HappyWhosits' Musings

So what is an ‘Amigurumi’???

2010-09-21T14:22:00.001-04:00

According to Wikipedia, the word “amigurumi” is derived from a combination of the Japanese words; "ami", meaning crocheted or knitted, and "nuigurumi", meaning stuffed doll.

Amigurumi are usually crocheted in the round, using a single crochet stitch, although they can be knitted as well. Typically, they are crocheted very tightly, often with a smaller than usual hook for the yarn, so that they can be firmly stuffed. A popular style of amigurumi features a large head with a much smaller body and limbs.

I must admit I had never heard of this term before we started selling on Etsy. Sue has been making crocheted, stuffed critters for many years. But as we learned about them, we realized that Whosits fit the amigurumi definition, so we started using the term to describe and tag our creations.

Per Wikipedia, by 2006 amigurumi were the most popular item sold on Etsy!

Eileen...

Whosit in the Making - Part 5 - What's in a Name?

2010-09-12T18:26:00.001-04:00

One more thing to do for the little dog - she needs a name! Her greeness is her most striking feature to me, so I was playing around with things related to "forest" or "tree" or "green" itself. One very fun place to play with names is babynames.com (if you use the advanced search, you can look for names by meaning). Some girly green names I liked were:

Midori - Japanese for green
Silvana - Latin for forest
Ilana - Hebrew origin, meaning tree

But I think I'm going to call her Emerald (or Em for short). She seems to be in agreement with me on that one!

Whosit in the Making - Part 4 - She's Here!

2010-09-12T18:17:00.002-04:00

The little puppy is finally done! I love making the faces best, because that's when the little critters seem to come to life! I like to use a lot of heavy satin stitching for the eyes to really build them up. I usually prefer to embroider yarn eyes, rather than using plastic safety eyes or beads, but I've seen some really engaging faces made on crochet animals with both of these. I also use a little bit of "needle sculpting" -- moving the yarn back and forth through the crochet and stuffing and pulling it tight to shape the face. I like to "ident" between the eyes, underneath the bridge of the nose to help create eye sockets. Another tip -- I stuff the nose with black yarn instead of stuffing, so no white shows through. :)

Picasa and her new cousin finally get to meet, nose to nose!

Whosit in the Making - Part 3 - Parts is Parts

2010-09-12T17:12:00.003-04:00

The little dog's body parts are now all crocheted (from her nose and blaze to her little popcorn stitch toes). So far, assembled, she looks like this -- we're getting there!

The next step is choosing a contrast color for the ears and tail. Since the brown was toned down a bit, and the green predominates due to the additional heathering of the multi-tonal green yarn, I'm picking up the aqua accents from the sock yarn with this super soft wool found at my local Yarn Shop (LYS).

Let you know when the little mite is assembled and ready for naming!

Whosit in the Making - Part 2 - And the winner is...

2010-09-12T11:05:00.002-04:00

We have a winner! Working two strands together provided a much better "fabric" that was tighter and much easier to shape. Plus I love the way the colors blended. On top is the first attempt of making Picasa 2's body with just the sock yarn and the the bottom is the two strand results. On to the rest of the body parts!

Whosit in the Making - Part 1B - Whoops!

2010-09-12T07:30:00.004-04:00

Hm...experiment using stretchy sock yarn (superwash wool/nylon) with B hook for body... fail. Stretches TOO much and very difficult to stuff evenly. Also, stuffing firmly causes the polyfil to show through. Either this type of yarn has too much give, or I need to use a smaller hook (now we're talking STEEL crochet hooks - the kind you use for doilies!), or maybe I was just having a loosey goosey crochet day.

So let's try a different tack and use double yarn with that B hook. Since brown is so predominant in the sock yarn, I'm going to try adding a very subtley variegated aqua/green fine weight wool I found on ebay. Let's see how this works out!

Whosit in the Making - Part 1

2010-09-11T13:01:00.002-04:00

I found this really cool hand-painted fingering yarn at http://knitpicks.com/ and I think it's the perfect candidate for my first Picasa dog in wool sock yarn. So far, I've made a few Picasas in wildly patterned acrylic worsted weight yarn with an F hook. Sock yarn will require a B hook to keep the stitching tight and prevent stuffing from showing through. The fun thing about amigurumi, is, as long as you keep the yarn and crochet hook in proportion so you get a tight "fabric", you can make the same cute critter out of any weight yarn. So we'll see how this mini-version of the Picasa comes out!

See the original Picasa story here: Picasa is Born...

"Tree Fort" Stroll Yarn - Superwash Merino Wool/Nylon

The original Picasa

Back after a long hiatus

2010-09-02T07:35:00.001-04:00

It’s been awhile. . .

The HappyWhosits blog has been neglected, as has our Etsy shop. Eileen and Sue have been busy with work, a new job, an aging parent, a new home, getting a home ready to sell – well, you name it, it’s been happening in the past year.

Luckily, we are both in a creative mode right now, and new ideas are taking form. Sue has been having a ball with some wonderful new yarns in merino, alpaca and bamboo. She has started a new line of “collectibles”; critters geared to adults, and those who cherish them as collectables. Many of them are eco-friendly as well, stuffed using filling made from bamboo and corn. Here are a few examples:

Isn't he adorable? He went to a collector at the Big Crafty in Asheville, NC in July

This is Sunshine Marigold - a cute little hedgehog, and below are a few more. All those spines are individually added to each hedgie.

Eileen has been churning out octopi, turtles and snails. The idea for a simple, egg-shaped birdie has been floating around in her head for awhile, and one was born last weekend. Several more are in the works. Look for more info in the next post.

Dachsie + Uniquely Patterned Yarn = Picasa Pup

2009-05-28T07:08:00.003-04:00

What to do? The dachshund next door was out in the backyard running up & down the fence line barking at my dogs again (he actually has a path worn in the grass). Meanwhile I'd unearthed some wildly patterned worsted weight yarn while excavating through boxes (fuschia, copper, white, navy, aqua, red and self-striping) -- what the heck was I gonna make out of that?

Z-z-z-z-ing!!! Hit by INSPIRATION, out came Picasa the Puppy. I couldn't wait to finish and post her. So what do you think?

Find her in our etsy shop here: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=25576676

And to enjoy more fiber art, please check out Alpaca Farm Girl's blog: http://www.alpacafarmgirl.com

Whosits Collectibles - A New Family of Fun Critters Made from Fancy Yarns...

2009-05-10T19:20:00.015-04:00

A new family of fun critters is being added to the Whosits lineup -- small mascots created from specialty yarns like alpaca, wool, silk, cotton and savory blends -- handmade from very special yarns to be admired and gently treated -- special friends to watch over you, admire your cleverness, and protect your innermost secrets.

Meet Albert. He's a gorgeously tiny turtle who's a technical whiz and has helped his buds get out of most any gadget glitz or computer conundrum. He does, sadly however, draw the line at Windows Vista -- alas, it even stumps Al sometimes.

His hairy closeup doesn't mean he needs a shave -- it just shows his very special paca genes. :) His shell is made from hand-painted green/tan/brown wool and his body is soft furry alpaca wool in an olive green.

Watch for more of Albert's friends at http://happywhosits.etsy.com .

Also be sure to check out other fantastic fiber artists at: http://www.alpacafarmgirl.com/2009/05/fiber-arts-friday-10/

Bunnies are Hopping Everywhere in Whosits Land

2009-03-26T12:23:00.001-04:00

We have had an explosion of bunnies at Happy Whosits! Sue was playing with a new design, and once she got it worked out, she just couldn’t stop creating bunnies!

These bunnies all sit very nicely, with their big hind feet to balance them. Some have solid, coordinating pads on their feet. Some bunnies have ears that stand up straight, some have floppy ears. All the bunnies are holding something between their front paws – sometimes a flower, sometimes a carrot.

Here a just a few! They are all available via our website HappyWhosits.com

Etsykids Virtual Trunk Show!! Dec 4th at 8 PM in the Etsy Labs!!

2008-11-30T21:43:00.000-05:00

Here's our next show - a VIRTUAL one on etsy! Sponsored by the EtsyKids street team, the trunk show will show off 15 etsykids shops (including us!) as well as some of the EtsyKids shops we love! Please see details here: http://etsykids.blogspot.com/2008/11/etsykids-team-trunk-show.html

We've also supplied a prize in the 12 Days of Christmas EtsyKids promotion (a Santa finger puppet http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=17772071) so be sure to play along and win a cool prize! See details here: http://etsykids.blogspot.com/

Sue...

Craft Attack 2008!

2008-10-05T20:33:00.001-04:00

Come join us at Craft-Attack in Charlotte, on Saturday, October 11th, 9:30am - 5pm! This festival will be a fantastic chance to do your holiday shopping and see amazing crafts and art (including the Whosits!) :)

See more at http://craft-attack.com/

Iggy's Here!

2008-05-24T21:42:00.000-04:00

Finally, my Iggy the Iguana hand puppet has been born! He's kind of squirmy and cute! :)

Hand Puppet Mania

2008-02-27T18:40:00.001-05:00

Puppet mania has arrived at my doorstep. I got on a roll, using funky yarn colors to make a big batch of hand puppets based on my own design, and I couldn't stop! That's how a poodle, a duck, a gray/black striped cat, two wildly striped giraffes (I know, I know - they're supposed to be spotted - welcome to MY fantasy world!), a speckled pig, a trendly aqua/brown dog, and a cute little baby blue bear were all born! Oh, and I almost forgot about Chester the Chicken!

It's amazing how many critters can evolve from one basic body pattern. I've built a finger tube into the stuffed head to make it easy to manipulate. The size of the puppet body seems to work well for both adults and children - little kids just use more fingers or even two hands to work the puppet! More puppet critters are banging around in my head, itching to be born - can't wait until the Easter bunny and the iguana are appear next! Feel free to check out these guys in our shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=13850&section_id=5003907

Happy Puppeting!

Sue...

Looking Back at 2007

2008-01-03T19:05:00.000-05:00

As we flip the calendar to a new year, it’s always a good idea to look back at the previous year and note the good things and the things we could do a bit better going forward.

2007 was a good year for Happy Whosits. Some of our accomplishments include:
More than doubled our etsy sales in both number of items sold and revenue.
Vastly improved the ‘look ‘ of our etsy shop with a new banner, new avatar, updated profile, shop policies and additional shipping profiles.
Shipped to several new international countries including Spain, Australia, and the UK.
Sue introduced amigurumi crochet patterns to etsy with Tootles the Turtle.
Eileen created her first critter completely from scratch – Snippy Snail.
We introduced a Happy Whosits blog.
We organized monthly etsy street team meetings for the Charlotte area sellers – we’re celebrating the one year anniversary of this team as of January 2008!

Now, what could we have done better?

Have more inventory! This would have allowed us to list more regularly on etsy as well as have better sales at the several craft shows we do each year. Real life and full-time jobs always seem to slow up production!
Update the blog more regularly – darn, that real life thing again!
Offer more variety in the critters we sell – any ideas of what you’d like to see?
Make the street team more effective – we’ve got a wonderful, hard-working core of regulars – what can we do to help each other out even more?

Okay, so those are pretty good lists. Do you have any comments? Please let us know.

We have a good idea what we think we need to concentrate on for 2008. More about that next time!

Eileen...

It's Craft Show Season!

2007-09-02T16:18:00.000-04:00

If you're in the Carolinas this fall, come look us up at one of our shows! The schedule is:

Sept 7th through the 15th: Cabarrus County Fair (Event Center B), Cabarrus Arena, Concord, NC http://cabarruscountyfair.com/

Sept 29th: Etsy Trunk Show - Anne Springs Close Greenway, Field Trial Barn - in Fort Mill, SC 11am - 4PM

Oct 19-21: Christmas Made in the South - Cabarrus Arena, Concord NC http://carolinashows.com/

Nov 30-Dec 2: Christmas Made in the South - Exchange Park, Charleston SC http://carolinashows.com/

Hope we get to see you there!

Snippy Snail is Born!

2007-07-12T10:10:00.000-04:00

I am so excited! My first ever, 100%, totally created from MY brain by MY fingers, amigurumi crocheted critter – Snippy the Snail!

As those who are familiar with Happy Whosits may already know, Sue originated Happy Whosits and I joined her about 12 years ago. My forte was Christmas ornaments and other holiday decorations. Then I added baby blankets and crocheted dishcloths. I started making some of the simpler stuffed animals a few years ago, with Sue providing the instructions. She encouraged me to try creating some of my own critters.

I’ve had the idea for a snail in my head for awhile (actually, since Acorngirl told us the story of her pet snail saving her life at one of our monthly etsy street team meetings – but that’s another story). I did a search on etsy to make sure the idea I had wasn’t something I had seen someone else do that had gotten stored in my subconscious. It wasn’t, so I started the design process.

I wanted the snail to be somewhat realistic, so I looked at a lot of pictures of real snails. I can’t draw worth a darn, so my design process is to pick up some yarn, and a crochet hook and start crocheting. It also involves a lot of ripping out and trying again, as well as discarded pieces and parts, and scraps of paper where I write down the pattern as I go.

I determined that the shell should have the look of circular ridges, and I wanted it to be perpendicular to the snail itself. So I played with several different crochet stitch combinations until I found one that produced the look I wanted. Once I had a shell I was satisfied with, I turned to the snail itself.

I decided I definitely wanted the snail to have antenna rather than the trademark Whosits hair. The next hurdle was stuffing him, but also making him stable enough to stand up. So, after playing around with him some more, he was flat enough on the bottom to stand on his own when his shell was attached.. But then, his head being bigger and heavier than his tail, he kept falling on his face! So I made a few more adjustments, and behold, Snippy was born!

As if you can’t tell, I must say I asm very proud of Snippy. He is cute and he is unique. Now I am off to try creating a sister for Snippy!

Eileen

Here Come the Bride & Groom! Octopi, that is!

2007-05-28T12:22:00.000-04:00

My latest innovation - a bridal octopi couple! I call then Jen & Ben after a nice etsyian I met & her boyfriend (see http://juror2.etsy.com). She said they get teased alot with the Bennifer & Jenjiman stuff (like Brangelina), so I thought that would be a nice touch for these two!

Ben has a sophisticated white top hat, adorned with a white/gold band & a pink flower to match Jen's bouquet. Jen has a lacy white/gold veil & pink floral bouquet (removable so that she can toss it to her single friends!).

They should be great for any wedding or shower! Please take a closer look at: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=6063948

Sue...

My First Crochet Pattern - Tootles Turtle!

2007-05-20T21:15:00.000-04:00

I've finally put together my first self-published pattern for the HappyWhosits Zoo - a larger version of the ever popular Whosits turtle, named Tootles! She features a feminine trim on her shell & the trademark whosits hair & smile!

This pattern is written in the simple crochet terms you find in most published books and is appropriate for anyone familiar with crocheting in the round and using common crochet stitches. I've included many photos to use as guides. Hopefully, this will be the first of many! See the pattern at http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=6009901 .

Sue...

Lions & Lions & Lions, Oh My!

2007-02-08T21:18:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I love the Wizard of Oz, I must admit! :) I just got on a roll making some lions, so I thought I'd share!

Fleur & Wild Thing are "brothers", both made out of different shades of Red Heart Strata yarn. Fleur's mane & tail are crocheted flowers that were sewn on. Wild Thing's mane & tail are individual yarn strands that were hand "rug-hooked" onto him. Both little guys are available for sale on the website.

WILD Thing
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=5331036

FLEUR de LION
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=5225644

Until next time!

Sue...

Carolina Etsyians Meet Up - January 2007

2007-02-04T12:28:00.000-05:00

Several Carolina Etsy artisans got together in January to meet and plan for mutual marketing opportunities. The MeetUp was held at Barnes & Noble cafe at Carolina Place Mall in Charlotte NC.

Attending were your Whosit crew - Eileen & Sue...
EclecticCircle and AcornGirl - Garland & Mary...
SnitchesGetStitches and Xiane - Melissa & Chris...

The next meeting is Saturday, February 10, 2007 @ 4:00pm in Barnes & Nobles Cafe at Carolina Place in Charlotte, I485 and Hwy 51. If you can join us, post to this forum thread: http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5029121

And be sure to stop by our shops:
http://happywhosits.etsy.com
http://eclecticcircle.etsy.com
http://acorngirl.etsy.com
http://snitchesgetstitches.etsy.com
http://xiane.etsy.com

TTFN, Sue...

Happy New Year from Happy Whosits!

2007-01-02T10:33:00.000-05:00

We're looking forward to a great new year for Happy Whosits! We'll be listing more products on the website - please check out our rainbow of turtles at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=13850&page=1&section_id=5032070&order=

Holy Pterydactyl, Batman!

2006-08-19T21:34:00.000-04:00

Hello again! Well, I received a very special finger puppet order for a cute couple that wanted a pair of dinosaurs. And I'm very tickled with how they came out. I think I will add them to my finger puppet list. Let me know what you think! Back to crocheting!

Sue...

SPECIAL SPECIAL SPECIAL !!!!

2006-08-09T06:46:00.000-04:00

Hurry! We're running a limited time offer on our website -- receive a free Finger Puppet of your choice for each purchase, now through August 18th!

You can choose from a wide variety of cute little critters:

bird with feather (recommended for older puppeteers)
duck
bunny
teddy bear
panda
polar bear
lion
tiger
elephant
giraffe
pony
dog
cat
mouse
bat
spider
octopus
pig
dinosaur
kangaroo
penguin

Please stop by and take advantage of this limited time promotion!

Lion Brand Boutique and Raining Turtles!

2006-06-18T19:01:00.000-04:00

A while back I uploaded one of my turtles to a new venue on the Lion Brand Yarn website called the Boutique. Here's the url: http://www.lionboutique.com/. Lion Brand publishes a weekly email newsletter, and last week's edition included the turtle. Now orders are coming in for my little guys in special colors and I'm crocheting a whole pond full this weekend! The camo turtles are the most popular.

Remember, if you are interested in your own special turtle, just email us or go to our etsy site and click on "request alchemy from this seller". Special orders/color combinations are always exciting because folks tend to come up with color combos I've never thought of! Like the colors I did to match a crocheted head scarf for a young lady or the email I just received today asking about a turtle in NY Mets colors (orange & blue)!

Back to crocheting...

Sue....

Festival Report

2006-06-14T06:48:00.000-04:00

Well, we're back from High Point's Celebrate Our State festival. With a first year festival, it's always a gamble to see if you will have a financially successful experience or not. For the Whosits crew, this show was more of a "marketing opportunity" than a financial success. We did make a lot of contacts among the artisans and the show visitors, passing out the neato brochure that Eileen had made that explained both etsy and Happy Whosits. Hopefully, we'll see some visitors from these contacts!

The festival itself was great -- very nice venue/facilities, very helpful and pleasant staff, excellent artisans, great bands, tasty food and interesting informational booths. We just didn't have the crowd we'd hoped for. Was the festival competing against too many graduations that weekend? Was the admission fee too high? Was it too hard to find parking in downtown High Point? Was more advertising needed? Should it be more holiday oriented? No one was sure, but we would go back again once the festival matures and finds its audience.

We also experimented with some new display options for the booth that Eileen is considering for our fall festivals. Here's the flickr url: http://www.flickr.com/photos/83271516@N00/sets/72157594169920992/

Next on the agenda, I have orders to fill and I need to get the etsy site updated.

Till next time,

Sue....

Frantic, Freaked Out and Frenzied!

2006-06-05T17:08:00.000-04:00

Three more days and we’ll be doing set-up for the Celebrate Our State show. Sue and I are both starting to freak out – there’s so much that still needs to be done.

The booth size is 13 by 8. We are used to doing 20 by 10, so the layout of the booth had to be reworked. And, we won’t be displaying Christmas ornaments, holiday merchandise or scarf and hat sets in June. So I spent an evening with my graph paper, working on how to do the set-up. I came up with several alternatives, Sue has picked which one she likes the best, and we loaded the horse trailer accordingly. Yes, horse trailer – that’s how we get all the display to the shows – Sue’s horse trailer does double duty.

Here’s a link to pictures of last year’s Southern Christmas Show booth, so that you can get an idea of our set-up: http://www.flickr.com/photos/83271516@N00/sets/72057594062692542/.

The new business cards with the etsy.com address are ready. The reminder lists of what we need to bring to the show are updated. I started working on a brochure to hand out.

But there’s so much left to do! Toys to finish up. The table covers and lace that we use to cover up the crates need to be freshened. We need a non-Christmas custom sign, if Sue gets a chance to get it made. Organize all the merchandise, tag it, get it packed up. Finalize who is going to take care of the dogs. It’s going to be a busy couple of evenings!

Next time we’ll let you know how the show went.

Eileen…

Welcome to the Happy Whosits Blog!

2006-05-27T16:30:00.000-04:00

Hello, All!

I'm starting a blog to announce interesting activities happening in Happy Whosit land.

Right now, Eileen and I are working like crazy to get ready for our first show of the year. It's called "Celebrate Our State", and is a first year festival being launched at the Furniture Mart Showplace in High Point, NC.

The dates are June 9th through the 11th. If you're in the neighborhood, stop by and say Hi! The Whosit team will be setting up shop in booth 1703.

The website for the festival is: http://www.showplace-highpoint.com/ourState.htm.

Please visit our online store at: http://happywhosits.etsy.com.

If you're interested in participating in the email group for Carolina Etsy folk, please email us at happywhosits.aol.com and we'll send you your own personal invitation!

Sue...