I have a thing for....

.... stick men.

It all started back in high school when my friends and I decorated my room in pipe cleaner chenille stick (they were called pipe cleaners back in the stone ages, OK?) stick men.  I carried some to college with me.  I had one that lived on the mini-blinds.  The maintenance man knocked him out of the window one day when he was fixing our AC and we had a funeral for him.  The stick man.  Not the maintenance man.

This is what I'm talking about.

I don't know exactly what it is about stick men that makes me so happy.  I just think they're adorable.  So much so that about a year and a half ago, I got this:

Sorry if the fresh tattoo redness grosses you out... I've never gotten another pic.  Kind of hard to photograph the back of your own neck.

I get asked all the time what it means.... I say "Believe and Happiness."  Then they ask what the stick man means.  It just is a stick man.  No hidden meaning, no inside joke.  It's just a stick man.

I reconnected with one of my old high school friends about a year ago and she had sent me a bunch of crafty stuff that I won in a contest on her blog, so I decided to make her a present.  She was one of my stick man makers, so I wanted something to remind her of the good ol' days.  This is what I made (I made 4 of them - three for her and her kids and one for me):

Wow.. I didn't notice how out of focus this was until I went to post it.

A stuffed stick man.  I made it out of some fake fur fabric - to give it the feel of a giant pipe cleaner chenille stick.   Pain. in. the. behind.  I can't believe I made 4 of them.  I doubt I'll ever make any more, even though I still have quite a bit of the fur left over.  Come to think of it, it might make a really fun little skirt for the girls.  And a pillow.  I bought way too much fake fur.

Now, do you remember this picture I posted a while back... a little preview of something I was working on?

Can you see where we're going now?

I'm pretty excited.

Let me introduce you to my new friend:

Amigurumi Stick Man!

I really wanted to do the head differently, but I couldn't really figure out how to make a circle like I wanted.  Maybe I'll figure it out, maybe I'll just leave him a bubble -head like he is.  He's pretty darn awesome, if you ask me.

BFFs =)

I'm going to write up the pattern for him if I can decipher my notes and make another one.  Olivia has asked for a pink one, which would make for better pictures for a tutorial.  Black is my absolute least favorite color to do amigurumi with... mostly because I need a lamp in my little corner... so I'll be happy to oblige her.   So, stay tuned!