Crochet Starfox

Meet Fox McCloud, the hero of the Starfox games. Tough but fuzzy, sturdy but soft.

This was a tricky doll to crochet. I didn’t know where to start, so made the most fun part first, the boots, because if the boots where finished, the rest needed to come for sure. The boots turned out great and it worked!  After the boots, I made the legs and body in one piece, after that the jacket, arms and tail. And then came the head, which I had to make 5 times. The first one was too big, the second too small, the third the wrong shape and so on, till the fifth was good enough. And here’s the result! I didn’t love him at first, but after a few days I’m starting to do!

The proportions of this doll where the hardest part. I knew which proportions this Starfox doll should have, but translating that into crochet stitches gave me a headache. Picking the right colour was a bit of a kerfuffle too. A long time ago I’d bought the yarn for Starfox, but when I started on the head, I began to doubt about the rusty fox colour I had. It was too dark, and the other orange I had, was too orange. So I went to a local shop, found a more yellow orange but that was a totally different kind of yarn. After some short circuit in my head, I decided to use the light orange. It turned out just fine, the little rage was for nothing.

Here you can see detailed pictures of different parts of Starfox. In one of the images you can see how I made his expression. The real Starfox has white oval shaped eyes. I tried to make them, but I didn’t like my Fox with eyes like that. He just looked too mean and I couldn’t get it nice. I decided to leave out the white bits and just go for brads with green felt underneath and a little embroidered stripe above. This way he was lovable, but maybe a bit less Starfox.

   

   

Crochet Starfox is about 20 cm / 8 inch tall, made with a worsted weight yarn. His fur coat is brushed a bit.

This is the last game figure I’m going to crochet. The reason is, I find it quite limiting to make an existing figure. It has to look like ‘the real thing’ which puts boundaries to my own fantasy. Making me own creations gives me a lot more satisfaction and less frustration.

Because I needed to know if there would be enough interest in my patterns, I first offered this pattern on demand, for free, with the idea that if it got enough requests, I would sell it.

The pattern for this doll you can buy for a small amount at Son’s Popkes Shop. The pattern is a PDF file, written like the free patterns here.

Tags: crochet fox, crochet fox pattern, crochet starfox, fox amigurumi, fox doll, fox doll pattern, fox mccloud, fuzzy fox, gehaakte vos, haakpatroon vos, pattern, starfox adventures, stuffed fox animal, vos amigurumi, vossen haakpatroon

How I do certain stitches.

The double crochet stitch is the most suitable for Starfox his vest, because it creates the bulky lines of it. However, I never knew exactly how to make a correct dc. Working in rows instead of spirals is required too, also something I was unsure about how to do right.

After some research, I finally understand the principle and want to share it, because it’s quite simple and logical. And if you’ll make my patters, it’s helpful to know how I did the stitches, even though there might be other correct ways.

Okay, here it is.

I work in rows like this: A chain I close with a slip stitch to make a circle, then add the right number of turning chains and crochet ahead clockwise. I always use a stitch marker in the first st. Every row I close with a slip stitch. Both working with a chain or a magic ring, that means you do the slst in the first st of the previous row. This creates a flat round. Now you want to go ‘level up’, so for sc you add one st, for hdc two and for dc three, then crochet ahead in the st after the chain (2nd, 3th, 4th). At the end of the next row you’ll notice you’ll have one, two or three stitches extra, the chain you just added, skip them and slst in the first stitch of previous round, add your ch and etc. Continue this every row.

Now the dc I do on a flat piece or vest: for 6 st. make a chain of nine, start your first dc in the 4th ch from hook.  Do the other 5, you’re now at the end. Make a turning ch 3, turn. Now, start your next dc in the 5th ch from hook (skip the ch of three and the st after that) and do six dc’s. Note: the last dc you make in the top st of the turning ch 3. This method gives the neatest result, with nice stacked stitches. In the picture you can see the difference in adding just a chain of two or three, without skipping the ‘first’ st. Some people don’t skip a stitch, but that’ll give a wobbly edge to a flat piece.

1. 2 ch add, 2. 3 ch add, 3. 3 ch and skip a stich, looks best!

*EDIT* A chain of 3 leaves gaps I discoverd. I think for a dc, a ch 2 and skip a stitch gives the best result! That’s what I’m going to do!

I didn’t invent this method myself of course, here I found it, after checking out many other ways and decided this looked the best.

Note: normally I work in spirals, so only work in rows when indicated!

Tags: double crochet stitch, hdc, how to double crochet, stitches, stokje haken

And now comes the hard part.

This is what I have so far.

The boots where the most fun part. You know, quick result and not too complicated. But now comes the rest of this crochet Starfox, and that will be a lot tougher! It all has to do with the proportions. Boy, I’m not even certain what size the head should be. I think I’m going to start with the body and jacket. That way I can adjust the head to the body.  The head probably will become moveable like Link’s, unless it’s to hard for a fox-shaped head.

I’ll keep you posted!

Tags: crochet, crochet starfox, fox, starfox amigurumi

Tiny cuddly boots!

When I’d finished the first boot I rushed to get the second done, so I could write this post. Aren’t they cute! I think I’m going to crochet just boots for the rest of my life, hehe. They are 5 cm / 2 inch small. These Starfox boots are made out of 5 pieces: the sole, the boot, the nose tip, the heel and the boot neck.

Anyway, if the rest of Starfox will have the same kind of ‘cuteness’, I’ll be very content! For now the boots and legs are finished.

Pattern will follow.

Tags: amigurumi boots, crochet boots, fuzzy crochet, gehaakte laarzen, gehaakte schoenen, gehaakte schoentjes, miniature boots, miniatuur schoentjes, poppen schoentjes, starfox, starfox boots

Ho ho ho, merry Christmas!

No gifts Again?
Acrylic on canvas, 18 x 30 cm
By Sonja van der Wijk, me

This years Christmas card, which I’ve sent to family and friends. I’m very satisfied with it. It was quite difficult to make this paintig, because I’ve no experience in painting snow and I had some trouble with it.

The title is based on last years card, in which Santa got robbed by an UFO. I’ll add that one at the bottom of this post.

Here are some close-ups.

And, last years Extraterrestrial Christmas Robbery.

I hope these ‘ll give you a laugh!

I haven’t really started on crochet Starfox, but I will in Januari, I didn’t feel like it yet….

Tags: art, Christmas art, Christmas painting, de kerstman, kerstkaart, reindeer, rendieren, rudolph red nosed reindier, santa claus

Expressions

One of the most challenging elements in making amigurumi or crochet dolls is giving them the right expression. That’s what finishes the doll and can make it either beautiful and striking or kind of ridiculous looking. Making the face is complicated and comes very closely, even though it seems quite simple, just a few stitches right? It usually takes me a while and I have to ‘take it out’ a few times before my doll has the right expression. Here are a few samples of faces I’ve made so far. Below the images I’ll explain how I get the right expression.

To give a crochet animal/amigurumi the right expression, I play a little with the embroidery thread. A symmetric mouth for example gives a neat look, but maybe not the right one. The distance between the eyes is also very important. A description of how to set them, I don’t think will help much, you just have to experiment on each and every doll you make. There are some rules, like far apart is cute and close together not very smart looking, but I tend to ignore those rules and just see what looks best for a particular doll. The tip in this topic is therefore, don’t underestimate the importance of the expression. Take your time and experiment. If your not satisfied after trying many times, just stop and try again the next day or so, when you’re fresh again.

That usually does the trick for me.

The two Guinea pigs I made in memory of our piggy’s Kuufke and Ciro. So for these it was very important to have the right expression. The brown one, Kuufke, was wild and wacky, Ciro was sweet and curious. The Bunny is also made in memory of one of our pets, Boefje, a sweet bunny. She was very happy and wild so I exaggerated the mouth into a big smile.

We all know Amineko by Nekoyama of course. The Guinea pigs and the cat (except for it’s muzzle) are made with the Fuzzy Guinea Pig pattern and Fuzzy Kitten Pattern by PlanetJune.

Tags: amigurumi faces, bunny face, crochet bear face, crochet bunny, crochet doll face, face for crochet, gehaakt konijn, gehaakte beer gezicht, poppen gezichten

A first sketch.

This is how I picture my crochet Starfox. I hope he’ll turn out pretty similar to this sketch. I think my Starfox doll should have about these proportions. When I picture him, he has big, removable boots. I think I’m going to make his body and legs in one piece, with a sewed on crochet jacket and gear. I’m not really going to make his green outfit, but’ll make the body and legs in green. For the tail opening I have to find a solution. His backpack’s a must too. Crochet Starfox needs to be able to stand on himself. Maybe I’ll make a moveable head like Link, not sure yet.

It’s going to take some time, making this doll and I’m especially looking forward to the end result. Crocheting it, isn’t really the most fun part for me. I really get pissed of sometimes after taking a piece apart for the hundredth time, but in the end I’m very happy.

You know, I make my own projects, illustrations or crochet dolls, because I see in my head an awesome end result. Something that needs to be made. It makes me enthusiastic and fanatic. Sometimes what I want to make can be very complicated and delicate, but that won’t stop me, I’m a perfectionist and will go on till I get the right result. The downside of that is, that it makes me kinda cranky when it doesn’t go the way I want to. Not very good, I’ll need to ‘chill down’ when something goes wrong. The great and even greater side is, that I create things that make me happy and proud. The feeling of a beautiful finished amigurumi or painting is worth everything to me!

Tags: crochet starfox, starfox amigurumi, starfox schets, starfox sketch