Artist Allison Hoffman, aka Crafty is Cool, is an absolute master of pop culture amigurimi ("a portmanteau of the Japanese words ami, meaning 'crocheted or knitted,' and nuigurumi, meaning 'stuffed doll'"). She can crochet like nobody's business and each of her pieces are a work of art (previously). Now, she's taken to creating the real star of The Mandalorian, the new Star Wars series on Disney+, big-eyed Baby Yoda!

But, she's only made one and you can't just buy it outright. If you want it, you'll have to bid on it on eBay. Allison writes, "I’ve gotten so many requests for the finished baby that this is really the only way I could fairly sell him! Thank you all! I have to make another for my husband so that he doesn’t buy this one..."

As of this writing, the bidding is already up to $305. If that's too rich for your blood, well, hope you can crochet, because she's made its pattern available ($7) in her Etsy shop.

We must protect the asset! Who even is he? Or she? Or what? Who cares? Its adorable. This pattern instructs you how to make a life-size stuffed baby inspired by Baby Yoda/Yiddle with easy to find supplies and simple techniques. Everything is photographed and explained in easy to follow step by step instructions. You should know basic crochet skills, but now is a good time to learn.

The Baby is 14" tall and weighs 2 lbs. He's got a little removable robe.

One imagines the late Queen frontman might have enjoyed this very much.

“I crocheted Freddie Mercury!,” says the very eager and talented crafter birdsaremybuddies on IMGUR.

I usually crochet animals.

Freddy was my first attempt at a person.

Here's the full view of their crafty creation:

They got this delightful pattern from Mojo Moji design, and with it you can crochet the iconic and legendary former singer of Queen yourself.

Moji Moji offers the pattern for free, but the considerate thing to do is donate something if you can, because this wonderful crafting project supports the Mercury Phoenix Trust:

The Mercury Phoenix Trust was founded by Brian May, Roger Taylor and their manager Jim Beach in memory of rock band Queen’s iconic lead singer Freddie Mercury who sadly died in 1991 from AIDS related pneumonia. In the last 21 years the Trust has given away over 15 million dollars in his name and funded over 700 projects in the global battle against HIV/AIDS.

As a tribute to the legendary Freddie I’ve created his likeness in amigurumi, capturing his essential awesomeness in yarn!

Here's the full crocheting process from birdsaremybuddies on IMGUR.

I crocheted Freddy Mercury

Read the rest

You can make your own perfectly adorable chibi crocheted AT-AT Walker with this $5.90 pattern from Polish textile artist Kamila Krawczyk, AKA Krawka. (via The Stars My Destination) Read the rest

“They are the pets of a friend of mine and he wanted to give them as a gift to someone who loved them but could not have their own budgies.” Read the rest

OMG, these hand-crocheted Yip Yips stockings by Carissa Browning sure do make me smile. The big mouths of Sesame Street's Muppet martians are perfect for stuffing in holiday gifts (and later for storing toys, Browning suggests).

One catch: If you want these, you'll have to crochet or knit them yourself. Fortunately, Browning has provided patterns for them which can be downloaded for free from her Ravelry page.

The spaceship has landed, and any fan of late 20th century children’s public television will recognize these lovable aliens.

Crochet them or knit them, use them as holiday stockings, toy storage, kids’ laundry, whatever really!

You should also be prepared to play with ping pong balls and pipe cleaners, and do a little light sewing.

Yip yip uh-huh uh-huh

(Cool Mom Picks, Daily Crochet)

photo via Carissa Browning, used with permission Read the rest

Crochetverse's Stephanie Pokorny is putting all us moms to shame with the crocheted Halloween costumes she's made for her six-year-old son Jack. Recently her all-yarn Predator costume made the rounds and now she's back with this glow-in-the-freaking-dark Slimer costume. (You may remember when Jack was two, she made an adorable E.T. costume for him.)

Here's a look at her son in the Predator costume:

Action! Crochet Predator comes to life courtesy of one super scary 6 year old! (He pulled the hood down "extra to be super scary", end quote.) pic.twitter.com/42MPQuiWAH

— Crochetverse (@crochetverse) September 30, 2018

And here he is in the Slimer costume:

Crochet Slimer costume ACTION! Fully crocheted by me at my son's request ♡ pic.twitter.com/o7emNTjnP8

— Crochetverse (@crochetverse) October 15, 2018

Also, get this, she freehand crochets her costumes. That means she doesn't use a pattern. If you know anything about crocheting, you'll appreciate what an incredible feat this is.

See more of her creations here.

(Geekologie) Read the rest

Discovered nearly 110 years ago by a workman on an archaeological dig in Lower Austria, the limestone Venus of Willendorf statuette is guessed to be have been created sometime between 28,000 and 25,000 BCE, aka the "Old Stone Age."

The sculpture now lives in Vienna at the city's Natural History Museum.

If you crochet, you can make your very own Willendorf Venus. Head to Trishagurumi for the free pattern.

Thanks, Amy! Read the rest

You probably missed out when Nike auctioned off 89 modern-day replicas of Marty McFly's self-lacing sneakers, but that shouldn't stop you from having a pair. While they don't tie themselves, these handcrafted slippers inspired by Marty's futuristic Back to the Future II Air Mags should do the trick. Read the rest

By crocheting over a piece of PVC pipe, Redditor Rancor_Emperor's (aka Sean) sister was able to crochet up a purple sweater for her brother's corn snake, Spaghetti. She gifted the long tube to the pet reptile on Christmas.

The Dodo shares:

“She asked me how long he was, and I was like, ‘Well, he’s about 39 inches last time I measured him.’”

...When Sean first showed Spaghetti the sweater, he happily wriggled his way inside of it, according to Sean.

...“Right before he sticks his head out through the end, he kind of parks it in there and waits,” Sean said. “Then after a minute or two, he’ll poke his head out and he’ll sit there and look around for a while.”

Sean posted a photo of Spaghetti in the sweater on Reddit and it blew up, capturing over 152K upvotes.

Rescue Snake Gets Special Crocheted Sweater For Christmas

(Twisted Sifter) Read the rest

Regina Weiss of the blog Morale Fiber upped her Krampus game this year with this amazing hand-crocheted hat. Even its horns are made of yarn.

She writes, "I designed this crazy crochet hat after the traditional European Christmas monster who accompanies Santa to scare anyone who isn't on the Nice list!"

Get the pattern for free on her site or support her efforts by grabbing the pdf version for $5.50 at her Etsy shop.

Thanks, Michelle! Read the rest

All you knitters or crocheters, this one's for you: temperature blankets. 

The basic idea is that, every single day for an entire year, you'll stitch up a new row (or square or circle or other shape). The color you choose is determined by the outside temperature. 

When I first came across one on Instagram, I thought it was something pregnant women did to kill time while waiting for baby to arrive. I thought these soon-to-be-moms were measuring their internal body temperature not the one outside. I can see now that I made it too complicated, and weird. To be fair, the crocheter of the one I saw had described it as her "daughter's temperature blanket."

Anyway, it's a super cool and simple idea. And it leaves plenty of room for creativity.

Most people start them at the beginning of the year, but you seem like a rebel to me. Start one today. Read the rest