Ben 10: the OMNITRIX

My first born has rediscovered his love of the Ben 10 cartoon (NOT Ben 10: Alien Force, but the original, he's quick to point out). A few years back in Colorado, his bestie and he often pretended they were Fourarms or Diamondhead or XLR8 or Upgrade or...whatever the other six are. And then he got his very own Omnitrix. It was very cool. It had a dot matrix screen with games that he would play and made all sorts of sounds. But somewhere in the move, the watch got lost. We did a little research online and for a pretty penny he could once again own an Omnitrix like the one he had.





After the discovery that purchasing a new omnitrix was out of his budget he posed a question to me: "Could you make me a crocheted one, Mom?" I thought of how the watch was all sleek and electric and I reminded him that even if I could make one, it wouldn't be as "cool" as the original. He thought about that and decided that even though it wouldn't make sounds or move, it would be worth it. I told him I'd think it though.






Always eager for a new challenge, I took this one on in secret, just in case it didn't work out. I thought that the watch band would be simple enough, but creating the watch face may be tricky. After a few prototypes, I settled on a style I thought would work best.

I had the 2 pieces figured out but I wanted to make it really "work." Ben twists the watch face and then slams down on it to make him change into an alien. I know crochet isn't known for it's movable parts, but I thought a low tech version of a rotating face could be easily achieved by adding two small risers under the face and threading some matching yarn through the face, risers, and onto the underside of the band (not too tightly).




I admit, I was pleased with the results.

But would my boy think it was okay? ☺Yes, yes he did!☺

The side-by-side comparison

You can see that I should have made the watch band thicker. I did adjust this in the next two I made because, of course, sister and brother needed one, too (the pattern I'll post below has the thicker band)

So here it is: Ben 10's Crocheted Omnitrix

WW yarn in Lime, grey, black, white
Size F Hook
Embroidery needle, thread
1-Large Black Button, 1-lime or yellow bead, 4-lime or yellow sequins

Watch Band (in Black)
Unless otherwise noted, always ch 1 before the turn at the end of a row and insert into second ch from hook upon starting a new row
Ch 7
R1: 6 sc, ch 2
R2: 7 sc, ch 2
R3: 8 sc
R4 - R30: 8 sc **this part can be adjusted smaller/bigger to fit wrist by adding or subtracting rows**
Beginning large button hole...
R31: 4 sc, ch 1, turn
R32: 4 sc, ch 1, turn
R33: 4 sc, ch 1, turn
R34: 4 sc, ch 1, turn
R35: 4 sc, F.O.
Go back to R30 and attach black yarn onto short side and work up as a matching side...
R31: 4 sc, ch 1, turn
R32: 4 sc, ch 1, turn
R33: 4 sc, ch 1, turn
R34: 4 sc, ch 1, turn
R35: 4 sc

          (Optional reinforce button hole row: sl st 10 up and down inside of button hole, F.O.)

Attach black yarn to start R36 and connect R35 halves as the top of a button hole...
R36: 8 sc
R37: 8 sc, turn with no ch 1
R38: 6 sc, sl st into last st
sl st around perimeter of watch

In WHITE
Top stitch into the fp of first st of each row and F.O.
Top stitch into the fb of last st of each row and F.O.
This should make 2 parallel white lines up and down the length of the watch band

Omnitrix Watch Face (start with Lime)
I will indicate each ch and row turn on this section just for added clarification This section starts with the lime hourglass shape
Ch 7, turn
R1: sc across (6), ch 1, turn
R2: sk first st, sc across (6), turn
R3: sk first st, sc across (5), turn
R4: sk first st, sc across (4), turn
R5: sk first st, sc across (3), turn
R6: sk first st, sc across (2), turn
R7: sk first st, sc across (1), ch 2, turn
R8: (insert into second ch from hook) 1 sc, ch 2, turn
R9: (insert into second ch from hook) 2 sc, ch 2, turn
R10: (insert into second ch from hook) 3 sc, ch 2, turn
R11: (insert into second ch from hook) 4 sc, ch 2, turn
R12: (insert into second ch from hook) 5 sc, ch 2, turn
R13: (insert into second ch from hook) 6 sc, ch 1, turn
R14: (insert into second ch from hook) 6 sl st
Draw up grey yarn through the lime loop left on hook. Turn hourglass on it's side and begin working evenly into the row sides
greyR1: sk first row, 9 sc (four down one side, one at the thinnest point of the hourglass and four up the other side), sk last row, ch 1
greyR2: sk first st, sc, dc, htr, tr, htr, dc, sc, sk last st, sl st into that first grey connecting st
Repeat these two rows on the other side of the hourglass, stretching it to take a circular shape as you go
blackRnd1: Attach black anywhere on the circumference and sc evenly around.

Highlight hourglass by using needle and yarn to outline the hourglass with black yarn.

Add 4 sequins at 12 o'clock, 3 o'clock, 6 o'clock and 9 o'clock with sewing thread and needle.


Risers (make 2 in black)
Magic Circle (6)
Rnd 1: 2 sc in ea st (12)
Rnd 2: *2 sc in next st, sc* around (18)
F.O. and leave long tail of yarn

Whip stitch together and secure to the middle of watch. With a piece of lime yarn, thread the omnitrix face through the center of the hourglass, down through the risers and watch band and gently secure on the underside of band. The tension on this shouldn't be too tight so the face can be turned for "realistic" play :)

Once the face is attached, sew the bead onto the band just under the edge of the omnitrix (at 6 o'clock). When the watch is on a wrist, it will show.

Add the large black button to the side of watch opposite the button hole. The yarn will stretch a bit, so make it nice and snug to start with.

Action Shot