November is my favorite month of the year, because it has my two favorite holidays: Thanksgiving and Black Friday!

As always, FreshStitches having a HUGE Black Friday Sale!

The sale will begin a midnight, November 24th (Eastern Time Zone). You are going to find the lowest prices of the entire year! I’ll post more details as we get closer to the date, so you can begin planning!

In years past, I’ve had a different sale every day (so, for example, you’d order on Saturday if you wanted free shipping, Sunday if you wanted a big deal on eyes…), but this year, I’m doing things differently. The sale will last all weekend long, and the more you buy, the more you’ll save. So, you’ll be able to grab a great deal on eyes AND get free shipping! Hooray!

While nearly everything will be on sale, some items will have particularly deep discounts if they’re being discontinued or are less-popular items. This is your time to stock up!

Donny the Donkey

This month’s exclusive Ami Club pattern is Donny the Donkey, designed by Chloe. Isn’t he adorable? Log in to your account to download!

Featured Patterns

As always, we have 3 featured patterns this month that members get for 50% off. Log in to the forums for the code! Patterns include these adorable pilgrims!

Holiday Card Swap

Our card swap is underway, with both domestic and international sign-ups open! This is a great chance to get to know someone else by exchanging greeting cards! Signups open until November 20th.

Holiday CAL begins November 15th!

I’m really excited about our newest crochet-a-long… I’m not going to spill the beans, yet! Members will get the pattern in their downloads, and we’ll all crochet this holiday-themed-cutie together!

 

Hope you’re having a great November, and get your shopping list for Black Friday, ready!

 

I know I say this every month, but there is just SO MUCH going on! Fall is the time for crocheting, so I’m just going to go ahead and get started!

October Ami Club Pattern

Isn’t Mr. Jack the Pumpkin so adorable?

I designed his arms to be like ‘vines’ that you can style any which way! And I created an easier technique for making the ‘pumpkin grooves’ than many other tutorials I’ve seen, so I hope you find it a cinch.
Ami Club members can hop over to their account and download the pattern!

As always, there are featured patterns that are 50% off for club members. Head to the News & Announcements forum to have a look and grab your coupon!

New Products

• Glow in the Dark Eyes
• Craft Eye Sampler Boxes
• Tiny Scissors

Glow in the Dark Eyes

Just for October, I’ve released hand-painted, glow in the dark eyes! Here’s a video so you can see them in action.

These are limited in quantity, so get them while they’re available!

Craft Eye Sampler Boxes

I’ve had lots of people ask me about making sampler boxes available. I usually sell eyes in 5-pair packs, but maybe you don’t want 5 pair. You just want a sampling of the different colors?

Now I’ve got you covered. Craft Eye Sampler boxes now available in 2 sizes!

Mini Scissors

A rainbow of mini scissors (with adorable Nelson the owl) is now available! A video of how to use them (shown on the previous version) is here:

Giveaway!

You can enter to win a giveaway of 5 amigurumi books, here!

Crochet Hook of the Month Club

Have you seen this Crochet Hook of the Month club by Louet?

You choose either a pointed or rounded tip (whoa!) and the hook is customized with your chosen inscription. So cool!

Amigurumi Patterns.net Design Contest

I’m super-happy to be a sponsor of the AmigurumiPatterns.com design contest!

This is a great opportunity to enter… you don’t even need to write a pattern!

Love my customers!

This one is fun… here’s a little map of purchases from the month of September!

Fave Links

• Did you know Queen Victoria was a crocheter?
• There are so many fiber festivals happening this time of year! Check this list to see if there are any near you!
• Ahh! I want this enamel pin, too!
• This designer knits sweaters for superheroes

I can’t believe it’s already September! Time is moving so fast (and um, it was 105 in Los Angeles last week… that feels like July to me!).

As always, I have lots of exciting news to share! If there’s something specific you’d like to see on the blog, feel free to leave a comment or shoot me an email!

Mojo the Monster

This month’s exclusive Ami Club pattern is Mojo the Monster!

He uses the new shaping technique we learned for the horns last month (single crocheting in one row below instead of using slip stitches, which have a tendency to bias)… I’m really loving it!

Mojo uses a 24mm black eye… but I also think he’d look amazing by leaving out the white crocheted eye and just using a 40mm eye (by painting a 40mm clear eye. Check out instructions here.) So many possibilities!

Handpainted Eyes back in stock!

Last month, I made a limited edition number of handpainted craft eyes just for Ami Club members. They were so popular (they sold out in just a day or two!), that I’ve decided to make up some more!

They are currently available in purple and copper in 12mm. I have a small number of larger handpainted glitter eyes.

My plan is to bring in a limited number of colors and sizes on a rotating basis (for example, this month is purple and copper 12mm, next month might be 15mm or glow-in-the-dark), so I encourage you to grab a color that you love when you see it.

Because theses are each handpainted, they’re a bit pricier than usual, and sold per pair.

If you’re looking for a great value and consistent stock, then don’t forget about my commercially-produced colored eyes which come in lots of lovely pearlescent colors! Because they come to me painted from the factory, I am able to offer them at a low price (and they’re way prettier than the dull brown ones you get from craft shops- if they still have eyes in stock!)

Featured September Patterns

These patterns are 50% off for Ami Club members… the coupon code is in the forum: September Featured Patterns: 50% off!

I went with a theme this month… all of the patterns use 18mm brown eyes! That way, you can buy a 5-pair pack and make all 3… and still have two pairs! Hooray!

Jim the Goat

We went to the county fair last weekend and they had baby goats… squee! I think they’re just the cutest! Don’t let them try to eat your pants leg though 😉

Purchase link: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/amigurumi-jim-the-goat

Jackie the Cow

This pattern is a real favorite… I think he might even be the second best-seller behind Nelson the Owl! Everyone loves a sweet cow, and you can have lots of fun by getting really crazy with the colors! Check out this one I made as a custom order:

 

Purchase link: https://freshstitches.com/cow/

Little Ger the Felted Bear

I love felting- just crochet with a wool yarn and throw it in the washing machine! (more detailed instructions are in the pattern, but basically that’s it!) The result is a very sturdy and durable fabric that will make a long-lasting stuffed animal. Give it a try!

Purchase Pattern: https://freshstitches.com/bearfelt2/

Crochet-a-long begins September 15th!

I’m not going to spill the beans on the theme yet, but our new crochet-a-long begins September 15th and runs through October 31st! Everyone is welcome to participate, but only Ami Club members receive the crochet-a-long pattern as a free download. (psst… membership is only $6/month- that’s the price of a pattern! Maybe you want to try it for a month and see if you like it!)

Post photos on Facebook

You may or may not know, but we have a crazy number of followers on the FreshStitches facebook page… over 568,000!

Now, to be totally honest, I’m not really sure who all of the people are… because I certainly don’t have over a half-a-million users on the website! Anyway, needless to say, when we were going through that growth spurt, moderating the page got a little crazy (with people posting a lot of spam and such). To keep it under control, I turned off the ‘post to page’ option.

Now things have calmed down, and I’m trying an experiment. I’ve turned ‘post to page’ back on, and I would love for you to share your crocheted amigurumi– FreshStitches or not (but bonus points if it’s a FreshStitches patterns or feature my eyes!) And we’ll see how it goes!

Obviously, I want a friendly atmosphere and would rather develop content for you than spend all day moderating the facebook group, so if it gets crazy again, we may need to edit. But let’s give it a try!

Fave Links

• My Crocheted Closet: this book looks like it’s going to be amazing! It’s already an amazon best-seller!
• Really interesting article about how much the average woman spends on yarn. Are you over or under?
• I absolutely love this Ravelry group dedicated to donating yarn to those who lost their stash in Harvey.
• I love Symposi Press, and these new (knitting) stickers are gorgeous!
• I’ll be teaching at Stitches Texas next weekend- will I see you there?
• These quilting enamel pins are lovely! (stay tuned, I’ll have a new pin for your collection available soon)

I hope you have a great September, and for those of you in Florida, please be safe!!!

It’s August! Hooray! It’s the time of year that I’m so happy it’s summer, but also won’t mind when it cools down a bit… how about you?

There’s so much happening this month… umm… so much that we stressed out the server. Ooops. So, if you’ve been trying to get to the site over the past few days and noticed that it’s down, I apologize and hope you’ll try again! I’ve upgraded to a bigger server and hope it’ll result in a smoother experience for you!

August Ami Club Pattern

Isn’t she adorable?!? I’ve come up with a new technique for shaping her trunk that results in a curve without the pesky biasing that you get when you use slip stitches. I hope you love it! I do… so much I’ll be using the method again in September!

The exclusive tutorial video is linked in the pattern!

Not a member of Ami Club yet? Come on and join us!

And the cuties are already rolling in! Come check out the Ellie the Elephant CAL, August 17! Thread.

Goodie Boxes

I know you guys LOVE goodie boxes: the ones where I get lots of random goodies and samples and pop them into a box. We had a vote, and you’re in favor of smaller boxes, but more of them… so hopefully, no one will miss out!

I’m listing the boxes this week, and they’ll be open to Ami Club members first, and then the general public if there are any extras.

These are the lowest-priced goodie boxes of the year! I intentionally made these boxes less than a pound for folks looking for a deal!

Click here to purchase your goodie box! Each box is only $13.50 and weighs 14 ounces!

Yes, you can combine shipping… just place your order and I’ll put the remainder of your order inside the box. However, I won’t be able to separate out your ‘normal order’ from your box, so it’ll be up to you to do that detective work!

FREE 8mm eyes!

I know we all love 12mm craft eyes… they’re my fave, too! But other sizes are really awesome, and I’d like you to give them a try!

That’s why, until August 17th, all Ami Club members get a free 5-pair package of 8mm craft eyes! No strings attached!

Just add a package of 8mm black craft eyes to your cart, and then enter the coupon code that’s listed in the news & announcements thread in the forums. That’s it!

 

New Charity!

I am SO excited about this quarter’s charity, Project Teddy Bear. Project Teddy Bear provides incarcerated men with an opportunity to learn how to crochet, and all of the handmade animals and hats that are made are then donated to the Upper Midwest Ronald McDonald House in partnership with the University of Minnesota Department of Pediatrics.

 

We just connected this week, so I’ll be writing another blog post with more details.

I can tell you that Project Teddy Bear is accepting donations of handmade animals! Please mail them to:

 717 Delaware Street SE, Room 382, Minneapolis, MN 55414

This will be our charity through the end of 2017!

Free buttons with purchase!

I’m sending out a sweet little button with every eyes order, while supplies last!

Note that shipments that only include the free 8mm package of eyes aren’t eligible, but throw in another item and you’ll get a button!

Orders over $20 will receive a Nelson enamel pin, while supplies last.

August featured patterns: 50% off

Every month, Ami Club members get 50% off selected FreshStitches patterns! This month’s patterns are:

Martin the Snail

Nathan the Platypus

Vera the Ladybug

How to Unsubscribe from Club notifications

A few members have unsubscribed from the club (don’t worry, I totally understand!), but are still getting the ‘News and Announcements’ notifications. You need to unsubscribe from these notifications separately (only if you subscribed to them to start with) from any other newsletter/blog notifications. Here’s how to do it:

Go to your profile. Then click ‘forums’ and ‘subscriptions’. All of your forum/topic subscriptions will be listed, and you can unsubscribe from there!

I hope you have a lovely August!