As difficult as designing my own patterns is, it seems I have a go big or go home mentality when it comes to them. Malamar was my second large self-produced pattern and was just as complex as Appa, my first. I always had a soft spot for Pokemon X and Y and Malamar was one of the reasons.

GEEK TIME
Besides being fairly cool in aesthetic, I loved the unique aspects of how it functioned in game. The “upside down” Malamar is the evolution of the cute little “right-side up” squid Inkay, and in order for Inkay to evolve you had to physically turn the Nintendo 3DS upside down while it was leveling up. Further, Malamar had a unique ability called Contrary, which made all stat changes have the opposite effect. It paired well with Superpower, a move that did huge damage but decreased your attack stat; in the hands of Malamar, it was an ever-growing snowball of damage (if you could effectively pull it off). I just loved how the Pokemon’s design was so well-established throughout its aesthetic, functionality, and playstyle.
GEEK TIME OVER

Material Requirements
This pattern should not be dependent on yarn weight and hook size. My preferred hook for amigurumi is 3.5mm with worsted weight yarn. I always recommend that people use a fairly tight stitch when creating amigurumi to prevent stuffing from protruding out. Frankly, because of the amount of projects I make, I usually stick to budget acrylics (Red Heart Super Saver is a blessing on the wallet), but feel free to use what you feel comfortable with.

• Yarn: White, Light Purple, Dark Purple, Turquoise, Pink
• Polyester Stuffing
• Scissors
• Felt: White, Yellow, Pink, Light Purple, Black, Dark Purple
• Tapestry Needle
• Felting Needle

Skill Requirements
Basic Crocheting Skills:

• Chain Stitch (ch)
• Single Crochet (sc)
• Slip Stitch (sl st)
• Single Crochet Increase (inc)
• Invisible Decrease (dec)
• Magic Ring

For the most part, Appa is made by crocheting in the round. I begin most of the pieces with a magic ring, so it will be necessary to learn this technique if you are not familiar with it. Basic sewing skills will also be necessary to attach the completed pieces together.

When reading the pattern, anything located in square brackets should be repeated as per the instructions following the brackets. In the body section, for example:

2 sc, inc around

Would look like:

2 sc, inc, 2 sc, inc, 2 sc, inc, 2 sc, inc, 2 sc, inc, 2 sc, inc

I also state the total number of stitches in each row in (round brackets) at the end of each row.