Amigurumi 'Peep' Bunny Rabbits

I finished my little gifts for my three nieces  (now ages 7, 6, and 4) for Easter.  I found this really cute pattern that reminds me of the Easter bunny 'Peeps' that you see everywhere this time of year.  They were pretty fast to crochet and didn't involve too much 'sewing' of parts together.  (Not my favorite activity.)  I realized after taking the photo below that I should have sewn the ears a little closer together on the bunnies heads.  I've discovered though that you can play with the ears and make them stand up a little straighter as opposed to pointing left and right.  Since the pattern calls for filling the bottom of the 'body' with plastic pellets, these little guys will stand on their own.  I'm giving one of the hot pink ones to my niece who lives near me.  The other two are flying with me to Virginia tomorrow.  As always, all bunnies will be accompanied by a tube of mini M&Ms.  The pattern is actually called 'Love Bunnies' and it's by Erika Hughes.  You can find it here.  

Amigurumi Bunnies and Vintage Needles

I just finished the three Amigurumi bunnies I made as gifts for my nieces for Easter.  Of course, they'll also be receiving the requisite M&M's with them.  Just as I did with their Valentine's Day goodies, I wanted to finish in plenty of time after my hurry at Christmas to finish the Amigurumi puppies in one week! 



I have to thank the blogger at Nerdigurumi for sharing this

easy and fantastic pattern that she created.  Not only can you make these bunnies with this basic pattern but you can also make other 'critters'.  Be sure to check out her site. 

I've also been busy knitting and crocheting items for The Humble Stitch and Knit-A-Square.  I have enough items to ship to The Humble Stitch and the package will go out by the end of the week.  Right now I'm still working on the ladies drop stitch scarf I showed a few posts ago but I did finish the man's long scarf and the cabled hat to go with a beanie, 2 sets of fingerless gloves and 2 other scarves.  These are a combination of knitted and crocheted items.

As I mentioned previously, I came across some vintage plastic and bakelite knitting needles when Duane and Linda and I were roaming antique shops near where Duane lives.  I loved using them so much that I managed to buy another set from the same store and then decided to look on eBay.  I scored with 2 separate lots of vintage needles (some of which I've shared with Duane and Linda) of almost every size.  I don't know if I'll ever use metal knitting needles again.  These are a mixture of plastic, bakelite and a few wood sets.  I was hesitant about bamboo needles because I had heard pros and cons about them when it comes to speed and breakage.  I first learned to knit on a child-size set of plastic needles when I was 11 years old.  I made a few (very) simple things for my 'Heidi' doll -- mostly capes with pretty buttons as a fastener.  After I outgrew the doll, I stopped knitting and didn't pick it up again until late last year but I find it very relaxing.  I decided to 'display' my knitting needles in tall glass vases I had around the house and they now sit on my midcentury modern coffee table in my home office.   I am now officially a needle and yarn junkie.