Sackboy from Little Big Planet

 Gift giving to adult children can be difficult. What do they need? What do they want? What do they like? It's easier for me to take the Italian route and just give money (a check). That way they can save or spend. A card or envelope with a check in it isn't very exciting.

I was trying to think of a way to present the Young One's Christmas gift in a fun way or wrapping. She's a gamer, enjoys video games, computer games, table games. For her birthday, I had already made her a Gamer Gift Box and Card. What else could I do?

When she was a teen, she played a game on the Play Station called Little Big Planet. The game involved a character named Sackboy or Sack Child. The game was a puzzle game. You guided your Sack Boy through mazes and obstacles. You also dressed Sackboy in various costumes and decorated the walls of his abode with stickers and stuff. 

I'm not sure how I thought of Sackboy, but as luck would have it, I found a crochet pattern for him. Make Your Own Sackboy The cool part of this doll was the working zipper. His body cavity would be the perfect place to tuck the check. Three weeks or so before Christmas, I began crocheting the doll. After a couple of false starts, the doll began to take shape.

I used to play Little Big Planet with the Young One. More often than not, I watched as I was so slow with the controls or couldn't remember which control button did what. The Young One patiently went over buttons over and over again.

Her Sackboy would pick up a frying pan and would sidle over next to my Sackboy as I tried to remember buttons and how to pick up objects. When I didn't get the buttons correct, her SackBoy would bang my Sackboy upside the head with the best BBBBOOOnnnnnggggg sound effect. That would dissolve us into gales of laughter.

As it happened, I found a pattern to make a frying pan to complete Sackboy's ensemble. With a little fiddling, I was able to size it for the doll.

A tag would let her know that something was inside Sackboy, an origami envelope with the check inside. Happily, the doll went over just as well as the check did. I think a happy memory of having fun together. Either that or the joy of banging Mama upside the head with a frying pan. 😺