From the Page to Her Arms: Bringing Benny to Life

Sometimes one custom order leads me straight into another adventure.

After I created Rook the Book for local author Jessi, another author saw him and reached out with a question of her own.

Could I bring one of her characters to life?

Her children's book series includes several characters, and she was preparing for an upcoming interview and book launch. She wanted to start with one very important character:

Benny.

There was just one little challenge.

Benny is a triangle.

With very long, very skinny arms and legs.

And she wanted those arms and legs to be flexible.

Well...this was going to be interesting. 😂

When she reached out, she shared:

“I have a few characters in my children’s book series and I am having my book launch November 3 after an interview on Nov 2. I would like to start with the main character.”

She also hosts a creative writing book course, so creativity and storytelling are already a big part of what she does.

Now she wanted to take one of those stories beyond the pages of her book.

Looking at Benny, I knew I couldn't approach him like a typical crochet plushie.

I wasn't even entirely sure how I was going to make those skinny arms and legs bend.

But before I could figure that out, we had another very important decision to make.

I wanted her to look at the finished plushie and immediately recognize the character she had imagined.

So we went through our options until we landed on the perfect shade.

With Benny's blue selected, it was time to start.

I began with his feet and started working my way up.

But those long, skinny, bendable arms and legs were still waiting for me.

Yarn and stuffing weren't going to give them the movement I wanted, so I needed something inside that could provide structure without making Benny's limbs completely rigid.

Apparently a triangle shaped body and bendable limbs weren't quite enough of a challenge. Benny had fingers too. 😂

So I started experimenting.

I used the cable to help form his individual fingers, then worked out how to shape the hands and transition everything into those long, skinny arms.

This is the part of custom work I really enjoy.

Sometimes someone brings me an idea and I immediately know exactly how I'm going to make it.

Other times?

I stare at it for a while and think, Okay...how am I going to do THAT?

Then I experiment.

I crochet.

I adjust.

Sometimes I frog it and try again.

Eventually, something clicks.

With Benny's feet, legs, fingers, hands and arms worked out, there was only one major piece left.

Benny's body is probably his most recognizable feature.

He's a big blue triangle with these wonderfully skinny limbs sticking out from him.

So his body couldn't simply be sort of triangular.

It needed to look like Benny.

I began shaping his body and slowly everything started coming together.

The blue we chose was working.

The arms and legs could bend.

His fingers had shape.

And that pile of yarn, cable, stuffing and experimental crochet was beginning to look like the character from the pictures I'd been studying.

Benny was coming off the page.

After Benny arrived, she sent me something incredibly sweet.

She recorded his unboxing.

I got to see her open the package and meet the physical version of a character that had previously existed in her imagination and on the pages of her books.

There is something really special about that.

I didn't create Benny.

She did.

She gave him his personality, his story, his appearance and his purpose.

My job was simply to figure out how to take all of that and translate it into yarn.

For a little while, she trusted me with her character.

Then I got to send him back to her in a completely new form.

One of the sweetest parts?

She has continued sending me updates about Benny.

I absolutely love seeing where these creations end up after they leave my hands, but there's something especially fun about seeing an author's character out in the world alongside the person who created him.

Benny isn't just an illustration anymore.

He's a little ambassador for her stories.

And I got to play a tiny part in making that happen.

Of course, you don't have to settle for meeting crochet Benny here in my Custom Order Gallery.

If you'd like to meet the original Benny, explore his adventures, and discover more of Carmen's work, you can check out Carmen's Amazon Author Page.

I think there's something extra special about seeing Benny in his stories after knowing the story of how his bendable crochet version came to life. 💜📚

Affiliate disclosure: This section contains an affiliate link. I may earn from qualifying purchases made through this link, at no additional cost to you.

This entire custom order happened because one author saw what I had created for another.

She saw Rook and thought:

Could you do this with my character too?

Yes.

And I hope that's exactly what happens when you explore my Custom Order Gallery.

I don't necessarily want you to look through these projects and order the exact same thing.

I want them to get your imagination going.

Maybe you wrote a book and have a character you'd love to hold in your hands.

Maybe your child drew something you've always wondered if someone could make.

Maybe there's a character, memory, idea or completely unusual creation living inside your head that doesn't exist anywhere else.

You don't need to know how to crochet it.

You don't even need to know if it can be crocheted.

Bring me the idea.

We'll figure out the rest together.

After all, if we can figure out how to crochet a blue triangle with long, skinny, bendable arms, legs and fingers...

I'm willing to at least take a look at your idea. 😂💜

Every custom order has a story. Yours could be next.