Sushi to fish amigurumi

Hello! It has been a while since I felt the urge to get out my crochet hook, but recently it was two of my lovely friends' wedding anniversary and since we were going to be at their home to play D&D that evening, I thought a little gift would be in order! I know this is a little bit weird for an anniversary gift but there was a convoluted thought process behind this particular gift ...  but I won't bore you with that ~___^

I used a pattern by Irene Kiss which is available for free on Ravelry. I found the pattern very easy to follow, but I do suspect, as usual, that I tensioned a little too tight as it's a bit tricky to do the transition from sushi to fish and back.

No guidelines were given on hook size but if I made this again, I would maybe use a 4mm or 4.5mm hook (I used a 3.5mm for this amigurumi).  

The only real adjustment I made to the pattern was to make the nori wrap in the round so I didn't have to seam it together at the end and I also added a few more rounds as I thought it would be very difficult to get the fish into the sushi with only seven rows; I did fourteen rows instead. The trade off to this is, of course, that the sushi is bigger and takes up more room inside the fish! 
 

I used the same colours as Irene, but most likely different yarns as I used what I had in my stash.
 

Doesn't the little fish tail look cute sticking out of the sushi? ^___^
 

There are no photos included in the pattern regarding how the sushi and the fish are sewn together. I turned the sushi roll inside out and then stuffed it base first into the fish, so that the white square with the hole in the middle was lined up to the fish's mouth. In the photo below you can see my orange yarn stitches, but when the transition in complete it isn't noticeable.
 

 

Instead of crocheting the whiskers on the fish I tied on a length of yarn to each side and I stitched on the eyes with a little leftover black yarn. 
 

You can see how fat this fish gets when it has the sushi roll inside!
 

When I was making this pattern I wasn't convinced that it was going to work (that's more a comment on doubting my abilities than doubting the pattern though!) so when it was all sewn together and I could change it from a fish to a sushi it felt very exciting!

My friends both enjoyed their magical sushi to fish amigurumi and I really enjoying starting (and finishing!) a crochet project. 

I've been doing a lot of crafty things at work (I'm working as a Young People's Services Librarian right now which means lots of Storytime and School Holiday crafts) and I'm also working on a crafty business plan with some friends so even though I'm not posting on here as much, I am still working on things! ^___^ I hope to be able to share some things from the latter project with you soon! Although, if you want Storytime ideas, just let me know! ~___^ 

- Lisa xx