Willie encourages you to crochet!

Just a quick post tonight, because this:

Post by Willie Nelson.

Love Willie! 

AmiguruME PETS!

I've been BUSY. I'll go into the whos, whats and whys next time. For now, I want to tell you all some amazing, fantastic, exciting, long-awaited (for me anyway) super spectacular news!

I'm writing another book!!

Yep, I am really excited about this one. Since I started making dolls, people have asked me to make their little pet companions. I've done several, actually, but I've never published any. There are a couple of pets in AmiguruME: Make Cute Crochet People, but there's more ground to cover.

Whether you have a dog, cat, monkey, unicorn, hamster, fish, whatever, you'll need this book if you want to recreate your little pal in crochet form. There's going to be a ton of patterns in this one. A ton. Not just pets, but pet stuff and lots of examples and instructions, and photos, and animal cuteness. Can you tell I'm looking forward to it?!

Unfortunately, as is so often the case in the publishing world, its going to be over a year before it comes out. I'll share more as the time comes around. For now, here's a little taste of what you might see in AmiguruME Pets!

Thank you all for staying interested, for being crafty and COOL, and for liking my work. Seriously, could not be doing this without all of your inspiration and support.

Space!

I was honored to be invited to be in Mike Mitchell's show at Gallery 1988 in LA, Space! All of the artists were asked to create something celebrating the art of space science and travel.

I had to make a doll, of course! Carl Sagan had a lot to do with the popularization of science. Through his many books and television appearances, Sagan taught about space and astronomy, making it accessible to the public and giving them a sense of excitement about it. I had to include his trademark turtleneck and blazer, as well as one of his more recognizable books, Cosmos. Amigurumi Sagan sold on opening night.

I also wanted to do something a little different, and I have always wanted to crochet a really detailed planet Earth, so I did the whole solar system, each framed in an 8x8 shadow box. I was so excited to find some black knit fabric with tiny silver glitter sprinkled all over. I backed each planet with this starry backdrop and crocheted each planet, then attached each to a frame. They are all stuffed and embroidered, and Saturn and Uranus each have rings. This was such a fun project, even though it took me for-ev-er. I was able to use so many kinds of yarn, and as with a lot of projects like this, I learned a lot. I'll never forget the order of the planets in size and in distance from the Sun, that's for sure. I will always recognize each planet in a lineup. Yes, poor little dwarf planet Pluto got left out, but I think he's used to that by now.

Solar System of Yarn

Mercury

Venus

Earth

Mars

Jupiter

Saturn

Uranus

Neptune

The Sun

Although some of the frames don't appear square in the photo, they all are 8x8 inches. Hung together as a set, they make a really nice large format arrangement for any space lover's wall! This piece, Solar System of Yarn, is still available at Gallery 1988!

I was fortunate enough to make it to LA for the opening of the show. I really loved seeing all of the artwork in person, and meeting the creative forces behind Gallery 1988, as well as seeing Mike again. Mike Mitchell is moving to Austin, so I'm looking forward to seeing a lot of his work locally! He is really inspiring!

And here's me with my stuff (and a space-y dress from Modcloth!). Thanks Gallery 1988 and Mike! Make sure you check out the rest of the show at Gallery 1988. There's lots of originals and affordable prints still available.

Let's All Make Things

For a long time, I've held off on giving permission to use my pattern to make dolls to sell. I do this, and I figured I had time to keep doing it and get my OCD quality control needs met, making ALL the things. A lot of designers I respect did this (and still do) and I figured it was right for me too. It was. I wasn't as busy (this was pre-book, pre-Michael's designing, pre-magazine article writing) and I wanted to make every doll I got a request for.

Fast forward to now. I love love love making dolls for people, but I just don't have the time. I don't want to say no every time, and I'm just not good at saying no anyway! (I think this is a common problem, right?) So I have decided to start allowing my patterns to be used to make dolls to sell. This only applies to the free and paid-for patterns that you can buy from me, personally. I am NOT granting anyone permission to use my patterns that I've designed for yarn companies, magazines, or my book for commercial use.

I will be putting together a list of recommended sellers, so if you'd like to be put on this list, please email me at info@craftyiscool.com with pictures or links to your work (from my patterns or otherwise), and where you sell your stuff. I won't rank them or anything, but I will only list makers that I feel have the experience to make items ready to sell.

I hope you're happy with this decision! It has been on my mind for at least a year, and I have thought long and hard about it. I'm trying to keep it simple, enable myself to design MORE and remake LESS, spend more time with my family, and support other hardworking crafters!

I'll still be selling one of a kind and custom dolls from time to time, so please send me requests and I'll get back to you in a timely manner. :-)

If you have any questions about this decision or anything else about the process, please let me know. I still do not allow reselling or trading of my patterns.