#FASTEN Jirachi!

Hi everyone! <3 I *just* finished putting Jirachi together for the second #PINSforPALS art swap and I'm soooo happy to share him with y'all! This is definitely my favourite project from this year!

This time around, I am trading with a local artist named @cjartcanada. She makes super cute enamel pins, patches, keychains! If you are a fan of Card Captor Sakura, Sailor Moon or Pokemon, you gotta check out her shop! Anywho, she fancies Jirachi quite a bit and asked me to make one. As a fellow Jirachi mega-fan, I said "sure" and off I went!

As I was taking a look around the internet for some inspiration, I came across pictures of DannieBoop's amazing Jirachi on Ravelry! DannieBoop has generously made the pattern available for free on their blog. If you are a fan of Jirachi like I am, I 10000000% recommend that you check it out! It is perhaps the most faithful amigurumi representation of Jirachi that I've seen so far! They have other wonderful patterns up on the blog, so I highly recommend that you check it out & show some love <3!

Here's my beloved plushie
next to my Jirachi WIP in
its early stage!

I have a Jirachi plushie that I won last year from a UFO catcher in Japan and I absolutely loooove it! It's a chibi, big-headed version of Jirachi and it's just the cutest thing ever. I knew that I had to emulate that chibi style for cjartcanada's Jirachi, so I made quite a few modifications to the original pattern. If you want to see those changes and incorporate them into your own Jirachi, scroll on down below and let's get crackin'!
Please note that the original pattern (and all credit) belongs to DannieBoop! For the original pattern, check out DannieBoop's blog post. Here are just some modifications that I made for my Jirachi. :)

Yarn used
Red Heart Super Saver in PALE YELLOW
Impeccable Yarn Solid in WHITE
Impeccable Yarn Solid in AQUA
Red Heart Super Saver in BLACK


Major Modifications
These are portions of Jirachi's body that I redesigned to my liking. I deviated quite a bit from the original pattern for these parts.


Jirachi Arms (Make 2)

With white yarn,

1 MC, sc 6 (6)

2 sc 6 (6)

3 sc 6 (6)

4 sc, 4 inc, sc (10)

5 3 sc, 4 inc, 3 sc (14)

6 sc around (14)

7 5 sc, 2 dec, 5 sc (12)

8 sc around (12)

9 4 sc, 2 dec, 4 sc (10)

10 sc around (10)

11 inc, 2 sc, 2 dec, 2 sc, inc (10)

12 2 inc, 3 dec, 2 inc (11)

slst into the next stitch and FO, leaving a yarn tail for sewing.

Jirachi's Wings(...?) (Make 2)

With pale yellow yarn,

1 MC, sc 6 (6)

2 sc around (6)

3 2 sc, inc x 2 (8)

4 sc around (8)

5 3 sc, 2 inc, 3 sc (10)

6 sc around (10)

7 3 sc, 4 inc, 3 sc (14)

8 sc around (14)

9 6 sc, 2 inc, 6 sc (16)

10 inc, 5 sc, dec, dec, 5 sc, inc (16)

11 6 sc, dec x 2 (14)

12 inc, 4 sc, 2 dec, 4 sc, inc (14)

13 sc around (14)

14 dec, 10 sc, dec (12)

15-17 sc around for 3 rounds (12)

18 dec, 8 sc , dec (10)

19-22 sc around for 4 rounds (10)

23 3  sc, dec x 2 (8)

24 sc around (8)

25 1 sc and flatten piece. THEN, ch 1, TURN and 4 sc across the opening to close. 

FO, leaving a yarn tail for sewing.

Forehead Semi-circle

With pale yellow yarn,

1 MC, sc 3, TURN

2 ch 1, inc x 3 (6), TURN

3 ch 1, 2 inc, 2 sc, 2 inc (10), TURN

4 ch 1, 2 inc, 5 sc, 2 inc (14) DO NOT TURN!

- Continuing along the foundation chain...

ch 1, 8 sc
FO, leaving a yarn tail for sewing.

Chain 1... and then...

sc into the first stitch of the
foundation chain! 

8 sc across the foundation chain. Don't forget
to FO and leave a yarn tail for later!

Wish tags (make 3)

With aqua yarn, 

1 ch 4, TURN

2-11 sc 3, TURN for 10 rounds (3)

12 3 sc the first stitch, sc, 3 sc in the next stitch

- DO NOT TURN! - Continuing along the left side of the wishing tag…

9 sc, 3 sc into the next stitch,

- DO NOT TURN! - Continuing along the bottom side of the wishing tag…

1 sc, 3 sc into the first stitch, sc, 3 sc into the next stitch

slst into the next stitch and FO, leaving a yarn tail for sewing.

The beginning of round 11 looks like this.
3 sc into the first stitch to start it off!

Remember that you'll be working along each edge of the
wish tag. Do not turn your work after round 11!

When you reach the beginning of round 11 again,
slst into the first stitch and FO!

Eyes (make 2)

With black yarn,

1 ch 3

2 sc 2, 3 sc in the next stitch, continue working around the back of the foundation chain…

3 sc, 3 sc into the next stitch 

4 sc around (9)

FO, leaving a long yarn tail for sewing.

I needed felted the eye detailing using
wool roving and a felting needle!

If you happen to make a mistake early in the
felting process, use a pair of tweezers to
remove the roving form your work! This
trick is a total life saver and one of the
reasons why I like keeping a pair of
tweezers in my crochet kit!

Minor Modifications
I followed a majority of the original pattern for these parts.


I removed rounds from the following body parts:

Head
- removed round 24

Star Headpiece
- removed round 1
* I began each headpiece with a Magic ring sc 6. I continued the pattern as written from round 3.

Legs
- removed round 8

Torso
- removed rounds 20-24
I continued the pattern as written from round 25 onward.

Sewing together Jirachi's headpieces were a real
challenge. To assist with symmetry, sew on the side
head pieces first. I left about a 6-stitch gap between them.

I use pins to map out the stitches I will be sewing into. 
This helps me to ensure symmetry. This is particularly 
important for  simple & symmetrical characters like 
Jirachi. Here, you can see that I've placed a pin in each 
stitch of his semi-circle forehead piece!

Annnnnd that's a wrap!

What did you think? Are you a fan of the changes? I love the end result and I really hope @cjartcanada does, too!! Please show some love to the original artist and check out DannieBoop's gallery on Ravelry! Thanks for reading! Take care and stay safe, y'all!

Cindy.