Uncategorized - Kostin Designs

Hi! I’m proud to present to you my very first knitting pattern. I’m relatively new to knitting. I started to knit some two and a half year.

For a moment I have to go at the beginning. Some 4 and a half years ago, in November of 2020, my wife thought me how to crochet. She has been crocheting for a while. It started with hats and shawls and when our daughter was some 19 months old she made her first amigurumi. She was nagging me for a while to teach me how to crochet but I wasn’t interested.

My story

That one night in November I was bored. Our children were sleeping and I was bored with the book I was reading. She was sitting and crocheting. I don’t know what I was thinking but I told her that I want to learn how to make a doll. She was surprised and thought that I was joking.

I can tell you that it was hard in the beginning but after a week I finished my first amigurumi. It was some amigurumi bear. I was proud and from that moment on I just continued crocheting.

I was constantly crocheting 8 to 12 hours a day while trying to perfect my skill.

My first pattern

While I was crocheting I was thinking how to make my doll but I didn’t know either how or what to make. Six months passed and by chance some woman

asked my wife if she could make an ant. She was reluctant and she asked me if I want to try. I didn’t have anything to lose so I said I would like to try.

That is a short story how I made Forest the Ant.

After that I continued designing my amigurumis and now I have more than 70 patterns and many more in my head.

Knitting journey

While crocheting I wanted to learn how to knit. I watched YouTube tutorials but it seems very hard. I tied several times and I just couldn’t figure it out. Every time I tried there was something wrong. I can say that I didn’t know anything and nobody to ask what am I doing wrong.

That process lasted approximately two years. One day I went to buy some yarn for amigurumi and decided to buy new knitting needles and some yarn. Somehow I managed to make my first scarf and than I figured it out. You can say whatever you want but you have to have good tools.

After that I bought better needles and continue knitting for myself. I knitted some scarfs, blankets and finally I made socks. Learning so many things made me happy. I am happy that there are so many things that are waiting for me to learn. I just love learning and I can tell you one thing for certainty. Don’t be afraid to learn or try new things. You can surprise yourself.

I’m sorry for this long introduction and without further adieu I present to you my first knitting pattern – Snowman Beanie!

I am proud that I managed to make something that I can call my own. There are few more patterns that I made after this one while I was waiting for this one to be tested. I am going to write about that later.

I am hopping that some of you will decide to buy this pattern and give it a chance but that is not something that is most important. What I’m hopping is that you will enjoy making it like I do.

Thank you for reading.

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Introduction of myself as amigurumi designer

Hi! My name is Ljubomir Kostin and I am amigurumi designer. I just love crocheting and making amigurumi. Designing is my first love when it comes to needles. I also love knitting and almost everything yarn related but that is a story for some other time.

Do you sometimes find yourself falling when you are failing? That is my everyday problem. We all have our ups and downs. I just want to address that because I found that most of the people are afraid of failing. Let’s talk about making amigurumi, crocheting, universe, good coffee and life in general.

I just want to say that I tried many things in life and sometimes I was afraid that I could not manage to do or learn something new. Even now I am afraid to do some things but believe me I was dead wrong.

How it all started with amigurumi

One evening three years ago my wife finally showed me how to crochet. I was bored while reading fourth book of The Witcher and I didn’t know what to do anymore. I couldn’t read books anymore. I just decided to try and see if I can learn it. From this perspective I can say that it was really hard. First few days I was struggling with crochet hook, yarn, magic ring and whatnot. I just couldn’t make Magic Ring and even when I managed to make it my work was full of holes. I was somewhat desperate. I just wanted to be better.

With every stitch I was analysing what I can do to make it better. I was constantly trying to make it better. Most of the time I was failing. There was much frogging included in that. I just didn’t want to leave it until I learn. Somehow I finished my first toy. That toy was a bit ugly but it was mine and I somehow made it. I was really proud of myself.

What now!? Can I make my own amigurumi

I didn’t know what to do next!? I had spare time so I just continued to crochet. While I was making my third toy I wanted to make it a bit different so I could call it mine. I was making a bear but I made him rabbit ears. It was a rabbit! I didn’t know how to make it and I was a slow crochetier so my wife had to make it. I was just telling her numbers. And maybe it wasn’t a big change but it was my first modified amigurumi.

After that I was crocheting 8 to 12 hours a day. Crocheting like I was crazy. Even though I was afraid to try and make something completely mine.

I tried to think out of the box and play like a child. I found that we often forget how to play. We forgot how to be children because we are now grown-ups. We think and act that way and we think about what somebody will say about us. Will they laugh at us if we fail? Children don’t think that way. They are free of any restrictions if we allow them.

Fall or fail while making amigurumi

One day, some six months after I started crocheting, somebody asked my wife if we could make an Ant for her son. She asked me if I could do it because she didn’t know how. I said that I was going to try to make it. For a while I wasn’t sure how. I was designing that Ant for month and a half. It took me some time. There were many things I had to figure out on my own. I needed experience which I didn’t have. I was pretty new in this and I was only crocheting for a half a year.

When I finally managed to finish it I was ecstatic. It was something of my own. I have made amigurumi that nobody had. It was the best feeling in the world. I made something with my own hands and while I was making it I learned so many things.

After that first toy I just continued crocheting and designing my new toys. I designed 50 or 60 so far and with every toy I’m designing I try to challenge myself.

I love to challenge myself and I just want to encourage everybody to do that also. Try something new even though you think that you are going to fail.

When we are babies we all learn how to walk by falling and failing. Did that stop us to learn how to walk? It didn’t. We all stood up and tried the same thing again.

My word to you is not to be afraid to try something new. Something you dreamed of doing for a long time but you were afraid to do so.

Let yourself to fail. Don’t think what somebody will say. Just do something for yourself and not for the others.