Persimmon Granted!

The first persimmon is now done and I am starting to work on the second one.

Everyone needs a friend.

I ended up stylizing this one a bit and giving it a flat bottom instead of a rather pronounced point.  I figure that the persimmon will be kept standing on end when not in use and so it would stand better with a flat base.  Also, I made the shape more of a bolster so it would be a more comfortable pillow.  I mean, this is a stuffed animal/thing... if you can't cuddle with it, it is pointless.  And so the next one needs to be functionally snuggle-able as well.  I am thinking shorter and fatter, though.  This next one is also going to have an inner pocket (pocket in process in photo) and I think that I will make a little 'something' to go in this one.  Maybe a caterpillar?

I suppose that this is a good time to talk about materials and methods.  I am doing everything in a single-stitch crochet.  I like this stitch for the stuffed animals/veg/mineral/whatevs because it makes a solid sheet and sort of a uniform 'square' per stitch.  This makes it easier to join on other pieces.  I just think of each stitch as a single, square, little unit and each of these units are joined into a plane of set dimensions and then each of these planes intersect to create the shell of the object.  I don't know if that makes any sense, but I find it easier to make things when I am thinking about them broken down into lateral, intersecting fields.  Of course, some of these planes are parabolic and irregular, but this type of thinking is a good starting point when you are working without patterns.  So for the persimmon, it is just a variation on a sphere and so it is stitched in one big spiral.

The yarn that I am using is acrylic.  I tend to mostly use acrylic for a few reasons.  The first is that there is such a huge range of the colors in the acrylics.  Secondly, there is generally no batches and so no variation in color from skein to skein.  Thirdly, acrylic is so freaking cheap.  I would love to go all bamboo/silk/cotton, but the price would be crazy.  And then lastly, wool/angora/alpaca is out for me because I am allergic.  On a practical note, using the acrylic isn't so bad even if you just don't like the idea of using plastics.  It is naturally stain resistant and it is easy to clean.  Besides, even if you have this lovely, organic bamboo shell... the inside is still packed with plastic fluff. 


So hopefully I will be finished in a few days and then I will move on to making that sheep for a baby present.