I’ll start with the happy part-a pic of the finished carrier.
Now I can tell you all about the attempts at making what I thought was going to be a simple sling. I mean look at it, it looks simple to me.
Continue reading
I was fortunate enough to visit Yosemite National park with my siblings and sibling-in-law on a camping trip. My brother was able to snag reservations to Zion, Mesa Verde, and Yosemite, all before the pandemic. Apparently, Yosemite was super hard to get. Reservations would sell out within seconds of opening. He kept trying and timed the system just right and managed to grab one for this past weekend.
As the pandemic hit, the reservations were canceled with first Zion and then Mesa Verde. We were crossing our fingers that Yosemite would happen. As the date got closer, they did close most of Yosemite down, but our reservation at Upper Pines remained active. Then, they canceled half of the Upper Pines reservations. Ours was one of the lucky few that did not get canceled, but we kept watch to see what would happen. The week before we were set to go, Yosemite started slowly opening back up–with many restrictions–but opening nonetheless. That was such good news because it meant that our reservation would probably hold–and it did!
I took so many pictures of our adventures, but I almost didn’t take any pics of the Baby Yodas. Months ago, I had made a Darth Maul/Baby Yoda hybrid for my brother and my sis-in-law had crocheted him a Baby Yoda. He carries them in his car, and they went on the trip. It was on the last day that my sis-in-law said I should take pics of the dolls (action figures!) before we left, and I mean literally before we left! We were packing up to leave! I thought it was a great idea.
They didn’t do any hiking, being snug and forgotten in the car, but they were there with us and deserved their own photoshoot. 🙂 If you’d like to see more, check out my Instagram account at @yochetcrochet.
I loved being at Yosemite! Can’t wait to go back someday!
I’ll post another entry of my adventures with my siblings but if you’d like to check out pics now, head over to my Instagram @yolihikingandoutdoors.
I was asked to share how the Baby Yoda crochet mask did in the contest at my sister’s work. We won! Sadly, and for reasons unknown, they didn’t post the doll sporting the mask. But still, my sister won anyway, although I’m convinced that if they had used the right picture, we would have had a bigger lead! But I digress, we won!!!!
I asked my sister to take another pic of the doll wearing the mask after the win. I think the doll looks pretty happy, even though she didn’t get to make her debut. 🙂
I hadn’t planned on doing a post on the pandemic that’s hit the world, but I thought about how I’ve enjoyed (maybe enjoyed is not a good word) reading other bloggers posts about how they are doing, what’s happening where they are, or what they are doing to keep from going insane. So I thought I’d share a little bit of my Coronavirus story here in Southern California.
First and foremost, in case you were worried, I have plenty of toilet paper. Right before (and I mean RIGHT before) everything went down, I had purchased one of those big packages from Costco, along with a big package of paper towels. I got it home and realized I already had a bunch of toilet paper I had already purchased, and felt dumb for buying more when I didn’t need it. But then everything started to go nuts, and I was very happy I had my supply! Continue reading
I made a few more crochet Baby Yodas, both small and medium, but I made one final large one that I’m going to keep. I can feel the eye rolls, especially from those that know me, but I’m serious, this is it. 😉 I went all out on this one. I even ventured out and bought some nice yarn to make the outfit (using coupons of course), even though I had plenty of yarn already. I’m sure I can be forgiven for a little indulgence. The new yarn was so soft! I had to do it, I had to!
Every single one of the previous dolls had something different I experimented with, be it the hands or feet, or trying out a different way to make the face or ears. All that helped me choose my favorite features and combine them into this doll. But keeping with tradition, I tried something new with the feet. I am super happy with how they turned out. My hubby absolutely loved the hands and feet. No, he doesn’t get this one! But I will share it with him. 🙂
I want to take my baby to Disneyland the next time we go. I even made him his own Mickey ears so he can enjoy his day! Hubby started grumbling about me taking this one to the park as soon as he saw me making the Mickey Ears. He knew he was doomed and there was no way this Baby Yoda was staying home. Up until then, he had hopes that I wasn’t going to take the doll with us. He was very proud of me for the reaction I got with the other dolls at the park, but he didn’t necessarily like all the attention. I totally get it, but I still want to take this one at least once.
I’m ready for Disneyland!
I also made him the ball he plays with on the show.
The ball is removable.
And now I’m DONE with making Baby Yodas. At least for now…
And just for a little perspective on his size…
This is the original face. I didn’t like it so I changed the eyes and smile so he’s a little different in this picture than in the ones above.
If you’re a knitter or crocheter, raise your hand if you’ve been asked to make a Baby Yoda? And most likely, not just once. I think that’s every single one of you. And by a show of hands, how many have done it? My hand is up. I’m feeling a bit like a doctor or a mechanic. You know, everyone asking for advice or help? As a crocheter, I do get asked to make this or that for someone, but nothing like the requests I’ve gotten for making Baby Yodas. This brings up the question of whether to sell versus giving them away. I hadn’t really thought I was going to sell them at all. But then, I changed my mind.
If you’re a fan of the show (The Mandalorian) and a crafter/artist of any kind, one of the first thoughts after seeing that adorable little face, was how to recreate him. I know that happened to me. I wanted to make him. I NEEDED to make him. I especially wanted to make him for my hubby who is a mega fan of all things Star Wars. I daydreamed about it for a bit, imaging how I would go about making him, from yarn colors, yarn types, to what kind of eyes. I looked at images of the show and envisioned how I would approach making him.
But then, he was already all over the internet in all his crochet glory. I guess everyone had the same idea. I forged ahead to make one for hubby and my first attempt was fun but I wasn’t totally satisfied with it.
Not bad for a first attempt.
Hubby loved it but I tried a second one and we all loved that one. I felt I got the proportions right and the face got better too. It got so good, hubby kept it! Continue reading
Some of the kids at work have seen my Crocheted Baby Yodas. Naturally, I have some fans of the show and they wanted me to make some dolls for them. I looked in our yarn box and only had two greens. One was a frog green (like the kind you find in a crayon box) and the other was a small ball of mint green repurposed from a blanket my mom had made. It was a tiny ball. I had a full skien of the frog green yarn, but I wanted to experiment using up scrap yarn, so I chose the baby mint green and a blue that came rescued as well from that same blanket. For the ears, I used pink, but the only pink we had was a bright, bold pink. What the heck, why not? This was an experiment anyway. I had more of the blue so that was going to be for the parts that would be under the doll’s outfit since I had more of it. The mint green would be for extremities, like the tips of the hands and feet, the ears and the head. I was pretty sure I would have enough and if I didn’t, I was going to improvise. 🙂
Luckily, I didn’t run out of the mint. Here he is in his scrappy goodness. But he cleans up well once he’s dressed. 🙂
The clothes really do make the difference! Even with those bright pink ears.
Ok, I promised my niece a crochet Baby Yoda. After finishing the first one for hubby, I told her I was making hers. I sent her pictures of the work in progress and she was extremely excited. When the doll was all finished… ummm, hubby wanted it. I had tweaked the original pattern (there was no pattern) of the first doll and this one came out much better. The face, the proportions, everything! Hubby really really wanted it. I know, it was my fault, I shouldn’t have said anything to my niece about that doll being for her. I mean, I live with the man. He really wanted it. After all, I could make her a new one. It could be argued I could make HIM a new one, but I live with the man! We were going to see my niece at Disneyland in a few days and I hatched a plan. I would make her a brand new one in the two days before I saw her.
But there was a problem (isn’t there always?). I couldn’t finish it in time! I was up till 1 am working on it and I managed to finish the body. I was soooo tired and had to get up at 6 in the morning to head to Disneyland. I worked it out that I would crochet in the car (did I mention I get car sick?), crochet in lines, and crochet anytime I was sitting. I also had to convince her to trust that the second (3rd?) doll would be as good, or even better than the one I promised her.
I found a backpack my daughter had given me that would be perfect to store my crochet supplies as well as snacks and my other junk I take to Disneyland. The backpack had handles as well as straps. It was perfect. I packed everything up.
Help me!
I figured we’d hit traffic and maybe had an hour of crochet time in the car (who wishes for traffic?!). We didn’t hit any but on a good note, I didn’t get carsick so I had a solid half hour of crochet time to work on the doll’s outfit.
Hubby had his Baby Yoda and he got a lot of attention for his doll (action figure?).
Hubby with Baby Yoda (when hubby was still happy to hold him).
My husband LOVES Star Wars and couldn’t wait for the Mandalorian to come out on Disney+. We both loved the show, but that Baby Yoda though… he is sooooo darned cute! I immediately thought of crocheting one but didn’t jump on it quick enough. I blinked my eyes and pictures of crocheted Baby Yodas were everywhere! Even my sister-in-law finished one before me, even though I started first! She doesn’t even like to make crochet toys. Her’s is super cute too.
I took way longer than I should have to finish it, but in my defense, I sat around a lot daydreaming on how to make the perfect replica. I made up my own pattern and looked at a ton of photos, both crocheted and actual shots from the show. After much frogging, I finally got something I liked. The face was the hardest because I couldn’t decide on how much detail I wanted to attempt. I made and unmade the face quite a few times, but I had to stop at some point and just let it be.
Eventually I was done, or as done as I was going to be and here he is!
AND he stands on his own. That was a happy surprise. 🙂
Honestly, I can’t say I’m completely satisfied with it (mainly the face), but when I took him to work to share with a friend, everyone went nuts. So I guess he’s alright. 🙂 And I’m working on another one trying to make it better. We’ll see…
yochet 