Blue Jay 2.0

Worked on him some more and came up with Blue Jay 2.0. :) I think there'll be a Blue Jay 2.5 before I make the pattern available. There's still something about his wings I'm not crazy about.

The differences with Blue Jay 2.0:

• His beak is wider - I think I like the original beak better
• His wings are shaped differently - Still not content with them
• He has yarn knot eyes - My feeling is that the plastic/shiny eyes are a better fit
• His tail has been reshaped - I like this tail a lot better
• His body is crocheted all in one piece - The original was two halve, sewn together, figuring that it would make for a cleaner transition between the two colors. Sewing his tail over the transition point, though, camouflages it nicely.

Stay tuned! :)

Evolution of the Blue Jay

Well, I must have made about six different tails for this little guy before I ended up with what you see here.

But I'm still not happy with it. I looked at some pictures online of real blue jays and realize that I've got the shape completely wrong. I think the tail I ended up with might be more suitable on a sparrow or something. So I'll be going back to the drawing board later today.

I also want to make the wings differently. The right wing turned out nice with its shaping, but in order to have the left wing show the "right" side, I had to do its shaping a little differently and it didn't turn out as nice. I'd like to come up with something that can be interchangeable...as in it doesn't matter which side of the body you sew the wing on, it'll look good.

I think, too, that I'll change the beak a little bit... It's a bit too long and skinny.

Strangely, this is really the first of my creations that I haven't been completely happy with by the time I'm done! Does this make me a "real" designer??? :)

Blue Jay Progress

Progress is being made! I stayed up far too late last night working on my little blue jay. I got as far as making his body and one of his wings before I had to finally admit I needed to get some sleep. I thought about taking pictures of the WIP, but I was too tired. :) By the time I get around to taking pictures, he should be done. Stay tuned!

In other news, the kids are all still home today. It's spring break, officially, for the two older kids. But K is still sick (day 7!) and Little J seems to be a little under the weather still despite his fever being gone. T is supposed to have pre-school today, but he, too, seems to be coughing with a runny nose a little more than I'm comfortable sending him to school with, so I kept him home.

More laundry awaits...as does my blue jay (that I really can't wait to get back to, but I'm being good and trying to get my housework done and tend to the kids before picking it back up!)

Keep It Simple

I spent a good portion of last night just trying to wrap my mind around how I want to do/shape the Blue Jay ami. I drew sketches....I tried to visualize the shaping...I contemplated how to achieve the shaping I want....I stayed up way too late just....thinking.

I also spent time surfing the web, looking at pictures of real blue jays, and pictures of blue jay toys. Inspired by casbahkitten's Fatberd Cat Toy, I realized I should just keep it simple! So I've got my inspiration and I think I've figured out how to make a simple, but cute, blue jay.

I can't wait to get started...In fact, I tried to get started and then the kids sought me out and made me get them breakfast. :)

Sick Kids & Free Pattern Download Links

All three kids have been sick, now, for about 4 days. Fevers, coughing, sore throats...the works. I took them all to the doctor yesterday and was pretty much told they just have colds and we have to wait it out. I kind of knew that, but considering they'd had fevers for 3 days at the time, I didn't want to go into the weekend not knowing if they needed to be on antibiotics for strep throat or something. Better safe than sorry!

Hubby is currently out of town, somewhat, as well. He's about a 90 minute drive away at his family's cabin, doing maintenance. So it's just been the kids and me since Thursday night.

One "good" thing about them all being sick is that they just don't seem to have the motivation to fight or argue as much as they do when they're healthy! But having all three of them in a room, taking turns coughing...it's chinese water torture!

I've been able to do my crocheting and such in the evenings after they go to bed. In addition to the amigurumi patterns I've created (see the download links to the left in their own little sidebar section), I've spent some time whipping up some little bunnies for the kids' Easter baskets. I've got two done...one to go. They all know they're getting them because they're all nosey and have seen them. :) I'm making them wait 'til Easter to get them, though.

I've now set my mind to coming up with a Blue Jay amigurumi pattern. Little J's coach pitch baseball team is the Blue Jays...I thought it'd be cute for them to all have their own little blue jay to commemorate their season at the end of the season party next month. Guess what I'll be fiddling around with tonight?? :)

Ollie the Sea Otter!

I'm just tearin' it up with designs, aren't I? :) I can't help it... amigurumi is very addicting.

I present to you, Ollie the Sea Otter. He was created in response to an "Under the Sea" challenge on the Amigurumi Doll Lovers forum on Ravelry. 

The pattern is available for download on Ravelry right now, and eventually I'll have a link to download the file from here without needing to go through Ravelry. Have fun!

Roadrunner

I decided to try a more "actual" roadrunner design than Warner Bros. version. And this is what I ended up with....

The pattern is available through Ravelry and will, eventually, made available for download via a link here on the blog, as well!