Epic Duck Saga
So I decided to knit a stuffed animal. Specifically I was trying to knit Ahiru from Princess Tutu.
When I started out yesterday all I had was the head and half the body done. Yes, yes, I know Ahiru's eyes are supposed to be blue. Well, whatever, I only had green yarn, so they are green. Deal.
So I finished the body, added a tail and some wings. I cut open an old stuffed animal (I think it was a snowman) and I stuffed her up. This is what she looked like at first.
And... I didn't like it. I thought the body was too short and too fat. She looked like a duck/pig hybrid. So, I took off the head and the wings, turned the body around and reshaped it so she would look like this.
And of course, as anyone who has seen Princess Tutu or any anime ever would know, no character is complete without their ridiculous antena. So I knit a narrow band of yellow yarn and stuck a wire through it so it would stand straight up. This was kind of tricky, but I think it turned out pretty alright.
Now, by this point I was getting really creeped out by Ahiru's giant jewel-eyes. Really, the only way those eyes look decent is when they are drawn on paper. So I took them off and decided to explore other options. If you want to know what an eye-less Ahiru looks like, there you go.
Now, when I had first shown the head to maverickinexhile and ladyvonkulp, they recommended that I use eyelash yarn for the eyelashes. Intriguing idea, isn't it? So I harvested some black eyelash yarn from my stash and made some super big eyelashes. also, since most of the duck patterns I found had buttons for eyes, I tried putting a big blue button on for her eyes.
I thought this looked stupid as hell. So, I took the button off and tried just having the eyelashes, making it look like her eyes were closed. This was my favorite of all the designs. I could finally look her straight in the face and go "aww, you're a cute little anime duckie". So, she's going to stay like this.
Also, because I can, here is a picture of my 'workstation', just so you guys know what a pain in the ass this was to figure out how to make those eyes look good. I had to repostion those eyes three times before I got it right and then I had to sew on the eyelash yarn so it wouldn't fall off as soon as she moved.
I think that picture is funny because you can see her discarded eyes staring up at you accusingly. As if it is your fault that they have no body they belong to.
So there you have it, that was the epic saga which was my very first stuff animal project. I think it was quite successful. Ahiru is now very cute and cuddily. Extremely cuddily. I am actually cuddling her as I write this. And so, to end this post, I will give you a picture of her playing in my mother's house plants.
She looks so happy :D
When I started out yesterday all I had was the head and half the body done. Yes, yes, I know Ahiru's eyes are supposed to be blue. Well, whatever, I only had green yarn, so they are green. Deal.
So I finished the body, added a tail and some wings. I cut open an old stuffed animal (I think it was a snowman) and I stuffed her up. This is what she looked like at first.
And... I didn't like it. I thought the body was too short and too fat. She looked like a duck/pig hybrid. So, I took off the head and the wings, turned the body around and reshaped it so she would look like this.
And of course, as anyone who has seen Princess Tutu or any anime ever would know, no character is complete without their ridiculous antena. So I knit a narrow band of yellow yarn and stuck a wire through it so it would stand straight up. This was kind of tricky, but I think it turned out pretty alright.
Now, by this point I was getting really creeped out by Ahiru's giant jewel-eyes. Really, the only way those eyes look decent is when they are drawn on paper. So I took them off and decided to explore other options. If you want to know what an eye-less Ahiru looks like, there you go.
Now, when I had first shown the head to maverickinexhile and ladyvonkulp, they recommended that I use eyelash yarn for the eyelashes. Intriguing idea, isn't it? So I harvested some black eyelash yarn from my stash and made some super big eyelashes. also, since most of the duck patterns I found had buttons for eyes, I tried putting a big blue button on for her eyes.
I thought this looked stupid as hell. So, I took the button off and tried just having the eyelashes, making it look like her eyes were closed. This was my favorite of all the designs. I could finally look her straight in the face and go "aww, you're a cute little anime duckie". So, she's going to stay like this.
Also, because I can, here is a picture of my 'workstation', just so you guys know what a pain in the ass this was to figure out how to make those eyes look good. I had to repostion those eyes three times before I got it right and then I had to sew on the eyelash yarn so it wouldn't fall off as soon as she moved.
I think that picture is funny because you can see her discarded eyes staring up at you accusingly. As if it is your fault that they have no body they belong to.
So there you have it, that was the epic saga which was my very first stuff animal project. I think it was quite successful. Ahiru is now very cute and cuddily. Extremely cuddily. I am actually cuddling her as I write this. And so, to end this post, I will give you a picture of her playing in my mother's house plants.
She looks so happy :D