To-to-ro!!!!



I finished the blue Totoro this weekend. I used blue Wool-ease (I think the color was called "blue mist" and some cream colored Wool-ease for the belly and eye-backings.



The directions didn't say to stuff the belly while putting it on, but I'm glad I did - I like that little fat belly (and without stuffing, the blue background of the body showed through).

And another view:



I'm not quite sure what Totoro is supposed to BE, other than some kind of Japanese forest spirit. Mine looks a bit like the love-child of an owl and a cat.

If you want to make your own, the pattern is here. I don't know the "real" name of the designer but she goes by "heaven's hellcat" on LJ.

Also - this was a learning experience. I had kind of shunned the "traditional" amigurumi material (tightly spun acrylic yarn) because (a) I have lots of wool-ease and other odds and ends of wool yarn in my stash and (b) I tend to be kind of a natural-fibers snob.

But the reason this stalled out, and for so long, is that the "blue mist" wool-ease was hellaciously splitty, and it's frustrating to crochet with something that splits easily.

Next amigurumi, I'm going to try Caron Simply Soft. Or Red Heart. Both of which also have the virtue of being readily available at the local Mart of Wal. (or Mall Wart, as I heard someone call it this weekend).

***

And I also have to say: Welcome back standard time! It is so lovely to drive to work when the sun is up for a change. And I don't care one bit that it is getting dark at 5:30 where I am; by that time I'm either planning dinner or doing a little end-of-the-day grading or otherwise wrapping up work. It does not feel nearly so wrong to drive home in the dark as it does to drive to work in the dark.