Believe it or not, Dolly the Dachshund is just about the same size as Snowball the Cat underneath all that fur. It’s a quick pattern to make up and uses minimal amounts of yarn. If you give it a try, share some photos in my flickr group, would you?

Click the image below to download the free pattern.

Yesterday found me Amigurumi-ing again. Veggie Tales characters, to be exact.

They were much larger than I’d thought they’d be (read: they took all afternoon and evening to crochet), and thanks to a promise that I’d have them finished by morning, I was up late sewing on Larry’s eyeballs.

They were met with enthusiasm in the morning, though, so I guess it was worth it. The patterns are here.

Bob looks pensive, don’t you think? I’m pretty sure it has something to do with Larry and his blasted silly songs.

There’s nothing like a little time lapse slideshow, right? (Really, I just took way more photos than I needed and wanted to use them up somehow!)

I’ve written up the pattern for this little guy, and it’s available for free. Just click the image to download it.

If you make one, will you share it in my flickr group? Also, please do let me know if you have any questions or find any errors!

Coming soon: Dolly the Dachshund.

Well. Hmmm. Looks like I took a little blogging break there, didn’t I? I’m … not sure why. The days just ran into each other, with fleeting thoughts of, “Oh, it’s a blog post day, I’ll do it later,” and now here I am. The up side is you didn’t miss much, what with all the closing out of 2011 books and tax preparations. Exciting stuff, I tell you!

Right now I’m actually trying to finish working my way through Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards. I got so caught up in other artwork that I let this one sit for half a year, but now I’m going steadily through the exercises with finishing in sight.

I’ll share some of that later—it’s really fascinating science and interesting to learn the methods and techniques behind the things I’ve been doing intuitively—but for today, do you remember this conversation?

My daughter really wanted to give her teachers “pets” for Christmas, so I made one very fluffy kitty:

And a little dachshund:

And, lucky you, I wrote up patterns as I went, so I’ll share them in the near future too.

You have so much to look forward to, don’t you? (Why am I so cheeky today? Why do I sound British? I have no idea.)

“Mommy, Mrs. C. wants a cat for Christmas. I really want to give her one. Can we?”

Discussion about why giving someone a live animal for a gift may not be a great idea.

“Mommy, can you make one instead?”

Furious Amigurumi-ing

“Mommy, can you make a puppy for Mrs. L., too?”

More furious Amigurumi-ing

End Scene.

I’m making up my own patterns as I go, and I’ll share them, as well as photos, in the New Year. They’ve turned out pretty cute, if I do say so myself.

Meanwhile, a special little guy turns three today. He’s smart and funny and sweet, and I can’t believe the time has gone so quickly. Happy birthday, Nez!

So. This year’s goodies boxes. The jumble you see here is sort of representative of my brain right now, ha! But they’re much more organized—and prettier—in person, I assure you.

The boxes themselves are made of scrapbook paper using this tutorial.

They work a treat, but be forewarned that if you use thinnish paper as I did, they are not meant to be sturdy (i.e., carry them from the bottom).

Their four sections prompted me to make up four little goodie bags. I used plastic baggies I already had and printed up simple card stock labels, which I stapled on top.

They include my usual Tiger Fudge (why mess with a good thing?), two spice packets for cooking, and a little cloth bag filled with spices for mulling cider or wine. (Upon seeing prices for pre-made cloth spice bags, I promptly found some muslin in my stash and spent all of a few minutes whipping up my own version.)

The final touch, of course, was the snowflake ornaments.

The pattern for these came from here. (Here’s a little tip: If you mix your glitter right into your glue mixture, you’ll save a step, it’ll be a little less messy, and you’ll get a more even coat of sparkle.)

I’m still a bit in denial, but it really is “the most wonderful time of the year,” and it’s time to make merry. Sparkle away!

The crocheting is finished. The stiffening-with-glue is finished. The glittering is finished. The ribboning is finished.

I am really, really pleased with this year’s Christmas ornaments. They are delicate and lovely and just a touch sparkly. But this is all you get to see for now, until I’ve handed out the goodie buckets!

(Our Creative Spaces)

Every year I make ornaments to give as gifts to family and special friends, and this year is no different. I’ve got half of them crocheted and ready for the next step, which isn’t bad for a day’s on-and-off work.

I’m feeling (a bit alarmingly) ahead of the game compared to last year, but that may have something to do with the fact that this year I’ve purchased most of our gifts from Etsy sellers instead of making them all myself. (Which has been lovely, except for the almost triple cost of buying compared to making things with supplies I had on hand, eek!)

The decorations are up, and the ornaments are in progress. Quite a few gifts are already bought and wrapped, and I have the supplies for my popcorn garland. The month’s calendar is filled up, and ‘though I haven’t ordered them yet, the Christmas cards at least are not forgotten like they were last year. Maybe I will actually sit back and soak up some extra holiday cheer this year!

Twelve down. Sixty or so to go. And all loose ends tidily tucked in. (Will it last, Tania?)

I think there might be some new illos in the works this week too. I hope your week is off to a good start!