Hobbes & Hearts: A Valentine Version

My daughter saw Hobbes and instantly needed one. Since my oldest got his Hobbes for his December birthday I thought, "Okay, I can make one for your March birthday." March was TOO far away. She saw her brother being pounced on by his Hobbes and he wouldn't share. She needed one NOW.

I admit I was anxious to try another Hobbes to solidify the adjustments I made to this Sugar n' Cream pattern. So I figured I could satisfy both of our interests in making a new one sooner than later.

"But wait, Mommy!"
"Yes?"
"I want a VALENTINE'S Hobbes!"

Of course you do, sweetie. How could I resist?

He was so much fun to make. I added little felt hearts to the pads of the feet, one to the tummy, and made the nose heart-shaped. As I mentioned a few days ago, I think I'm starting to like Valentine's Day more!

Of course Valentine's Hobbes needed a scarf, too:

Using 5 hdc rows for as long as I needed the scarf to be and cutting out a couple matching felt hearts, this little scarf became a perfect accessory for V-Day Hobbes. And we all know that Hobbes isn't above dressing up in scarves that match the season...

My daughter actually gets into the fact that she's pretty much the Suzie of the family and enjoys out smarting the brothers. For all she goes through with Calvin's taunting, she normally gets the last word. So just to send you off with one more...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hobbes: Crochet!

I am thrilled when I see my kids reading comic books. Perhaps some would gawk at this, but I embrace it. Of course, the comic of choice in our household is Calvin & Hobbes. If any comic could build a big vocabulary, that one would! I love that they laugh along side the famous duo even if they don't fully understand it. "What does 'nuances' mean?" "What's 'mayhem'?" "Why is Calvin's mom mad?" They then bring the comic to life as they reenact certain recurring events including G.R.O.S.S. meetings and Calvinball. But without a Hobbes, they have not been able to reenact the reunion of Calvin & Hobbes after a long day apart.

My oldest adores Hobbes. For Halloween we sprayed his hair yellow, found a red shirt with black stripes and he was Calvin. But he needed a Hobbes to complete the ensemble. However, Bill Watterson never allowed his characters to be licensed for plushies (or anything else for that matter) so finding a Hobbes look a like was a challenge. We were able to find a cute Hobbes substitute for the costume at a Goodwill that year, but ever since, my eyes have been scanning the web for crochet patterns. In my searching I came across several great Hobbes projects folks had crafted:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/amigurumiphotos/4450655872/

http://www.cuteamigurumi.com/2009/06/29/hobbes-andno-calvin/


Of course Hobbes doesn't look like an active tiger all the time. To moms and dads he's just a stuffed animal:

http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=334522.0

http://www.amiamour.com/2010/08/hobbes-your-imaginary-friend/

http://sukigirl74.blogspot.com/2011/03/free-hobbes-crochet-pattern.html

I noticed that so much of what makes Hobbes great is in the details of his face, which each fiber artist interpets themselves. This gave me the idea to look at some generic toy tiger patterns that I could then adapt. I decided to start small and my first Hobbes was inspired by this Sugar n' Cream pattern:

http://www.sugarncream.com/pattern.php?PID=4772&cps=21191

I liked the full amigurumi style of this little guy, and the color scheme (doing brown & orange instead of black and orange) but he needed some major adjustments on body shape, tail length and facial features to really become Hobbes. The end result?

Calvin & Hobbes love the snow so much, you often see Hobbes wearing a scarf:

A quick work up of 5 hdc across to the proper scarf length gave Hobbes an accessory for the winter weather:

If enough folks are interested in the specific changes I made to the toy tiger pattern from Sugar n' Cream, I'll try to post it soon. For now enjoy a last C&H comic strip and come back this weekend for 

Hobbes & Hearts: The Valentine Version ^-^