I, like many people during this pandemic, have put many hours into Animal Crossing: New Horizons on Nintendo Switch. It’s been a comforting therapy that offers an opportunity to imagine being on a small island with an abundance of nature, cute animal villagers to befriend, and try my hand at creative urban planning.

In our current world situation where we’re keeping each other safe by social distancing, Animal Crossing has been an unexpected form of social interaction with friends that are also playing the game. We can visit each other’s islands and see how they’ve designed their virtual towns, and meet their unique collection of animal neighbors.

Marina is an adorable octopus villager that I met on a visit to my friend’s island. The second I met her, she served as inspiration for the next amigurumi that I was going to make. Being an octopus, Marina has a body shape that I’ve never attempted. The tentacles I knew were be a challenge in terms of proportion, and getting them to be sturdy enough to let Marina stand on her own.

The design process is always time consuming due to failed experiment after failed experiment but like most things in life, sometimes we learn best by making mistakes.

MATERIALS

• Yarns – dark pink (P), light pink (L), light blue (B), white (W)
• small amount of black yarn
• yellow felt
• polyester fibrefill
• tacky (fabric) glue (I use glue from Aleene’s)
• two 8.0 mm safety eyes
• size 8 (5.0 mm) crochet hook (I use hooks from Laurel Hill)
• yarn needle (I use the bent tip needles from Clover)