THIS WEEK’S ENTRY COMES FROM SARAH HERSELF, THE INCREDIBLE MRS SALAD, CONCERNING THE INEXPLICABLE LACK OF REY IN THE HASBRO TOY CAMPAIGN FOR STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS.
SARAH WRITES…
This is the first time I have posted up a crochet pattern, and the reason is because I am angry. Let me explain from the beginning…
My friends have a very beautiful and intelligent daughter, who they’ve nicknamed Miss B. Miss B, along with my own daughter (Alice), were very excited about the new Star Wars movie. Alice’s Daddy was so proud and excited in the run-up to The Force Awakens. He remembers the rapture of watching the first Star Wars movie over and over, and now he could take his daughter to see the 7th movie at the cinema. They watched the teaser trailers together. They saw a beautiful tough girl in desert clothes, a storm trooper, a 3-bladed lightsaber, and a rolling R2D2-type droid. My daughter squealed with delight. My husband also squealed with delight. I am pretty sure over in Miss B’s house, another little girl was doing the same.
The film was suitably awesome, and the kids left the cinema waving pretend lightsabers, and wanting to play the whole thing out in the playground. There was one problem: While the merchandising was full of the Stormtrooper-With-A-Heart toys, the Angst-Ridden Bad Guy toys, and The Cute Robot toys (by the gazillion); the Kick-Ass Desert Girl was distinctly lacking on the toy front. She was treated like she was some kind of minor character, when actually she was a major hero.
This made me angry. I felt let down by the manufacturers. By sidelining the women, they had not only let down my daughter and other girls like her who want to be part of lightsaber battles, but they’d also let down little boys who might enjoy having a strong heroic girl in among their figurines.
The clever Miss B, also picked up on it and decided to write this letter to Hasbro.
She got a reply which suggested that Hasbro hadn’t read her letter, let alone considered it.
(For the full, pretty remarkable, story see my friend’s blog. https://trainingagamer.wordpress.com/2016/01/20/wheres-rey/)
Meanwhile, I received this superb book as a Christmas present, from Daddy Salad himself, who is an excellent and handsome husband, and he has clearly edited this blog entry.
I made a Stormtrooper, Leia and Yoda (yes, Leia and Yoda – Hasbro, take note!). My daughter was playing with toys that are male as well as female. I am sure little boys do the same. Human beings are complex and intertwined. As adults, we can empathise with male and female leads in films, and so can our children. Children are infinitely more complicated and intelligent than toy manufacturers are giving them credit for. See the very good Facebook campaign, Let Toys Be Toys if you want to know more about how toy manufacturers are reducing our children to stereotypes.
Then, as I looked around for the next crochet project, I thought “What about Rey?”. Rey, who my daughter loved and who was sadly missed out in all the merchandising. So I made her.
She’s not perfect, it’s tough to make people out of wool, but in a world in which this is Leia:
…then she could conceivably be Rey.
So here’s my first ever posted pattern. I hope that she will be played with by girls and boys who love the new Star Wars film everywhere.
I have posted the first toy that I made to the wonderful Miss B, who loves it, and I am making another one for my daughter.
Key:
CH – chain stitch
SC- single crochet
SC2tog – single crochet 2 together
You need: dark brown wool, flesh-coloured wool, beige wool.
Head
Form a single loop. I do this by tying the end of the wool around the hook. This is the centre of your pattern
Round 1 – CH2 ( this forms something similar to the first single crochet stitch). Now SC 5 times in central loop. Chain into the first gap to form a circle(6)
Round 2 – CH2 ( this forms the first SC) SC in same stitch. 2 SC in each of the next stitches (12)
Round 3 – CH2 , SC in same stitch , SC in next stitch ( 2SC in next stitch, SC in next stitch) x 5 (18)
Round 4 – (2SC in first stitch, SC in next 2 stitches) x 6 (24)
Round 5 & 6 – SC in next 24 stitches (24)
Round 7 – Change to flesh-coloured wool SC in next 7 stitches, change to brown SC in next 16, change to flesh coloured SC in next stitch (24)
Round 8 – SC in next 8 stitches, change to brown SC in next 14, change to flesh-coloured SC in next 2 stitches.(24)
Round 9 – SC in next 9 stitches, change to brown SC in next 12 stitches, change to brown, SC in next 3 stitches(24)
Round 10 – (SC2tog SC in next 2 stitches) x 6 (18)
Round 11 – (SC2tog SC in next stitch) x 6 (12)
Add the eyes, and sew on some lips.
Body
Change to beige
Round 12 – SC in each stitch (12)
Round 13 – (2SC , SC in next stitch) x 6 (18)
Round 14-18 – SC in next 18 stitches (18)
Round 19 – Change to brown SC in next stitch (Ch 6, skip 4 stitches SC in the next stitch ) x 4
Round 20 – Chain 28 SC in last stitch
Round 21 & 22 – Change to beige, SC in last beige stitch(round 18) SC in the beige stitches all the way around (18)
Lightly stuff the body
Legs
Round 23 – SC in next 6 stitches. This should take you to the middle of the front of the body. SC in the middle of the back of the body. SC in next 5 stitches. This should take you to the end of the round, creating a small circle that is half the width of the body forming a leg. (11)
Round 24 & 25 – SC in each stitch (11)
Round 26 – Change to white (SC2tog SC in next 2 stitches) SC in next 2 stitches (9)
Round 27 – SC in next 9 stitches
Round 28 – Change to black SC in each stitch
Round 29 – (SC in first stitch, skip one stitch, single crochet the next 2 stitches together) x2 SC in last stitch. (5)
Round 30 – Stitch all the stitches together and tie off.
Round 31 – Second leg; In beige, crochet a stitch starting in the middle front of the body, adjacent to the other leg. SC in each stitch. End with a single SC in stitch that joins the front and back of the body at the top of the first leg. Join to the first stitch. This forms the gusset.
Repeat round 24 – 30 to complete the second leg.
Hair
Rey has 2 small buns and a low ponytails
Cast on in brown
Round 1 – CH3. Now SC 5 times in central loop. Join to the first stitch to form a circle(6)
Round 2 – (2SC in first stitch SC in next stitch) x3 (9)
Round 3 – Chain 6
Round 4 – Chain 2 more, (sc in last stitch of previous row) x5 join to the first stitch to form a second circle. (6)
Round 5 – (2SC in first stitch sc in next stitch)x3 (9)
Round 6 – Chain 4 cast off
Sew the buns onto the head, with the dangling pony tail at the bottom
Round 7 – Chain 4 stitches, attach to the bottom bun.
Round 8 – Chain 4 stitches and cast off
Arms (in flesh-coloured wool)
Round 1 – CH3. Now SC 5 times in central loop. Join to the first stitch to form a circle(6)
Round 2 – SC in each stitch (6)
Round 3 – In brown wool, SC in each stitch (6)
Round 4-8 – In beige wool, SC in each stitch (6)
Cast off , leaving a long lead, and sew to the body
Make the second arm
Dress
Round 1 – chain 1 in the shoulder (1)
Round 2 – chain 2 in the first crochet, SC in the same stitch (2)
Round 3 – ch2 sc in1st stitch, sc in second stitch (3)
Round 4 – ch2, Sc in 1st stitch, 2sc in 2nd stitch (4)
Round 5 -9 – ch2 ,sc in next 3 stitches (4)
Cast off
Pull the dress diagonally across the body and tuck into both the belts.
Do a second dress piece on the other shoulder.
Present to child.
Daddy Burns the Salad 