It was a family friend’s birthday party last weekend and I decided to make her an amigurumi of Hobbes as a present because:
I am a poor grad student
I noticed on her wish list that she wanted Calvin and Hobbes comic books
Therefore, she MUST like Hobbes
Instead of getting a gift straight from her wish list I wanted to add an element of SURPRISE!!
Hobbes would make a cute plushie…except I don’t even know where I could buy one
So, based on those excuses – oh I mean, “very sound reasons” – I set out to create Hobbes. The only thing holding me back was I had no idea what Calvin and Hobbes was about, except that Hobbes is a really skinny and tall tiger. Plus, the occasional Calvin bumper sticker that I see of him peeing on a cross stuck on some people’s cars…
Later, my brother incredulously filled me in on the story behind Calvin and Hobbes, bewildered that I had no idea who they were. That’s when I thought, “OHH! No wonder Hobbes looks so animated and long and skinny and twisty all the time!” And then, “Uh-oh, that does NOT sound pleasant to make into an amigurumi.” In the end, I just decided to not be so ambitious and just make whatever I can. Here’s what it looks like:
At first, the nose was also made of felt. Then, my bro said his face looked too flat, so I carefully scratched off the felt, cut a hole in the face, inserted the animal nose, unstuffed the head to fasten the nose, and restuffed it. So much work just to make his face look less flat, and I’m not even sure if it looks any more contoured!
As always, the intricate felt work was done by my sis. She also helped sculpt his scruffy white beard, which I made by attaching small strings of yarn to the head, like real hair! She’s also a great hair stylist by the way – she trims my bangs all the time! We both agree that the head is the best attribute of this Hobbes. It was unfortunate I didn’t know how to make his hands have fingers, because I think it’s an important part of Hobbes that makes him “alive.” Then again, my goal was not to be so ambitious…or else this would also go into my pile of failures!!
When my friend got around to opening our present for her, I was nervous. What if she complains that it’s not from her wish list? What if she thinks it belongs in the Pile of Failures too? What if she’s totally unimpressed, after all the hard work my sister and I put into it? Our worries were put to rest when she gleefully exclaimed, “OMG!” She really looked surprised and happy. Then, when I saw her cuddle with it, I knew all that hard work was well worth it. Hobbes, you did good!!
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Posted June 29th, 2009 at 2:21pm (Comments: 3)
Filed under Amigurumi, Comics
Ever since I started playing Animal Crossing 2 years ago, I’ve been playing that game EVERY day. Yes, I am that devoted. Actually, it’s my nighttime lullaby – puts me to sleep in an instant!
But anyways, what I really wanted to talk about today was Kaitlin, the mommy cat who visits your town searching for her lost daughter, Katie. You only get these characters when you visit another friend’s town, so they’re pretty special characters. Plus, I got her phone charm when I was playing with the coin machine again hehe. I just so happened to have recently bought a lot of yellow yarn too, so I was finding ways to use it up, and Kaitlin was what I came up with. Here’s her original picture in case you have no idea who I’m talking about:
Now, before you fall asleep reading my blog, here are the pictures of my finished product:
Unfortunately, she doesn’t stand on her own. This is what happens when you try to copy cartoon characters to a T. They inherit the impossibly skinny limbs that are supposed to support the fattest heads in the world. So out of proportion! But it just wouldn’t look like her anymore if I hadn’t done that. Oh well, there’s only so much you can do I guess.
I also got lazy again and didn’t make her a spatula. The hair my sis helped me out with again. I cut the hair out on my own first, then showed it to my sis, only to receive this utter look of disapproval and disgust hahaha, so she ended up taking care of it instead – thank God!! She also glued together the apron – although I did the little white fishy! See, I can cut felt too…
With 2 Animal Crossing characters done, of course I couldn’t resist taking a picture of them together!
Kind of an odd couple, but whatever, they’re both cute Animal Crossing characters!! If only I had the patience to knit a house…that would really complete the picture!
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Posted June 19th, 2009 at 4:42pm (Comments: 6)
Filed under Amigurumi, Animal Crossing
Since Brian turned out so well, I went on to the next white cartoon dog I could think of, which was K.K. Slider!! As a religious Animal Crossing DS player, how could I resist not making him?
I was unsure at first how K.K. would turn out. I modeled him after the phone charm from one of those candy machines. Here’s a picture of him, in case you don’t know what he looks like.
He sits with legs crossed, and holds a guitar – 2 challenges I was totally not looking forward to crocheting. I had never crocheted legs that bend or have joints before, so I had no idea how I was going to do it and how it would turn out. I also had no idea how to make a guitar, since it has sharp edges and a funny hourglass shape. Yet, like with all my other projects, I just winged it and “forced” things to look good. So, after much thinking and pondering, this is what I came up with.
Note how he has no tail…I got too lazy!! and his tail is barely visible anyways.
Look!! the legs really bend the way they’re supposed to!! I was so pleased with them. The guitar was alright…not as sharp as I would have wanted it to be, but I couldn’t think of any better ways to make it other than making a round gourd shape and then smashing it to look flat. Oh! and the cute little stool he’s sitting on, I made my dad make for me by gluing pieces of wood he cut out.
All together, K.K. is just tooooo cute~~! The face I had my little sis help me with, cus she’s truly talented at capturing the essences of characters and being laser precise with her felt cutting. The painting in the background of this photo shoot was also painted by her – isn’t she so talented?!
So, with 2 cute white cartoon dogs down, I will be moving on to my next one. My dream of capturing cute cartoon white dogs in 1 picture will soon become true! Can you guess what dog I’m going for next?? Stay tuned!
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Posted June 18th, 2009 at 7:43pm (Comments: 6)
Filed under Amigurumi, Animal Crossing
So my sister LOVES watching Family Guy on Cartoon Network everyday, and originally, I did not care for that show at all. When it first came out, I thought the characters were utterly obnoxious and crude. I didn’t like the simple animation style either. Yet, slowly but surely, after many many nights of seeing my sis watch the same show and being forced to watch it with her, my opinion changed quite a bit. Now, I am a full blown fan of that show, and just LOVE Brian and Stewie to bits! They’re so hilarious, and I appreciate their sarcastic humor so much more, for some odd reason. Eventually, I just HAD to make an ami of Brian, so I can look at him and think of all the funny things on that show that I so enjoy now.
So, here it is:
Look! He even has a cute little tail! Sorry, I really like the tail hehe…
And the most amazing thing about him is, he STANDS! Like, on his own! It only took the work of 4 washers in each foot, but, whatever works right?! Although he is a little bottom-heavy, he definitely is my most stable ami thus far, which really makes him “stand” out…to me at least.
Oh yeah, and that’s a champagne glass he’s holding. I really had no idea how to make a thin cylindrical shape, so all I could come up with was to wrap yarn around some yarn a bajillion number of times. Quite primitive, I agree, but I really had no other way…unless someone would be so kind to share a better method? It would be much appreciated!
Of course, Brian just wouldn’t be Brian without Stewie!! I was really excited after finishing Brian to have a Stewie to go along with him. Unfortunately, Stewie is a totally different species. It really didn’t turn out as well as I would have liked it. So, despite my hard work trying to embroider his strange face and do all the other little bits, Stewie was a complete and utter failure!! He ended up being just as tall as Brian, which is totally not what he should be. It’s so embarrassing, I refuse to take a picture of them together! So here is Stewie, all by his lonesome self:
Who knew Stewie would be so difficult. Oh well, you really can’t win all the battles. Sorry, Stewie, you’re exiled to my “pile of failures.”
Moving along, my next project was to make another white cartoon dog. Can you guess which one?? I’ll fill you in on this one next time! Here’s a small pic to keep you interested!
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Posted June 10th, 2009 at 8:14pm (Comments: 14)
Filed under Amigurumi, Family Guy
