I love the character Yoshi, the adorably lovable green dinosaur from Super Mario Bros. When I was a kid in the OG era of Super Mario (in the 80s when there was only one game with simple 8-bit graphics) Yoshi didn’t exist yet. You couldn’t save your progress so if you beat the game, it pretty much had to be done in one sitting and after a LOT of practice. My family couldn’t afford a Nintendo but my grandma had one for the grand kids, and one summer I beat it twice (my husband doesn’t believe that which I think is cute). By the time I was in middle school, Yoshi’s Story was a popular new game, and I played it at my church whenever there was a youth event. I loved how his tongue rolled out like a frog to eat fruits. It was the one and only time I bought a gaming magazine, so I could have the cute Yoshi poster inside (I still have it somewhere).
Fast forward to adulthood when my husband and I were newlyweds and enjoyed playing Mario Kart–of course this was B.C. (Before Children). Guess which character I always chose? I just couldn’t make those sharp turns on Rainbow Road without going flying off the edge but at least I had cute Yoshi to look at.
Fast forward again to the birth of my son and I wanted to crochet him a fun hat…I just knew I had to try Yoshi! I’m not the first to create a Yoshi-inspired hat but since I had loved the character for so long, I wanted to design it right. I wanted the signature round nose to protrude, but not too much. I wanted the eye shape to be true to character without the stitches making a zig-zag edge on the eyelids. I wanted the mouth area under the nose to be white with the white cheeks. And of course I had to include the rolling tongue! I came up with an idea to make it roll back in when pulled out straight.
It took me a couple months but after MUCH trial and error, I created a crochet pattern inspired by the Yoshi I know and love. I named it “Hungry Dino Hat” (because of the tongue and because Yoshi is a licensed character that I do not own) and added it to my Etsy shop (link at the top of this page). I still don’t consider myself to be an expert at crochet, but because I’m not, there isn’t anything too complicated for the less experienced! It was thrilling to see the first customer review with a photo…it was quite well done!
I had fun completing my baby boy’s winter outfit to go with his hat…I got him a green coat and added a Yoshi egg patch I found on Amazon. I got green gloves to match, and boots that look the most like Yoshi’s shoes, though I was informed they look like ‘Ye’ shoes, as in Kanye West, and people seem to love them nearly as much as the hat…they are Wonder Nation brand from Walmart. I wanted him to be able to wear it for a few years so I made it much larger than his size but it fits great over his coat hood.
Anytime I take him out in his hat, people’s reactions are the best. Even those who aren’t familiar with the character say it’s an adorable dinosaur. It’s funny to remember back to when I was pregnant, thinking boys fashion wouldn’t be as fun for me as girls, because it seems to be even more so now. And when something is made with lots of love–and it really was–it shines through, every time.
