Aanya's Rapunzel doll

Aanya, who is one of Sonia's BFFs, is a HUGE fan of Rapunzel and the Disney movie about her, "Tangled".  So, it was not a surprise to me when I asked Aanya what she would like me to crochet for her 5th birthday present that she said immediately "RAPUNZEL!!!!".  She helped me look at Rapunzel  amigurumi patterns, and I found a beautiful one that we both loved on Etsy. Aaaaaaaaand, here's the finished product!

Apparently, in the movie, at one point Rapunzel puts her loooooooooong hair in a braid and decorates it with flowers; that hairstyle and outfit were the inspiration for this pattern.

I'm not 100% happy with how the hair turned out, but it took about 5 or 6 hours to attach the hair, braid a bunch of tiny braids (which you can't see all that well anyway) among the unbraided yarn strands, do the big braid, sew in the flower buttons, and sew the ribbon to secure it, so I think I'm going to leave it alone!

Do you want to hear something interesting?  The very talented crocheter who sells this pattern on Etsy also sells the finished dolls.... FOR SEVENTY-FIVE DOLLARS.  Yep, that's right.  SEVENTY-FIVE DOLLARS.  Whoa.  But after finishing the hair, I kind of understand why she charges that much....

Oddly enough, the pattern called for the skirt to be empty (no legs or stuffing), so I crocheted a black circle and attached it to the bottom of the skirt (with stuffing inserted up in the skirt).  I also was worried about the wobbliness of the head (I must not have attached it well enough to the torso because once I weaved in the hair, Rapunzel became a bobble-head), so I shored it up with some toothpicks.  To quote Tim Gunn from Project Runway, "Make it work!"

Eek, from this angle, Rapunzel kind of looks like a Vulcan from Star Trek.  Oh well-- thankfully, Aanya has never seen Star Trek.... yet.... at least, I think.....

Anyway, a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my buddy, Aanya, and I hope she likes her Rapunzel!  I'm going to instruct her to keep it away from her little brother (who just turned 2 years old) because I'm not sure this amigurumi would stand up to rough little brother handling.