Pattern Notes

• Check gauge - Went up to size H 5mm hook, still less than gauge. Yarn full worsted, not thinner like Simply Soft, so don’t know why this is.
• Pattern riddled with mistakes - giraffes, tree trunk, clouds. If it wasn’t so cute with so many possibilities I would have frogged it. Now that I know what the problems and fixes are, will not be hard to do again.
• Pattern pic shows tapered irregular tree trunk, instructs made straight on rectangular base. (my change shown in “Customizations”.
• Didn’t do pillow, may add later.

Customizations
(Pattern had Giraffes, tree, clouds, grass)

• Add tail and loop mane to toy
• Add mane and tails to giraffe motifs on afghan
• Added bird: adapted Free Bird Applique by Jessica Zeltner, by using worsted yarn and size D (3.25mm) hook. Added tail feathers. (Finished size tip of beak to tip of longest tail feather 4”).
• Added flowers: used the small & medium Posy Blossoms by June Gilbank.
• Substituted fluffy yarn to make clouds, and sueded yarn for tree trunk.
• Shaped tree trunk: Worked from base up 3/4 length of trunk, random sc, hdc, dc sts.
• added almost double leaves on tree - 27 long and 18 short
• Wanted more green for grass area; increased green rows from 7 to 15, decr blue from 73 to 65.
• Changed edging (see below).
  My own designs, made for this afghan:
• Sun Free pattern here
• Butterflies Free pattern here
• Caterpillars Free pattern here
• Elephant Free pattern here
• Rocks
• Snake

Colors

• Sky - Red Heart Soft Baby Steps (Baby Blue)
• Grass - Red Heart Soft (Guacamole)
• Clouds - Red Heart Baby Cloud yarn (Cloud)
• Tree trunk/limbs - Lion Brand Suede (Coffee)
• Leaves - Red Heart Soft (lime, grass green, guacamole)
• Caterpillar - Red Heart Foxy (lime)
• Snake - Cameo (pumpkin/brown ladder unwound from moss green eyelash strand)
• Giraffes - Vanna’s Choice Baby (Ducky)
• Giraffe spots - Simply Soft (Chocolate)
• Sun - Simply Soft (Lemonade)
• Rocks - Lion Brand Wool Ease (Wheat)
• Elephant - Red Heart Super Saver (gray)
• Elephant tusks - Simply Soft (Off White)
• Bird - Simply Soft (Lemonade, Blue Mint, Autumn Red)
• Flowers - Simply Soft (Lemonade, Blue Mint, Harvest Red)
• Butterflies - Simply Soft (Lemonade, Blue Mint, Harvest Rose)

Yarn notes

• Red Heart Foxy “lashes” too short for grass but made a cute caterpillar.
• Cameo yarn has ribbon wound in which didn’t work for grass; pulled ribbon and eyelash strands apart. Lash part perfect for grass; ribbon with the shiny little pieces made cute snake.

Tip: When adding extra motifs in grass area, add eyelash grass last, to keep out of the way when sewing on motifs!

Tip: When sewing on motifs, use background color yarn (not motif color) so it won’t show on back. Stitch by catching a bit of yarn from the background and a bit of yarn just underneath the edges of the motifs so it won’t show along the sides either.

Edging: Row 1: Wrong side: sc evenly around (change colors when needed). Row 2: (Used 1 size smaller hook on sides to firm up shape), right side, w/blue, sl st in 1st blue sc, (* sk next sc, 3 dc in next, sk next, sl st in next* to corner; 3 sc in corner, sl st); rep betw () once more; rep betw * to green; join green & continue in pattern around to 1st blue sl st; sl st to join; finish off.