Project II.ii - Il Polpo Giardino

(not to be confused with il Giardino del Polpo!)
Project II: Giardino Inception/(quasi-)Completion: Monday, 16 - Saturday, 22 October 2006

I nearly finished Giardino this past weekend, and I feel a little silly. I modeled his face after a face I saw on Flickr of a stuffed animal made by whineyvan. It turns out, however, that it looks a lot like the octopus Ana Paula made! I just found her patterns today... and I think I may end up alleviating my guilt by buying her Koala pattern. (I'm not terribly familiar with the crafting community; would this be considered "craftlifting?" - I ask as I am familiar with "scraplifting." It always seems more in poor taste than anything.)

In the end, I decided that long, curly legs were appropriate; the seemed very reminiscent of an octopus while maintaining a semblance of cuteness. The only reason he's incomplete is that I haven't been able to find any plastic safety eyes that I like; they had some at Michaels and some at Joann, but those were brown (I'd much prefer black) and far too big to use for amigurumi. I was hoping to find some place online; anyone have any suggestions?

Dē Factūrā:

• Body, legs: Lion Brand Homespun in Baroque (790-322); H hook
  
• Mouth: black embroidery thread
• Cheeks: hot pink felt, pink embroidery thread
  
• Stuffing: Poly-fil & Poly Pellets
  

Pattern: 

• Body: crocheted in 12 rounds of sc; 6 - 12 - 18 - 24 - 30 - 36 - 36 - 30 - 24 - 18 - 12 - 6
  
• Legs: chain 16, 3 sc in each chain

It's come time for me to put the crochet hooks and knitting needles away; I have a scrapbook in the works that's to be given as a gift. The receiver's birthday is on the 30th, and I've yet to get the photos printed out. I can imagine that it will be the only crafting I do for the next week!