Amineko

I have been on an Amigurumi kick lately, and this is the cat that started it all for me.  Meet Amineko.  (Here he is on Ravelry.)

I love how stoic he looks, like a real old soul.  

He's not alone, though:

But all that socializing makes this introverted kitty tired. 

Made with worsted-weight acrylic and a size F hook.  I love him.  :-)

Haifa, Part 2

It's a rainy election day here in Israel - I went with my boyfriend to vote, and saw the Israeli electoral system, which differs greatly from what I know from America. There are no ballots here; rather, the voting booth has small slips of paper, each marked with the name of an individual party. The voter takes one slip of paper, for the party he or she chooses, and places it in an envelope, which is then sealed. The voter places the envelope in the ballot box, and we wait until 10pm, at which time the voting ends and the results start coming in. That's when the real coalition building/fighting beings...

Here are pictures of something in Israel, but which is not Israeli at all - the Baha'i Gardens in Haifa.

No Baha'i live in Israel - all Baha'i at the Baha'i center are volunteers and live there for no more than three years.

The tree in front of the shrine is where the Bab stood when he told his son where to build the temple.

The Baha'i walk up the hill as a pilgrimage; visitors who are not Baha'i walk down the hill.

Below is a Baha'i archive and an example of the neoclassical architecture in the complex.

We really enjoyed ourselves on the tour, which was both gorgeous and informative.

I wore my February Lady Sweater today, and we grabbed a moment (before the hailstorm that is going on right now!) to take some pictures of the sweater:

I like it so much - wearing it just makes me happy! The red buttons were something of a fluke - I found them in the small notions bin at the local dry cleaners.

The inside is a whole bunch of woven ends - I had to use literally every inch of yarn I had. I began the body, then knitted the sleeves so I could knit the body until I ran out of yarn.

I like it so much that I am planning to knit a second one, but this time with longer sleeves. I have the yarn (purple bamboo) and buttons (wooden). But I wonder if the bamboo would stretch too much for the lace pattern...

Love Bunnies!

Another Amigurumi pattern!  Meet my love bunnies:

She is made with DK/sport weight acrylic: 

And he is made with worsted weight acrylic. 

Same pattern, same hook size, just slightly different ingredients. 

I made them for Valentine's Day, but I hope to make a whole bunch more this spring in a wide range of colors.  

You can make some, too!  These guys are available as a free PDF here.  Or on Ravelry here. 

Enjoy!  :-)

Spring Interlude

Ribbit!  Ribbit!  

It is supposed to be 21 degrees Celsius here in Jerusalem (that's about 70 degrees Fahrenheit, for all my countrymen).  How better to celebrate than with this guy?

He is called Amigaerumi - for amigurumi + "gaeru" which is Japanese for frog.

I wrote up the pattern - it is available for download as a pdf here.  Ravelry link here.  (And it's free!)

Enjoy!  :-)