~MoonYen

Ok. I've been working on answering everyone's questions. If anyone has something they think should be added. Please comment here and I'll add it to the list.

Q: What's Amigurumi?
A: I'm not so good with definitions, but Wiki is: Amigurumi (Japanese: from amu [to knit] and nuigurumi [stuffed toy]) is the Japanese art of knitting or crocheting small stuffed animals and anthropomorphic creatures. Amigurumi are typically cute animals (such as bears, rabbits, cats, dogs, etc.), but can include inanimate objects endowed with anthropomorphic features. Amigurumi can be knitted, but the vast majority of amigurumi are crocheted.
Amigurumi are usually crocheted out of yarn. The simplest designs are worked in spirals. In contrast to typical Western crochet the rounds are not usually joined. They are also worked with a smaller size needle in proportion to the weight of the yarn in order to create a very tight-looking fabric without any gaps through which the stuffing might escape. Amigurumi are usually worked in sections and then joined (some amigurumi have no limbs whatsoever and the body and head is worked as one piece). The extremities are often stuffed with plastic pellets to give them a life-like weight, while the rest of the body is stuffed with fiber stuffing.
The pervading aesthetic of amigurumi is cuteness, or kawaii. To this end, typical amigurumi animals have an over-sized spherical head on a cylindrical body with undersized extremities.

Q: Did you make the amigurumi?
A: Yes. I made everything in my gallery.

Q: How did you make the amigurumi?
A: They're crocheted. The rest is a trade secret.

Q: How much to commission ________?
A: These prices are per piece.
Most of my existing 3" - 4" designs range from $10 - $30. (The exception to this is if you want to change the design in any way other than base color. This includes eyes, multi-color, specialty yarn, etc. If this is the case, I have add to the fee due to material costs.)
To make a new 3" - 4" design (something I've never made and must create a pattern for it) runs between $15 - $40, depending on materials used and how complex the design is.
To make a new design larger than 4" the price ranges between $20 and $60. This again depends on the materials used and how complex the design is.
To make a miniature amigurumi under 3" the price ranges between $10 - $25 depending greatly on the complexity of the design.

Q: What are your shipping costs?
A: $3.00 will get any 3" - 4" amigurumi shipped worldwide. (Please note that products shipped outside of the US will be sent airmail and may take upwards of a month to deliver depending on your location.) Then .50 per additional item. Large amigurumi cost $5.20 to ship worlwide.
For priority mail, the following prices apply:
US - $5.20
Canada & Mexico - $9.00
Everywhere Else - $11.00

Q: What forms of payment do you accept?
A: Paypal is preferred, however if you are in the US, I will accept money orders, checks and concealed cash. However if you do pay with a money order or a check, I will hold your order 1 week after the check or money order has cleared to ensure that it really has cleared. (I hate to delay shipping out orders, but I have been burned by this before.)

Q: May I have a pattern for ________?
A: No. I'm not trying to be mean, but I sell amigurumi not patterns. If you're looking for some great free patterns, please check out Crochet Pattern Central [link] . There are many wonderful patterns available on the web.

Q: Can you teach me how to make amigurumi?
A: No. I'm sorta making it up as I go along and would not make a good teacher. However here's a helpful tutorial from Crochet Me: [link]
Also please see: :devidSparrow-dream:'s wonderful tutorials.

Q: Where do you get your eyes for amigurumi?
A: CR's Crafts [link]

Q: What hooks do you use?
A: I use hand carved hooks, purchased from Resplendent Creations on Etsy: [link]

Q: How long does it take you to make an amigurumi?
A: If it's an established simple design that I've made several times, 2-3 hours. If it's a large project (like my huggables) 10-15 hours. Small elaborate projects or new designs 4-6 hours. It really just depends.

Q: What started you knitting/crocheting/making amigurumi?
A: Christmas. No lie. My husband was out of a job and I was the only means of income. I had to make presents for my insanely large family and I thought maybe I could teach myself to knit. I bought a terrible instruction book and ended knitting Harry Potter scarves for my nieces and nephews. Later I soon discovered that I was knitting wrong. XD But now I know how to knit with my left hand as well.
Making amigurumi... well I don't know how I found out about them, but I started soon after I had begun making children's finger puppets (because I didn't have enough money for my niece's birthday present.) As for the creation of Moon Buns, that also came about due to a lack of money for Christmas gifts. I wanted to make something for my friends that would be easy to ship. The very first Moon Bun belongs to "devidnyanko-chan:.

Q. Why is your shop called Moon's Creations?
A. Firstly, because my Chinese name is Moon Yen.
Secondly, because I make a number of Amigurumi Bunnies and I was reminded of the Japanese story of the Rabbit on the Moon. (A version of that story follows.)

In the Japanese culture, there is a mythology about the rabbit in the moon.

Around the 12th century, a collection of short stories based on Buddhism and morality was written. It was titled, Konjaku Monogatari, and it contained a story about why people see a rabbit when they look up at the moon. He is supposedly pounding mochi (Japanese rice cakes) up there.

A long time ago there lived a rabbit, a fox and a monkey who believed that they had sinned in their former lives, and so were born as animal beings. They gathered one day, and promised to be good and to love one another as brothers, so that they could recompensate for their sins. They wanted to be good to all beings, but they had no real way to prove their intentions were real.

Taishakuten, one of the deities in the land of gods, looked down at those animals and thought: "I cannot believe this! These days the world is full of human beings who kill, rob, and hate one another even though they are brothers and sisters, and they don't even realize that what they do is wrong. How could animals be regretful and wanting to pay for their sins? How could they even be aware of it?" Taishakuten changed himself into a weak old man, and descended to the land where the three animals were. He laid himself down on the road, pretending to be sick, and dying.

Soon the three animals passed by, and the old man said in a frail voice: "Help me, please. I'm old and weak, and too exhausted to continue my journey. I don't have anybody to take care of me, and I don't have any food or water left." The animals were so eager to help the old man, this was their first opportunity to prove their good will!

The monkey ran away to the forest, collected fruits from the trees, picked up a variety of vegetables from the fields and carried them to the sick old man. The fox went to the graveyard, and took some of the offerings the people left there for the dead. He brought back rice cakes, fishes, and drinks. The rabbit looked for food everywhere, but couldn't find any, and came back with nothing to offer. He was so ashamed : "I tried everywhere, but it was all in vain. Wherever I went, I had to keep away from the hunters, and the children who saw me tried to catch and bully me."

He thought for a while, then he came back to where the old man was. He saw the monkey and the fox sitting proudly before the old man who still looked weak and pale. The rabbit approached them and said, "I'll go away to find some more food, meanwhile collect some twigs, make a fire and wait for me." The monkey and the fox were angry: "What did you bring to him.......nothing..! And now, you ask us to make a fire so you can keep yourself warm! What a shame!"

The monkey and the fox did what they had been told to do. After a little while, the rabbit came without bringing back anything at all. He approached the sick man. He could feel that he was not an ordinary man: "There is something divine in him..." He bowed, and said: "My Lord, I don't have the capabilities like the monkey and the fox do, but I have my small body to offer you to eat" With those words he leaped into the burning fire..."

In that very instant, the old man disappeared and in his place there stood the deity, Taishakuten. He sent the rabbit to the moon and put him there forever, so that people will always remember him whenever they look up at a full moon.


Q: What clubs are you in?
A: