#FROG Progress is progress!

Disclaimer, this is post is going to be half crochet-related and half life-related. The crochet content is all about my design journey with Metapod. The other half of the post is going to be slightly personal. Crochet + life = wall of text. You’ve been warned! Alright, let’s get on with it!

Extra, extra read all about it: my new pattern is up on the blog and on Ravelry! If you’re a Pokéfan, lover of all bug Pokémon or just wanna show some love to some mons apart from the usual suspects (looking at you, Pikachu) check out my blog post & pattern here. 

/endshamelessselfpromotion

A while back on my personal Instagram, I asked my friends which Pokemon I should crochet up: Metapod or Lotad. I was pretty darn thrilled when the survey ended in equal votes (the more, the merrier, right?!). In case you were wondering, Lotad is indeed the next pattern on the list! But anyway, I love me some Metapod and I thought that this was going to be a walk in the park. After browsing a few pictures of Metapod from the anime and games, it looked like a project that required minimal sewing, so I was totally about it. After I started, I realized that it wasn’t going to be as easy as I had thought. I spent a great deal of time trying to figure out how to emulate Metapod’s body shape correctly, which required a ton of trial and error, and thus time investment!

There were two main challenges that really kicked my ass:

A) The upward curve of Metapod’s body

B) The proportions

Here’s a TLDR on what I learned from these challenges:

1. Slip stitches are your friends. They’re great for creating subtle curves in bigger pieces of amigurumi.

2. Loosen the loop on your hook before creating a slip stitch. This makes crocheting into slip stitches exponentially easier. Dont worry, your work will not look strangely loose!
3. Time-consuming trial and error is sometimes required. Frogging your work is part of the process. It may sound counterintuitive, but undoing your work is 100% progress. It counts as a step forward in learning to become a better crocheter.

4. Take pictures of your freaking progress! I really goofed up on this one!

OK, into the nitty gritty! Back to the challenges we go!

A) The upward curve of Metapod’s body

This CURVE, man! I’ve had pretty limited experience dealing with curves in amigurumi & each time that I’ve had to work it in into a design, I’ve taken the approach of the sock-heel technique. This technique is great for crocheting smaller details in amigurumi (like the nose/feet of Mr. Poopybutthole or the feet of Gloom), but it’s not very effective… for larger items like a plushie’s body. The sock-heel technique requires you to turn your work several times. The change in yarn texture resulting from turning your work isn’t very noticable in smaller pieces. However, this becomes an unsightly problem for larger pieces. Metapod ended up looking like a big green sock instead of a Pokemon. It was so unsightly that I didn’t think to take progress photos. Sorry guys!

I kinda had to switch gears and try something new: using slip stitches. I’m not really a fan of slip stitches because each time I’ve tried to use them in my work, the stitches turned out uber tight and annoying to work into. This time, I sucked it up and gave it a try. Turns out they work well to achieve a nice curve in your amigurumi. Place slip stitches in place of single crochets where you’d like your piece to bend. I placed the slip stitches on the “top” end of Metapod for several rounds to achieve an upward curve. While slip stitches do change the texture and look of a piece, it is much less noticeable than the sock-heel approach! So, long story short: crocheting your best work cannot be completed with a one-size-fits-all approach. You gotta respond to each situation creatively. Common sense, right?

B) The proportions

Metapod’s body is segmented into 4 distinct pieces. It sort of reminds me of sausage links (lol). As I was crocheting him, I found it challenging to visualize how tall (i.e., how many rows) each section should be. My first go at the body looked a little something like this:

I like to call this masterpiece: Metaturd. I didn’t think anything of it while I was actually crocheting up the body, but as soon as I finished it, I knew something was off. I frogged my work and rejigged the pattern several times, trying to get it right. I tried changing the height of each section (add more rows). I tried adjusting the amount of decreasing rows dividing each section. Each of these attempts to “get it right” was time-consuming. I had a hard time time visualizing the final out come of Metapod’s body with just “the math”. I had to apply the changes over several segments (i.e., 15-20 rounds of work) before I could decide whether or not I was happy with the modifications.

I became increasingly frustrated my myself and with the amount of time it was taking for me to “get it right.” Did I really have to take un-do and redo >1 hour of work to get it right? It’s taking me weeks to share any new pictures with people. Frogged work looks all the same to them, right?  I’ve spent all this time and nothing to show for it. What do?! How I wished I could get it right the first time so I could finally share this thing. Once I the magic formula/proportions down and fastened off my work though, my perspective changed. I felt really happy with the end result, knowing that I really took my time to try out each solution I had thought up in my head. I made some mistakes along the way, but learned a little more about how each type of stitch can affect the final look of your product. All of these mistakes and all of the time invested meant more time practicing and more time learning about my craft. If I hadn’t made those mistakes myself, I would’ve missed out on all of that AND wouldn’t have anything to write for this blog post. 

This became a lesson I applied to my personal life, too. I’ve been going through a period of self-discovery and self-improvement lately and I’ve had many moments of frustration. Why am I getting upset over this? I should know better. Why is this so hard for me? I’ve been working so hard and doing all these things. Was all of it a waste of time? I spend more time tearing myself down about the time it takes me to learn and grow than I do actually learning and growing! I realized that I was holding myself to impossible standards that I would never ask of anyone else. I had to learn how to be patient with the process… Not only the process of becoming a better crocheter and designer, but also the process of becoming a better person. No one improves suddenly over night. Just as metamorphosis & the evolution of Metapod to Buttefree is a gradual transformation, so too is progress in life and the skills we build to become better at certain hobbies/tasks. Trust me, I’m not 100% zenned out, but I am slowly practicing patience and self-compassion.

In the end, this particular pattern has become quite special to me. I’m proud of the final product and I’m proud of the mistakes I made! I’m proud of the time I spent learning from my mistakes and designing something I love. I’m proud of the patience it taught me, and the self-compassion I am learning to incorporate in my life. 

Damn, that was an essay. Thanks for reading and sharing this learning journey with me! 

Cindy.

Here he is in all of his finished glory. Check out the Metapod amigurumi pattern here.