Progress is slow on Nimakim at the moment, because the yarn is fighting me all the way. It’s fine to crochet with. I work from the inside and keep pushing the fur to the outside. You’re probably not supposed to do it that way, but it works for me. But unravelling it is a real pain. And something happened to the yarn ball in my project bag that probably needs quantum physics and multiple universe theory to describe it.

I have spent days untangling it, and the whole of Monster HQ and everything in it (even the Hellbeast) is covered in grey fluff where the yarn has shed its fur and gone bald in spots. It has become my life’s mission to restore order to this yarn.

Nimakim now has plastic eyes. I knew it was going to bother me that I hadn’t put them in, so I unstitched his face from his head so I could fasten them on. My next choice was large or small eyes.  The large are cuter, but I went for the small as closer to the spirit of Pia’s original drawing.

Nimakim also has a companion/friend/family member who is coming along nicely. My first attempt at Nimakim’s head went wrong, and his body didn’t come out anywhere near round enough. But hey, I get a whole other monster out my discarded bits!

I’m still working on getting Nimakim’s body big and round enough (“Like a mossy boulder,” Pia says). My partner had the genius idea of crocheting around a ball, but I haven’t got one the right size in the house.  I’ll try with a bowl. I’m starting my 3rd attempt at the body with increases every 5 stitches. But first I have to get the yarn back into a state I can work with it.

Just gotta keep going!

– Zola