Tired of Hilda yet? Don't be.
I knew I liked the concept when I picked up two of the graphic novels in a bookstore in Santa Fe back in 2017, and was smitten with the show from episode two and the appearance of Jorgen, the Midnight Giant.
I really want to make a giant, toddler sized Jorgen, but that much yarn is expensive and I really want to get something nice if it's going to be that large. So at a local shop's winter sale I picked up a few skeins of Cascade Yarns, ReVerb (recycled) 3.75mm, Color 04 "Jet." The sort of loose twist was nice as well as that it has some very slight variegation to it, not enough to be "heathered" but enough to be interesting.
With the thin weight I should be able to write up and test a pattern, that should scale nicely up to a worsted or bulky weight yarn should I find something suitable. In the meantime, I wanted this mini Jorgen to be awesome... that of course means making my own life difficult. I wanted him to be posable. Like with Alfur, I decided to try a wire armature and watched a short video on a very basic skeleton. I used some thin beading wire I had lying around, and since this one doesn't have to be seen anywhere, I figure my somewhat amateur attempt won't matter.
I did need to sketch him out first to get a scale to try to make him to, and to be sure that the armature would fit. His super long neck and head is what really prompted this as I did not want to have a big floppy head... That meant designing the pattern so it could fit around the skeleton.
I started with the legs, doing a very basic shape and taper, making 2. I left a loop at the end of the legs and had plenty of yarn from the MC start that I knew I could anchor the skeleton to the body. So I joined the legs and worked up into the body. I stopped about half way and turned him inside out to tie the feet to the skeleton and then slowly stuff up into the body. I normally like to stuff as I go along but inserting the skeleton after the stuffing would be problematic to say the least.
After anchoring the skeleton the feet, it was a bit of pain to keep crocheting in the round around it, but manageable. I tapered off the body into the neck and head, stuffing along till closing it. I let the arm wires stick out and then made the marks, slipped it on over them with stuffing and then sewed them in place. Easier to type than do. Since the finished doll is only about 8 inches tall, the tiny ears and eyes and nose were a bit of a puzzle. I did try to crochet the features out of a contrasting tan sock yarn but it was too small and unformed for my liking. So it turned back to my newly acquired skill of needle felting to make some tiny features. I rolled small balls of white and tan and then felted them into place on the head. I actually am very pleased with how it turned out, I was a little unsure I would have enough room on the face.
Time to complete: about 4 hours
Difficulty: Intermediate
Size: About 8 inches tall
Mini Jorgen
inc - increase - 2 sc in one stitch
dec- decrease
Legs - make 2
R1. MC6
R2. inc around (12)
R3-4. 12 sc around
R5. 2 dec, 8 sc (10)
R6-20. 10 sc around
Leg joins - with toes pointed same way, work 4 sc through both legs to join, work in a circle around the outsides, 6sc, 2 increase, 6sc, slip stitch to front of 4 chain, then keep working in the round. (18)
Body - from Butt to top of head
R21. inc x2, 14 sc, inc x2 (22) increases for belly should be in the direction of the toes
R22. 22 sc around
R23. 4sc, dec, 4sec, dec (should be middle of back), 6sc, dec, 3 sec (20)
R24. 20 sc around
R25. 4sc, dec, 8sc, dec, 4sc (18)
R26. 3sc, dec, 7sc, dec, 3sc (15)
R27. 3sc, dec, 6sc, dec, 2sc (12)
R28. 12 sc around
R29. 12 sc around - stuffing down into body and legs here.
R30. 12 sc around - work over wire arms - if doing wire skeleton
R31. 12 sc around
R32. 3sc, dec, 4sc, dec, 2sc (11)
R33. 11 sc around
R34. 8sc, dec, sc (10)
R35-48. 10 sc around - stuff neck as you go along, working around wire
R49. dec, sc around
R50. dec around, and bind off, use tail to sew into top of wire skeleton - tough I know
Arms - make 2
R1. MC4
R2. inc, sc, inc, sc (6)
R3. inc, 2sc, inc, 2sc (8)
R4. 8 sc around
R5. bobble stitch (5hdc in one, slst to first, ch 1), sc around 7 (8) (bobble makes thumb)
R6-19. 8 sc around, bind off, use tail to sew to body over arm wires. I did half then stuffed, then sewed close to body.
Eyes, Ears, Nose - needle felted to head