We were in the midst of Corona virus lockdown.
It was another fall down the social media rabbit hole on Star Wars Day
which led me face to face with Baby Yoda.
I didn't know Baby Yoda had a following. I know, gasp!
Sometime back in maybe December 2019 I had seen a crochet Baby Yoda on a friend's Facebook feed.
Kinda cute, I thought.
So controversy sparks interest. Crochet artist Allison Hoffman had created a large Baby Yoda pattern dubbed "The Child" that she sold on her Etsy and Ravelry stores. When she created the pattern Disney had yet to bring any Baby Yoda toys to market so it was in high demand. See one of many stories about it HERE.
Shortly after her pattern was published though, Disney issued her a cease and desist order, claiming copyright infringement, and her pattern was taken down. So people want what they can't have, right? LOTS of people wanted to get their hands on her no longer available pattern. Her original doll sold on eBay for $2000! And pretty soon, there were lots of other Baby Yoda patterns available...
So why did Disney go after Allison? Supposedly it was because hers was the only one that made a substantially sized Baby Yoda. Hers is 14 inches tall. Plus, she is a fairly well known crochet artist, unlike the multitude of other pattern designers that sprang up. In the end Allison rebadged her creation. You can now buy her Baby Elephant or Baby Bear patterns with the "rabbit ear" modification and essentially make her original Baby Yoda. By May 2020 you could find Baby Yoda patterns all day long, some simpler than others...
This is actually similar to the first Baby Yoda I saw on Facebook
I was intrigued. I wanted to see if I could make one.
So, 6pm on May the 4th, I found a free pattern that suited me, rummaged through all my yarn for some appropriate colors, and started crocheting. I couldn't put it down. Finally at 3 am I had to go to sleep. I finished the hand and foot detail in the morning...
... and I had my very own Baby Yoda.
So then I took him out on a photo shoot and to share him with my friends...
... and then I got a request to make one.
So remember, we're in Corona virus lock down. My original Baby Yoda was made with whatever yarn I had on hand - which happened to be Stylecraft Special DK - definitely not anything I had more of since it comes from the UK and the UK was in locked down too. My family also pointed out that Baby Yoda was the wrong color anyway and that Yodas were a lighter color. That being said, I settled on using Red Heart Super Saver yarn in Frost Green since it was fairly easily accessible and it was the color one of the multiple Baby Yoda patterns I looked at suggested. It ended up being a great decision as I ended up needing lots of yarn for lots of Yodas!
I also decided that the button nose on my original Yoda made him look too, well, bear-like in a way, so I looked up how to soft-sculpt noses and soft-sculpted the nose on my next Baby Yoda.
So this is Baby Yoda 2.0.
Lighter green and with a soft sculpted nose
And I had to make some friends...
Well, these guys are pretty personable...
... so I got MORE requests.
By June I had looked at a lot of other people's Baby Yodas and tweaked mine a bit more by making the legs a little longer.
Baby Yoda 3.0.
And of course the more I showed off my latest creation, the more requests I got.
What started out as a "lets see if I can make one" turned into taking over my summer.
Not that it's a bad thing, mind you.
It was fun. I love seeing something come to life in my hands.
Come Fall though, I decided it was time to do other things.
So Good Bye Baby Yodas.
I'll make more next year if requested.
