Crocheting Hobbes

Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson is such an incredible comic. Calvin's antics with Hobbes were what sparked a desire in Boogs to read on his own. HERE is an old post showing the transmogrifier Boogs made after reading about it in one of his Calvin and Hobbes collection books. My sister made Boogs an amazing crocheted Hobbes stuffed animal. He loved it! Recently, a librarian at another campus in my school district asked if I could make a Hobbes for her library. I am new to crochet. It has been 15 weeks since I learned how to make a stitch beyond a simple crochet chain, but I said I would give it a try to create Hobbes.

I called my sister to ask her about the pattern she used to crochet the Hobbes for Boogs. She pointed me to the free pattern on Sukigirl created in 2013. You can find the pattern HERE. I am so glad she shared this pattern. It was easy to follow and her directions and pictures were clear and helpful. I was very intimidated about crocheting stripes that line up properly. I sent a picture of my first leg to my sister and she said it looked good.

Then she told me to turn it over so she could really see what my stripes looked like. Hee hee!

I wasn't too bad and kind of looked like a seam, so I continued crocheting the rest of Hobbes. After making his arms and legs, I moved on to his ears. I used any spare time I had to work on him. It sure made waiting at parent pick up in front of the band hall go by faster.

I made every piece of Hobbes before I tried to tackle his body. I knew I would have a hard time lining up all those stripes. 

And I did.

So I cheated a little and hid that mess behind Hobbes' chest patch.

All I had left to do was put a face on Hobbes and stitch him together.

I used my sister's Hobbes face as a guide for my own. The stripes and facial features on Hobbes' head are made out of felt. I used adhesive stick-on felt so I would not have to sew it on.

My Hobbes is so much bigger than the one my sister made even though we used the same pattern. I think she used thinner yarn and a smaller hook than the pattern called for. I am terrible when it comes to sewing things together. I had to take off his right leg twice because my stitches were so messy. Finally, I felt like I had him put together well enough to give away.

My Hobbes can sit or stand. He will be perfect for sitting on top of a library shelf.

Hobbes looks like he is ready for any adventure the elementary kids in his new home can throw his way.

I really enjoying trying to figure out how to create things with crochet. My next project is already started. It will be my first time to try and alter a pattern to create something similar but different from the given pattern. I'll share it if it turns into anything other than a mess of knotted yarn.

What crochet projects are you working on?