Baby Groot portrait…

A few weeks ago I felt the need to start another crochet portrait. As before I had done only humans like Freddie Mercury and Salvador Dali, I thought it was time to start off a different angle on this concept. As I’m a real geek when it comes to comics, the Marvel and DC universe and everyhing that is a little sci-fi or fantasy related…why not take a character out of this massive load of characters that can be used. As I really couldn’t make a choice myself I made a top ten list of characters I loved most to create with yarn, but I gave you all the change to vote on this to make it easier for me. The results did give the answer as Baby Groot and Maleficent both ended up with the same amount of votes. So I decided to make them both – starting off with Baby Groot. Maleficent will be done later this year so stay tuned.

First thing I need to mention is the copyright issues with these kind of things. As characters out of comics or movies are all under licence by the distributor – like Marvel or DC – I do not own any of them. My creation of Baby Groot is just an artistic expression and I would never make any profit out of it or sell patterns from it. Saying this….I expect the same from anyone who would decide to use the free chart or written version of the chart to create one as well. Just use it for personal use and don’t re-produce, copy or use it for any commercial activity. In this way we respect the copyright of the creators of this amazing character.

Well if you don’t know Groot, maybe a short introduction is needed. Groot is the Dutch word for big. But that isn’t really necessary to know. Groot is a wooden tree character out of the comic books created by Stan Lee in the sixties. However, he became really famous when he was taken to the big screen in Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 1. In this movie we see the adult Groot which only can speak three words : I am Groot ! . This is his answer to every question but strangely you feel love for this character at once as his expression and sober reactions just make your heart melt. His powers lies in extending and growing wood. However, in this movie we also see the end of Groot in adult size as he offers himself to save his party. But….as trees can grow again, a little branch of the destroyed Groot is taken and soiled again in the earth. Which results in baby Groot ! First as a small potted twig who likes to dance when nobody’s watching…later he has grown to a tiny wooden child which you see on top of this post. And my oh my he is cute and has a will of i’ts own. I love Baby Groot so much. All the reasons to portrait him.

I will write down some information on how it did this, what I used and how it works but I won’t write a complete pattern, just some elements to create this if you like. I made this choice to also protect the copyright of the distributor as well. But to start off, a basic thing you need to know is how to do a graphghan. As it is all made out of single crochets, the stitch work isn’t really hard. But the color changes in these kind of things can become a bloody mess if you don’t know how to do it. When i started doing this I made a good tips and tricks file about the color changes and many other things which you can find in the post about Freddie. Take this tutorial besides this chart/written pattern to make it much easier for yourself.

Picking colors for this project is as important to make the end result perfect. Taking colors that don’t match a chart is a bad outcome. For this chart you need 8 colors which I picked out of two brands of yarn as I couldn’t find the colors I wanted from just one brand – which obviously is better as you won’t have to deal with different weights or thickness of threads. I picked colors out of Scheepjes Colour Crafter and SMC Soft Bravo and crocheted with a crochet hook size 4.0 mm. As the bravo comes in balls of 50 grams you need some more of these. I used the following amounts and color shades :

Color 0 (light green )- Scheepjes Colour Crafter – 2016 Charleroi – 1 ball

Color 1 (light brown ) – Scheepjes Colour Crafter – 1064 Veenendaal – 1 ball

Color 2 ( black ) – Scheepjes Colour Crafter – 1002 Ede – 2 balls

Color 3 ( dark brown ) – Soft Bravo – color 08281 – 4 balls

Color 4 ( sand ) – Scheepjes Colour Crafter – 2010 Hasselt – 1 ball

Color 5 ( rust ) – Soft Bravo – color 08371 – 4 balls

Color 6 ( ecru ) – Scheepjes Colour Crafter – 2017 Verviers – 1 ball

Color 7 ( dark green ) – Scheepjes Colour Crafter – 2014 Malmedy – 1 ball

Please note that I added a safe option of yarn amounts as you will make a lot of extra ends.

Alright, as we tackled the way of doing a graphghan and the color use and amounts, I think it is time for the charts and written version of the pattern. Notice when downloading the chart, you have 12 pages. Each page holds a part of the chart and the best way to do this, is just print them, cut them out and place them together – attaching them together which some tape on the backside. Just follow the numbers to lay out the 12 pieces properly. You can also chose to crochet piece 1 – 4 first, after that 5 – 8 and last 9 – 12. This is easier to track down the chart. Also make sure to stripe down every finished Row with a pen or pencil to keep organized. The chart is written according to the count of stitches, from bottom to top. If you really hate charts, I also have a written version of the chart which only tells you which color you need and how many stitches you crochet. It is more simple and basic. So if the written version tells : black ( x3 ) – you have to crochet 3 black sc’s. Okay….here is the chart and written version :

Some last additional information if you would complete the portrait. The final size of this piece with this type of DK yarn delivers a size of 120 cm x 100 cm. Make sure to press the work after completing to make sure all stitches and color changes are blended into each other. And very important !!! – as comic figures most of the time have really Round eye balls – which you can’t capture in a chart – make sure to use a black waterproof marker to shape the eyes a bit more after you have crocheted them. Just a little tip from my side. You will thank me for it : )

And that’s it. All you need to know for now and just enjoy it. I do hope you like my version of Baby Groot out of yarn – although some of you thought I would make a ami doll, I still hope you like this other outcome as much as you would have loved a doll. I myself are very happy with it and everyday I got home and see baby Groot smiling and waving to me, it turns a big smile on my face as well. And that is the mean reason right ? Crafting needs to create a smile on our face and forget all the bad stuff.