Christmas Amigurumi once again

En français

So it's kind of a habit now for me to make Amigurumis for Christmas and to ship them all over the world do nice people asking for them. I know this Christmas I decided that I wasn't actually going to take requests. The reason for that was that I had a lot of nice people around who I could make something for. So I created an army of Totoros, 26 of them to be precise (well I still have 1 to finish and 2 to actually make). I never actually made that many Amigurumi in such a short time before.
But I think them liked them.

And as I know some of my readers probably want one as well, and as I created the patterns myself, as a Christmas gift for you I'm going to tell you how to make one yourself.

Body and head 
Make an amigurumi ring.
1) 5 sc in the ring.
2) 2 sc in each sc around : 10 sc
3) (1 sc in the next sc, 2 sc in the next sc) 5 times : 15 sc
4) (1 sc in the next 2 sc, 2 sc in the next sc) 5 times : 20 sc
5) (1 sc in the next 3 sc, 2 sc in the next sc) 5 times : 25 sc
6-11) 25 sc  
12) (1 sc in the next 2 sc, 2 sc in the next sc) 8 times, 1 sc in the next : 33 sc
13-20) 33 sc
21) (1sc in the next 2 sc, decrease once) 8 times, 1 sc in the next : 25 sc
22) (1 sc in the next 3 sc, decrease once) 5times : 20 sc

Fill up with stuffing
23) (1 sc in the next 2 sc, decrease once) 5times : 15 sc
24) (1 sc in the next sc, decrease once) 5times : 10 sc.
Sew to close.

Arms (make two) 
Make an amigurumi ring.
1) 3 sc in the ring.
2) 2 sc in each sc around : 6 sc 
3) (1 sc in the next 1 sc, 2 sc in the next sc) 3 times : 9 sc
4-9) 9 sc
Finish off

Ears (make two) 
Make an amigurumi ring.
1) 3 sc in the ring.
2) 2 sc in each sc around : 6 sc 
3) (1 sc in the next 1 sc, 2 sc in the next sc) 3 times : 9 sc
4-8) 9 sc
9) (1 sc in the next 1 sc, decrease once) 3 times : 6 sc
Finish off

Tail
Make an amigurumi ring. 
1) 4 sc in the ring.
2) 2 sc in each sc around : 8 sc
3) (1 sc in the next 1 sc, 2 sc in the next sc) 4 times 
4-5) 12 sc
Finish off


Stomach 
Make an amigurumi ring. 
1) 6 sc in the ring.
2) 2 sc in each sc around : 12 sc
3) (1 sc in the next 1 sc, 2 sc in the next sc) 6 times : 18 sc
4) (1 sc in the next 2 sc, 2 sc in the next sc) 6 times : 24 sc
5) (1 sc in the next 3 sc, 2 sc in the next sc) 6 times : 30 sc
6) (1 sc in the next 4 sc, 2 sc in the next sc) 6 times : 36 sc
7) (half turn)  (1 sc in the next 5 sc, 2 sc in the next sc) 3 times : 39 sc

Eye
Make an amigurumi ring. 
1) 5 sc in the ring. 
Close the ring.
Finish off

Sew the forms on the Stomach and eyes at the end.
Only the body and ears are stuffed up so the arms are free to move.

Merry Christmas !!

Japan : Trip to Kansai 海遊館

En français
In the afternoon, we went to 海遊館 (Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan), one of the largest aquarium in the world. They have 29000 animals from 470 different species. It is so big that they even have manta rays and a pair of whale sharks and several dolphins. A whale shark can measure 12.65 meters at most and weight 36 tonnes, those in the aquarium were of course smaller but still really impressive.
The aquarium is extended over several floors and finished with a museum part where you can even pet rays and shares. We went out to see the Christmas illuminations in front of it.
Travel table of content

Japan : Trip to Kansai 大坂城

En français
The first morning of our trip we went to visit 大坂城 (Osaka castle). The construction started in 1583 and several people continued to improve and renovate it during the next centuries. Now it's a museum so the interior doesn't look like a Japanese castle anymore. However we can discover the mystery of the construction and of the seals of the divers Japanese clans which participated in it's construction as well as the life of people there few centuries ago.
We also walked in the park around the castle and eat some 肉まん　and たこ焼き.
 Travel table of content

Japan : Trip to Kansai introduction

En français

From the 19 of November until the 23rd, I have been visiting Kansai with friends. They went few days earlier and we took the bus on the Friday night to join them in Osaka. We had a lot of problems to find our bus. Things can get pretty hard when you can't read basic information and don't even know where to read them but with some help it all turn out fine and we managed to get on this exciting travel to discover another side of Japan. It took us the entire night to travel between Tokyo and Osaka and we met the others at the hotel in the morning. Then we had time for shower and breakfast before leaving for our first day of discovery. In this new series of posts I will show you our activities in Osaka, Nara and Kyoto.
Travel table of content