I have a huge announcement to make - I now have a new website and my very own shop at www.lilleliis.com. Building up a new site has been a long and complicated process, but I´m happy we did it, because it has been a dream of mine already for some time. 
There are a couple of significant changes compared to the blog you`re reading right now. For example the two languages - English and my native language Estonian - are separated. I hope it is more clear and comfortable for you my dear readers. The thing that I really love is that I have my own SHOP there. You can buy all the amigurumi patterns and ready-made toys directly from my website. It is as simple as on etsy because you can pay using PayPal, but it will be much quicker as you will get the instant download link on your email!
All of my FREE PATTERNS have moved to the new website. Also from now on I will continue BLOGGING there.
I hope you will forgive me if everything is not perfect from the beginning, I do my best to resolve all the tiny kinks there might be.
What happens to this blog you wonder? It will not disappear, but it will not be the same anymore. I`ve loaded photos of my handmade items here since 2009. It is too valuable to be wiped away! This blog will always remain as an archive of my previously made work, but I hope it won`t be all.



Mul on suur uudis - kutsun teid külla oma uuele veebilehele ja päris oma poodi aadressil www.lilleliis.com. Ümberkolimine on olnud pikk ja kohati üsna vaevarikas, kuid ka üksjagu põnev ning loodetavasti hakkavad asjad siit edasi aina ladusamalt minema.
Uue kodulehe suureks eeliseks on see, et eesti- ja ingliskeelsetele lugejatele on täiesti eraldi lehed. Mul on hea meel, et lõppeb ära keeleline segadus, mis mulle endalegi raske hallata oli, rääkimata siis lugejatest. Teine suur muudatus on päris oma POOD, kust saab osta heegeldatud mänguasju, mütse, susse ja peapaelu, aga ka kogu valikut lilleliisi amigurumi ja heegeldamise õpetusi. Ka kõik TASUTA ÕPETUSED on kolinud uuele lehele. Ning BLOGI jätkab oma edasist elu seal.
Loodan väga, et uus leht hakkab kõigile praegustele jälgijatele meeldima, sest see on midagi, millest juba ammu unistanud olen. Andke mulle andeks, kui kõik kohe alguses viimseni laitmatu pole - iga uue asjaga tuleb ju ette ootamatusi ja väikseid viperusi. Teen oma parima, et kõik need kiiresti lahendada.
Mis saab aga käesolevast blogist? Miskipärast usun, et ka see jääb mingil moel edasi elama. Kuidas täpselt, veel ei tea. Oma töödest olen siia pilte üles riputanud juba aastast 2009. Kõik see on mulle liiga kallis, et ühe liigutusega prügikasti heita. Osaliselt ilmselt jääbki see vanemate tööde arhiiviks, aga loodetavasti mitte ainult.

Some while ago Susanne from Lilla Luise contacted me and asked if I would like to join the Travelling Owl project. I have never belonged to any craft communities, participated on forums etc, so this seemed to be a nice opportunity to try something like that.

Lõpuks ometi tabas mind inspiratsioonihoog ja tegin esimesed katsetused poiss-nukuga. Eks oli ta ju plaanis kohe hetkest, kui valmisid tüdruk nukud, aga hoovõtt ja mõtete kogumine võtsid oma aja.
Esimese nuku - nimeks sai ta Oskar - heegeldasin katsetamise mõttes lihtsas riietuses, et vältida keerulisi parandusi ja ümbertegemist. Oluline oli aru saada, kas tervik toimib. Kõige rohkem pusimist oli tennistega ja nende lõpp-lahendust annaks kindlasti veel lihvida, aga kes teab, kas ma seda enam teengi, sest hetkel on juba valmimise järgus järgmine poiss. Teda saab siin ka õige pea näha.


It took time to collect myself but here it is - my very first attempt on a boy doll. I had him in my plans already when I made the girl dolls, but inspiration and energy  to actually start with them burst out just now.
I named him Oscar and crocheted him in a simple outfit to avoid reworking as the important thing was to understand whether the model as a whole works. His sneakers definitely were the most difficult part and they could be improved in many ways, but I´m not sure I will do that, as I have another boy already in progress and soon I can show you pictures of him also.

 

I took my very first pattern - Little kitty - and made a new version of it. The idea wasn`t to change the pattern, but to make new photos of the preparation and use the whole potential of the pattern, as I felt there was more than I had taken advantage of in my previous version. Also the structure of the pattern was a little bit different as then I didn`t have my style yet developed.


As I went with the pattern I made some small adjustments on the head, ears, eye size and arms. Nothing major as I wanted to keep the similar look. Of course I used a different yarn. The first kitty was made with half woollen yarn, this time I used mixtures of cotton and bamboo. Added eye lashes and a little spangle tattoo on the side :)
It felt awesome to make something tiny! You can actually finish a toy in a day, wow!


The new revision of the pattern is available in my etsy shop, but it will be for free for all those etsy customers who already have bought the first version. You may contact me at lilleliis@gmail.com and ask for the new Little kitty version, BUT please dig out your etsy INVOICE NUMBER for making it little easier for me.

See hiireke on järjekordne põnev lõngakogemus. Valmistatud siidiussikeste kogutud mooruspuu siidist. Kas pole põnev! See eriskummaline, luksuslik ja hinnaline lõng jäi silma juba kuid tagasi. Rohkem kui ühe toki ei raatsinud osta, sest poes kohapeal ei tekkinud ühtegi kindlat ideed, kus seda kasutada. Ostmata ka ei saanud jätta, sest just erinevate põnevate materjalide kasutamisest on saanud omamoodi ja elevust tekitav hobi.


Selle lõnga "tunnet" on raske sõnadesse panna. Kui ütlen sulgpehme ja siidsile, siis see on puhas tõsi. Lisandiks kaunis läige. Amigurumi jaoks kindlasti mitte kõige lihtsam lõng, kuid tulemus on vaeva väärt. See kogemus oli eriline!
Hiirekesest ka lähemalt. Valmistasin selle ühe ammuse töö alusel. Kaks aastat tagasi valmis nimelt kevadine hiireke, kellest mõni aeg hiljem sündis armunud hiirepaar. Selline väike ja tagasihoidlik loomake, kuid aegajalt on see ikka kellelegi silma jäänud ning on õpetustki küsitud.


This little mouse is made using an old pattern of mine. About two years ago I created a little Spring mouse, somewhat later I made a couple called "They are in love". This is a new version of the same model, a silky one. Crocheted with 100% mulberry silk yarn. I bought this luxurious and thrilling yarn already months ago. Experimenting with interesting and rare materials has almost become a new hobby of mine :) It definitely isn`t the easiest yarn for making an amigurumi, but the effort was worth it. The finished mouse is as soft as a feather, silky smooth and has an extraordinary gloss. I love the result!

Päevad lendavad tormiliselt ja tegusalt. Uusi ja põnevaid tegemisi tuleb uksest ning aknast. Astun küll mõneks ajaks kõrvale tellimustööde rajalt, kuid riputan siia veel pildid ühest viimasest tellimisel tehtud mänguasjast. Tegu on Memmepoeg jänese sõsaraga.


The pattern I had written down for myself worked nicely. Next bunny will hopefully become a material for written pattern and step-by-step photos.

Pauli kaisukaru, mille heegeldasin möödunud aasta viimastel kuudel, sai pisut uuendatud välimuse ja vormus ingliskeelseks õpetuseks. Valmistasin selle tarbeks kaks näidist, ühe tüdruku ja teise poisi värvides. Kohe täiesti klassikalised - roosa ja sinise.
Kõige suuremaks muudatuseks on lõnga vahetus. Esimene kaisukaru sai tehtud puuvilla- ja linasegusest materjalist, aga hing jäi ihalema millegi villasema ja karusema järele. Nii proovisingi villa ja alpakat sisaldavat lõnga ja jäin kohe täitsa rahule. Väikesed kohendused silmade ja jalgade osas ning kaisukaru oligi minu jaoks lõplik.


Kuid siis ilmus üks ootamatu takistus - nimi. Tükk aega istusid need kaks selli mul riiulil, õpetuski oli juba valmis, aga polnud nime. Ühel päeval kuulsin täiesti juhuslikult lapsi mänguhoos rääkimas nabakarust, just sellest samast nabalohuga karust, ja sealt edasi hargnes kõik juba kiiresti. Nii saigi temast Tummy Teddy.



The teddy bear I made for my son in the last months of previous year got a new version and formed into a pattern. I crocheted two examples - pink as a girl and blue as a boy. Very classical. 
The major adjustment was changing the material. The first teddy bear was made from mixtures of cotton and linen, but my soul was searching for something more woolly and rough. So I used a yarn made of wool and alpaca and was very much pleased with the result. Smaller adjustments on the eyes and legs and they were complete.  


I had the teddy bears sitting on my shelf and pattern pretty much ready, but I didn`t have the name for them. It had to be something special, like the teddy bear itself is sweet and special. Finally I got inspiration from my kids, when they were playing with their softies. So I named the bear Tummy Teddy, which brings the attention on his tummy and the cute belly button :)
 

Here comes another doll pattern - Princess Silver-shoe. She is a dream come true doll for many little girls. With her long ruffled dress, curly hair, perfect crown and decorative pearls she is like an embodiment of fairy tale and beauty.


In many ways she is similar to Sofia, however she`s somewhat thinner and taller and with a different kind of hair style. Also I made some smaller re-arrangements when preparing the material for the pattern. For example the shoes got a new look, although they still are embellished with pearls (for smaller children it would be wise to leave them out). Also I experimented with the hair and left the inner side of the piece visible. This gives more texture and fits nicely with curls, so the overall impression is more true to life.


The pattern is available at my etsy shop.

It`s been a while since I wrote my last pattern. I started some, but left unfinished. I just wasn`t in the mood. You wonder why? There are so many eager fans for whom I would love to publish new patterns all the time. But among them there are also people who are not treating other peoples work and design with respect. The last months of 2012 revealed several copyright issues and unethical cases. I felt disappointed, deceived and had to take some time to clear my mind.

At the same time I received many e-mails with the questions about new patterns. Thanks to all these people I got back my self-confidence and faith in sincerity and esteem. Also I discovered I had skipped out all of the teddy bears and decided to start filling that hole. So here it is, my very first teddy bear pattern - SMUGLY-BEAR. It`s extremely simple to make, yet an adorable toy. His lumpy body, smugly face and frisky ears give him the special character. He is clumsy, but even when he stumbles he still looks sweet because of the special heart on his butt :) Buttons on his tummy, ribbon around the neck and some fabric covering the ears make him a true sweetheart.

The pattern is available in my etsy shop!

Mütside valmistamise olen viimasel ajal küll tahaplaanile sättinud, aga oma lastele valmistan neid rõõmuga. Aastate taha on jäänud arulagedad mütsiretked, kus läbi sai kammitud kümneid poode, et leida ainumaski müts, mis lapsele pähe istuks, kõrvu hästi kataks ja muidu kena oleks. Selles mõttes tahaksin kohe kindlasti julgustada ka teisi emasid oma lastele ise peakatteid valmistama. Mis võiks olla parem, kui et modell on kodus olemas, töö käigus saab mütsi korduvalt pähe proovida, parandada ja täiendada. Lisaks valid ise sobiva materjali ja värvid. Harjutades arenevad oskused ja iga aastaga valmivad järjest mugavamad-kaunimad peakatted!


Viimasel nädalal heegeldasin vanemale pojale uue talvemütsi. See oli üks omamoodi eksperiment, sest katsetasin kahekordse mütsi tegemist. Tavapärasem oleks ilmselt olnud õmmelda ühekordsele mütsile vooder alla, aga kuna heegeldamine on hoopis rohkem minu kui õmblemine, siis otsustasin proovida. Pealmiseks kihiks sai soe villa ja alpaka segune lõng, alumine müts on pehmest puuvilla ja siidi segust. Lisaks sellele, et müts on topelt soe, ei tohiks nüüd olla probleemi ka villa liigse karedusega, mis pea sügelema võib ajada. Vooder sai lustakalt triibuline, et iga kord mütsi pähe tõmmates tuju heaks läheks. Mulle endale meeldibki kõige enam see, et müts on ilus ka seestpoolt!


Üheksa aastane on äärmiselt tähelepanelik ennast ümbritseva suhtes ja oskab küsida asju, mis moes on. Nii kuulus algusest peale kontseptsiooni ka suur tutt. Minu jaoks oli see midagi uut ja põnevat. Ja suur oli mu rõõm, kui müts lõpuks valmis sai ja poeg südamest õhkas, et kõik on just täpipealt nii nagu ta ette kujutas!


This story is about making a new hat for my son. He is quite sensitive to cold, just like me, so I decided to try crocheting a two layered hat. The more traditional way would probably have been sewing a lining from an old T-shirt, but as I feel myself more comfortable in crocheting I decided to give it a try.
The upper hat is warm, made from mixtures of wool and alpaca. The inner one is from cotton and silk, very soft and smooth. Stripes make the lining more fun and I really enjoy the hat being nice from the inside also.
He didn`t want to have another hat with earflaps, but he requested for a huge pompom. 
As I finished I was so pleased to hear the hat looked just as he had dreamed it to be!