way be sure to visit them at:

• 9 One-North Gateway. #01-51 One-North Residences
• Singapore, Singapore 138643

tee hee hee...I just had to collage them together!!!