cletus the mini dachshund wishes you a happy valentine's day

despite being an educated and sophisticated sociologist, cletus can't help but fall into the commercialized corporate trap that is valentine's day. something about those red hearts just makes him so giddy!

ami ami dogs: the first installment

meet carlile the corgi. he's a shy but loving little pooch. he wishes he could find the courage to ask the cute dachshund next door for a walk along the neighborhood stream, but alas, all he can do is hide behind his human's leg whenever she trots by. 

so, i had some issues with this little guy. living in a small city = limited yarn variety. consequently, i had to use two different yarn gauges to create the corgi. no matter how many times i stomped through the aisles, i couldn't find the perfect corgi fur-like yarn. another thing: the selection of eyeballs and noses are limited as well. i had to order them from an etsy store called 6060. if you're looking for doll eyes, noses, doll joints, and/or buttons, this is the place for you. no really, there's literally no other store online to buy a good selection of doll thingamabobs for cheap. and they shipped fast.

the pattern is from a japanese book (photo below) that i lugged back with me this past month.

a bale of turtles

here's a request for a family of turtles that i had since before i left for japan... I KNOW! i'm so sorry it was delayed.

here are my excuses:

• i had food poisoning (really, i did!)
• jet lag (now this, i definitely had)
• worldwide snowstorms
• had to leave the state to attend a protest (i didn't really..)
• general apathy and laziness (what?...)

ok, in all seriousness: this is not my own pattern. it comes from amigurumi two! crocheted toys for me and you and baby too. I did make the stitching on the shell and the underside pink instead of orange.

a few things i picked up along the way

my trip in sum