The Danish Octo Book: How to make comforting crochet toys for babies – the official guide
This epub is best viewed on a tablet or a colour e-reader.Delight a child with a colourful crocheted or knitted Octo. Octos’ twisty tentacles are calming and comforting – and they feel a bit like mum’s umbilical cord.THE DANISH OCTO BOOK is the official book on the adorable knitted and crocheted octopus puppets that have become a huge phenomenon in Denmark and is now spreading like wildfire across the globe. With tentacles reminding babies and young children of an umbilical cord, what started as a means to soothe and calm premature babies in hospitals has now become a natural presence in lots of Danish homes, and turned into an unstoppable movement with Octo groups forming all over the world. But this is only the beginning. With the octopuses having showed similar effects with older babies, the Octo movement is about to reach a whole new magnitude.It all started with one octopus-obsessed dad who, when his daughter was born premature, got hold of a small octopus-shaped puppet for her. At the hospital, people soon noticed that the little girl was clutching onto the puppet’s tentacles, looking calmer and more secure. It didn’t take long till two volunteers started crocheting similar puppets for the neonatal units at three hospitals. This is how the Danish Octo Project was born. Today, this association of volunteers has many ambassadors in the country, supplying Octos for babies at every hospital in Denmark.THE DANISH OCTO BOOK tells the story of this fascinating international phenomenon, but also contains lots of cute and inspiring knitting and crocheting patterns to help parents and guardians make their own octopuses. Written in collaboration with The Danish Octo Project, this small, lovely book is the original and official book on this new movement. Combining the Danish way of life with the mindfulness of knitting, this is the ideal book for parents, grandparents, and all those who want to cultivate their meditative passion for knitting, while at the same time creating the ultimate loving gift for a child.
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The Danish Octo Project
is a voluntary association that collects and distributes crocheted octopi to premature babies. These ‘Octos’ are distributed to every neonatal unit in Denmark and Greenland. If you would like to donate crocheted Octos to the project, please get in touch: [email protected]
Warning! The instructions in this book are intended solely for private use. You may not sell the instructions, nor the finished creatures you crochet or knit. You may not distribute the instructions, in full or in part, without the express permission of the Danish Octo Project.
Thorsons
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
First published by Thorsons 2017
FIRST EDITION
© Spruttegruppen/ForlagetAlvilda, Copenhagen 2017
English translation © Michael Gallagher
Instructions © Mia Clément, Jeanette Bøgelund & Josefine Hagen Solgaard (p. 16 of print book); Signe Damtoft Siersbæk & Mia Clément (p. 18); Jeanette Bøgelund Bentzen (pp. 20–3); Tina Hougaard Friis (pp. 27–33)
Photographs © Jonas Holm Hansen (pp. 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 19, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, 32, 34, 36, 37, 39); Kenny Højlund Tang, Mia Carlseng & Jane Pedersen (p. 7); Birgitta Gärtner & Johnnie McCoy (pp. 12, 13, 14, 15); Aleksandra Szymaniec (p. 17); Jeanette Bøgelund (pp. 21, 22, 23); Tina Hougaard Friis (pp. 28, 30, 31, 33)
Text design by Lonnie Hamburg/Imperiet & Kat·Art
Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2017
Cover photographs © Lonnie Hamburg/Impeviet (Octos); Shutterstock (baby)
A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library
Spruttegruppenassert the moral right to be identified as the authors of this work
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Source ISBN:9780008268176
Ebook Edition © October 2017 ISBN: 9780008268183
Version 2017-09-14
Contents
How to make a crocheted jellyfish
Other accessories and decorations
An Octo is a small, colourful crocheted or knitted octopus. An Octo can give comfort and security to a newborn baby, perhaps because its long tentacles are reminiscent of mum’s umbilical cord. Normally, Octos are given to premature babies on neonatal wards across Denmark. They are made and collected in large numbers by the Danish Octo Project (Spruttegruppen). They are, of course, suitable for all little ones – both newborns and older kids alike – and now you too can bring a child happiness by making and decorating your own Octo. Inside, you will find instructions showing you how to make both the crocheted and knitted versions, as well as the cutest little jellyfish. Just like the Octos, the jellyfish have tentacles that are perfect for snuggling up to and tugging on. This book also contains instructions for decorations and ideas on how to give your Octos their own unique personalities. If you’ve never crocheted before, this book is a crochet school that will show you how. Not only that, the book will tell you a bit about what the Octo club does, and how to get involved if you want to donate Octos. These lovely little toys really aren’t hard to make, so make yourself comfortable and let’s get started!
The group was founded in 2013, and today the Octos it collects are distributed to every neonatal unit in Denmark and Greenland. It all started with one squid-obsessed dad whose daughter was born premature, and who then turned to a crochet blogger to ask whether she might be able to create a little squid for his daughter.
In the hospital where his daughter was being cared for, the staff soon noticed that the little girl was clutching onto the squid’s tentacles rather than all the wires and tubes inside the incubator, and that she seemed calmer and more secure.
Soon afterwards, two volunteers named Jeanette Bøgelund Bentzen and Mia Clement started crocheting squids for the neonatal units at three hospitals. Just nine days later, the Danish Octo Project was born. Today it has around seventeen ambassadors (not to mention countless octopi!), and word of the group’s history and work has spread overseas. There are now Octo groups in a host of countries around the world, including Sweden, the UK, France, Spain, Luxembourg, Holland, Belgium, Romania, Argentina and Canada.
