Critters & Stash Depleters

I've been in a crochet mood lately. More specifically, critter crochet. I've been hearing/reading a lot about amigurumis and thought I'd give them a try. So far, they seem to be fun, quick projects that are great for using up my stash yarn! Plus, with the economy the way it is, and having three kids who go to various birthday parties, it seems like a good way to make hand-made presents for the kids.

I have two toy projects in the works. First is a dragon for one of Little J's friends, whose birthday party is this Sunday (3/22). I'm making pretty good progress. I just started it yesterday and so far have the body and two hind legs complete. Still need to make the front legs, wings, spines and ears...then assemble it, of course. I'm also going to embroider eyes and claws on it. Thanks go to Angry Angel for her pattern.

I've also got a Gumball Kitten started. Just the head (stuffed) and the body (unstuffed) done on that one, so far. Thanks go to falwyn for this pattern. I'm looking forward to completing both and making more! 

In fact, I went to Michael's today to get some safety eyes for future critter creations. The Michael's I went to is in a shopping center that also has a JoAnn's. All I can say is, I'm really glad I chose to go to the Michael's I did because this particular Michael's didn't have any safety eyes. All they had were tons of wiggle eyes (which I have plenty of already). So I took a quick walk over to JoAnn's and was relieved to find all sizes of safety eyes. Yay! So I picked up a bunch, and also bought a new size E crochet hook made by Clover. It has a nice little handle. The Susan Bates one I'd been using was really thin and making my hand hurt.

All in all, it was a successful craft-shopping trip!