My first attempt at a toy…

1/20 - I finished the knitting this morning. Now the project is on hold until the safety eyes arrive in the mail. I can’t believe I made him!

The pattern was extensive but really clever and well done. I got stuck a few times and had to re-read the directions - I didn’t use the photographs at all. The ear stitches were nearly impossible to pick up, but I think it’s because I was knitting tightly. I also found that this skein of TML (contrast color) was very splitty, and I struggled with the increases due to my tight gauge. This issue also accounts for my decision to do the ears in the main color.

I modified the tail because I didn’t want it to be pointy… I decreased to 10 stitches and knit most of the tail at that count. At the end of the tail, I decreased to create a somewhat blunt tip as follows:
round 1: k2tog, k3, k2tog, k3
round 2: k2tog, ssk, k2tog, ssk
pull yarn through remaining four stitches and bind off

When positioning the eyes, I used a larger needle to stretch the stitches and make room for the eye shank. Then I fed the metal back of the eye into the head with a pair of tweezers.

I overlooked the instructions to decrease 2 stitches on the inside of each leg. Oops.

My little guy is pretty small at eight inches tall. Very happy with the result so far! I’m blocking him tonight, can’t wait to add the eyes and fill him!!

1/22 - still waiting for the eyes to arrive…

1/26 - still waiting for eyes!! Today, I made a pair of overalls for him in Tosh Merino Light (Celadon). Had an extremely slow day at work due to snow, and I was able to complete the project in one day!