The Adventures of Little Adam | Part 4

It’s been awhile since we caught up with Little Adam, that lovable travelling amigurumi isn’t it. What’s he been up to I hear you cry?

Well if you remember his previous adventures have taken him to Greece (B) and Dubai (C), Rhodes (D) and Lanzarote (E). This time he’s stayed a little closer to home and travelled to Edinburgh (F) in Scotland. 

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So what do we know about Edinburgh? Well it’s the capital city of Scotland and the seventh most populated city in the United Kingdom.  It is also the home to the Scottish Parliament and is located in Lothian on the Firth of Forth‘s southern shore…

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Human’s have habit-ed the Edinburgh area since 8500 BC and so it’s long past due a visit by a amigurumi!  But first a haggis (*bacon*) butty to fortify him for the 1.5 hour flight…

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A small crocheted doll in a big city…well it can be a little overwhelming! Luckily Little Adam found himself a stereotypical wee red headed tartan-ed beauty to help show him the sites…which he forgot to take of photo of himself with…before snuggling down for the night! 

Little Adam is off to Europe in his next adventure! I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing Little Adam’s travels as much as I have! 😄  Wonder where he’ll turn up next – maybe near you!

Oppps and I almost forgot to say we have a giveaway winner for The Breton Bag pattern giveaway. Congratulations to Rebekah! Your pattern will be winging it’s way to you shortly!

Until next time; keep calm and crochet on my friends xx

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The Adventures of Little Adam | Part 3

So I thought it was about time that we caught up with that lovable travelling amigurumi – Little Adam to see where he’s been lately.  Previously his adventures took him to Greece (B) and Dubai (C)!  This post finds him jetting off to Rhodes (D), the largest of Greece’s Dodecanese islands with a pit stop in Lanzarote (E), one of the Canary islands off the coast of West Africa!

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Just look at that map! He’s becoming a proper globe trotting doll! 

First off we were treated to the obligatory holiday ‘this is the view from my balcony shot’…

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And then…well you’ll never guess who Little Adam met on his holiday in Rhodes?! Little Dad! What are the chances of that happening 😀 

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It seems whilst on holiday the pair befriended a local donkey and enjoyed the sunset on the beach…

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It was not long after this the pair parted and Little Adam flew off to his next destination of Lanzarote…where he climbed a volcano!

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I hope you’ve enjoyed Little Adam’s travels as much as I have! 😄  Wonder where he’ll turn up next – maybe near you!

Until next time; keep calm and crochet on my friends xx

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Crochet Book Reviews | AmiguruMe by Allison Hoffman

Before I get onto the review I need to tell you a bit of the background as to why I personally was so interested in this book in the first place. If you are a follower of my little ole blog then you may well have seen my posts about how I created an amigurumi likeness of my brother and that dolls subsequent adventures (of Little Adam). Well what started off as a family joke quickly escalated and now all my friends and family want their own custom doll! That is definitely going to take awhile…but I plan on springing them on people when they least expect it so as to make a better surprise!

My basic Little Adam design was a simplified version of my elf pattern and a fab little guitar pattern I found on Ravelry. It wasn’t until after I’d given him to my brother that I realised I’d forgotten to give him ears! 

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My real brother does have ears! Just missed them off the doll – oopss!

I knew there must be a way to make any future dolls have an even closer resemblance to their ‘owner’ and that’s where the book AmigurumMe by Allison Hoffman comes in…

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How clever is that title right!?

AmigurumMe is basically a fantastic resource book for making your own customised crocheted characters. Each pattern is written in American Crochet terminology with clear and easy to follow instructions including detailed explanations and photos of the different stitches used.

The book is cleverly divided into sections for each component:

  • Making faces and heads
  • Upper body
  • Lower body
  • Feet and shoes
  • Hair
  • Accessories and more

I love the fact that a cat and a dog have also been included for pet loving mini-versions of friends and family.

Since the patterns show you how to make each different elements of a doll there’s literally endless possibilities that you can create. The book even includes step-by-step instructions of how to make some celebrities such as Mr.T, Tina Turner (as shown on the front cover) or even Michael Jackson, Madonna or Hulk Hogan.

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The customised doll I wanted to try this time round was one of my lovely dad… 

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Photo of me and my lovely Dad taken a few years ago…

I didn’t use all elements of the book, as I wanted Little Dad to be similar to Little Adam, so I concentrated on the face and hair to begin with.  Oh my goodness I cannot even say how long I spent trying to get his hair and eyebrows right!  Rather than make a wig cap (which I did with Little Adam) I embroidered the hair directly onto the head. I eventually got to a place where I was pleased with how it looked – and believe me any dreams of being a hairdresser were well and truly quashed!

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I used the details from the book to make a cap sleeved top, better hands, ears (didn’t forget those this time) and a cute pocket detail to his top.

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To make it even more personalised I added a fishing rod (as that’s my Dad’s hobby) and embroidered some tattoos onto my dad’s arms – these elements weren’t included in the book so I winged it, but I was pleased with the end results. After these tweaks Little Dad was finally finished and handed over to my Dad on his birthday. And in case you were wondering my Dad loved him (yay)!

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If you fancy having a go at making your own customised doll I would definitely recommend this book (I bought my copy of the book from Amazon) – I know I will certainly be using it again in the future.

Well until next time; keep calm and crochet on my friends xx

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Disclaimer: This book / pattern is one I have purchased (or used) for my own benefit.  I have not been financially compensated by the book company or the designer to write this review. All opinions expressed are my own and based on my own experiences of using the book / pattern.

 

The Adventures of Little Adam | Part 2

Time for more endeavours of Little Adam; that travel hungry amigurumi! Last time we joined  Little Adam in Greece and since then he’s country hopped over to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. ✈️

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Although very excited about his next outing Little Adam was a tad miffed that he was travelling via suitcase rather than first class; but sometimes sacrifices must be made in the pursuit of adventure…

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Like any young amigurumi out and about in the big wide world he decided to experiment with a alcohol…

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Unfortunately it didn’t seem to agree with him…

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And much like John Lennon it he crawled off to sleep in the bath…

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The final photo shows Little Adam on the beach in Dubai I like to think perhaps enjoying a moment of quiet reflection…  

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I hope you’ve enjoyed Little Adam’s exploits as much as I have! 😄  Wonder where he’ll turn up next!

Until next time; keep calm and crochet on my friends xx

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The Adventures of Little Adam | Part 1

I don’t think I’ve mentioned before that I’ve got a younger brother Adam.  Well one day he jokingly suggested that I ‘make’ him out of crochet sometime.  Challenge accepted!!! I couldn’t resist! So last year for his birthday I surprised him with his own little mini me!

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As my brother has been playing guitar forever and it’s his ultimate passion I knew that anything I made had to have a little instrument. Luckily I found the most fantastic guitar pattern on Ravelry; amieggs guitar by Clara Bayarri. The pattern provided the perfect finishing touch I was looking for.

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Well my brother loved his little crochet doppelganger so much that he took him to work to sit on his desk…and here starts the real tale. You may have heard of the travelling gnome prank (as made famous in the film Amélie) well someone in my brother’s office decided to recreate the prank with Little Adam.  My brother received a ransom note and then the pictures started to appear which he then shared with me.

He started off his travels in Greece…

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Little Adam is becoming one seriously travelled and adventurous amigurumi! I’m completely living vicariously through his globe-trotting. Next he was going off to Dubai I believe – as I get the updates I’ll share his adventures with you.  I’m really enjoying getting new pictures of his exploits. 😄

Until next time; keep calm and crochet on my friends xx

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