Want the pattern?

My monkey amigurumi pattern is available for purchase as part of the CrochetMe calendar ebook on Interweave Store! Download it instantly in PDF format.

Click here to download

Let’s celebrate Independence Day with a festive Fourth of July monkey amigurumi!!!

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Yep, you guessed it!  Another monkey to kick off the start of a new month.  No, we will not stop until we have completed all twelve monkeys for all twelve months of the year.  It just wouldn’t be fair or right if we just decided to leave out the rest of the months and their representative monkey amigurumis now would it?  :)

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So here we have our Fourth of July monkey amigurumi in the signature Uncle Sam pointing at YOU pose.  He wants YOU and so does the monkey!  Does our monkey successfully resemble the poster in the background?  We even tried to coordinate the colors of the monkey to match Uncle Sam’s outfit.  We used an off-white colored felt to give the monkey an overall old school look.  Of course, to make it more festive we gave it a nice and crazy Fourth of July hat–that was very time consuming and painstaking to make.

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This is the top of the hat…very festive right?  :D  First we crocheted the standard top hat and then cut out strips of white and blue felt which were glued directly onto the hat.  Then we used sequin stars to decorate the rest of it.  We even included a little bling on his hat with small crystal accents between the stars.

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The standard home-made flag.  Made possible by the combined efforts of a nice printer, toothpick, and tacky glue!

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Our Fouth of July monkey is a very busy little monkey amigurumi.  He may look carefree and all, but he’s busily planning away a July 4th celebration on his computer!  Yes, an old school computer for an old school monkey.

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He’s sending out invitations to his Fourth of July party.  Will you be there?  Don’t worry, he’ll call you when the meat’s grilling away on his BBQ GrillMaster 7411 in the backyard.

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No, he will NOT put down the flag.  Even when he’s grilling.

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Our Fourth of July monkey amigurumi just loves America that much! <3

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Want the pattern?

My monkey amigurumi pattern is available for purchase as part of the CrochetMe calendar ebook on Interweave Store! Download it instantly in PDF format.

Click here to download

Fourth of July Monkey Amigurumi first seen on Cute Amigurumi!

BOWSER!!

I guess we’re on a Mario characters making spree. Why Bowser of all the other characters? Because other than Waluigi, my brother usually chooses Bowser to run us over when we play Mario Kart. No, I’m not bitter at all!! Not at all…

Making Bowser took a whole month! Sounds long doesn’t it? Just imagine all the planning and crocheting and felting and sewing that went into this! One day I spent crocheting the jaw, mouth, and head. A second day just crocheting the body and shell. A third day on the legs. A fourth day on the arms, tail, and horns. A fifth day on the hair, and cutting out all the felt, and gluing it all on, and finally we were done! Oh wait…that was actually only five working days huh…and what a very productive fifth day we had too! I’ll confess that I wasn’t efficient, but I got discouraged during the process just looking at the pieces without a good vision of how the end-product would turn out. If it weren’t for my sister nagging at me and guilt-tripping me to finish, this may have taken even longer.

Anyway, enough of my whining. Let’s see how Bowser evolved!

This was the beginning. I basically made three small balls and sewed them up into this nose/mouth. Then made a tube to connect to another ball, and that made up his upper jaw.

Then I crocheted some more tubes and connected them together to make the lower jaw. To fill up the empty space on the lower jaw I crocheted a small patch and sewed it on, then glued red felt over it. I also glued some red felt to the top jaw and stuffed the empty space in his head.

Here’s the finished head with some really sharp teeth!

Whoa and all of a sudden he has a body! Sorry, I didn’t document much, but trust me, you aren’t missing out. Seeing those stray pieces lying around was actually kind of depressing.

Finally, when my sister put his eyes on he came to life! And I was excited to finish him again! I thought this part was funny because he looks angry. I could totally imagine him saying, “Gah! You better be putting on my horns right! Or else!! Raaaarrrgghgh!!” Calm down Bowser! You are in good hands.

Applying the finishing touches…

The finished product!!

Does it look like its original?

I think this is what Mario would see if he were standing right under Bowser. Speaking of Mario…

Don’t they look so friendly!

Mario got away…too close for comfort I guess. It’s okay, Bowser still has Boo!

Bowser Amigurumi from Super Mario Bros first seen on Cute Amigurumi!

I am a poor grad student

I noticed on her wish list that she wanted Calvin and Hobbes comic books

Therefore, she MUST like Hobbes

Instead of getting a gift straight from her wish list I wanted to add an element of SURPRISE!!

Hobbes would make a cute plushie…except I don’t even know where I could buy one

So, based on those excuses – oh I mean, “very sound reasons” – I set out to create Hobbes. The only thing holding me back was I had no idea what Calvin and Hobbes was about, except that Hobbes is a really skinny and tall tiger. Plus, the occasional Calvin bumper sticker that I see of him peeing on a cross stuck on some people’s cars…

Later, my brother incredulously filled me in on the story behind Calvin and Hobbes, bewildered that I had no idea who they were. That’s when I thought, “OHH! No wonder Hobbes looks so animated and long and skinny and twisty all the time!” And then, “Uh-oh, that does NOT sound pleasant to make into an amigurumi.” In the end, I just decided to not be so ambitious and just make whatever I can. Here’s what it looks like:

At first, the nose was also made of felt. Then, my bro said his face looked too flat, so I carefully scratched off the felt, cut a hole in the face, inserted the animal nose, unstuffed the head to fasten the nose, and restuffed it. So much work just to make his face look less flat, and I’m not even sure if it looks any more contoured!

As always, the intricate felt work was done by my sis. She also helped sculpt his scruffy white beard, which I made by attaching small strings of yarn to the head, like real hair! She’s also a great hair stylist by the way – she trims my bangs all the time! We both agree that the head is the best attribute of this Hobbes. It was unfortunate I didn’t know how to make his hands have fingers, because I think it’s an important part of Hobbes that makes him “alive.” Then again, my goal was not to be so ambitious…or else this would also go into my pile of failures!!

When my friend got around to opening our present for her, I was nervous. What if she complains that it’s not from her wish list? What if she thinks it belongs in the Pile of Failures too? What if she’s totally unimpressed, after all the hard work my sister and I put into it? Our worries were put to rest when she gleefully exclaimed, “OMG!” She really looked surprised and happy. Then, when I saw her cuddle with it, I knew all that hard work was well worth it. Hobbes, you did good!!

Hobbes and…no Calvin… first seen on Cute Amigurumi!