The photo is from a Japanese book I found at Uwajimaya.
I was at Twisted yesterday for another PDX knitters gathering (see Fiberqat posting for photos). Naturally, I decided to check out their class offerings. If you haven’t noticed, I have a weakness for cute little toys.
Yes, it’s a class for crochet not knitting, but I’m in sore need of building my skills in this area. Plus I would like to pursue my interest in toy design. My husband has noted that he has an interest in designing monsters and having me crochet or knit them. When he saw what we would be making in the class he actually was tempted to join.
(Larger Image: esmonster.jpg from PDX Blender.org)
Maybe I won’t pick and octopus for my first project. It’s probably better to start with something that doesn’t have any arms or legs, like a tadpole or… worm. Well, maybe not.
Here’s the description of the workshop. It’s on September 12. For more information check out the class listing at Twisted.
Crocheted Amigurumi Workshop
Amigurumi is a Japanese craft of crocheting stuffed toys. From wikipedia, “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.”
I am addicted 
do you have a pattern for those little things in the apples? If you do could you send it me? I think they are adorabbbble!
Unfortunately, the pattern is in Japanese. After I took the class… I think I have some skills to translate the pattern, but I haven’t had the time. 😦 I can tetell you that there are now a number of books on Amigurumi in English and you can probably use the patterns in these books to figure out the dimensions of the critters in fruit project. Here’s a book I found on Amazon but you might want to continue shopping. http://www.amazon.com/Amigurumi-Super-Happy-Crochet-Cute/dp/1600590179