Quick little Coffee Cup amigurumi

 Working on my scrap yarn "use it up" challenge for May, and working on filler for my May 13 craft show, I wanted to make a few little coffee cup amigurumi. 

I have a pattern somewhere...I did a quick search and didn't find it, so I just winged it and made up a pattern. 

For the yellow and blue cups, I used worsted weight yarn and an F hook. 

The red cup is two strands of worsted weight held together. I started with an L hook, but after my turning row, it seemed like the stitches weren't tight enough to hide the stuffing, so I went down to a K hook. That's why the top seems a bit narrower than the base. 

So, here goes: 

Cup: 

Round 1: 6 sc in MR (6)

Round 2: inc x 6 (12)

Round 3: (sc, inc) x 6 (18)

Round 4: (2 sc, inc) x 6 (24)

Round 5: sc in BLO, or do BPSC. The BPSC is a little harder to do, but I think it makes a better turning edge. (24)

Rounds 6-10: sc (24) 

Round 11: sc in FLO (24) Finish off using invisible finish. 

I didn't do the invisible finish on this one... see the gap? 

I was trying to use up some scrap yarn and made one cup where I put a Round 12 of sc after the FLO row... and I like the way it turned out... The coffee is at a slightly lower level. 

Handle: in cup color

Leaving a starting tail long enough to sew end of handle on (about 4"), chain 10. 

Starting in second ch from hook, sc x 9. Ch 1 and rotate your work. Make a sl st in the bottom of each chain. FO, leaving a tail for sewing. 

You are working both sides of the chain, so you end up with an end for sewing at each end of the handle. You can play around with how you sew the handle on... putting the ends closer together makes more of a rounded handle. Putting them further apart makes for a flatter handle. 

I played yarn chicken with this cup, and only had about 10" of yarn left for the handle. I pulled the yarn through and drew up a loop, then made chains until I only had 2" of yarn left. I used that to sew that end of the handle down. 

Coffee: 

With a shade of brown... 

Round 1: 12 sc in MR

Round 2: hdc inc x 12 (24)

FO, leaving a tail for sewing. 

Assembly: 

Embroider a face on your cup. 

I put my safety eyes between rounds 7 & 8, with 3 stitches between. You can play around with different size eyes, different facial expressions, eyebrows, etc. 

I cut a small plastic disc from a cottage cheese container lid, and put it into the bottom of the coffee cup to help keep the bottom flat. Stuff cup lightly. 

Sew coffee layer to cup, using the back loop of Round 11 on the cup. When you only have a few stitches to go, see if you need to put in a little more stuffing. 

Sew handle to side of cup. 

All done! These work up quickly and use scrap yarn, so I sell them for $5 for the small ones and $7 for the double stranded ones at my craft shows. 

They make a great project to go... if you don't want to lug around a bag of stuffing and your favorite yarn needle and safety eyes. You can make the cup, handle and coffee, and do the face and assembly when you're back home again! 

11/18 update... at a craft show earlier this month, someone said I should make a "flip coffee", where you flip it from happy to sad. I worked up two cups as above, put them together top to top, and crocheted them together... Yay! Flip coffee! 

I want to see if sewing them together makes a better top... One thing I found out is that worsted weight yarn can vary in wraps per inch... for this project, it's best to do a wrap count for your yarn and make sure the count matches. For the yarns above, the wpi count varied from 9 - 11, and putting a 9 WPI cup with an 11 WPI cup made it more difficult to flip. 

Also, the green/red cup in the center has an extra increase row in the base. I went up to 30 stitches instead of 24. 

May Goals

 Wow, it's May already... 

May 1st was a crazy day, with lots of juggling my schedule around. I missed the fact that I had a dentist appointment at 10 am, and fortunately I was able to reschedule to 2 pm, but that meant I had to rush around getting my errands and shopping done early. So, my May calendar is still waiting to be updated in my day planner, my spreadsheet needs to be updated, my inventory spreadsheet needs an overhaul, etc.

I can cross one item off the list by getting this post up with my May goals. 

1) My #amibookchallenge project for May is the Walrus from my Zoomigurumi book. DONE

2) My Crazy Critter Challenge DONE!

I updated my parameters for this challenge - expanding the color selections, colors and accents: 

	Color	Critter	Accent Color	Accent
1	Red	Bear	White	Stripes
2	Orange	Dog	Black	Spots
3	Yellow	Lizard	Red	Mohawk
4	Light Green	Snake	Yellow	Bumps
5	Dark Green	Monster	Green	Ruffle
6	Light Blue	Turtle	Blue	Eyelash Yarn
7	Dark Blue	Axolotl	Purple	Dreads
8	Purple	Chicken	Pink	Bulky
9	Pink	Cat	Gray	Tweedy
0	Black	Dinosaur	Orange	Novelty Yarn

I pulled up random number generator and asked for a number from 0 - 9999. I got

4125 - so I will be making a Light Green bear with a black ruffle. I'm thinking a tutu for the ruffle. The color will be a bit off the beaten path, but eventually I'll come across someone looking for a green bear! 

Pattern is Buddy Bear 2.0 by Craftably Ever After

3) Mini Mermaid - DONE

4) Airplane - DONE

5) Ramen Noodles - free pattern by Stingy Ding Ding - DONE

6) Corgi (my own pattern) 

7) Use it up scrap bag - I filled a gallon zipper bag with scrap yarn, and will try to use it up this month. - DONE

This was the last project. He used up the last four tiny balls of yarn! 

The Purple leggy frog on the bench and the two in front came from the scrap bag. 

I made up a coffee cup pattern to use up some small bits. 

Scrappy Snakes are always a good way to use up small balls of yarn! 

8) #amigurumiwars2023 Spotlight Designer - Little Muggle - DONE

I made her Little Kitty pattern

9) Desert Blossom Crafts AmiguriMay challenge - DONE

Half done, made a pink giraffe

Part two - an elephant 

Mini Mushroom Pattern

I know, there are a lot of mushroom patterns out there! I have two that I've gotten free online, and I've sold just about every mushroom I made from those patterns... but I wanted something I could sell at a lower price point, something I can make in about an hour. So... I worked up this Mini Mushroom

It doesn't take much yarn at all, a total of half an ounce. 

They work up from 3 - 3.5" tall, depending on the yarn used. For the red one, I used a thinner white yarn for the stem. 

Mini Mushroom  

I used worsted weight yarn and an F hook

Uses .2 oz yarn in stem color

.3 oz in cap color

A few yards of white for spots on cap

 

Abbreviations used:

MR: magic ring

Sc: single crochet

Inc: inc

BLO: back loop only

FLO: front loop only

Dec: decrease

 

Starting at the bottom, with your stem color:

Round 1: 6 sc in MR. (6)

Round 2: inc x 6. (12)

Round 3: *sc, inc* x 6. (18)

Trace around your circle on a piece of plastic and cut to fit (I save lids from cottage cheese, sour cream, etc. for this). You will put the circle of plastic in the bottom of your stem to keep the bottom nice and flat!

Round 4: BLO sc in each stitch. (18)

Rounds 5-10: sc in each stitch. (18)

Embroider face. I put the eyes over round 8 and the mouth over round 6, with the edges of the smile going up to row 7.

Change to cap color.

Round 11: FLO *sc, inc* x 9. (27)

Round 12: *2 sc, inc* x 9. (36)

Put your plastic circle in the bottom of the stem and stuff stem.

Rounds 13-14: sc in each stitch. (36)

Round 15: * 2 sc, dec* x 9. (27)

Round 16: sc in each stitch. (27)

Round 17: *7 sc, dec* x 3. (24)

Round 18: *2 sc, dec* x 6. (18)

Round 19: sc in each stitch. (18)

Add stuffing, making sure you fill in the overhang of the cap.  

Round 20: *sc, dec* x 6. (12)

If needed, add a little more stuffing.

Round 21: dec x 6. (6)

Finish off, leaving a tail. Weave tail through the loops of Round 21 and pull closed. Hide yarn tail in cap.

 

Spots for mushroom cap. (I made three, but you can make as many as you want.)

With white yarn, 6 sc in MR. Finish off, leaving a tail to sew to mushroom.

 

I made this one with a peach colored yarn

This is a "Flower" yarn that I got from Dollar Tree. 

April 2023 Goals

 Here we go with my April Goals! 

1) For the #amibookchallenge, I am going to do a standalone pattern, Bruce the Beardie from Manic Yarns. DONE

2) Once again, I will make (at least) 5 scrappy projects - DONE

My Mini Mushroom pattern

Little Spring Bird by Blue Yarn Crochet

3) This month's Crazy Critter Challenge - the die toss says I'm supposed to make a red snake with green bumps. It will be a challenge to make him so he doesn't look Christmasy! = DONE

4) A Mishmash Monster made with items from my "spare parts bag" - DONE

5) Restock my Socksy Dachsie DONE 

6) Make a Mr. Ugly to replace the one sold 4/1 - DONE

I had such fun with this one that I made a second one! Scroll through my posts for "The Making of Mr. Ugly" for the free pattern! 

I finished up my list early, so I made a new goal: to finish up the orange yarn I used for Dan the Dino

As of 4/25 I have this much left over... maybe I'll try for a Chill Pill! 

March Goals - 2023

 I forgot to put up a post of my March goals, so here I go, reconstructing from my YouTube video. 

1) #amibookchallenge - This month I'm making the cheetah from Animal Friends of Pica Pau

Animal Friends of Pica Pau

2) 5 Scrappy Projects

Between a bunch of octopus and a handful of axolotl finger puppets, I finished this section of my goals! 

3) My Crazy Critter Challenge

I have lists of 1) color, 2) critters, and 3) accents. I toss a die to come up with the crazy critter of the month. This month's critter: an orange lizard with pink stripes. 

4) Mini-Mermaid - oops, this fell off my radar, didn't do it. 

I apparently substituted "Flower Yarn chicken" and got that done. 

5) Ramen noodles - this also fell off the radar

6) Publish Axolotl finger Puppet pattern to my blog - DONE! 

Axolotl Finger Puppet - Free Crochet Pattern

 

So, I was getting ready for work and thinking of what I need to do to prepare for this Saturday's craft show. I remembered that one year, I had a display of finger puppets, and the students working the show bought them one by one... one student went up to her friends with a little finger puppet, and soon they all came over and bought one. So, my mind was going over what was trending and if I could make a finger puppet for it... and it hit me... AXOLOTLS! 

The brown one was version 1.0. I went a little bigger with the green one (although it's a thinner yarn, so it doesn't look bigger), and then the blue one, and then a pink one where I added some rows; I was finally happy with the pink one, so here's the pattern. These work up really fast! I used Tulip Slick fabric paint for the eyes and mouth so I wouldn't have to embroider the face! 

Pattern: 

I used worsted weight yarn and a 4.5 mm hook. It takes about 2/10 of an ounce for the body, so you can use up some small scraps. For the blue guy, I couldn't find the right shade of orange for his gills, so I took a ball of variegated that had yellow and orange in it, and cut my gill pieces from that. 

Round 1: 5 sc in MR (5)

 I worked over my starting yarn tail so I didn't have to weave it in later

Round 2: Inc in each stitch (10)

Rounds 3-5: sc in each stitch (10)

If you are going to embroider your face, it is easier to do it now. Eyes are over round 3, mouth over round 4.

Round 6 - add arms: sc x 4, (ch 3, starting in 2nd ch, sl st 2), sc x 2, (ch 3, starting in 2nd ch, sl st 2), sc x 4. (10 stitches + 2 arms)

Round 7-8: sc in each stitch (on round 7, push rhe arm to the right side so you can work behind it). 

Round 9: repeat round 6

Round 10: sc in each stitch (10)

Now we go to working in rows to shape the tapered tail. 

Row 11: sl st x 3, sc x 4, ch 1, turn (for the next row, we're only working in the 4 sc)

Row 12: dec x 2, ch 1, turn (2)

Row 13: dec (1)

Fiinish off and weave in your yarn end. 

Cut 9 pieces of yarn in the gill color. I wrapped the yarn around two fingers to get a good length for working with. 

Loop one piece of yarn through each side of the head at rows 2, 3 & 4. 

Loop the tail gils at the bottom center, then at each side of row 12. 

Separate the strands of yarn and trim to the desired length. 

If you are using fabric paint for the face, apply and set aside (up high if you have kids who want to play with their axolotl) until paint dries. 

Mini Big Head Turtle Crochet Along Part 2

Here's part two: we make the head and sew it on, finishing up your mini big head turtle! 

Head:

Round 1: 6 sc in MR. (6)

Round 2: inc x 6. (12)

Round 3: (2 sc, inc) x 4. (16)

Rounds 4-9: 16 sc. (16)

Embroider eyes over round 5 with 5 stitches between. Embroider mouth one row below eyes, centered between them.

 

Round 10: (2 sc, dec) x 4. (12) Stuff head only.

Rounds 11-16: 12 sc (12)

Finish off, leaving 12” of yarn for sewing. Fold neck so that the face is centered on the front. Use yarn tail to sew bottom closed and sew to turtle shell opposite the tail. The bottom of the neck is sewed to the front loops of Round 8 of the shell, then sew the neck to the shell for three rows on each side of the neck.

 

If your turtle tips forward when you set him down, push in the center of his underbelly and pull his feet out. If that doesn’t work, push his head back toward his shell. Putting the circle of plastic on top of the stuffing before closing up the bottom of the shell helps keep the bottom nice and flat and helps prevent this problem.