Ollie in Space Video Series

Hi everyone!

I’m excited to share with you a video series of our “Ollie in Space” series. Episode 1 is up now so please subscribe to my YouTube Channel so you don’t miss a single video.

I have the pictures and stories, while I read along the stories my son and I made up together. We had a lot of fun with it and we are continuing our stories. I’m working hard to make those stories come to life as soon as possible.

If you are enjoying the series, please leave a comment and like the video. If you want to take it an extra step, please purchase a pattern from my Etsy shop. Even if you don’t crochet, it’s a great way for you to support my small business. I would one day love to make a children’s book and purchasing from my Etsy shop is a great way to help with that.

Please let me know what you think of the stories. Thank you again for all of your support.

Cheers,

Annie

Another Year

Another year has passed and my birthday was extra special this year. My husband gave me such wonderful and thoughtful gifts. And to top it all off, he had a custom made cake made for me.

It features my favourite design I have published. When the cake came out I was thinking oh that looks like my octopus doll! I wonder who else shares a birthday with me. 🤣

The detailing on the octopus is absolute amazing. I recommend Oookie Cookie to anyone looking for a special cake for a special occasion.

I got to spend almost the entire month with loved ones and a lot of friends spoiled me with gifts and food. Thank you friends.

My very dear friend Aki sent a giant package filled with beautifully wrapped gifts. She is always so thoughtful and so kind. She even included something for her god son.

Thank you everyone for making me feel so loved. I feel it. I really do. Every birthday gets better and better. And every year I grow into my own and have better understandings of friendships.

I used to hold so much (unrealistic) expectations from my friends. And it wasn’t fair to them (and to me). And I feel that I have grown so much as a person in the last few years. In return, my precious friendships have grown exponentially. At the same time, I have learned not all relationships are healthy and I shouldn’t feel guilt for letting some of those go.

I think knowing who your real friends and concentrating on them has been a huge game changer for me. I used to feel so down when some friends kept making me feel bad. Why did I let them make me feel so terrible? So I’ve begun to slowly let them go. Focus on the people who project love and most importantly kindness. It’s really changed my life.

I leave you with this sparkly creme brûlée that I had on my birthday. May we continue to learn to be better every day. With lots of love I thank you for your friendships.

To those who have reached out from all around the world… people I know and don’t know. Thank you so much again. How lovely are you to take time for little old me to make my day a great one. ❤️

Have a beautiful rest of June.

Ollie’s Space Adventures

Hi everyone!

I’m excited to share a new series I’m doing on instagram. My son and I have been making bed time stories and we’ve been pretending he’s visiting other planets in another galaxy.

He is obsessed with space and looks at NASA’s updates daily. He can tell you about every single planet (dwarf planets too) and their properties and moons. And he is constantly reading and drawing all things planet related.

So it has been really fun for us to make our own stories at bed time and then I thought, oh!!! Why don’t I share these stories and make dolls to go with?

I hope to publish a book one day like this and if you have any advice on how to start going about to publish, I would love to hear from you.

Look for this picture on my Instagram to follow along our adventure.

My instagram is here.

Hope you enjoy our stories. 🌟

Ra-Ra Raffia

Ok, I got this yarn and I was really hoping to wait till I knew what to make with it first.

I’m debating between a market bag or a beach bag. Or even a hat. Or a clutch… or basket. Ahhhh! I can’t decide.

Have you used this yarn yet? I’m going to be reviewing it soon but I just need an idea first of what to make.

It’s so interesting, it’s very light, made of paper. It rips but then hooked up it’s strong. It’s really quite unique. I’m happy to see where I’ll go withWool And The Gang’s Ra-Ra Raffia!

20% Off My Patterns

For the month of June 2018 – I will have 20% off all my patterns on my Etsy shop!

It’s my way of saying thank you for supporting my small business and really helping me grow as a crafter and designer.

It’s truly amazing for me to be able to do this from home as I’m always on the go with my family. And my son thanks you because I am able to be with him every single day, wherever he may need to be or not be.

My camera (bag, pouch, amigurumi) pattern is my newest one. I made it for my son as he needed a small bag for his transit card and a small water spray for these hot Hong Kong days. It’s a quick hook and so fun to make. Sure to be a hit with the little ones in your life. And with my 20% off it will come out to be about $1 (usd)!

I have many other patterns on my Etsy shop so be sure to get all the patterns you want for 20% off while you can!

Chubby Bee Pattern

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Happy Thursday to you all. 🙂 I wanted to share my Chubby Bee Pattern which is FREE on Love Crochet. Perfect for beginners and I specifically made this so that beginners can feel  encouraged by making this very easy to follow pattern.

I know when I was starting out with amigurumi – I felt a bit overwhelmed with wanting to make something cute but feeling a bit insecure about approaching patterns. So I started my chubby series to provide patterns for those just getting started with amigurumi.

This is a simple increase of single crochets. Starts with a Magic Ring of 6. Then you keep increasing each row. An increase in ami is usually labeled inc. inc=2 single crochets in one stitch.

After a series of increased rows, you do many rows of single crochet only to extend the body of the bee. Then the decreases happen to shape the bum. Decreases are usually labeled dec.

My friend, Stephanie did a wonderful version of my bee for those of you wanting to make your bee extra special! Be sure to check out her blog at All About Ami to see her additions. 🙂 Stephanie is a multi talented, super sweet and kind friend. She has many patterns that I love and excited to try out. Please go follow her on instagram and see all of her many beautiful creations. Her talent is beyond imagination and everything she makes is so elegant.

I will also make a video of my chubby bee one of these days when Hong Kong isn’t so gloomy! Lighting is so difficult and I feel I may need to invest in some proper lighting for that.

Have you tried out my pattern? I love seeing all of your creations. Be sure to tag me on instagram so I can see it!

Tomato Basket Pattern

Hey friends! I need to get better about blogging but finding it difficult to manage instagram, Facebook, my etsy and love crochet shops while keeping this up too. 🙂 But I promise to check in every now and then.

I have a new pattern ready! It’s a tomato basket made with Lion Brand’s Fast Track Yarn. Using a 9mm hook, this basket works up like a dream! So fast, so lovely, sturdy and can hold your current work in progress, yarns or even toys that your kid needs to tidy up.

I came to this idea when I had a surplus of Fast Track Yarn that my friend gave me for my birthday. I was brainstorming for almost a year before I actually used the yarn. Yep, brainstorming takes forever for me! But then I thought, oh a basket would be nice in our home but red doesn’t fit our blue/grey/cream colour scheme in our home.

So my son had a great idea to make a giant tomato basket. Great idea little O. So I made it and then I made two more. And then, well… I wrote the pattern out and had my wonderful friend test it for me.

If you are wanting to make this and you’re a beginner, don’t worry! It’s very basic stitches. You need to know how to single crochet and the most complicated part are the little vines. But even that, it is just single crochet as well but I have lots of pictures to help you along.

So if you’re interested, feel free to give it a try. It’s only 10HKD (about 1.27 USD) and you might want to make some for your friends too. Your purchase goes to supporting my small business. It’s just me! 🙂

You can purchase the pattern here:

Etsy or Love Crochet

You can find the yarn I used on Lion Brand Yarn website. 🙂

*Some links are affiliated links and means I will get a percentage if you should purchase via the link. Know this goes to supporting my small business. (just me) 🙂

Happy Chinese New Year

Happy year of the dog everyone!

Every year I feel like I’m learning so much about that particular year’s lunar animal. Dogs are great, kind and loyal. Humble and honest. Hard working. All great characteristics. 😍

I made a pug this year for Chinese New Year and if you make it please tag me on social media.

You can find the inexpensive pdf here.

How are you spending your new year? I’m just relaxing with my family. Hooking here and there. Seeing friends and shopping a little. Aren’t these yarn cakes gorgeous? Hand painted by the wonderful Chappy Yarn.

Have a healthy and happy new year everyone!

Tomato Amigurumi

My small little tomato amigurumi is on my Etsy shop now! Your purchase of this inexpensive pattern means you are supporting this full time mum who works from home. And hopefully you will enjoy this quick and easy pattern! You could attach a note like we have here for your very special valentine.

Or if you’re not a fan of Valentine’s Day, you could just make it because it’s super cute. 😘

If you’d like the free version instead, love crochet will publish it soon. 😘

Happy Valentine’s!

Hey guys! It’s almost Valentine’s Day….

and I can’t resist a good pun!

I made this small tomato amigurumi and my son made a note:

“I love you from my head tomatoes!!!!”

I wanted to make one for each of his friends at school but school is cancelled to prevent a flu outbreak. Oh well, was a good idea haha.

I made the giant tomato out of Lionbrand’s Fast track yarn using a 5.5mm hook. I made a basket for my current projects. I like that it’s hidden and out away in a place I can always go to. I made the lid (the green stem part) and attached a quarter of it to the body of the tomato so that the lid is always attached.

What do you think? What are you planning to make for Valentine’s Day?

I wanted to make the anti valentines too, like “stupid Cupid” and such. But no time sadly as I was sick the past two weeks. I’m much better now though!

Hope everyone has a lovely Valentine’s Day!