Caterpillars! or, Donut Holes Part 1

To begin, let me say that this picture is seriously freaking me out:

There is so much wrong with this project

that I don't know where to start.

First, caterpillars make me feel very ill.

Like Fear Factor ill.

Next, I made this caterpillar because I was feeling sentimental.

When I was about 8 or 9, Grandma made lots of crafty stuff

to sell at fund-raiser church bazaars/ fairs. I like to think I

helped. This caterpillar was one of the things Grandma

made. Then, I thought they were cute (ugh) and made quite

a few myself. I recently unearthed one of these caterpillars

in an old tub of childhood paraphernalia and was tickled

at the color scheme I'd picked - not the sort one might

normally find in nature (scroll down to last photo to see).

Possessed by some evil force (nostalgia, I think it is called

in some cultures), I thought I'd replicate this for the sake

of amusing readers of this blog. Grandma has since passed

on, but I think if she were able to see this, she might be

pleased, so I'm doing this for her.

Third, I remembered the circles I'd cut out from the

middles of the donuts from Christmas lying in a small

box somewhere and thought they would be perfect for

this. Caterpillars from donut holes is so vile, but I also

like using every last fabric scrap for something if I can.

Fourth, - and this is the weirdest - I thought that

using donut-colored felt would make a non-realistic-

looking caterpillar. But by the time I was almost done, 

it was giving me the creeps. Had to keep telling myself, 

"it is FELT. It is FELT. You made it yourself, 

for crying out loud."

Fifth, it feels even worse than it looks. If you hold this 

thing in your hands it wriggles in a double-jointed 

non-solid way that I imagine real caterpillars might feel, 

not that I have ever had nor ever want, the experience 

myself. I think, though, that children, bless their 

non-species-ist hearts, would think it was cool.

It also helped that this is a big caterpillar - the circles are

about 1 1/4" across. If you are making it, you could trace

around a US dollar coin, or a quarter if you want it a little

smaller. If I had used a dime, it would have been even

more realistic and I'd have died before I finished it.

Well, for those of you who are saying, "but it's cute!"

like 9-year-old me, and who want to make this, 

here's what you need:

• Some felt circles - I used about 34 but the number is unimportant.
  
• Small beads of any shape, although squat is better than long - mine were 1/8" in diameter.
  
• Other larger miscellaneous beads for the tail and head.
  
• Scrap felt for the eyes - I used black.
  
• Thread and a needle.
  
• Some craft glue.
  

Step 1

• Double a length of thread through the needle and knot the end. I made a humungous and untidy knot for visibility's sake, but you should make a small, neat one.
  
• Thread one bead and pass the needle between the two strands, and between the bead and the knot as shown above.

• Pull to tighten - you now have a securely-threaded first bead.
  

Step 2

• String on a couple of bigger beads, like these pony beads, to make a short tail.
  

Step 3

• Begin making the body - poke the needle through the center of one felt circle, followed by a small bead.
  
• Continue alternating felt circles and beads until you have used up all the felt circles.
  

Step 4

• To make the had, thread the needle through the hole of the large bead. I cut a tiny felt circle and stuck it over one of the holes of the bead because the hole was a bit large for the smaller beads that were going on next. This acted as a stopper of sorts.
  

Step 5

• String on as many smaller beads as you want to complete the head. I used a small pony bead and one of the little gold beads.
  
• Pass the needle back through the rest of the beads as shown
  

• and through a few of the felt circles.
  
• Pull to tighten. Knot the thread here and cut off the excess.
  

Step 6

• Cut eyes from felt and glue on.
  

Here's the caterpillar I made as a child. As I said,

rather unrealistic colors, and thus safe.

If you make these yourself, please don't send me links or

photos or anything, or invite me to your caterpillar

Flickr group. I fear I will have to politely decline.