I have an early Valentine’s Day gift for you all! This is a project that’s been running through my head for a long while 😀 I thought I’d put it with the Monthly Crafting Challenge for 2015 with the rest of the punny food animals, but since it wasn’t food related it got bumped. They’re inspired by the Japanese word ‘koi’ which means both ‘carp’ and ‘love,’ and the beautiful yin-yang moon-spirit carp featured in Avatar: The Last Airbender. So together it’s a pair of sweet koi plushies that nestle together in a yin-yang pattern, and their matching markings come together to make a heart ^-^
If you just need a carp or fish pattern, the pattern works just fine for that too. Though it is a little more complex than a typical fish pattern because it’s asymmetrical and the fish twists off to the side. Placing the heart lobes just right is also a pain, so I think it’s much easier to stitch it in place after both fish are done than trying to sew it on beforehand as I would usually do. Hopefully by posting this tutorial today it might help inspire some wonderful V-day sewing! I hope you all like it!