It still feels like a dream…it’s been barely a week since the release of my book, Hello Kitty Crochet and the love has been steadily pouring in nonetheless!
I’m very excited for all those who have yet to receive your books, I’m sure you’ll love the 25 patterns that I’ve lovingly put together for you. Write in and tell me which is the first pattern you went for and why! I’d love to see your work and share it here on my blog 🙂
In the next few posts, I hope to share a series of exclusive Hello Kitty Crochet tips, to help you make Miss Kitty White and the rest of her pals as picture-perfect as possible!
Ready? Let’s go!
Exclusive Hello Kitty Crochet Tip #1: The ever-important head-molding exercise
…
As mentioned in the “Special Techniques” part of the book (pg 11), most of the head patterns require a good squeeze to mold them into shape.
Step 1: Crochet as normal.
Step 2: When it’s time for stuffing, simply shape and squeeze the head piece so that the front (where the face will be) has a flattened appearance.
Step 3: Stuff with polyfill fibre according to this newly-shaped shape.
Step 4: If necessary, give it a few more squeezes after you fastening off.
Squeeze……and squeeze…
Tada! There you have it! Unique Sanrio character-shaped heads! Try it and let me know what you think 🙂
P/S Next up will be all about giving Miss Kitty White a sweet and cute face! Plus, don’t forget to send in a picture of yourself and where the Hello Kitty Crochet books can be found at your local bookstores to join my exclusive amiguruMEI giveaway contest!
Ohayou! Today marks the release of my book, Hello Kitty Crochet! Woohoo!
I would like to give myself a huge pat on the back for surviving the wait…and to you too, if I could!
Please allow me to say a big “THANK YOU VERY MUCH” (本当にありがとうございました) for all your love, patience and support — I couldn’t have done it without your constant encouragement and sweet words, raring me on to continue crocheting even through the most impossible of days.
As a tribute to this very special day, I would like to announce an exclusive…
1) Go to a bookstore anywhere in the United States.
2) Snap a picture of yourself posing with the Hello Kitty Crochet books on display in-store.
3) E-mail the picture over to me at amigurumei[@]gmail[dot]com
The prize?
A surprise amiguruMEI handmade crochet doll sent to your doorstep!
Okay, so how to win?
1) Be the first three to send in a clear and pretty picture of the above. Yes, three lucky winners!
2) Be my Twitter follower @amigurumei and fellow Pinterest pinner @amigurumei or Mei Li Lee.
3) Help spread the word!
And if you don’t win…
I’ll still share your pictures on my blog and give you a nice, neat shoutout for your kind effort!
Contest deadline:
Oct 1, 2014.
Questions, questions
1. Don’t worry! Photos can be from your phone, tablet or camera. I would prefer clear, sharp pictures but if shaky hands are your thing, send them over anyway!
2. Eligible participants can be from anywhere around the world. If you can’t be in the United States for now, why not get a friend from there to snap a picture for you?
3. Availability of the book — For now, my publishers at Quirk Books only have word that the book will be available in the United States bookstores. For my United Kingdom friends, the books will arrive in-store Oct 9. Yay!
4. For fellow Hello Kitty Crochet fans outside of the United States, please bear with us as we wait for upcoming news on the availability of the book elsewhere. In the mean-time, you can still order online via the book cover link on the top right sidebar of this page. For e-books, you can try here.
Best wishes!
XOXOXO
Mei
P/S And now I leave you with a fancy-schmancy photo taken by my good friend @peyday 🙂
Are you guys excited? It’s about 15 days till the release of Hello Kitty Crochet!
I just received my advanced copies and I’m so pleased with them! I’m sure you will be too when your copy arrives!
If you still haven’t purchased a copy, you can do so by clicking on the book cover on the top right sidebar of this blog 🙂
Many have been asking me about the contents of the book. All I can say is: everybody loves a good surprise! Here you can see Chococat, My Melody, Hello Kitty, Keroppi and Badtz Maru. Just who else have made it into the book? Let me know your guesses!
I hope you like Miss Kitty White’s pattern! 🙂
I love how cute yet sturdy the book is! I had a great time working with senior designer Amanda Richmond of Quirk Books, who have been ever so accommodating with my still-developing photography skills. I think she did a fabulous job with the design!
It still feels like a dream that I have a book to my name, and one that is attached to Sanrio and Hello Kitty too!
P/S Please do let me confirm on the availability of the book in Asia, particularly in Malaysia and Singapore. If all goes well, I may just get to meet all you Hello Kitty fans at a book-signing event! Stay tuned 🙂
Before Sept 16 comes around though, how about I interest you in something else first, say, a cute little hedgehog named Mimi?
Hi!
Mimi-chan (short for Ayumi) is a baby hedgehog who loves watching the autumn leaves fall.
Her weakness? Sweet, ripe apples.
Apple!*bari, bari* (the sound of munching in Japanese)
She enjoys clambering from tree to tree (when she’s not too heavy, that is).
Help!
No one has yet dared to tell her this: that her dreams of growing up to become a bushy-tailed squirrel is just that — a dream.
Ja ne! (See you!)
P/S
I had the pleasure of working with Craft Passion again to design this lovely hedgehog amigurumi pattern. (By the way, have you checked out Craft Passion’s hedgehog coin purse pattern? Totally adorable!)
The pattern is a fantabulous way to use up any fuzzy yarn that you have at home. Since you will be surface-crocheting directly onto the body piece that already has all the single crochets laid out for you, you should be able to see where you’re going 🙂
Feel free to give Mimi-chan a splash of colour! And when you do, send me a picture! 🙂
Several months ago, I was asked to design a sweet butterfly girl for the magazine and boy, was I excited to start!
The pattern took several weeks to perfect — I had originally made the wings in black and blue (pretty like the Blue Morpho butterfly) but had to change them to lighter colours so that they would stand out a little more.
Cho-Cho (蝶 or Chō is butterfly in Japanese) can be seen on the cover and also on the mag’s web. I was delighted to find it hovering here at this page!
Here’s a closer look at Cho-Cho, the tiniest queen of the garden:
Here’s what Cho-Cho looked like from before. What do you think?
Three of amiguruMEI’s patterns can now be found in Hand Made Toys! (The cover below should give you a hint as to which ones!)
Hand Made Toys is a special publication brought to you by the brilliant team behind Future publishing, the publishers of craft wonders Mollie Makes and Simply Crochet magazine. It’s packed with 40 super-cute toy designs that you can crochet, knit or sew together on your own.
The bookazine will be going on sale Thursday, May 8 (tomorrow!), and will be available worldwide by mail order from My Favourite Magazines. It will also be sold in WH Smith stores and leading newsagents in the UK, and in Barnes & Noble stores in the USA.
I’ve also been told that the Apple Newsstand will feature a digital version for the iPad — simply go HERE to download the free Simply Crochet container app, and the digital version of Hand Made Toys will be available there.
And now, for the big reveal: Hand Made Toys features not only our ever-popular Chiyo-chan and Tako-Yaki bear brothers patterns, but also the Little Red & Baby Wolf amigurumi pattern that everyone has been asking about! (The fairytale-ish pattern was earlier featured in a special booklet attached to Simply Crochet Issue 10, which has since been sold out.)
Here’s a glimpse of the amiguruMEI pattern pages in Hand Made Toys:
I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy of Hand Made Toys for sure!
If you do want to know amiguruMEI a little more, go grab a copy because we have a special page dedicated to answering some personal questions about the whole business with amigurumi and how I first fell in love with the craft.
Check out the picture below for a sneak peek!
We’re super excited about this and I hope you are too! Please grab yourself a copy (or two) of Hand Made Toys before it’s all sold out!
amiguruMEI 