Octo-friend

Well, I have finished the octopus I said I was making.

This is Fudge's Friend. Fudge's Friend is, if I may say as much about my own creation,  adorable.

Adorable and also super soft and squishy! The head is a little larger than your average stress ball and because I used a chenille yarn (red) with a velvet yarn (deep pink), it's seriously soft and just very tactile. Even the eyes are stitched on using a small velvet yarn (Sirdar's little amigurumi velvet-type, in case you wanted to know).

Fudge's Friend is currently sat on a table in the kitchen at my mum's house waiting to be delivered to her friend. Fudge is said friend's baby-in-progress, and the octopus is a present. All babies deserve soft cuddly friends, after all!

In the meantime, everyone loitering in the kitchen can pet the softest cephalopod known to man. 

I linked the crochet pattern for this octo-pal in my last #crochet post, so go look at that if you'd like to know how to make one of these.

Otherwise, if you'd like a quick peek at how these things are made, well this pattern is made in two parts. One round squidgy ball for a head and then a flat ring of stitches that the tentacles are crocheted off. The two parts are then stitched together ring to the bottom of the head-ball and voila, it lives!

So there's the finished head, with eyes stitched on, stuffing shoved in and the bottom gap all closed up and tied off. Then you make his eight curly-whirly legs in one linked piece and then you curse and swear as you try and stitch the two parts together neatly.

It's a very beginner friendly pattern, only like, 12 rows for the head and the legs are dead simple too!

If embroidery isn't your thing either, you can use plastic or glass safety eyes instead of stitching some on, I didn't for this little guy because I didn't have any big enough but you can pick up little eyes or super chunky ones really easily at most craft shops or sites so don't let that stop you!