I'm currently trying to work on some patterns of all sorts of fantasy races and creatures, and I've started with Halflings. Halfing is a fairly generic name for small (half-sized) humanoid creatures from various books, films and games which have their origins in folklore. Stories from many cultures feature the 'little people', such as hobs and brownies, who keep themselves hidden from humans but sometimes help with chores or play tricks on them.



I've made male and female Halflings - the male ones all have curly hair and two of them are wearing waistcoats. One has a jacket (see top photo) and the other has a hooded cloak. I made one with just a shirt and he has a little hat and scarf to wear.

   

 

One of the female Halflings is wearing a bodice and skirt, and has a hooded cloak as well. The other is in steampunk-inspired gear - I imagine she's an engineer or adventurer - with spiky purple hair and goggles.





I hope you like them, please let me know what you think!

In the past I've posted pictures of all sorts of mini amigurumi that I've made for the Christmas Bazaar at my son's school. I've been a bit lax over the last couple of years - I've got lots more photos ready to post, but I'll start with a couple of free patterns for things I've posted previously: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=337120.msg3898960#msg3898960



Every year I've made slightly different versions of a mini monkey, but these ones from last year are the ones I'm happiest with. There's a little variation - you can make them long legs or use the alternative instructions to have them sitting down with their little feet sticking out. Either way they're about 2"/5.5mm tall, not including legs.

Long legs:

 

 

Sitting down:

 

The little frog is made in a fairly similar way, but is even smaller, just 1.5"/4 cm tall.

 

Both patterns are pretty simple to make - there are no parts to sew on, you just have to embroider their eyes and mouths to finish them off. Click at the bottom of this post to download the patterns, and have fun with them!

I've been busy over the last few months crocheting all sorts of things, but not quite finishing a lot of them. Here's a couple of cute little mice that I've finally got round to photographing. They're pretty small, just 3.5" tall, the perfect size to fit in your pocket.

I came up with a pattern for Luke Skywalker wearing the clothes that we first see him wearing in the original Star Wars film a few years ago (http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=338592.msg3918606#msg3918606), but I've always wanted to do more versions of him in some different outfits.



So, I finally got round to doing it recently. I've updated his Tatooine 'farm boy' look by making it a bit more detailed - it really is just layers of different tones of cream and beige, so it's hard to make it look distinctive, especially in such a small figure (he's only 3.5" tall).



Then I made him in his X-Wing pilot uniform - this is much more easily recognisable and I love the way this came out. I had to make the helmet too, though I couldn't think of a way to do the see-through green visor!



Finally I did his simplest look, the all black outfit he wears as a Jedi in Return of the Jedi when he confronts the Emperor. Of course, I had to make him a tiny lightsaber too.



I hope you like these three Lukes - he was always one of my favourite characters so I feel that I've done him justice now.

Here's my latest Star Wars amigurumi, Admiral Ackbar. I've always thought those Mon Calamari were a great design, so I'm really pleased that I finally got round to making him. He's not very big, just 4" tall, and I love his fishy little eyes!

After being inspired by the Lionheart Project  - three giant crocheted lions created for the Cultural Olympiad, see here for details: http://www.lionheartproject.com - I made a tiny little lion, named Boris by my kids. We went up to London to take him to see the lions, which were on display at the Natural History Museum.







I've done a pattern swap with Louie of Louie's Loops, so the pattern is available there if you want to make yourself a tiny lion of your own: http://www.louiesloops.com/2012/09/as-i-promised-yesterday-check-out.html

Several years ago I made a few amigurumi Daleks, two for swaps and one for a friend, but I never made any for myself. A photo of one even made it onto Have I Got News For You when Tom Baker was the guest host! So, with the latest season of Doctor Who just starting, I decided that now was the perfect time to make myself a Dalek or two, and perfect the pattern while I was at it. I'm now really happy with all the details of the pattern, and have made a grey and black Dalek from the classic 1970s era of Who (that I grew up watching) and a bronze and gold one from the new series that I also love.





I had fun trying to get all the details as correct as I could, given their size (they're about 7" tall). The bumps are made with bobble stitch and the vertical slats in the 'chest' area are made by working round the post of the single crochet to give a ribbed effect.





They're great fun to play with - while I was doing their photoshoot they ended up dancing:



I also think they'll be fun to dress up. The grey one decided to wear a wig I'd made for something else, I think he looks a bit like Boris Johnson in it.



If you want to have a go at making one for yourself, you can download the pattern at the bottom of this post. It is quite detailed and complicated, so I think you'd need to be a fairly experienced amigurumi crocheter to make it. If you do make them, feel free to give them to family and friends, but please do not sell them.    

Three years ago I made a green fuzzy monkey that I really liked (http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=317094.msg3651653#msg3651653) and I'd been meaning to remake it for ages. Getting hold of nice mohair yarn can be difficult, so I wanted to see what it would look like made with normal yarn as well, so I made four in different colours, two fuzzy ones and two smooth ones.

I called them Woolly Monkeys because, obviously, they're woolly, and because there is a real species of monkey called that. Mine are a bit more brightly coloured and have stripy tails though.













They've got big eyes and simple faces, which can make them look a little sad at times.

I hope you like them, but any comments are appreciated.

I just finished my latest Star Wars characters - the Jawas.

Here they are checking out R2-D2, and wondering how much they can sell him for:





They are fun characters to make, quite simple but they have a lot of personality. It wasn't easy to give them glowing yellow/orange eyes, I ended up painting the back of transparent orange eyes with enamel paint to make the colour show up better. It's hard to capture that in photos, but in real life they're a bright orange.



I hope you like them too, but any comments and criticism welcomed.

I made these guys for Sylvanna in the Adventure Time swap (http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=405581.0), but I thought I'd give them their own post.

If you don't know the show at all, Finn is a 12/13 year old boy who wears a bear hat and Jake is a dog who can stretch and shrink to all different shapes and sizes, and they have adventures in the land of Ooo. Watch it, it's brilliant!



Finn is about 13" tall and has a backpack which opens with a button (I put chocolate stones in it for the swap).



Jake is about 8" tall, I tried to make him in proportion to Finn as he normally is when he's not changing shape. I gave him nice long arms though, and his cute little tail.



They're both great shapes to crochet, but since their legs are so thin it's difficult to get them to stand up. I managed to pose them outside, so they look like they're off on an adventure (well, Jake's just hanging around in a tree).