Weird or Cute Gudetama?

I'm undecided.  Still not absolutely sure if I'm more disturbed or charmed by the idea of a depressed egg yolk as one of Sanrio's latest characters.

If you haven't encountered him before, Gudetama (roughly translates to 'Lazy Egg') is a depressed egg yolk.  He's yummy and full of nutrients but he thinks life as an egg is futile, because it's inevitable that he'll end up being someone's dinner.  So he lazes around in a permanent state of pathetic 'meh'.

Now I'm a MASSIVE Sanrio fan. I grew up with countless Hello Kitties around me so I've always connected Sanrio to child-friendly, OTT cute designs.  Picture my 'WTF' face therefore when I watched a Gudetama cartoon, where an egg yolk with buttocks complains of having a shell stuck in his arse and a man in an egg yolk leotard costume dances a routine to a theme tune sung by kids (don't believe me? Watch it yourself!).

Sightly violated was my first reaction.  Morbid fascination my second.  Then it was an appreciation that Gudetama is "Kimokawaii", the Japanese Gross-Cute trend (usually skulls or severed body parts with a cute face). Now?  I'm not quite sure.  I did think 'OMG cute!' when I saw a plushie of Gudetama lying on his egg white trying to sleep with a piece of bacon as his blanket.  But I'm not sure I've gotten over the man in the yellow leotard yet...

While you make up your mind, here's an amigurumi pattern to make Gudetama-under-bacon which is definitely more cute than gross.  Enjoy!

Gudetama under Bacon Blanket

What you’ll need:

You can use any type of yarn you like since slight variation in size won’t matter.  I used a very soft acrylic yarn similar to a 4ply. The yarn manufacturer's hook size recommendation is 3.5 but I used a 2.5mm hook for a tighter finish.  I always use a smaller hook than recommended for amigurumis to make my work tighter to better keep in the filling.  

Here’s what I worked with:

• -          Yellow, white and dull red yarn (gauge 22sts x 28rows for 10cm swatch)  

• -          2.5mm crochet hook; 
• -          Black and white felt;
• -          Tapestry needle;
• -          Polyester filling; and

• -         Permanent black marker.

Abbreviations:

ch                    chain stitch

sl st                  slip stitch

sc                     single crochet

sc inc               single crochet increase, i.e. work 2 single crochets into the same stitch

sc dec              single crochet decrease, i.e. crochet 2 stitches together

st                     stitche(s)

( )                     numbers in brackets denote total stitches for that row

*                      when a stitch pattern is repeated several times, it is enclosed by asterisks.  E.g. *2sc, sc dec* x2 - means single crochet twice, decrease, single crochet twice, decrease.

The body, legs and egg white are worked in joined rounds, so remember to start those pieces with a ch st at the beginning of every row AND end each row by joining the ends with a sl st.

Body: (in yellow)

R1: Magic ring, 5sc into ring, tighten ring, join round with sl st. (5) [If you find magic ring difficult or a hassle to do, just make a slip knot and ch2] 

R2: *sc inc* x5 (10)

R3: *sc, sc inc* x5 (15)

R4: *2sc, sc inc* x5 (20)

R5: *3sc, sc inc* x5 (25) 

R6 to R11: 25sc (25)

R12: *3sc, sc dec* x5 (20)

R13: *2sc, sc dec* x5 (15)

[stuff yolk with polyester filling at this point before the hole closes up]

R14: *sc, sc dec* x5 (10)

R15: *sc dec* x5 (5), end and leave a long yarn tail for sewing the 'bum'. See vid tutorial below:

Arms x2: (in yellow)

R1: 6ch (6)

R2: Starting from 2nd chain from hook 5 sl sts, end and leave a long yarn tail to sew arms to body.

Legs x2: (in yellow)

R1: Magic ring, 4sc into ring, tighten ring, join round with sl st. (4)

R2: 4sc (4), end and leave a long yarn tail to sew legs to body. 

Bacon: (in red)

R1: 17ch (17)

R2: Starting from 2nd chain from hook, 16sc, chain 1 then turn (to work on reverse side) (16)

R3 to R4: 16sc, chain 1 and turn (16)

R5: 16sc, [using white yarn] chain 1 and turn (16)

R6: 16sc, end and leave a short yarn tail. 

Using white, do two lines of slip stitches on top of the bacon between rows 1 and 2, and rows 3 and 4.

Egg white: (in white)

R1: Magic ring, 6sc into ring, remember to join with sl st (6)

R2: *sc inc* x6 (12)

R3: *sc, sc inc* x6 (18)

R4: *2sc, sc inc* x6 (24)

R5: *3sc, sc inc* x6 (30) 

R6: 1sc, sc inc, *4sc, sc inc* x5, 3sc (36)

R7: 3sc, sc inc, *5sc, sc inc* x5, 2sc (42), end and leave a long yarn tail to sew yolk and bacon onto egg white. 

Making up:

[Using a darning needle, follow the instructions below.  When you finish sewing, weave the yarn tail into your work a few time to secure then cut off.]

1. Sew arms onto sides of egg yolk, between rows 7 and 8. 

2. Sew legs onto egg yolk, over rows 13 and 14, at the front of yolk. 

3. Weave in yarn tail from egg white stitch by stitch towards the centre, then sew egg yolk onto egg white, aiming for his head to be near the edge of the plate and his bum just over the centre.  Use same yarn tail to sew bacon onto yolk.  

Eyes and mouth: 

Using black felt, cut two tiny ovals for Gudetama's eyes.  I've found them best positioned over rows 6 and 7, slanted downwards at the outer corners.  

Using white felt cut a bigger oval and using black permanent marker, rim edge in black.  Glue over rows 7 and 8.  The best glues for this are UHU or E6000.  

Tip: You may find cutting such small bits of felt difficult.  It will help to use a super sharp pair of scissors, e.g. sharp nail scissors for very well.  If it's still too difficult, try dabbing clear nail varnish onto the felt.  This stiffens the felt and allows better control.