Papa Penguin and Baby Pierre are currently winging their way over to Belgium ready to be photographed for the new parent and baby animals themed book from amigurumipatterns.net. Of course we couldn’t let them go without a big send off so I helped the other penguins organize a little party at the local penguin parent and toddler group.

I’m sure Pierre is going to miss all his friends but I know he’ll have no trouble making lots of new ones when he gets settled in.

Papa is looking forward to a new life on the continent and will get to meet the other parents of the cute baby animals who are also featuring in the book. Papa and Pierre can always rely on each other for companionship too.

Now I’m looking forward to starting on my next design. I really do enjoy everything about creating a new amigurumi.

From choosing the colours…

…and sourcing the yarn…

…to sketching up the initial ideas…

…and searching my buttons and beads stash for embellishments.

If needs be I make a few different versions, tweaking the design each time until I’m completely satisfied that I’ve arrived at the simplest solution to make the desired shape and that the proportions are perfect. Here are some of the various incarnations. Sometimes I get it right first time when working on an amigurumi but this Papa Penguin was quite a challenge. I wanted him to look more realistic than cartoon-like so it took me a bit more time and experimentation to get him ‘just so’.

Then there’s the pattern testing of the final design.

And finally the finished penguins are all ready for their book debut. Into the photography area to strike a few poses and we’re done.

I get very fond of my amigurumis along the way, so you’ll understand that after we’ve shared such a long and convoluted journey together I was keen to help them have a jolly good leaving party.

First the toddlers enjoyed themselves playing with all the toys. Each little chick made a beeline for their favorite. Pierre loves making animals with Lego and Percy hardly ever leaves the ball pool. Paul likes to reads lots of books with his dad and can spell ‘penguin’ with the building blocks already, while Patrick goes everywhere on his ride-a-long reindeer toy.

After they had nearly worn themselves out it was time for some sweet party treats to replenish all that spent energy. Tea and cake for the grown-ups and iced Party Rings for the babies. Everybody posed for a last photo to remember each other by.

When the party was over Papa and Pierre nestled down into their comfy travelling box and after careful labelling and a trip to the post office, were put on a plane to their new destination.

I hope you’ll all join me and the other penguins in wishing them Bon Voyage.

I can’t wait to see them in the new book. I’ll be sure to come back later and share so you can have a peek too!