Gracie

I love animals. I particularly love cute, furry animals, and can never get enough of them. Luckily for me, I got to house-sit for a colleague/friend this weekend and got to play with her dog, Gracie, and two cats, Stevie and Marvin.

I have two cats that I absolutely adore and wouldn't trade for anything in the world, but watching Gracie reminded me how much I like dogs. So, in honor of my love for dogs (and my love for lists) here are the top five reasons I love Gracie (and dogs in general).

Long walks are rough.

1. She's not afraid to show her excitement. I love it when people get really excited and passionate about something, even something small and/or silly, but we tend to squash that tendency for the sake of seeming "normal." Gracie doesn't. She lets me know she loves that I just walked into the room.


2. Gracie likes to walk. I also like walking, and when I have Gracie with me, it's even better. She gives me companionship without having to feel the quiet moments with chatter.

3. She thrives on routine. I like doing the same types of things at the same time everyday, so the fact that Gracie is game for this as well is nice.

4. Gracie likes to play and be silly. I can make a total fool out of myself with Gracie and not only does she not care, she likes it.

5. She's adorable. I mean, just look at her!

Cute doggy smile.

Chikorita

I love this one. It's just too cute.

I thought it would be interesting to show you guys what it looks like before I sew these pieces together. All the parts are crocheted separately, then sewn onto the body to create the cohesive whole.

A bit intimidating, isn't it? And this one isn't even that complicated compared to some of the others. But through some sort of magic, it all comes together.

Pretty awesome. Chikorita was my first experience with felt eyes. I don't really want to talk about that process, but they turned out wonderfully.

A great pattern (http://wolfdreamer-oth.blogspot.com/2010/07/chikorita-plushie.html) which worked really well with my usual Red Heart Super Saver yarn and G hook.

Pokemon and Chikorita are copyright Nintendo.

Oshawatt

Oshawatt is another one of those older pieces I made and, for some reason, didn't immediately take pictures of. He turned out pretty well, but I'm just not the biggest fan of this particular Pokemon.

I mean, he's cute, but there's just no over-the-top spark of awesome to him. I guess I've just gotten used to more complex things.

But, it was no fault of the pattern (http://wolfdreamer-oth.blogspot.com/2010/06/mijumaru-pokemon-plush.html) which was clear and looks just like it's supposed to.

I used Red Heart Super Saver Solids, as usual, and a size G hook.

Pokemon and Oshawatt are copyright Nintendo.

Squirtle

I made Squirtle before I made Charmander, but forgot to take pictures before I gave him to his new owner and just got to borrow him for a quick photo shoot. He's freaking adorable.

Giving him away was rather hard, because (even though I don't really play Pokemon) I think Squirtle is too cute to handle and he's one of my favorites.

The pattern (http://wolfdreamer-oth.blogspot.com/2009/05/squirtle.html) was great, but I would recommend using a G hook instead of an F for a slightly bigger toy. He's pretty small.

I used Red Heart Super Saver yarn for the body of the work, and Red Heart crochet thread for the embroidery.

Pokemon and Squirtle are copyright Nintendo. And the pattern is not mine, follow the link above.