Learning Project: Shape 11

Greatest. Of. All. Time…Sort of…Not really

In my very first baseline blog post I mentioned that my final goal was to create a multi-shape piece, but I was able to create a multi-piece flower in Learning Project: Shape 6 so for my final piece, I attempted the most difficult piece I’d folded all semester. I gave a bit of a hint about the final shape in my Learning Project: Shapes 8 & 9 post but attempted it again this week to show how far I’ve come. Buckle up buttercup! Because this week I had the ultimate origami fail when I tried to fold a goat. A few weeks ago I chose the goat to try because it looked really cute and I absolutely love goats! They have so much personality and can be such trouble-makers. The YouTube video I used is from Tavin’s Origami which, you may or may not recall, is the same YouTube user for the crane I folded in Learning Project: Shape 1. Aha! Full circle moment! The video I used is 16 minutes long! That was a first hint that this would be a doozy. In the video, Tavin says multiple times how difficult of a piece this is which was a pretty clear indication that I may have taken on more than I can manage. I didn’t even think to document the folding of that first goat and when I was done, I was extremely impressed with the final shape.

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I knew I wanted to attempt this shape again as the finale to my learning project. Which brings me to the second attempt at the goat. This time I made sure to take a video of me folding. By the time I was done, the video was over 30 minutes long and the final product was…well…I’ll let you come up with your own description of what this is.

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In case you’re curious, this is what Tavin’s goats look like.

I cut the video down to about six minutes (most of it was just me repeating folds and sitting completely motionless as I watched Tavin do folds over and over) and then sped it up so if you’re interested in seeing part of what went into this second goat, here’s a quick video. I sort of gave up in the end.

Similar to Tavin’s crane video I used in my first learning project shape, his goat video was very well done. There was a clear image of each fold along with narration and a drawing in the corner showing each fold. This piece is just so difficult that unless you’re a really experienced folder and know all of the origami terminology, it’s just too much. I think my first attempt at it was a fluke as I just couldn’t get the second goat to look anything close to what it’s supposed to look like. Here are the two side by side.

As an aside, I mentioned earlier, I really love goats, especially the babies, and all the hijinks they pull. If you have the same affinity for them, I recommend this video.

Also this last one that combines two of my favorite things, screaming goats and Game of Thrones!