Today’s PlanetJune Story comes from Monica from Magical Amigurumi – you may remember her previous appearances on my blog from her first PJ Story and when she was commissioned to crochet my Fruit Bats for the Ralph Lauren store window last year!

I love it when people use my techniques and the Boy and Girl patterns from my Complete Idiot’s Guide to Amigurumi to create custom toys, and I don’t think anyone has taken that concept to heart as much as Monica has – I’m sure you’ll be as delighted and impressed as I am with her amigurumi doll collection. Over to you, Monica…

I love collecting dolls! Porcelain dolls, baby dolls, stuffed dolls, hand sewn dolls from all over the world. Each doll is unique and special to me. At the moment, most of my dolls are in two 30 gallon totes for safe keeping; small apartment means small space.

When I first received June’s book Complete Idiot’s Guide to Amigurumi I really liked the look of her crocheted dolls. Some of the other crocheted patterns out there make the dolls look a little creepy for my liking, and June’s were really life-like (and super simple to create!) and they are the perfect size to hug, hold and carry around! I was not brave enough to try them out for several months and then took my first try on the boy pattern, turning him into this Scarecrow. After a cute success I was not able to make another doll for a year, but I had many ideas floating around in my head.

I made this standard Girl Doll in a pink mist color and really liked how she turned out. Cute but simple. After which, I started making a list of doll ideas, yarn colors, and other items I would need to make these dolls the best I could. Searching for the best yarn colors took the longest, but after looking at my finished dolls, I’d say the search was worth it! I even ordered special eyes from some of my dolls from Michelle at Suncatcher Craft Eyes to make them perfect (for me anyways).

Then in one afternoon I made myself my first crocheted doll! His name is Dastan from the Prince of Persia movie, and I enjoyed customizing him to make him as realistic as I could! I am a bit of a perfectionist, so making him as close to the character as I could was a big must for me, a reason I had held off on making myself the crocheted dolls because I was afraid I could not do it…but…after seeing that I could, and that he was super cute, I started (slowly) on the rest of the dolls I wanted to make!

(Top row, below) I started with my Disney-inspired Princesses for myself really but I like to share. My children helped me pick out the correct colors for their gowns, and I went back to June’s book a lot for help with the unique hairstyles. I am very pleased with how they turned out!

With the recent CAL in August, I felt compelled to accomplish my set of dolls that were adapted from my favorite fantasy book! And I knew that if I made my two favorite characters, I would have to make their companions; a giant blue-feathered iguana (Iguana) and a giant cream colored hound (AmiDogs Great Dane), and I was not able to make the white Star Stallion as I do not have a horse pattern yet. I was (still am) very excited about this set of four! While I was making them I had to re-read my six books (not only for fun, but to make sure I got their descriptions just right).

My next two special ones are from characters of my own fantasy book that I started writing in high school and have finally typed it out, so I thought it fitting to make my main characters into dolls as a self gift of accomplishment! 🙂

Captain Jack Sparrow! I have always loved that character, and thought it would be fun and challenging to crochet him into a doll. I loved how he turned out! He is my most detailed doll I have done yet, and he inspires me to make more dolls even more detailed than before!

In between all of my special dolls, I have made some regular dolls in different colors of yarn. I really like how simple and cute they are just as dolls (my favorite of them being this girl in the green mist dress).

(Below) The Cranberry China Doll, as I’ve been calling her, was fun to customize. I was not sure how she would turn out in the standard Chinese style dress, but I am very pleased. I was not sure if I could make a Xena Warrior Princess, but my son loves how she came out, and even asked when I was going to make a Gabrielle. I told him I had not planned on it, so she may be a Christmas gift for him this year. 😉

(Back to me, June, again!)

Aren’t they all wonderful? Thank you, Monica, for sharing your beautiful customization work! Please leave Monica a comment if you’ve enjoyed this post!

Do you have a PlanetJune Story you’d like to share? I’d love to hear it! Please email your story to june@planetjune.com, together with one or more high quality photos showing what you’ve made from PlanetJune patterns. If I choose your story to feature here on the blog, I’ll send you your choice of pattern from my shop to say thank you!

And if you’d like to try your hand at making some custom (or standard) amigurumi people, you can find the Boy and Girl patterns in my book, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Amigurumi 🙂

Today is I Love Yarn day, and, although every day is I Love Yarn day as far as I’m concerned, I thought I’d take a quick break from book-writing to share a little of my yarny love, as evidenced by a few of my old blog photos…

As a crocheter, I love yarn. I love being able to turn this:

some of my amigurumi yarn stash

via this:

toymaking!

into this:

some of my amigurumi designs

and this:

mmm, laceweight baby alpaca

into this:

some of my accessories designs

But possibly the best thing about working with yarn is that you can fudge things and fix mistakes – it doesn’t always have to be perfect.

I’m a novice when it comes to knitting, and I must confess that I wasn’t quite delighted with my grey cardigan (the first garment I knitted) – stockinette tends to curl, and my i-cord edging wasn’t enough to combat that curl at the bottom. I found myself doing the Picard tug to the bottom of the cardigan every time I stood up…

I’d heard you can stitch a tape facing to the inside to keep it straight, but who has time to shop for tape? Then I realised I could make an afterthought knitted facing by picking up stitches all around the bottom, knitting a few rows, then stitching it a few rows up on the cardigan. I used some stash fingering weight yarn (left over from my Climbing Eyelets Shawl) and just did it without over-thinking the plan…

It worked perfectly! My cardigan now has a straight non-curling edge around the bottom. You can just see a dented line on the outside from where I grafted the live stitches from the top of the facing to the cardigan with duplicate stitches, but the pale green colour is totally invisible from the outside and looks pretty from the inside when I wear the cardigan unbuttoned.

With this fix, I now have 3 self-designed and wearable handknit sweaters, and they’ve seen me through the (southern hemisphere) winter nicely. None of them is 100% perfect, but that may just make them even more special because it reminds me that I made them and it inspires me to do better next time. Although I won’t have time to knit anything else until I finish my book, I’m very excited at the idea of having a whole wardrobe of handmade sweaters – and in another year or two of knitting that could well be possible! I already have yarn bought and earmarked for the next 3…

So, both as a yarny professional (crochet designer) and an enthusiastic amateur (knitting adventurer), I really do love yarn! It’s amazing that you can start out with a ball of yarn and a hook or a couple of pointy sticks, and make pretty much anything 🙂

A quick Public Service Announcement…

In an effort to streamline my business, I’ve decided to discontinue my popular Amigurumi Essentials Kit. I still have a large box of kits, but once the remaining stock has gone, that’ll be it!

Note: I’ll still sell my PlanetJune-exclusive tools (Detail Stuffing Tool and Stitch Markers), so you don’t have to buy a kit if you just want my exclusive products – they aren’t going anywhere for the forseeable future!

Think ahead to Christmas and buy a crocheter (or future crocheter!) on your list an amigurumi kit, or pick up one for yourself to test out a selection of black and clear eyes in all the common amigurumi sizes. Each kit also comes with the essential PlanetJune stuffing tool and a set of locking stitch markers. If you’re on the fence about ordering, here are some tips that may change your mind:

• Combine shipping and save! All my tools are very light, so shipping costs the same for up to 3 kits, or a combination of kits and lots of stuffing tools and stitch marker sets. (Just add the items to your cart and you’ll see the shipping fee right away – it’s the same cost for up to 100g of products.
• Take advantage of my free bookmark promotion (available while stocks last) to get a signed Complete Idiot’s Guide to Amigurumi bookmark in your package, to keep with your copy of my book. I’ll even sign it to you – or your gift recipient – if you let me know your/their name!
• Every order for one or more kits also includes an exclusive bonus coupon you can use on a future order from Suncatcher Eyes, so you can order more eyes once you’ve figured out which sizes and types you like best.

You’ll find all my shippable products (kits, bookmarks, stuffing tools and stitch markers) in the Crochet Tools section of my shop. Don’t wait until it’s too late – buy your Amigurumi Essentials Kit(s) before they’re all gone!

My book is half finished and it’s coming along well! While I’m busy working on the other half, I have no new patterns to announce, so I thought you might like to see some ideas for other PlanetJune designs you may not have tried before. Here’s a seasonal selection of my most autumnal patterns:

You can find all of these patterns by searching for ‘autumn’ in the shop (or just clicking here!) 🙂

New-To-Me CAL

The October crochetalong theme is New-To-Me – that means you can join in by making any PlanetJune patterns you haven’t tried before. Choose from any PlanetJune patterns in my shop (amigurumi and accessories), any free patterns from my website, or any of the patterns from my book – lots to choose from! Luckily Ravelry has a nice list of all 152 patterns on my designer page if you feel like browsing 🙂

Maybe the above collage has given you an idea of a pattern to try..? If you’d like to join in, you’ll find the CAL thread in the PlanetJune ravelry group.

Review and Win contest

August’s rollover ‘Review and Win’ winner is Jeanne S, with her review of my Sea Otter:

So realistic looking. A friend asked if I could make an otter for her dad. I looked all over and Junes was the best. Her dad loved it. The pattern was easy to read and the extra tips are great.

And September’s winner is Angela N, with her review of my Sloth:

I fell in love with sloths after my first trip to Costa Rica so as soon as I saw this pattern, I just had to get it. Like all of June’s pattern designs, this one really captures the animal’s uniqueness and personality and after seeing a number of other sloth patterns that are available, I have to say that for me, June’s design is light years ahead of the rest in terms of the realistic look captured in her design. The pattern is really easy to follow and June gives very useful tips regarding the placement of the eyes, attaching the limbs etc, to make sure you get the best from your finished sloth. You are a true inspiration June! I am now making a wish list of other pattern purchases from you!

Thanks so much, ladies (and everyone else who leaves a review in my shop); it means the world to me to get this kind of feedback on my designs! I’m sure it also helps other customers to make that all-important decision on whether my patterns are worth buying or not, so please do keep those reviews coming if you’ve enjoyed any of my patterns and would like to share your experience – plus you may even be next month’s contest winner!

Congrats to both of the winners – I’ll email you to find out which pattern you’d like as your prize 🙂

And now, back to the book…

I’m sure you know by now that you’re very welcome to sell items you crochet from any of my patterns, provided you give me credit as the designer. But did you know that you can also get your online shop added to my PlanetJune Sellers’ List?

Every time I receive a request for a completed item, I point that person to the list at www.planetjune.com/buytoys and suggest they may be able to find what they’re looking for from one of my sellers. It’s far better for me than saying ‘no, I’m afraid I don’t have time to make crocheted items to sell’, better for them, as they may be able to find their dream amigurumi, and better for you, as you may sell a piece you’ve already made, or pick up a new custom commission!

PJ-designed items from some of my fabulous customers – your items could be here too!

Don’t miss out: this is the best time of year for sellers, as pre-Christmas sales are starting to ramp up. If you’d like me to add your shop to the list, please let me know – I hope it’ll help you to pick up some new customers! (The details for signing up are at the bottom of the Sellers’ List page.)

If you’re already on the list, please check your details are still accurate – I’m happy to update them if you’d like to modify your shop details or swap to a new photo…

Tip: If you sell on Etsy, edit your listings to add the tag ‘planetjune’ so they’ll show up when anyone searches for PlanetJune in the handmade category (i.e. they’re not looking for my patterns)! Every additional chance to get your items seen and (hopefully) purchased is worth a try 🙂

This is a companion post to the iDownloads+ tutorial I wrote for iPad users.

Note: Now that tablets are so popular, I intend to convert my shop to use straight PDF files instead of zip files. It’s a big job to figure out how to do that for my 150+ (without losing your old orders from your account), and one I won’t even have a chance to start until well into next year, so zip files it is for the time being!

My patterns are instantly downloadable after purchase, as zip files. Unfortunately, Android tablets and smartphones have no native way to handle zip files, so you need to either download your patterns to your computer first, and then transfer them to your tablet/phone, or use an app that can open zip files for you and extract the PDFs.

There are many app options for Android and they all work in a similar way. I’ll give you a brief tutorial on one I’ve tested that’s free and easy to use, called ZArchiver. This is one (free) way you can download and open zip files from your PlanetJune account directly on your Android device.

(Please note: I can’t provide support for apps, so please don’t ask me if you have questions about this – I’m just providing this information as a service to Android users.)

To view your PlanetJune patterns on your Android device

1. Download ZArchiver from Google Play.
2. In your browser (e.g. Chrome), go to your PlanetJune account and tap the download link for your pattern. Your zip file will be saved into your Download folder.
3. Open ZArchiver and browse to the Download folder. You’ll see your zip file in the list of files in that folder.
   
4. Tap the file name (XXX.zip). A menu will pop up.
5. Tap Extract here and the contents of the zip file will be extracted and saved into your Download folder. You’ll see the pattern PDF.
   
6. From here, you can open the PDF by tapping it in ZArchiver, or however you usually open PDF files. It’ll still be saved in your Download folder when you need to view it again, or you can move it using your usual file management app.

If you’re an Android user, I hope you find this information helpful 🙂

There’s been lots of customization fun with the entries in the Donationware CAL this month – take a look at the roundup below to see all the entries (and don’t forget to keep reading to the end for the October CAL details…)

I’ve now been running my commissions model for 18 months. Thanks to your pledges, I’ve designed 10 lovely new animal patterns so far:

…and everything’s going swimmingly! Or, it would be, if I hadn’t unexpectedly been offered a crochet book deal I couldn’t refuse, a couple of months ago…

My process, whether for writing a new book or developing a new design, is always thorough and meticulous. Everything I do goes through research, planning, testing, refining and editing until I’m satisfied that it’s exactly the way I want it to be, and the best end product I can create. That’s just how I work – it’s time-intensive, and there’s nothing I can do to change that. And while, in an ideal world, I’d take a year or longer to write my book in leisure while continuing PlanetJune business as usual, the reality is that the book has to be completed before the end of 2013.

I can’t not put my best effort into this book (just as I can’t not put my best effort into anything else I do), so I’ve made the difficult decision to suspend the commissions process until January 2014. If you’re paying for a commissioned design, you want 100% June effort going into that design, not whatever dregs of energy I can muster in rare moments when I’m not concentrating on the book! And dregs are all I could offer for the remainder of this year. I’m not willing to do that, and I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t want me to either…

The Plan

• My Commissions Page will remain open for new pledges throughout this time.
• All existing commissioned designs will remain in the waiting list until January. (Nobody has paid for anything they haven’t received, so I’m not breaking any promises – I just hope you’ll be okay with waiting a little longer for your designs to be completed.)
• If you’re unhappy and want to cancel any pledges, just let me know and I’ll do it – no questions asked!
• When I start back to work in the new year, I’ll email all pledgers to check they’re still happy with their pledges before I start sending any invoices.

I’m sorry if this disappoints you (I’m disappointed too), but, unless I figure out a way to clone myself, we’ll all just have to accept that there aren’t enough June hours to go around, and things will take longer than we’d like. Thanks for your understanding…

I am looking forward to picking up the commissions again next year, though – next in line is another African animal (meerkat!) followed by the camel (I’ve already bought real camel yarn for that one), so there’s lots to anticipate for 2014!