Freeform Octopus

[tendstowardschaos]

Thanks, everyone! Paul the psychic octopus...I had never heard of him, but that's really funny.  He does look the part of a cranky cephalopod, too! I appreciate all of the input!

Bootchacka - I worked his tentacles in the round, starting with, I think, about 50 ch. I sc'd in each ch, back towards the body, then moved onto the next tentacle. I went around the edges with about 6 rows of sc. I hope that makes sense. I didn't intend for him to be curly, but I was happy with the result.

Lol yea that makes sense.  How'd you make the head of it? 

Think of it like a pear, with a skirt attached at a weird angle. I stuffed the 'pear' before beginning the 'skirt,' but I didn't tie off the yarn in between. It's worked as one piece until I had to do the underbelly - that was about 10-12 chains, slip-stitched together, then I started sc'ing into the ring, trying to keep multiples of 8 so that my increases lined up with the tentacles as I worked outwards.
(p.s. American crochet terms.)

[sheriffkarli]

This is fantastic, it looks so real!

[erica_tattoos]

haha.... that's why it's always a lil scary to stalk the crochet boards.... sooner or later someone's gonna stop speaking english!!! but srsly tho - awesome octopus! the shape and, i dunno - posture?  and everything is so perfect!!! great job! 

[Bootchacka]

Thanks, everyone! Paul the psychic octopus...I had never heard of him, but that's really funny.  He does look the part of a cranky cephalopod, too! I appreciate all of the input!

Bootchacka - I worked his tentacles in the round, starting with, I think, about 50 ch. I sc'd in each ch, back towards the body, then moved onto the next tentacle. I went around the edges with about 6 rows of sc. I hope that makes sense. I didn't intend for him to be curly, but I was happy with the result.

Lol yea that makes sense.  How'd you make the head of it? 

Think of it like a pear, with a skirt attached at a weird angle. I stuffed the 'pear' before beginning the 'skirt,' but I didn't tie off the yarn in between. It's worked as one piece until I had to do the underbelly - that was about 10-12 chains, slip-stitched together, then I started sc'ing into the ring, trying to keep multiples of 8 so that my increases lined up with the tentacles as I worked outwards.
(p.s. American crochet terms.)

So you didnt close the pear part before adding the skirt or you closed it by left a long tail.  From the pic the bottom looks open or something lol.  And howd you do the eyes like made them then attached then felted while on the face? sorry for so many questions, I just love crocheting ocotpui. There my favorites and ive never seen one as good as this <3

[waterbaby]

Fantastic -- you've really captured the expressive physicality of an octopus!

As for a name, how about Jacques, for Jacques Cousteau, certainly the man responsible for first opening the eyes of the world to the wonders of the ocean.  I watched most of the "Undersea World" episodes when I was a kid, and the one that has stayed with me most vividly had an extended segment on octopi, which included showing how smart they are: something that would intrigue an octopus was put into a screw top glass jar, which was then put into a tank with an octo; it was a matter of mere minutes before the octo had explored the jar, figured out how to unscrew the top, and got to the treat.

[lidehtium]

So cute! I absolutely love it

[seabound23]

This is killer! Love love love. 

[Angry Angel]

I love the shape of this guy, so realistic but still cute. You did a great job with all the different shapes on him, and it's cool to hear how you did it.

[ZoeyQ]

I like 

[tendstowardschaos]

Thanks, everyone! Paul the psychic octopus...I had never heard of him, but that's really funny.  He does look the part of a cranky cephalopod, too! I appreciate all of the input!

Bootchacka - I worked his tentacles in the round, starting with, I think, about 50 ch. I sc'd in each ch, back towards the body, then moved onto the next tentacle. I went around the edges with about 6 rows of sc. I hope that makes sense. I didn't intend for him to be curly, but I was happy with the result.

Lol yea that makes sense.  How'd you make the head of it? 

Think of it like a pear, with a skirt attached at a weird angle. I stuffed the 'pear' before beginning the 'skirt,' but I didn't tie off the yarn in between. It's worked as one piece until I had to do the underbelly - that was about 10-12 chains, slip-stitched together, then I started sc'ing into the ring, trying to keep multiples of 8 so that my increases lined up with the tentacles as I worked outwards.
(p.s. American crochet terms.)

So you didnt close the pear part before adding the skirt or you closed it by left a long tail.  From the pic the bottom looks open or something lol.  And howd you do the eyes like made them then attached then felted while on the face? sorry for so many questions, I just love crocheting ocotpui. There my favorites and ive never seen one as good as this <3

Make the 'pear.' Once it's stuffed, close it off with a few stitches. With your very next stitch, begin the 'skirt,' stitching directly onto the body. The tentacles are at the edges of the 'skirt,' and once they are complete, tie off your yarn. Begin a new piece to cover the belly. Join that piece to the edges of the 'skirt' with slip-stitches - you'll stitch through the tentacles where they meet the 'skirt.'

He is open on the bottom. I wanted to be able to stuff things into him like he's actually eating... you know, action figures, socks (the terrible socktopus who eats only one sock of a pair...there has to be some explanation as to where those socks go ), etc. for silly photo-shoots.

The eyes were needle-felted into shape, then needle-felted to the head.

Waterbaby - I like that! Jacques the Octopus! Thank you - that fits him perfectly!