FO: Paulie the Poly

This is a project that I actually finished two weeks ago! I was hoping to have a funny photo shoot, but it just hasn't happened yet and I am so excited to show this off, so maybe you'll get funny photos in the future. For now, meet the biggest amigurumi I have ever made: Paulie the Polie.

He was made using the Roland pattern from Huge & Huggable Mochimochi by Anna Hrachovec. My sister bought me this book a few months ago and I hadn't made anything out of it until now. All of the patterns in the book are designed for super bulky sized yarn, so the projects come out enormous - much bigger than I was expecting, to be honest :) This guy is about the size of my nephew, lol.

I started making this after a particularly bad day - it was kind of comical in hind sight. I just needed a frivolous project to have fun making and not worry about it fitting anyone or being finished by a certain time. I also needed it to be made from yarn in my stash, which was the biggest deciding factor in making up this particular pattern. Back when I first started knitting, I went a bit crazy at a clearance yarn sale and bought a ridiculous amount of Lion Brand Hometown USA at $1.00 to $1.50 per skein. I've used a little here and there over the years, but most of it has just sat in a bin untouched. Thanks to this book, I know I will have use for it at last! This Roly-Poly used 1.65 skeins of the Charlotte Blue colorway and 2.20 skeins of Dallas Gray. That's almost 4 skeins of yarn in just one amimal! Craziness!

While I was making this up, I actually reached the point of thinking I would have to give him away simply because he was so incredibly large I would have no place to put him, lol. That shell took way too long to make, and I was getting a bit sick of it, lol. Once I had him put together though, I knew he was mine to keep. The night I finished him, I accidentally fell asleep on the couch using him as a hugging pillow - this has been his job ever since! He makes a perfect side pillow, even if it looks ridiculous to have him sitting in my bed, lol.

Just in case you don't believe me about the size of this guy, here is a terrible photo of him in action, lol. See - he's huge! When I was ready to stuff him, I was afraid I wouldn't have enough polyfill, but happily I did. This did take about half of my 32 oz bag though!

I really like how the body is constructed - the head and butt are just domed circles, but the tummy area is all done in garter stitch - this helps him stay bendable so he can roll up. Also you create yarn over holes as you work which is where each of the legs go. Believe me when I tell you - don't question the yarn overs! I just couldn't figure out what they were for (and I didn't read far enough into the pattern to find out, duh!), so when it came time to put them on the head I questioned their placement and ended up putting them in his chin. Yeah. I had to sew those holes closed and then try to ram his antennae through the bars between stitches, which was no easy feat, trust me. It worked out ok on his head, but I can't imagine having to figure out each of his legs the same way, so I was glad I obeyed the pattern.

The pattern calls for 25 mm safety eyes, which I definitely did not have in my stash. 25 mm is just shy of 1 inch in diameter, and I've never seen eyes that large at Joann's or Hobby Lobby before. Rather than order some online (and postpone my project until they arrived), I decided to make some out of felt. I used my Sizzix Paddle Punches and the balloon punch is almost 1" wide, so I just cut off the little balloon tip and called it a circle :) I embroidered French knots just to give him more life, and then I whip stitched around the eyes to secure them to the head. I think it came out really cute, and now he is baby safe :) Just look at that face!

All in all, I am thrilled with my roly-poly buddy. I had no name for him until he was completely finished, and I was just calling him "The Poly" and "My Poly" while I carried him around in one arm like a large baby, lol. In the end I thought that Paulie was a good name for him. He now sleeps with me every night - talk about an unforeseen practical make! Even though I made him at a crazy time when I should have been making gifts for others, he was just the bit of fun I needed to keep me sane. Yay for enormous Roly Polys!