FO - Swap Bunny

Well here he is! This little guy doesn't have a name yet. I always like to name the toys I make but I'm not keeping him, he's destined for warmer climes. I hope my Easter Swap partner picks a good one, and loves him up!

I sure had fun making him. This is a Susan B. Anderson pattern that was published in the Knit Simple Holiday Edition last year. I made the owl a few months ago, but he was also destined as a gift. I really need to start knitting some of these woodland critters for myself! They're just so adorable.

I love taking pictures of toys outside. The light is so much better than in the house (although I'm pretty lucky to have some super huge windows and great natural light inside too). I also love outside for it's stunning backgrounds.

Except maybe today.

Today is -15C and that's cold! Like stupid-winter-is-no-where-near-over cold. The snow isn't melting and my poor bunny friend froze his paws off. I think that's why his whiskers are droopy. But that's just a theory.

Apple Swap

Now that my swap partner has received her package I thought I'd share the knitting I did.

Mel, our amazing swap organizer, had us do a swap centered around Apples. We had to knit the Apple Hat, the apple from Finger Foods (a great pattern set found in Itty Bitty Toys),  and the Apple Washcloth. These are all Susan B. Anderson patterns and a joy to knit.

The Apple Hat was a super easy little hat to knit. I love this one for a  newborn. It's so cute! I knit mine to fit a 1-2yr old as per my swap partner's request. It fit Mr. Man (he has a little head) but I couldn't get a picture of him with it on.

I did the stem differently than the pattern stated. Instead of changing to brown to do the i-cord, I stayed with the Spud and Chloe Sweater in Grass and wrapped it with a bit of leftover Spud and Chloe Sweater in Rootbeer. I was able to wrap the top of the stem a bit more to look like an apple stem. I think it worked, I just hope it survives a toddler.

I also adjusted the leaf. I found the one in the pattern too small. This is what I did...

Leaf pattern
CO 3
Row 1 - k1, yo, k1, yo, k1.
Row 2 and all even rows - purl
Row 3 - k2, yo, k1, yo, k2
Row 5 - k3, yo, k1, yo, k3
Row 7 - k1, ssk, k3, k2tog, k1
Row 9 - k1, ssk, k1, k2tog, k1
Row 11 - ssk, k1, k2tog
Row 12 - p1, p2tog, slip 1st purl st over
cut yarn and purl thru last st.

Isn't this Finger Food Apple hilarious? I have to admit this set of patterns I skipped over many times. I just never really thought finger food puppets were something I wanted to knit. After making this apple I've completely changed my mind! Mr. Man likes playing with the one I got in my swap package from Raelynne, so now I may have to knit the rest.

And this last pattern was the one I had the most problems with. This cloth calls for chenille which I've never knit with and I really wanted to use stash yarn in this swap (I did with all three projects). So I used good old dishcloth cotton. The green trim is Mission Falls cotton, a nubbly yarn that I inherited from someone.

Now my crochet skills are not great and when I tried to do the chain edging the nubbly bits just looked uneven. I really try for a polished look for my knits and for the most part I can achieve that but this cloth about did me in. I left it for so long in a partially finished state. Then one night I had an idea. I would crochet around the edge of the entire apple and chain a leaf onto the cloth. I started over and knit the entire cloth in one color. I'm still not super pleased with the edging but it's done and gone now. Hopefully Tara (my swap partner) just uses it!

I try to include in all my swap packages: some yarn, patterns, goodies, a book or two, something Canadian, and a card. This time I made some dried apples and put in a jar of Crab Apple Jelly that I made last fall. I hope Tara likes all the stuff in there!

I had such a fun time creating the package and receiving one from Raelynne! I'd post about it, but she's done a series of posts on her blog about all the great stuff so I'll just encourage you read her posts. Fabulous stuff!

Happy weekend everyone!

FO - Elmer

Yup, I finished him. Here's a little sample of his cuteness.

I knit him out of some leftover Cotton Ease that I bought when I first learned how to knit. I used it to make baby hats for my friends Jill and Bridie. This blue is almost gone. I think I have enough to use it as the accent colour on a second Elephante toy though. I still have almost half a ball of green and a full ball of "almond", a lovely cream. So now you know what the next one will look like!

I followed the pattern as written except for a few minor modifications:

* I chose to knit Elmer in a solid colour and added some plastic toy eyes.

* I created a bigger tassel than the pattern stated.

* I didn't use any polly pellets this time, just some fiber fill.

* I didn't seam his noggin on the way the pattern described either. In Susan's version the elephant is looking down with his trunk touching the floor. I wanted Elmer to see a bit more of the world and the world to see him so I positioned his head up on the body a few inches.

Finishing toys is always the tricky bit for me. I often fly through the knitting of the "bits" only to procrastinate sometimes for months on the sewing up. I'm not really sure why. Seaming once you get going has a nice flow and feel to it. A rhythm almost. Elmer took me all of a few hours to finish.

I used plastic eyes for the first time. I like them. There's something special about an embroidered face though, so I can still see plenty of those in my future, but these little black eyes give Elmer some attitude. I looked high and low to find them in the city and had no luck. Turns out I had a package hiding in my stash that I bought from a closing out sale at Stedmans last year. Rescued by the stash once again!

Thank goodness for Susan's blog! She has some great tutorials on there and the one to make the ears is the best! I had them both done in no time.

I would definitely knit another of these, in fact I've cast on for another Elephante already!

WIPs - Elmer

He's pretty cute! I've been wanting to make this pattern for ages.  I'm not very far along right now but it really doesn't take much time to knit up. I think I should have him finished up before next week.

Hoot

I see lots of these little owls in my future.

And dusting...