Not all Tonberries (Tonberri?) are out to wish you a stabby death. No, some of them are kindly old grandmothers who make better use of their Chef's Knives by slicing a great big piece of boysenberry pie to share with the wonderful grandchildren. The very same lovely grandchildren who made their apron as a surprise gift for their dear old granny. All Tonberries love boysenberry pie, you know. If adventurers would just keeps some boysenberry pie on them, there would be a great decrease in stabby deaths.

If you're not familiar with the Tonberry, they are evil stabby bastards in the Final Fantasy games. Vicious, horrible things. ...But kinda fun, too.

No, there's... really not much to explain here. This was another totally random project that just happened to become even more random. I made the head, then made the body, then thought, "Hey, this looks like a Tonberry!" And then, um... I have no idea what happened. Then I was making and apron. You see, at some point I wondered if all Tonberries were vicious, stabby little bastards. And then I came up with the theory that clearly they could not be. There had to be kindly old grandmotherly Tonberries putting those knives to better use. And grandchildren who would gather together and make their granny a nice apron. STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT.

Ahem, anyway. Talk about a lengthy project. Completing the crocheted body alone happened over three days. That is definitely (obviously) hand embroidery on the apron, and then beading on top of that. Lost track of how many days that took, and I'm happy about it--even if it looks horrific. (In my defense, the leaves on the bottom right-hand corner were done first. I then deemed them far too neat and ruined the rest.) Her spectacles only took a couple of minutes, luckily--I've been cut by wire enough times to know how it works very well. The pie and knife accessories are constructed of fleece and painted with fabric paint. Her hair was the last thing. You can blame my partner in geeky crime Schala-Kitty for suggesting that little detail. (I love it, though. She really is much more granny-like now.) The end result stands (or, I guess, sits) at 7 inches in height. I'm going to go take a break now.

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Another experiment with the same-ish Carbuncle pattern that I've been playing with--only this one has some needle felted details! Exciting, I know. I wanted him to have a "fuzzy" look, and so... I have succeeded. But not before breaking two felting needles. It's my own damn fault for felting directly to fleece, but... geez. You wouldn't think this sweet little guy would be capable of snapping metal, but he is. "Strong enough to BREAK METAL, yet gentle enough not to crush my hand."

Of course, the jewel in his forehead is a large gorgeous Swarovski crystal, and the eyes and lovely little glass beads. Those fuzzy accents are hand-dyed Merino wool from Flights of Whimzy, and it's soooo soooooft.

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So I've been picking at needle felting for a while. This is my first finished 3-D critter, and of course it had to be a geeky Carbuncle of Final Fantasy fame. Sure I lost count of how many times I may or may not have stabbed myself with said needle, but the important thing is that I never bled on the figure! ...And also if I ever wind up with diabetes, I'll know what to expect.

Anyway. Lil' Bunkie here is 4.5 inches tall with a single siam Swarovski crystal in his forehead and two little blue beads for eyes. He's comprised completely and totally of wool roving, so he's soft and fuzzy and... well, he needs a trim. But I'll get to that.

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