Caleb's Pickachu

You may remember that last year, I made my nephew Caleb an Oshawott for his first birthday. It was my first try at amigurumi, and it turned out well, if I do say so myself. So, for his second birthday, I decided to try a Pikachu. Pikachu has a more complicated body shape, since he's all one contoured piece from his feet to his head, and I had a little more trouble finding a pattern I really liked.

I settled on the Pikachu pattern from Etsy seller getfun for the body, ears, and arms of my Pikachu. However, this pattern uses felt for the tail, feet, and details, and I really wanted my Pika to be all crochet.

So, I used the pattern for the tail, feet, and stripes from the Pikachu pattern by WolfDreamer Off the Hook. I improvised the cheeks and eyes, as they're just circles.

While you can definitely tell that this is Pikachu, I'm not quite as happy with this effort as I was with Oshawott. I'm something of a perfectionist, and I wanted Pika to look just like the cartoon. In the end, Caleb seemed to like it, which is what's really important.

Andy, Caleb, and Pikachu

One Piece Slippers

I made these slippers back last fall, as a prototype to possibly reproduce as a Christmas present. I wanted a pattern that was worked in one piece, and I tried several that I found online. Most of them, like these, were worked by starting from the toe in rounds, then switching to rows to create the sides.

Unfortunately, I never really hit on a pattern that I really liked. Of the several practice slippers I made, these came closest after I heavily modified the original pattern. However, I still don't like how uneven the edging is and I'd have to start over guessing to modify the size. So, I haven't written up my final pattern because I don't really plan to use it again.

I still like the idea of slippers for Christmas gifts, so I'm going to be looking for more patterns like this. I may give up on the idea of working them in one piece, but I'd love it if I finally found the perfect one-piece pattern.