Blythe customization has reached a new level to me upon seeing this sterling silver Blythe ring. I think I just drooled a little. [Thanks, Moxie!]

More Blythe:

• CRAFT Video: Rerooting Blythe Doll Hair
• Hand-carved Blythe dolls
  
• Blythe Modeling New Alexander McQueen Line For Target
  
• Blythe-sized Creepy Knitted Ski Masks
  
• Inside-Out Blythe Guts Costume
  

From the pages of CRAFT, Vol. 03:

"Queen of the Misfit Toys" by Jenny Ryan, pgs 40-42. Preview in our Digital Edition or buy the back issue in the Maker Shed.

How awesome is this amigurumi light switch? 203gow posted it up to her blog, and although I can't read Japanese, I still totally dig it.

These wee Halloween amigurumi patterns from Lion Brand Yarn would make for fun decor projects or teacher gifts. They've offered up a happy pumpkin, a ghost and (not pictured) candy corn!

Anna writes:

Once again, we're looking for the cutest, funniest, most interesting photo of a Mochimochi Land toy. All you have to do to enter is upload your photo(s) to the Mochimochi Friends group on Flickr by November 16th. Like previous years, winners will receive cute goodies from Japan and gift certificates from Mochimochi Land, PLUS this year they will also get gift certificates from Knit Picks! To be eligible, your photo must contain at least one knitted toy made from a Mochimochi Land pattern. This can either be a pattern from the Mochimochi Shop or one of the free patterns on the Mochimochi Blog.

Kristin Rask, who runs the Plush You! show recently did an interview with Yummy Pancake, who made (among other things) this crochet Jägermeister bottle. Happy Friday!

Jodie of Ric Rac shares a tutorial and pattern for putting together one of these adorable softies in just under an hour. As she mentions, they would be a great offering for Softies for Mirabel!

It's been such a fun experience doing this Crochet-Along with you all! We've had some great participants who have made some incredible dolls.

If you want to start now check out the lessons here.

Giveaway Results!

The Winner of 1 signed copy of Tiny Yarn Animals by Tamie Snow:

Flickr user : SugarCoatedCreations

The Winner of 1 signed copy of Feltique by Brookelynn Morris and Nikola Davidson:
Flickr user: crissybell

The Winner of 2 skeins of Lion Brand Alpine Wool Yarn:
Flickr user: sumrsprite

The Winner of 1 copy of Lion Brand Yarn Vintage Styles for Today:
Flickr user: loves2design


The Winner of 1 CRAFT T-Shirt:
Flickr user: Ernessa_Theodora

Check out the rest of the amazing entries and post your own picture at the Crochet-Along Flickr Group Pool.

It has been a huge pleasure to this with you I really hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!
For more wicked amigurumi patterns check out my website Roxycraft and take advantage of my 50% off sale running until Sept 30th!
Enter Code "CAL2009" to get your discount.

I love Laura's softies over at the We Wilsons blog (the pig with wings! The turtle coming out of its shell!), but Laura has totally stolen my heart with this fantastic St. George and the Dragon flip doll. Aside from the fact that the flip itself is hilarious (is the dragon digesting St. George? Or the other way around?), the details are incredible: the visor lifts, St. George has a dapper mustache, and the dragon has rickrack spines. I am totally inspired. What other flip dolls could/should exist? Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde? The Little Mermaid in both her guises? The Frog Prince? I could go on all day...

Be sure to check out the Wilsons Etsy shop; you can buy many fabulous softies (more flip dolls, too!) or pdf patterns.

It's Week Three of the Fuzzy Panda Amigurumi Crochet-Along! Hope you guys are having as much fun as I am!

*for last weeks lesson, "Assembling the Head", click here.

This week we're finishing up by assembling the body and attaching our heads and bodies together. This is the satisfying part!

Yay! That's our last lesson and now it's up to you to finish up your own Fuzzy Panda!

GIVEAWAYS!

• 1 signed copy of Tiny Yarn Animals by Tamie Snow
• 1 signed copy of Feltique by Nikola Davidson and Brookelynn Morris
• 2 skeins of Alpine Wool
• 1 copy of Lion Brand Yarn Vintage Styles for Today
• 1 CRAFT T-Shirt

5 Winners will be chosen from the CRAFT Crochet-Along Flickr pool at random (only pictures of finished dolls will qualify) to win a prize! Entries must be uploaded to the Flickr pool by September 28th at 12n PST and tagged with "CRAFTCALCONTEST". Winner will be announced next September 28th, 2009, 12n PST

Get More Roxycraft Patterns on Sale Now!
From now until the end of the month, enter code "CAL2009" when you checkout on Roxycraft.com for a 50% off discount on patterns!

Welcome to Week 2 of the CRAFT Crochet-Along!

*If you're new to the Crochet-Along, you can still join in! Check out last week's lesson.

Last week your homework was to finish crocheting all the bits and pieces for the head of our Fuzzy Panda ... how'd you do? This week the fun part begins! We'll be taking all those odds and ends and making them into the head of our doll. So get out your finished pieces, some stuffing, and a yarn needle, and let's get to work!

Subscribe to the CRAFT Podcast in iTunes, or download the m4v video.

Phew! That was fun! Let's see those finished heads over in the Crochet-Along Flickr Group.

Homework for Next Week

Finish crocheting all your arms, legs, and the body too. Next week, we'll assemble them together! I'll also be showing you how to use those extra eyes as doll joints!

See you then!

Welcome Crochet-Alongers!
Today marks the first week of our Fuzzy Panda Amigurumi adventure together. I'm Tamie Snow of Roxycraft.com and I'll be your guide for the next month while we learn some fun new techniques for your amigurumi.

So if you haven't signed up yet, it's never too late. Just comment and introduce yourself and you're in! We'd also love it if you would join the Flickr group so you can share pictures of your finished projects with us and other CALers!

This week we're going to start with the basics. I have some fun video tutorials on youtube that should help you get started.

Don't forget, Tuesday September 8th at Noon is Lesson #1 in our Crochet-Along with Tamie Snow. You'll learn how to make this adorable Fuzzy Panda Amigurumi! Check out the list of materials and download the pattern today. Also, join the CRAFT Crochet-Along Flickr Group to upload your photos and to join in on discussions. We'll be hosting random giveaways to participants who upload photos in the Flickr group. You'll be able to win a signed copy of Tamie's book, Tiny Yarn Animals, Feltique by Brookelynn Morris, CRAFT T-shirts, and Lion Brand Yarn.

Download the Fuzzy Panda Amigurumi pattern in PDF format (Note: Pattern was updated on 9/2 with diagram).

By Meara O'Reilly, projects intern

When I started interning at CRAFT magazine, my skills and interests tended more toward soldering and sawing than knitting and sewing -- but I was ready for a crash course! Of course I'd knitted a few scarves growing up, and taught myself to crochet just by messing around with yarn, so I thought learning how to knit objects would be cinch!

I'd had a great time knitting the hyperbolic baby pants from CRAFT Volume 06 and was really excited about learning how to mold different shapes and build my stitch repertoire, so the reversible Chicken-and-Egg knitted puppet (also from CRAFT Volume 06) seemed like a logical next step.

By the time it came down to finishing the project, though (to show it off at the CRAFT booth at the Craftaluma fair in Petaluma, Calif.), I was running around 24/7 helping my sister get ready for her wedding, so time got a little tight! I actually stayed up all night knitting the chicken-and-egg the night before the fair, desperately trying to finish it up (a memory my poor hands will not forget soon!).

But on the bright side, I will also never forget these basic stitches and tips that I learned, courtesy of a few benevolent YouTube mavens:

The Little House by the Sea blog has a painfully sweet Toadstool Cottage and Mushroom House pincushion pattern and tutorial up. Check out the detail on the embroidery around the door and windows:

I'd like to visit whoever lives inside! There's even a Flickr group to post your own version when you make it.

This week marks the start of the third annual Softies for Mirabel from Meet Me at Mikes.

Softies for Mirabel is our annual appeal to benefit the kids supported by The Mirabel Foundation. We send word out via the internet, inviting people like you to make a soft toy (or two!) The toys are gifted to the Mirabel kids as part of The Mirabel Foundation's Christmas Toy Drive.

Each year, crafters from around the world create handmade toys to send to the folks at Meet Me at Mikes for The Mirabel Foundation. The softies are displayed in the Meet Me at Mikes storefront window until they are delivered to the foundation in December. You can see some of the softies that have been donated in the past in the Softies for Mirabel Flickr group. Get all the information on guidelines and deadlines over at the Meet Me At Mikes blog.

Welcome to our first CRAFT Crochet-Along! This month, we hope you'll join the fun as we learn to make this Fuzzy Panda Amigurumi from our friend Tamie Snow of Roxycraft. As you know, Tamie is also the author of Tiny Yarn Animals and created this Fuzzy Panda pattern just for us.

The first lesson with Tamie starts in exactly 1 week, on Tuesday, Sept 7th at Noon PST. Find out how to get the pattern and the list of materials after the jump!

Fantastic Toys is offering up five free paper toy downloads, including this wee gnome bowling set (look out, guys!). There are paper dolls, a paper mobile and more in the set of free toys.

The I Heart Guts plush line was clearly missing a black heart, so here it is! Via Street Anatomy.

By Lindsey North, projects intern

On my first day as an official CRAFT intern I entered the lab for the first time. It was like entering a new dimension, a creative person's dream. There were supplies everywhere; you could build just about anything out of what you found in there. And in this lab I received my first assignment: I was to build miniature kittens dressed in little dresses.

I was later shocked to see my mini kitties featured on the cover of Volume 03 of CRAFT magazine. Turns out they're Japanese imports: we excerpted the patterns for White Cat, Striped Cat, and Black Cat from Aranzi Aronzo's The Cute Book (Random House).

When completed, each of these little creations made of felt were smaller than the width of my hand. It's surprisingly difficult to sew small pieces of felt together when you plan on stuffing them. You have to sew close enough to the edge so that you still have room to fill with stuffing, but you can't get too close to the edge or else the stitches will pull out when you try to stuff the mini kitty.

I ended up making six of these little fellows, and it took me several days to complete them all. Your fingers can get really sore trying to sew through layers of felt, so take breaks in between kitties if you choose to make a litter.

These cute little creatures make amazing presents, the purrfect addition to any gift. It's fun to play around with the felt colors. Try crafting a few!

Your CRAFT intern,
Lindsey

Can your kids tell the endoplasmic reticulum from the golgi apparatus? Can you? Instructables user ChrysN shows us how to make a plush cell model.

Work with your kid to make a unique tooth monster pillow when his/her teeth start to fall out, and make it fun!

More:

• HOW TO - Bring Kids' Drawings to Life
  
• Stuffed Toy From a Child's Drawing
  
• 24 Stuffed Monsters Based on Kids' Art
  

Love Momiji is hosting a fun Momiji doll couture contest. Momiji are Japanese message dolls, like the ones shown above, and each one has an opening in its base for a secret message. The contest rules are pretty broad, allowing for maximum creativity. They're looking for one-off, fabric Momiji dolls using a combination of crafty methods: weaving, printing, knitting, embroidery, whatever flavor you choose. Entries will be judged on "overall wow-factor as well as skill and craftsmanship." The deadline is October 30th. The ten finalists will be exhibited at Royal /T in Los Angeles, and the winner will be featured in Selvedge magazine. All the details you need, including templates, are at Love Momiji's contest page. I love this line: "Our aim is to create a catwalk of exquisite Momiji dolls which show off the skill and flair of textile artists around the world."

Bonnie at StarWars.com has some great interviews online with the artists including "The Clone Wars" director Dave Filoni, "Fanboys", Go-Go's guitarist Jane Wiedlin, model makers from "Robot Chicken," underground/graffiti artist JAKe and lots more.

Even though we all know the leaf doesn't turn Mario into a Tanooki, perhaps he is saving it for a friend. This little Tanooki Mario Amigurumi made my Friday. Via Sprite Stitch.

Lauren Venell of Sweet Meats fame has just published an epic tutorial on 3D plush. She takes you from idea to finished toy, and this isn't your childhood pudgy fabric sandwich, we're talking true 3D with features and draping, seaming and everything. Fantastic work!