konichiwa, princess plum blossom!

aka "AMY-gurumi"! ♥♥♥

i've been knitting more than crocheting lately, and not really doing too much of that; but when i saw this chibi kokeshi doll pattern by susan morishita* in her etsy shop, amigurumi friends studio, i totally fell in looooooooooove and just HAD TO make it ASAP:

of course by the time i was halfway through i was completely hooked on amigurumi again; i mean what's not to like? ami's are teeny, they attain a nearly unbeatable level of cuuuuuuuuuuuute, and they require only the most basic skills**. plus, crocheting is one of the things you can easily do when you are stuck  laying on your living room floor for several days, in the midst, perhaps, of a bit of a "bad back episode" (which... YEAH... i was, and still am, a bit... ack!)***

i made this adorable little lady for another adorable little lady you may know--ms. amy tsuruta--and
found out today that she has arrived safely at the other end of our nation; i do hope they will live happily ever after together! ♥♥♥

*i was so pleased with this project that i zapped a photo to susan, who posted it on her blog and facebook-- how cool is that?! btw, i highly recommend the "amigurumi friends" patterns not JUST for their massive adorability factor, but also, the instructions are clear and easy to follow; there are plenty of photos, especially of the finishing technique, which i think is the hardest bit and the most important to do right. go check out the shop!!! ♥


**if you can single crochet, increase and decrease, you've pretty much mastered the sport! it is absolutely essential to mark your rows on both your work and your pattern, tho...and to count every single row accurately; i am famous for "fudging" inaccuracies in other crafts, but ami's do kind of need to be precise.


***in addition to this, one of my crazy sub-standard teeth has apparently been plotting secretly against me for MONTHS--either that or, as summer approaches, my dentist has his heart set on an in-ground swimming pool--in any case, tomorrow i'm headed off to see a periodontist about getting some very expensive, totally horrifying, and ALSO not-covered-by-insurance (ACK!!!) work done. did i mention my SERIOUS DENTAL PHOBIA??!?!??!?  if you are not doing anything special at 8am EST on thursday, please send some serious bravery vibes in my direction, k? ta, darlings! ♥♥♥