PlanetJune by June Gilbank

Meet Ms Bun-Bun, my first attempt at softie making from one of my cute new Japanese craft books:

The fabric isn’t photographing very well – it’s a deep burgundy colour with a nice fuzzy feel to it. I bought it as a remnant, so I don’t know what the fabric really is.

To make the bunny, I traced the pattern pieces from the book onto freezer paper, cut them out and then ironed them onto the reverse side of the fabric, which made cutting out the fabric pieces really easy. Is this an established technique, or did I just invent it? I don’t know, but I highly recommend it! The freezer paper templates can be ironed on and peeled off several times, so you can even reuse them to make more toys.

The diagrams in the book were all so clear that I had no problem following the instructions, even though all the text was in Japanese. I didn’t have any plastic pellets to weigh down the bottom of the bunny, so I improvised with a handful of small buttons.

Apparently Japanese bunnies don’t have tails (I may fix this later):

Ms Bun-Bun’s favourite activities are sunbathing and picking fresh flowers:

I crocheted the flowers with a 2.35mm hook. I used black crochet cotton for the centres, and beautiful hand-dyed lambswool from Renaissance Dyeing for the petals. It’s actually Crewel embroidery wool – I bought it years ago and completely forgot I had it until I was looking for something to make Ms Bun-Bun an accessory with – what a nice surprise

I love those flowers! They are under 3/4″ diameter. Now what else can I do with them… crocheted jewellery, hair accessories, maybe even clothing embellishments…?

I’ve been designing again… meet the Fuzzy Kittens!
Click pictures for larger versions

The black and white kittens are crocheted from Patons Carmen, which made the kittens super-soft and furry but it’s a little difficult to see their shape. The grey kittens are crocheted from Berroco Furz, which made for a less fuzzy, more defined kitten.

The kittens are lifesize teeny tiny babies, at only 6 inches long (plus tail).

I’ll be writing up the pattern soon to join the other Fuzzy Friends patterns. If you’d like to be notified when it’s available, sign up for my mailing list.

I’m thinking the kittens may be in need of a mother, so I have an idea for a Fuzzy Cat in the works!

Drumroll please… You’ve waited all this time, and now, finally, the Fuzzy Monkeys pattern is available! You can order it directly from PlanetJune.com and the pdf will be e-mailed to you.

Now you can make your own amigurumi monkeys! The pattern includes full instructions to make three different types of monkey:

1. Adult Monkey with poseable wired legs and tail
2. Baby Monkey with poseable wired legs and tail
3. Adult Monkey with wire-free (child-safe) dangling legs

PS – Would you like to see PlanetJune amigurumi dog patterns? Please vote in my poll and let me know!

It seems that my amigurumi Shiba Inu is popular! I only made Ginger Jr as a one-of-a-kind gift, but all your comments are making me think about making a slightly simplified shiba and producing a pattern for it… It wouldn’t be immediate – I have several other projects I have to complete first (especially the long-awaited monkey pattern which should be complete in the next week).

So, my question to you is, would you be interested in buying an amigurumi dog pattern from me? If you’re interested, please vote, and I will do it if there is enough interest. If you’d like to see other breeds done in the same kind of style, please vote and also leave a comment saying which breeds are your favourite!

UPDATE: Thanks to all who voted… the first set of AmiDogs patterns are now available in my store!

Kari and I had a great time in Chicago. Kari made this lovely soft fleece tree scarf for me, accessorized with a Crafty Ginger tsumami kanzashi flower snap – yay! She also gave me some gorgeous grey fuzzy yarn, which I know I’ll be able to make good use of

We went to the Sanseido bookstore in the Mitsuwa Japanese marketplace . If you’re in Chicago I highly recommend you check it out if you love Japanese craft books (and who doesn’t?) – they had a wide selection and the prices were very reasonable. I managed to restrict myself to buying three:

ISBN 9784529039017 (cute stuffed toy patterns)

ISBN 4277490239 (crochet motifs)

ISBN 9784277490405 (pretty patchwork)

Beautiful, inspirational books! And all 3 for only $20