Moji-Moji Design

Original Amigurumi Crochet Patterns

Monthly Archives: September 2014


by 27 Comments

Have a Birthday Cupcake With Me!

Hurray! Another year successfully navigated and another birthday to celebrate, and what better way than with a free pattern that I’ve written especially for the occasion!

So come and have a cupcake or two with me and we can party together 🙂DSCN4985

For the strawberry version you will need: 3.5 mm crochet hook and light worsted weight (double knit) yarn in a light pink, dark pink, white, beige and green.

US crochet terms are used throughout. See here for a simple to use conversion chart for UK terms.

Round brackets ( ) indicate a group of stitches to be worked into the same stitch. Square brackets [ ] indicate a group of stitches to be worked the amount of times stated after the brackets.

Strawberry Cup Cake Pattern:
With Light Pink yarn make 2 ch.
Rnd 1: 6 sc in second ch from hook. (6 sts)
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each of next 6 st. (12 sts)
Rnd 3: [sc in next st, 2 sc in next st] 6 times. (18 sts)
Rnd 4: [sc in each of next 2 st, 2 sc in next st] 6 times. (24 sts)
Rnd 5: [sc in each of next 3 st, 2 sc in next st] 6 times. (30 sts)
Rnd 6: working in back loops only: sc in each st around. (30 sts)
Rnd 7-12: sc in each st around. (6 rounds)
Rnd 13: working in front loops only: [Slst in next st, (hdc, dc, hdc) in next st, Slst in next st] 10 times.
Change to Beige yarn
Rnd 14: working in leftover back loops from previous round: sc in each st around. (30 sts)
Rnd 15: [sc in each of next 3 st, dec] 6 times. (24 sts)
Rnd 16: sc in each st around. (24 sts)
Rnd 17: [sc in each of next 2 st, dec] 6 times. (18 sts)
Rnd 18: [sc in next st, dec] 6 times. (12 sts)
Stuff cup cake.
Rnd 19: dec 6 times. (6 sts)
Fasten off, leaving a long yarn tail for finishing. Thread yarn tail onto tapestry needle, pick up front loop only of remaining 6 stitches, pull tight to close the hole. Weave in end.

Icing:
With White yarn make 2 ch.
Rnd 1: 6 sc in second ch from hook. (6 sts)
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each of next 6 st. (12 sts)
Rnd 3: [sc in next st, 2 sc in next st] 6 times. (18 sts)
Rnd 4: [Slst in next st, (hdc, dc, hdc) in next st, Slst in next st] 6 times.
Fasten off, leaving a long yarn tail for sewing. Sew edge of icing to top of cake.

Ribbon:
With Dark Pink yarn make 34 ch.
Row 1: starting in third ch from hook, hdc in each st to end.
Fasten off, leaving a long yarn tail for sewing. Sew ribbon to cake just under pink frill.

Strawberry:
With Dark Pink yarn make 2 ch.
Rnd 1: 3 sc in second ch from hook. (3 sts)
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each of next 3 st. (6 sts)
Rnd 3: [sc in next st, 2 sc in next st] 3 times. (9 sts)
Rnd 4: [sc in each of next 2 st, 2 sc in next st] 3 times. (12 sts)
Rnd 5: sc in each st around. (12 sts)
Stuff strawberry.
Rnd 6: dec 6 times. (6 sts)
Fasten off, leaving a long yarn tail for finishing. Thread yarn tail onto tapestry needle, pick up front loop only of remaining 6 stitches, pull tight to close the hole. Weave in end. With a strand of White yarn sew small running stitches for seeds.

Strawberry Leaf:
With Green yarn make 2 ch.
Rnd 1: Slst in second ch from hook (first ch), [2 ch, Slst in second ch from hook, Slst in first ch] 5 times.
Fasten off, leaving a long yarn tail for sewing. Sew to top of strawberry.
See diagram at end of post for how to sew fruit and shape cupcake.

If strawberries aren’t your thing try these instead:

Blueberry/Cape Gooseberry:
With Blue/Orange yarn make 2 ch.
Rnd 1: 6 sc in second ch from hook. (6 sts)
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each of next 6 st. (12 sts)
Rnds 3-5: sc in each st around. (3 rounds)
Stuff blueberry/cape gooseberry.
Rnd 6: dec 6 times. (6 sts)
Fasten off, leaving a long yarn tail for finishing. Thread yarn tail onto tapestry needle, pick up front loop only of remaining 6 stitches, pull tight to close the hole. Weave in end.
Make a leaf as for the strawberry pattern. Sew flat to the end of the blueberry. Leave ends sticking up for cape gooseberry

Lime/Lemon Slice
With Light Green/Light Yellow yarn make 2 ch.
Rnd 1: 6 sc in second ch from hook. (6 sts)
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each of next 6 st. (12 sts)
Change to Dark Green/Dark Yellow yarn
Rnd 3: 2 sc in each of next 6 st. (18 sts)
Fasten off, leaving a long yarn tail for sewing. Fold circle in half and sew edges together. Using a strand of white yarn embroider segments with running stitches.

Parma Violet
Inner petals
With Dark Purple yarn make 2 ch
Rnd 1: 6 sc in second ch from hook. (6 sts)
Rnd 2: [Slst in next st, (hdc, dc, hdc) in next st] 3 times
Outer petals
With Dark Purple yarn make 2 ch
Rnd 1: 6 sc in second ch from hook. (6 sts)
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each of next 6 st. (12 sts)
Rnd 3: [Slst in next st, (hdc, dc, hdc) in next st] 6 times
Sew inner leaves on top of outer leaves. Weave in ends.

To shape cupcake and attach the fruit or flower, thread a length of yarn through both the cake and the fruit/flower following the diagram below. Pulling on the threads gives your cake a flat base and will attach the fruit neatly at the same time. Knot securely and weave in endsCakethreading

Now you can be as inventive as you like with your flavor combinations. Vanilla, coffee, lemon or chocolate sponge with strawberry, orange, blackberry, mint… I could go on but it’s making my mouth water too much… I’m off in search of the real thing now. Well, why not? It is my birthday after all.DSCN4988

Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing some birthday fun with me!


by 6 Comments

Squaring Up

My second Granny square blanket is coming along rather nicely now. It’s all been made in the evenings and on weekends, car journeys, waiting at the dentist, bus trips, picnics, etc. etc. In fact any spare minute that I could get hold of. It’s had to vie for attention with my poncho project but I think on balance it’s had a fair share of my time. You might remember that I started out with this colour scheme.Daisy6

I tried to reign in my colour choices and stick to a more restrained selection. However, I’m now running out of the original colours and it seems quite wrong to go out and buy more of the same when I have several tons (almost literally, I’m sure!) of yarn all ready and waiting to be put to good use. So in the end I’ve deemed it necessary to add in some different colours, mainly in the form of a couple of greens and a slightly brighter blue so far.str

The addition of green was inspired by this small posy picked from the garden last weekend

 DSCN4931

The foliage looks lovely next to the pinks and purples of the flowers, so hopefully the same should apply to my blanket! I think I’m going to join them in a checkerboard grid of green borders alternating with the pink/blue/magenta borders of the original batch of squares.

squ

Now they just have  to be laid out on the floor for me to contemplate the colour balance properly, but that’s where I keep running into this little problem called Mojo! He’s got a real thing for these squares and loves to sit on them.DSCN4858

This may look very sweet and totally harmless until this happens… It starts with an expression that all of us cat owners must know so well…

DSCN4848

…and it ends like this via a supersonic scrabble and a back flip. I didn’t even have time to capture it on camera, but there’s my carefully laid out schema gone to pot and one nonchalant looking cat whose refusing point blank to show any remorse! Ah well, a small element of random is always good and I think I know roughly where I wanted everything to go.Mojo

In order to get the whole thing finished, and in view of the fact that there won’t be so much gadding about during the autumn and winter months, meaning my allotment of peaceful crochet time in the car is much less, I’ve set up camp in the corner of the living room. Now I intend to spend quality time with the family during the cosy, dark evenings while always having my project close to hand.

DSCN4877

I suspect it wont be long before I find a cat asleep in that basket though, or my neat little piles of work tossed around like confetti! It’s a good reason to hurry along and get darning in those ends and joining it all together before too much feline mischief can be had!


by 1 Comment

An Autumn walk

We’re well on our way into September now and all the boys are back to their various educational establishments, including the eldest, whose left home again after a three month visit to continue his studies at Cardiff Uni. The house is quiet for the first time in a long time. Just me and the four cats today. It feels a bit weird but I think I’ll get used to it.

I’ve certainly got plenty of things to keep me busy over the next month or so. But I’m starting off slowly this week and so today I thought I’d take a leisurely walk around the river to keep my spirits up and remind myself of the pleasure in occasional solitude. But here’s a little company already! How sweet to see Pumpkin Patch Pete and Pumpkin Patch Polly out for a stroll together, holding hands and enjoying all their favorite Autumn coloursPumpkin-walkThe weather is beautiful and sunny… It’s certainly not raining on my parade!DSCN4887There was a thick spread of mist earlier on but it’s clearing up nicely now.

Shelley the Snail has been enjoying a few excursions while everything is still slightly damp and squelchy on the grassy verges…ShelleyRiver…and the River Severn is serene and swan filled in the early morning, before the canoe and narrow boat owners and the pleasure boat pleasure seekers are up and about. DSCN4890Oh dear, I think the swans think that I’ve brought some edible treats for them to nibble on, but I’m sadly empty handed apart from my camera and my house key – neither of which is of any use to a peckish swan! I’m sure there’s plenty of fish and river weeds in there to keep them going though. They all look pretty well fed to me.

So does Spencer the Spider for that matter. It appears that he’s moved out of my shed and has been busy renovating his new holiday home, situated in a highly desirable corner of the railings and boasting magnificent riverside views. Now there’s a piece of prime real estate if ever I saw it, but Spencer, you know you’re welcome to move back into my shed as soon as the winter weather gets too much for you… 820SpencerDiglis… and what a lovely web you’ve spun! It’s the perfect spot for catching a flying bug feast for your breakfast. Now I’m off over the bridge to the other side of the river and through the fields in search of a feast of my own.

It’s not long until I’ve tracked down a big bunch of blackberries. A few handfuls of those will go down a treat and give me a mini sugar rush to get me all the way back home again!DSCN4901Now my batteries are recharged after a well earned sit down on a well placed bench and a good munch supplied by the brambles. It’s time to move along, and, oh, hello! it’s the Pumpkin Patch People again. They get around faster than you would think with those tiny little legs of theirs!PumpkimsWe have a polite chat about the weather and our plans for Halloween. Then I can’t help noticing that the pickings are looking very luscious and abundant this year so I’ve made a note to myself to come back again very soon to gather some of these rose hips, and haws to make some Hedgerow Jelly with (perfect to add to the elderberries from my garden).

These sloes will be just the job for making a big batch of sloe gin, in plenty of time for Christmas, and the remaining blackberries, well, they never seem to make it home, they’re just too delicious as they are and usually get eaten on the way, but if I do find a big glut of them they’re most likely to find their way into an apple and blackberry pie.

With nature’s bounty being so generous this year I didn’t think it would be long until I bumped into Cyril the Squirrel, having a little forage around for his larder. That’s a mighty fine collection you’ve got there my lad!CyrilBenchThose shiny, fresh new conkers are a prize worth foraging for and some tasty pine nuts too. It’s Cyril’s lucky day! I’m tempted to stop and have a conker fight but I don’t have any spare shoe laces with me. Maybe next time! I’ve got another mile to go before I get back home so I wave goodbye and head off back across the river again.

So much for occasional solitude, but it’s been rather nice to bump into so many of my woolly friends instead 😉

I have to admit it’s been no great surprise to see them all down here enjoying themselves in their own particular ways, after all who would want to stay indoors on such a gorgeous day as this?


by 11 Comments

Trick or Treat!

Autumn (or Fall for my friends over the pond) is fast approaching and my thoughts are turning yet again to all the wonderful cosy treats and celebrations that always cheer up our journey into the tail end of the year. With dark nights beginning to draw in, a chill in the early morning and late evening air and a definite lack of sunshine around here, there are less reasons to be lolling around in the garden or lazing on the beach and more reasons to be tucked up under a favorite Granny Square blanket, warm and glowing with the pleasure of a new crochet project or two, or three, or four, or in the case of this new pattern – five!

So come and meet my new, Autumn season bunch of mini makes.820HallySquareIt’s another one in the Minimals range and I’ve called this one ‘Teeny Halloweeny’  – mainly because they’re really rather teeny and extremely Halloweeny!

This gang of diminutive Fright Night dress ups will promise to be the life and soul of your Halloween party.820woodsThey may well be the cutest Trick or Treaters that you’ll ever find knocking at your door and they’re certainly every bit as sweet as all that candy they hope you’re going to give them!DSCN4785I’ve  had such a lot of fun designing these diminutive Trick or Treaters. They work up nice and fast and it’s very satisfying to have your finished results so quickly. I’m planning on making a whole crowd to hand out to my real life Trick or Treaters this year, along with the usual selection of lollipops and chocolates. I can’t wait 🙂

Who’s missing the summer already? Not me!