More amigurumi! I decided to make an adorable li'l Smilodon because carnivores are cute too! My secret goal is to make scientifically accurate plushies of underrepresented prehistoric animals. When I told my niece, she thought I was ridiculous. Never underestimate a pedantic nerd, kid. :)

In learning amigurumi I am also learning a surprising amount about embroidery! It's like two skills in one! A lot of the patterns I see call for safety eyes, but I've been trying to work on embroidering eyes instead because a) I'm too cheap to buy safety eyes, b) safety eyes aren't 100% safe; you can get them out of crochet if you try hard enough, and toddlers are always capable of more mayhem than you expect, and c) embroidered eyes can give a plush more personality and individuality.

Learning a new skill (or more like two new skills at once) is fun! Give it a go if you've been feeling down. Few things lift the spirits like expanding your horizons!

 When you're playing Crystal on the 3DS Virtual Console 15 years after the Game Boy Color days, this guy's dialogue comes across as a bit... smug.

I never owned a Game Boy Printer, but I suspect it would have been one of those things that I'd play with for half an hour and then never touch again. So I think my parents were smart not to buy me one. #superfluousperipherals

 The next illustration in my line of scientist cats! This one was fun. Not the least because I got to draw Galapagos tortoises.

P.S. Darwin Cat is a British Shorthair breed. It just seemed to fit him.

The Shadow of Takeryuu, Chapter 6

Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 5 - Chapter 6

“Ah, I cannot wait to sleep in an inn instead of on the ground,” Wai Ren said.

The four travellers stood on a hill overlooking a village nestled deep in the woods, only two weeks away from the Imperial City. Smoke rose out of holes in rooftops, and reinforced tunnels dug into the nearby hills suggested mining activity here.

“This village must be prosperous,” the Kougra continued, rubbing his paws together eagerly in the sunset. “When I become emperor, I must remember to look into their trading activities to make sure most of their bounty is being directed to the capital.”

Min snorted in disgust. “Listen to yourself,” she said. “Is the capital all you think about?”

“The Kingdom of Shenkuu is great and glorious,” Wai Ren said. “The purpose of its subjects is to serve the state.”

The Aisha put a paw on her hip. “Sounds like something some emperor made up as an excuse to be selfish. Have you ever asked the subjects of Shenkuu what they think about that philosophy? Oh, wait. You’re talking to one right now.”

 

 With this one, I just wanted to poke fun at the fact that, very often, people look totally different to how you might imagine from their voices.

Oh, and don't worry, this won't be the last you see of this particular iteration of DJ Mary. :)

My niece wanted to get into amigurumi and asked me to teach her, which necessitated me having to do lots of research and try to stay one step ahead of her, because I've been doing other types of crochet for a while but haven't tried amigurumi until now. I've actually become hopelessly addicted to it, and I've been having fun both learning from tutorials and trying to come up with my own patterns for things you don't normally see amigurumi of.

Here's my pattern for Stygiomedusa gigantea, a.k.a. the giant phantom jelly, one of the most beautiful cnidarians in my opinion. I was going to give it more tentacles, but I ran out of yarn. Still, I think it turned out really nicely.

I used this tutorial to make plushie loaf versions of my dear cats.

Chewie feels his plushie does not adequately capture his majesty.

 Yep, he actually considers giving train passengers piggyback rides in the game. Go for it, buddy.