Sir Basil is the fifth character pattern and short story release from the Alex In Yarnder Land Series. The crochet patterns are available for free on the Clover Blog. Each character has their own introduction short story, about the character and a commercial for the Alex In Yarnder Land Short Story Series, that will be available on all podcast platforms in 2024, and later will be released as books.
Sir Basil is a Gelati House Elf that loves gelato so much that his motto is, "One gelato a day is good, two is better, but three is best!"
This special character was inspired by one of my favorite teachers in high school. He was a wonderful teacher, had great energy, and wore the coolest neck ties every day. For me, his class was the first one of the day, but he made those early mornings so much fun and I learned so much from him. He inspired me to turn him into a cartoon, which turned into an art project. Now, over twenty years later, I have used that cartoon and him as an inspiration for the sweet Sir Basil!
I can not find any of the many doodles that I made of my teacher during class or the art project, but even so many years later, it was easy to draw, almost as if my hand remembered all on it's own.
Sir Basil wears gifted hand me down clothes that his older brothers gave him before going to live with Alex. His button up, collared shirt and pants are a little too big for him so his sleeves and pants have been rolled up. His light green shoes match his shirt but they are a size too big for him too. The magical tie that his father gave him is as special to Sir Basil as it is long, dragging behind him as he walks. Lastly, he was given a magical shield from the Gelati Court, with the emblem of their gelato on the front.
Find out more about the Alex In Yarnder Land Series on the With Alex Blog, here.
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Excerpt:
Alex appeared, her hair flying wildly behind her, with a bright smile and glow to her cheeks that made her seem like the most beautiful creature he had ever witnessed. Starstruck, Blue stood enchanted and paralyzed, his feet unable to move, as he watched Alex disappear into the middle of the mushroom ring behind the mysterious cat and wandered if he would ever see her again. The moon shone brighter and Blue also disappeared.
Excerpt:
Aurora yawned as she hung from her tree branch by the ghostly white thread that she had spun earlier. She sighed, looked up and witnessed the moment Blue saw Alex enter Yarnder Land. The look of recognition on her brother’s face made her turn to look in the direction he was entranced with and that’s when Aurora saw Alex through her thick, black eye lashes. She watched as a young woman stepped through the Old RedBud Door as she was pulled in gently by a golden string that was tied to her wrist. Just as she stepped her gray boots onto the jade colored moss that lined the forest floor, the elegantly decorated door with ancient carvings, closed behind the mysterious woman and the golden string faded and disappeared.
Read Story Three: The Fates Story
Excerpt:
They spoke the last words of their chant, as sparks burst into fireworks above the awake baby. She looked up with interest, her eyes sparkled as she watched the extraordinary display above her cradle. The tree grew taller and taller, its branches reaching higher, while thunder crashed and a gust of wind blew around them, swirling the sparks from the fireworks around and around. The wind knocked down Serendipity’s hood and her hair flew wildly as all of their eyes grew wide and glowed. The Fates, tall and strong, loomed over the baby. Serendipity spun light and love into the string as Jinx added darkness and hate. Together they spun a tale foretelling the baby’s future and destiny. Serendipity saw all of the good things that would happen to the baby and Jinx saw all of the bad things that would happen to the baby. Kismet saw both.
Story Four:
Sir Basil's Intro Story
The small crowd of Gelati Elves cheered as Sir Basil stepped into the large, brown box. He looked out at the sea of smiling faces, some were Noble Elves, some were Court Elves, some were Peasant Elves and some were other House Elves, but they all cheered for Sir Basil the same, with pride. The lid closed and he sat in the dark, holding a single sheet of paper while waiting patiently to be delivered to his new home.
A week later, during the middle of the night, Sir Basil walked through Alex’s house and happily started singing his motto, “One gelato a day is good, two is better but three is best!” smiling he added, “especially when you have a young apprentice to impress,” and then because he was starting his nightly House Elf chores he sang, “but first, pick up the wooden crochet hook hiding over yonder, cake this pretty yarn, weave in an end, but don’t leave time to ponder.” Sir Basil stiffened, his eyes wide as the hair on the back of his neck stood on end and he watched a shadow of a monster creep down the hallway toward Alex’s bedroom. “But when a wicked shadow creeps down the hallway do play pretend.” Sir Basil walked over to his shield with the gelato emblem and whispered as he started running toward the shadow, “Raise your mighty shield, run through the goblin and save Alex, your friend!” He emerged as the darkness shattered and the shadow exploded and then disappeared around Sir Basil. He breathed a sigh of relief and went back to performing his chores.
Weeks later, Sir Basil stood on Alex’s countertop in her kitchen as she looked again at the spell in the large book sitting in front of her. Earlier that morning they had started working on various spells, most of which were still running active around the kitchen. A completed beanie sat on the table as a darning needle wove in the ends, very slowly, the yarn winder and swift were working together to cake up skeins of yarn, very slowly, and a blanket's stitches were being ripped out by frogging, very slowly. Sir Basil was happy with Alex’s progress even if her spells were a little sluggish but he turned his attention back to Alex because she was frustrated.
“Why are all spells written like riddles?” she sighed as she asked Sir Basil the question for a third time.
“It is how it is, and that’s the way it works,” replied Sir Basil as he played with a spot on his tie that hung past his feet and dragged behind him as he paced back and forth across the granite countertop. They had been working on this spell for most of the morning, much longer than the others, and he was getting very bored and sleepy. Sir Basil picked up his bowl of gelato and silently ate his sweet treat as he listened to her read the spell aloud again,
“To multiply the object before you,
first step, figure out the equation.
Gather the materials for step two,
Step three, seek the object’s reflection.
Step four, develop a copy brand new,
but aim true for complete perfection.
Step five is this magic spell’s final clue,
a baby that needs love and affection.
Step Six is the last thing you must do,
the very most final application.
Repeat the words, multiply this view!
and start the multiplication.”
Alex’s forehead wrinkled as she concentrated and then her face relaxed into a huge smile and she said excitedly, “Oh! I know what the last ingredient could be! I finally understand!” She hurried over to the refrigerator and took out a carton. Sir Basil couldn’t see what Alex plucked out of the carton but as she twirled around smiling with her hand held high he understood what the small, white oval object she was holding was and he screamed in terror. He fled backwards and fell off of the countertop with his gelato upside down on the floor next to him. Alex rushed around the counter to her small friend as she realized her mistake.
“I totally forgot you are allergic to eggs!” exclaimed Alex as she apologized and helped Sir Basil to his feet.
“Nothing a bowl of gelato can’t fix! The floor got my 2nd bowl so I get another and I think for my troubles, it should be extra large!” Sir Basil produced a bowl of gelato out of thin air and started eating it with a spoon he pulled out of his pocket. Alex chuckled as she put the egg in her front apron pocket and walked over to her window herb garden where she pulled out a tiny sprout from her basil plant.
Suddenly there was a knock at the door and Sir Basil vanished as Alex walked toward the knocking. She stopped several feet from the door, touched the butterfly dangling from her necklace, raised her hand and yelled, “vitta!” and the door slowly opened!
Blue walked in smiling widely and Alex giggled and bowed as Blue asked, “Did you do that?”
Alex smiled at Blue but instead of answering she raised her hand and yelled, “obstructionum!” and the door slowly closed behind Blue. He rushed to her, bent down and brushed his lips on her cheek, too excited to stop himself. They looked at each other surprised until they were interrupted by applause coming from the kitchen. Sir Basil stood on the counter, invisible as Alex walked in with Blue. Alex walked over to her spell on the counter as Blue looked around at the many spells going on around him. He looked impressed at Alex and a little shy as she quickly told him about the spell she was now working on.
“I’m sure Sir Basil is around here somewhere watching. I'll just go ahead and start it and we will see what happens!” She pushed back her long hair and picked up a crocheted snowflake. “I am going to try to multiply this snowflake into many, many more.” Alex placed the crocheted snowflake onto the mirror laying on the counter and it disappeared, seemingly swallowed by its reflection or as if a water puddle absorbed it. Next, she placed a polaroid photo of the crocheted snowflake onto the mirror and it disappeared too, and last she placed the small sprout onto the mirror and watched as it disappeared just like the other two objects had. She could still see the objects in the mirror, but only as reflections. Alex raised her hands and chanted, “Multiple this view!” only three times before they all heard a crack as the mirror broke and actual snow started falling from the ceiling!
Alex and Blue ran around the kitchen as Sir Basil quietly chuckled and thought about how rare the chances were of the mirror breaking. Very small indeed he thought. Alex grabbed her computer off of the kitchen table and slid as she made it to the cabinets and stuffed the computer inside. Blue ran to the opposite side of the kitchen and picked up her cell phone from the window sill and then he crammed it into his shirt pocket. Laughing, Alex and Blue looked at each other from across the room and then their smiles faded. The snow swirled around them as Sir Basil watched the two looking into each other's eyes as if they were in a trance.
“You look beautiful,” Blue whispered as he took a step closer to Alex. She continued to look at him as she took a step slowly toward Blue. He smiled and took another step toward her and she returned his smile and took another step toward him, leaving her footprints in the snow. They continued stepping towards each other, one at a time, as if they were in slow motion, until they were standing only inches from each other. Sir Basil continued to watch them, too curious to look away. Blue gently took Alex’s hand as the snow continued to fall magically around them. The floor and surfaces were now covered in a white, sparkling snow as Alex looked up at Blue with wonder. He brushed tiny snowflakes off of her face with his other hand and then he slid his hand into her hair as he wrapped an icy curl around his finger. He looked back at her, his breath showing in white puffs around his face, his eyes wide with longing. His fingers continued back to Alex’s cheek, cupping her face as his other hand slid down her neck, her shoulder, and then down until he reached the small of her lower back. Sir Basil noticed no breath around Alex’s face as Blue tilted his face down toward Alex’s parted lips. She put her arms around his neck as they closed their eyes and Blue finally pulled her the last few inches and their bodies melted into each other.
At that same moment, a buzz in Blue’s pocket made him jump back and Alex exclaimed, “The egg, the egg! Oh no!”
“Egg?” replied Blue, as he almost dropped the phone he took out of his pocket, his cheeks red as he smiled down at Alex and she told him about Sir Basil’s allergy to eggs and his fear of chickens, while she silenced her phone and put it in her apron pocket.
Sir Basil wondered would it disappear like the egg?
“So where is the egg?” asked Blue.
“I have no idea,” replied Alex as she looked up at Blue with worry in her eyes and she started to shiver. Blue took off his jacket and wrapped it around Alex’s shoulders and hugged her tightly as she clung to him.
Sir Basil turned to Ziggy as the cat pounced through the white fluff and landed next to him. “It’s just like a fairy tale,” Sir Basil said and Ziggy purred loudly as he agreed.
The end for now……
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Find the FREE pattern for Sir Basil on the Clover Blog, HERE.
Until next time,
bye, and
happy crocheting
and reading!
<3Alex
