PlanetJune by June Gilbank

6/6 – and the range has a name! Thanks to everyone who suggested names; my favourite is Val‘s suggestion of PocketAmi. Thanks Val – some PocketAmi patterns will be winging their way to you as soon as they are ready!

The final design for the PocketAmi range (well, final for now – if these are popular there may be more sets later) is a dragonfly:

It was originally going to be a butterfly, but as I was crocheting, it decided that it wanted to be a dragonfly, and it was just turning out too cute to fight against that! So that’s why we have an unusually-coloured dragonfly here, but we all know ami can come in ANY colour, so you could make one in bright jewel tones or any other colour combo!

Here’s a pretty in pink example (yes, I confess, I just recoloured the above picture, but isn’t it sweet this way?)

I think a few of these would make an adorable baby mobile, don’t you?

Now to write up all the patterns! Don’t forget to sign up for the mailing list if you’d like notification when the PocketAmi are ready for purchase.

5/6 for the ‘mini’ range is a little bird:

I think he looks like he’s just about to leave the nest and take his first flight

By the way, I decided against the ‘farm’ theme because this range is designed to be really simple and quick to crochet; the shapes are all really simplified and I didn’t think a cow or a horse without a defined head, neck and body would look too good!

Instead, I’m going with a theme of ‘nature that you might see on a walk in the countryside’. One more design to go, and then I’ll get the patterns ready for you! Any more suggestions for the name of the range?

… well, virtual spring cleaning anyway! Changes are afoot at PlanetJune to make the site easier for you to use, and easier for me to maintain. What’s been done so far?

• Flickr
  My 3 Flickr groups (Fuzzy Friends, AmiDogs, AquaAmi) have been merged; now there is just one big PlanetJune Crochet Flickr group – please join and upload anything based on any of my crochet patterns (including the free patterns) to this group!

• Live Chat
  Unfortunately, I have had to remove the ‘Live Chat’ box from the site. Too many people were leaving me messages through it while I was offline, but not leaving an e-mail address, so I couldn’t reply to their messages.

  Please continue to contact me via e-mail with any questions, comments, suggestions etc: craft [at] planetjune [dot] com – I am always happy to hear from you!

• Lost Orders
  Unless you specify a different e-mail address in the comments box when you order, I will send your patterns to the e-mail address you have registered with PayPal. Please keep this e-mail address up to date! Sometimes my e-mails are returned and I have no other way to contact you to deliver your patterns To this end, I have started a Lost Orders page in the sidebar with a list of orders I have been unable to deliver. If you haven’t received your patterns and it’s been over 24 hours since you ordered, please contact me or check this page.

That’s it for now. More improvements to follow!

I can hardly believe I’ve been coming up with one design per day for the past few days! I’m exhausted now, so I’m going to slow down for a little while. Here’s the latest tiny ami; my little miniature sheep:

This makes 4 mini designs so far (with the piggy, bunny and mouse). I think I’ll make 6 and then release them as two sets of three, unless anyone has any better ideas? Don’t worry; they’ll be cheap because they are so tiny! I’m still working on the name for the range – thanks for the suggestions so far!

As always, I’d love to hear your ideas for the name or for other designs. If I use your idea for the name, I’ll give you some free mini patterns for your trouble! You have until I’ve made the 6th to send me your ideas, either by comment or e-mail

Look who I found in my garden:

The reclusive yarn snake, finally waking from his long winter hibernation.

Although he is small (6″ long), he doesn’t fit the theme of my new set of mini animals, but this is what my hands decided to make yesterday, and I like the way he wiggles. The curves are crocheted right in – clever, huh?

The finishing touch – a tiny felt tongue.