Bea The Basement Monster

A few weeks ago I started a new project.  It was another monster from Big Book of Knitted Monsters by Rebecca Danger.  This book has paid for itself many times over in the pleasure it has brought.  My nephew decided at Christmas that he wanted a collection of monsters, once he knew that there was a book of them. How can I resist such appreciation for my work?

This time I decided to try a different shaped monster, one that sat down.  I chose Bea The Basement Monster.  The recipient got a small sized monster at Christmas so I decided that a good sized monster was called for.  Bea, is around 12" tall when knit in worsted weight yarn.

I used Cascade 220 Superwash again, as it is a brilliant yarn for knitting toys in.  It's bouncy, soft and comes in great colours, and of course there is the superwash thing!  This monster is knit in 7 parts.  The main body and base is knit in one and then there are legs, arms and ears.  Because the monster is is a decent size, the smaller elements aren't that fiddly.  As this was a different design from ones I'd previously done I had to think a little bit whilst putting it together.

First off, the eyes are fixed to the body.  I used 12mm safety eyes.  I love how these eyes reflect light and give more life and character to the toy than plain fabric or sewn eyes.  Next the legs are stuffed and sewn to the body. The bottom flap is then sewn closed, sealing the legs between the body and the flap. Before the flap is completely closed the body is stuffed.  I try and use as much stuffing as possible in the body to make sure it stands up to repetitive cuddling.

I stuffed the arms and ears and attached them, as instructed, but did a different mouth from that show in the book.  I used embroidery silk to sew a solid line for the mouth in backstitch.  I then cut out two triangles of white felt to use as fangs and sewed them to the body using regular sewing thread that got buried in the felt.  I love how the face turned out.

It never ceases to amaze me how each monster has it's own character, the minute you finish the face.  The whole toy comes to life.  I really like how this one came out, in fact I would go as far as to say, this is my favourite face, so far.  Of course, I shall have to come up with new ones if I have a whole collection to create!

I really like how this monster sits down.  It will look great sitting anywhere, bed, chair, floor or shelf.  I think this basement monster will probably hang around, even when it's owner gets too old for stuffed toys.  It's fun enough and quirky enough to not just be loved as a toy, but as a little character that is too cute to discard even into adulthood.  To be honest, if I could have kept it, I probably would have done!

Apparently the recipient got very excited when his parcel arrived in the post, even before he opened it.  He's a smart kid and probably knew what he was getting when the parcel was squishy. I have been told he loves his new monster, so I should probably be thinking about which one he will get for Christmas!

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Double The Monsters - Double The Fun

Today I took some photos, to show you my completed Made Up Monster.  I realised, as I started to prepare for this post, that I hadn't blogged about Baldwin being finished!  So, of course I had to make this a double monster post.

I shall start with Baldwin.  Baldwin has turned out to be a very sweet, but fierce monster.

Just look at those fangs!!!  This monster is actually going to the recipient of my first monster.  I thought Baldwin could be a little brother for Hugo.  I had originally thought to give Baldwin to my other nephew, but when I saw Baldwin all finished, I knew he belonged on the same shelf as Hugo.

I used the same felt and eyes for Baldwin as I did for Hugo.  I love how three dimensional it makes the face look.

I did make a couple of tiny mistakes on this monster.  I added an extra stitch, somehow, to the first arm I knitted, so I added an extra stitch on purpose to the other arm to make them match.  There is very little difference between 9 stitches round and 10.  I also attached one of the arms the wrong way round.

The photo on the left has the curved part of the hand facing outwards from the body and the photo on the right shows the curved part facing towards the body. I had a look at un-attaching the relevant arm, but I couldn't find the right yarn strand to pull to get it undone.  I decided it was better to leave it than risk ripping the whole monster apart.

This photo helps you get an idea of scale.  Baldwin is a hand sized monster, which I hope will make him easier to transport on journeys away from home.

So having made this little monster for one of my nephews, I had to make another one for the other.  I decided to wing it, as I told you on Wednesday.  I am so pleased with the outcome!  Please meet my made up monster.  I have yet to name him.  Has anyone got any ideas?

Once again, I used my thick white felt for the face.  This time I added the felt to form the white of the eyes.  I also used separate fangs.  Adding the 12mm safety eyes to the felt means, this monster looks slightly boss eyed.  I think that, along with the wide spaced fangs, makes him look very endearing.

This guy has turned out to be pretty rotund.  In fact, I ran out of toy stuffing!  After a brief panic which envisaged me having to grab a taxi into the city centre to buy more supplies, I have a flash of inspiration.  I had bought lots of wool fibre to practice spinning on - I could use that.  So my tubby little monster is half stuffed with polyester and half stuffed with merino!

I was typing up the pattern as I went, but as the deadline started getting nearer and nearer, I stopped and just crocheted like fury.  I may try and make another one at a later date, when I'm under less pressure, and I'll finish the notes then, if people are at all interested.

I've decided to let my monsters hang out for a while before suffocating them with wrapping paper.  They look pretty good together, don't you think?

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