Gerald was featured on Spud Says, the Spud & Chloe blog, along with a few other great patterns. :) Check him out HERE.

Lots of increases at the beginning. :/ I don’t mind them but they’re sometimes hard on my hands.

6/5/10: Had to frog and start over. :( I was about 3” into the base and realized my stitch count was off by 8. I could have dealt w/ it along the way - but since I wasn’t that far and it was bothering me I did anyway. Just finished base increases.

6/8/10: Finished the body and started the head. I had difficulty stuffing this guy. I wanted to use pellets so I made a pouch, but I made it too big so I had to do it over again. Then I couldn’t get the stuffing to lay just right around the pellet pouch. I’m a big believer in loving and squishing on a toy to get the stuffing just right. I ended up stuffing him too much. His body is now more pear-like and less giraffe-like. I thought about unweaving ends and doing it over, but I decided he would just be my roly-poly pear Giraffe and I’ll love him anyway. But a note on future toys of the larger size - be careful not to stuff TOO much!

6/16/10: Head is done and attached to the body. It looks a little strange right now, I’m sure that will change once he gets ears, horns and a mane! :) Finished knitting 1 leg. Still needs pellets and fiberfill. I LOVE the contrast in colors.

6/22/10: I finished all 4 legs, got them stuffed and attached to the body. 2 outer ears finished, now working on inner ears. Still have horns, mane, spots and face embroidery left.

I figured out a way to fix my too-stuffed giraffe. Using a yarn needle, I stuck the needle in one of the holes between stitches and pulled a bit at the stuffing. I found that if I pulled hard enough I could get the stuffing to come out - I pulled out clumps of stuffing until it seemed right and now I feel MUCH better about his shape. :D

6/24/10: He’s FINISHED!!! I LOVE how he turned out. I may go back later and add an embroidered heart to his chest. :)