Red the Fox

We had a blast making elephant and mouse. I will not lie, we struggled with letting them go because they were so adorable. It made it a little easier that the Fox Amigurumi is staying home with us.

Made the head first. Add the muzzler and embroidered the nose. Attached the safety eyes and stuffed the head.

What does the Fox say?

What does the Fox say?

The Fox say " I miss you Elephant and Mouse. I know you will enjoy living in the Forest living with lovely Sophie. She loves you already. Share her secrets, make her laugh, wipe away her tears. She will introduce you to Poopsie and Plum and their lively gang- Gary the Hog, Mung the Bird, Zin the Bear and the Pole brothers. What a glorious time you'll have. Cannot wait to hear about your adventures when we meet in Imagination Forest! Love you"

eWee and Tramacula the Dracula

I have not made any Amigurumi since daughter L went to college. No, it is not because I am depressed. It is because I am catching up on those parts of my life that was on hold while we prepared to send her off to college. It is amazing how many things I stopped doing.... Plus, I did make a ton of those Warrior Amigurumi - Ninja, Knights, Spartan and Trojan, before she left. My sister C in New York has been hassling me to make some for her. She borrowed the Creepy Cute Crochet book from the Library and was rattling off what she wanted, as though she was ordering from a mail order company!!

The weather has been a scorcher of late. All I wanted to do was watch a movie in a cool air-conditioned room. Did I get to do that? No! Actually I did get to watch or was forced to watch a movie past my bedtime by my beloved nephew alias eWee - How to lose a guy in 10 days :) Okay I admit is was fun to hang out with eWee and his antics.

I do not know how but she did it. In the second weekend in college, daughter L manages to get herself painted the letter O and be part of the Rally Committee for Berkeley, positioned at the 50 yard line, televised live on ESPN during the Football game between Cal and the Maryland Terrapins! She sure knows how to get into the heart of activities. Needless to say, we just had to stay back and watch the game, So eWee stayed another day and night. Sigh.......thus began the torture.

eWee spied the Amigurumi on my computer desk. At first all he wanted was for me to make him some for Christmas. Next, he decided he wanted to make them himself. When he discovered the ready made bodies I had in my stash, he was on a roll to make himself the most fresh Amigurumi in the world. We looked up bleach characters. He wanted red hair and great coat that flared out......so there he was, draping felt over the body trying to get a good feel for his character. Thank God, I made him cut out paper templates before actually cutting the felt or I would be in the craft shopping right now, replenishing my supply. I have to admit he made (he came up the idea and"Aunt H can you sew this for me") a really fresh red undercoat. 3 hour, a white and a black overcoats later.... it was not right. Looks like Dracula not Bleach,he says. Back to square one or rather down to the red undercoat. I take off the top layers but think the red coat is a keeper. I am tired. eWee tries on other head/ body combination. He is still not happy. Break for lunch.

I tried. I tell you, I tried not to be dragged back to the project, telling him I will send him something for Christmas to no avail. He was relentless- eWee. A few more version later and he gives in. The red. white and black combination just spelled Dracula. So he set out to make a very respectable Dracula. It is late at night and my eyes are getting blurry. eWee says" You know what Aunt H, it would be really fresh if he had a top hat." Off he goes for a shower and the sucker that I am, I make a top hat. Ha, ha.... it does make the Amigurumi or as eWee like to say, " It's fresh." Take a look at Tramacula..... name for Temecula!!



You know how it is. Once you make one, you make another. So I decided to make sister C one of the Amigurumi she wanted - the Grim Reaper. He is cute don't you think so??? So C, get Grim Reaper from eWee or his mom. Don't let him keep it. I warned eWee you will do him bodily harm if he tries to keep Grim Reaper.

Warrior Army

Been busy making my warrior army. A little something to go out into the world, to college with daughter L and some of her friends. I really had a great time making them. Making the heads and bodies took no time at all. It is joining of the head to the body- I am never satisfied with how it looks. In particular when I am joining a head to a different colored body. Most of the instructions on the blogs say a good join involved visible stitches that will blend into the stitches. Not when they are two different colors! I have yet to perfect it ( to my standard) ... I like strong invisible stitches in joining.

The most work is in the clothing and accessories. That seems to take forever to perfect. I have to work a better system or get better scissors to cut those felt weapons. So in the past week I have in my spare time i.e. while watching telly made 6 completed warriors and 7 naked bodies wanting to be transformed!


I think they turned out quite nicely. Don't you?? :)



Morning roll call with Captain Frasier
The Line up:-

Trojan and the Blue Knight

Spartan and Ninja

Cleric and the Brown Knight

Garden Duty

Femur and Hip's Wedding

Today was a special day. Femur and Hip tied the knot!! Happy Day! All the Crobots were invited. Cousin Hip was so handsome in his tuxedo.Femur was such a beautiful bride and nice to the bone.

We thought we would have a Martha Stewart Wedding for them. So I made Bo Ssam ( a slow roasted pork shoulder) for the Wedding reception. Been craving it since I saw it being made by Chef David Chang of Momofuku / Ssam bar restaurants. It had been marinating in the fridge since yesterday. Today I roasted it for 3 hours. The house smells absolutely divine!! For the Wedding Cake I made The Cookies and Cream Cheesecake from the Martha Stewart's Cupcake book. So easy, quick and utterly delicious!!


Oreo base and chopped Oreo in cream cheese mixture
30 Delicious Cookies and Cream Cheesecakes

Mechanobot

Squeak, squeak. Hmm, where is that coming from? Late in the night when everyone is asleep but for me and the tv, I hear squeaks and rattles. I ignore it as I am one with the tv and the dvr - watching my current obsession - Top Chef Masters! Come on, admit it you are addicted too. Who am I rooting for?? I started watching on accident. I caught the one with chef Micheal Chiarello, with his winning dessert with basil sorbet. So of course, I am rooting for him. Cooking from the garden is what I love. I have always loved Rick Bayless and the ease he interpretes and promotes Mexican food. Yesterday, for the first time I watch Chef Anita Lo in action and I was blown away!! I love how she thinks as a chef. I so called it that she would put an Asian twist on the lobster cappuccino. These three chefs cook the way I like to cook - emphasis on the ingredients and clean flavors, complex but clean. As usual I digress. Hey, that is why it is my blog. Failing writing 101....

Anyway, it appears that a number of my Crobots have one screw loose. Ha, ha I could not resist this Asian insult!! I do not want to spend my time repairing them for minor afflictions like squeaking and rattling. So, I decided I needed to make Mechanobot. He is handy with pliers,screws, nuts and blots. I figured he could take care of such things while I will take care of broken limbs and lost stuffings. Rustled around and found some hardware to make Mechanobot the very handsome, cute and handy guy he is. He is also very current- notice the use of mixed metal , silver with gold (his antenna).


And now we have 4 CROBOTS!

Dogbot

I finally gave my Crobots their long awaited dog - Dogbot! I had to stop agonizing and accept the ears was going to be what it was!! Besides, I wanted Dogbot to take care of my Crobot kids while we were away at Cal!

Dogbot's ears were supposed to be pointed in the book but it just did not work for me.... he looked more like a Catbot that way...... Hmmm.... maybe he needs a mouth. Ha, ha... then I have buy Dogbot food. What would that be....iron filings, rust????

Left the Crobots and their pet with some snacks . Came home and found them partying. Dogbot was on top of can! House seem to survive the trip intact.




Frasier our Standard Poodle must have been envious of the partying in the house while he was on the patio outside. When I first put Dogbot on the floor, Frasier tried to bite off his head. Ha, ha.. it was only because Frasier is so large and Dogbot is so small. Frasier open his mouth and Dogbot could have fitted in it in one bite.

Lucky for him , his friend George the Labradoodle came to visit. He is getting very suspicious whenever he see a suitcase or any signs of packing going on....He is afraid we will leave him behind again. Poor baby!!

CROBOTS want a pet !!

Zombiebot is doing an excellent job guarding my writing instrument. He keeps me company while I blog and of course while I work on my assignment for the Photo Editing - Frames and effect classes. I have spent more time with him than those I carried within me for 9 months and brought into this world through much labor and pain (which incidentally still continues......).

Babybot is so very cute. We spoil him because he is just a BABY! So far, he sits on top of little basket, on top of the side table, beside my chair in the family room. He watches tv and monitors channel 51 Nevada. He is keeping in touch with the latest in the world. He watched the MJ tribute and I thought I saw a glint in his eyes. He had just finished uploading trivia about the 70s and 80s and knew all about MJ. I think I might have caught him trying the Moonwalk other night, just as I was switching off the lights......

Like with all children, they are always wanting something or the other. Well, that something right now is a pet!! Yes, a pet - I caved. So I am making a Dogbot for them. Dogbot is almost together or is together but I just don't like his ears so I am not giving it to the kids yet. I have to get this right.Hopefully, it is not going to take too long more because I have things to do, places to go........

CROBOTS

Those funky Amigurumi CROBOTS started me crocheting again! They are so adorable - quirky, tough and yet so cuddly- watch out for the screws and bolts!! Where were they when I was big into crochet and making money off my crochet skills? It was after the major Form 3 ( 9th grade) Assessment Exam (Sijil Pernilaian Rendah) Mom taught me how to crochet.

We had all taken the all important and life changing Form 3 assessment which would decide if we were going into the Science or Art stream for the rest of our high school life or horror - be booted out of the public school and have to go to private schools ( the shame). It was the examination that separated the `smarts' (Science stream kids) from the "not so smart'(art stream kids) and the 'poor things' (did not pass- go to private schools).Anyway, I digress.....it seemed like we had eons of time in school after examination and waiting for the results. Mindless days in the classroom without actual lessons. Mom taught me how to crochet and I taught my friends. They fumbled while I thrived. Soon I was making bags, hats, belts you name it for my classmates and making pocket money to boot. Soon I was making tops and dresses and started taking custom orders from the boutiques and craft shops. What I meant to say is I would have much rather be making these adorable CROBOTS!!!
ZOMBIEBOT- is my firstborn Crobot. Is he not cute, rakishly handsome and tough as nails? Dear husband said I should be care and not put in those nails because little children may put them in their mouth! Hah! that is the beauty of this stage of my life- no little children. Love his dangly arms. Zombiebot has a very important job - he stands guard and making sure no one steals my pencils and pens!! I know you are so jealous because you have no one to guard over your stuff.



BABYBOT- is my second child. Did not have the right colors but I could not wait, used whatever I had. I think he is adorable. Fits perfectly in my hand. With his red receivers he received channel 51 Nevada and help keep our planet safe from aliens!!! Now, I just have to find him something at home.......

Come see how Babybot came to be........