I didn’t even take any progress photos! it knit up so quickly. I just love this pattern. Now I want to make a purple one. I was going to give it as a Christmas gift, but I’m not sure I can wait that long- I shall try. I used some Lion Brand Microspun I bought months ago for a project it was not well suited for. I also read it had a tendency to pill when washed, so I figured the only use for it would be a stuffed animal of some sort.

Now I’m chomping at the bit to make Sheldon. I don’t know why, it isn’t like the pattern is ‘new’ I just want to make him. And I want to make him in every color of the rainbow (much like Bobbi) Has anyone else out there ever made it? The turtle is separate from his shell, you can even tuck his little head inside. Too cute.

Olaf and Jeff are still working on the Ghostbusters Proton Pack so I’m writing from the comfort of my sofa. (LOVE that.)

Olaf says that the bear is ‘uniformly packed’ which I’m taking as a compliment from resident science guy. (It is, indeed stuffed well which results in an overall even, nice squishiness.)

Here it is before the face was put on:

And after:

I’m so pleased with this project. It was a very satisfying knit. The finishing was some of the easiest I have ever done considering it is a stuffed animal. The ears practically knat themselves. The duplicate stitch, it would seem, helps to distinguish the head from the torso. The head is still considerable in size but not detracting from the overall cuteness. Fox says it looks like a kindergartener (big melon, teensy body.) I used some nice yarn (surprised?) for the embroidery- some of the leftover Silkroad in Licorice from Jeff’s Jughead Hat. It has some pretty little flecks of blue and purple in it- slightly more interesting than just ‘black’.

As I was not certain of the color scheme of the bedroom, I just used a pretty white ribbon to finish it off. I’m happy.

And, consequently sleepy.

Goodnight.

I put stuffing in the BabyBobbi Bear. (see the gi-normo head?) It is so soft and huggable, let’s hope it will also be cute, massive teddy bear melon and all.

Here is the arm hole:

This technique is proving to be a tad more difficult than I thought it would be. It might be the smaller needle size and the boucle yarn, I’ll let y’all know when I make one in a different yarn. I have some leftover Knit Picks Shine Sport in Hydrangea from my keyhole top that also wants to be incarnated as a Baby Bobbi Bear. For real. It asked me if it could be a bear and go live with Ashlyn. I know, when your stash starts talking to you it is a warning sign that it is time for vacation.

As far as the Baby Bobbi Bear being kind of… big, I do believe the original Bobbi was something like two feet long. This particular one is not so much ‘miniature’ as it is a good , solid hugging size.

I have managed to do some knitting.

See- Baby Bobbi sans stuffing

I still have much work to do, but it is finishing stuff. The last arm is knit around the stuffing and closed up. This yarn has been a tad difficult to work with, but I went down a needle size too so the fabric would be more dense so it is probably my own fault. (I wouldn’t want his guts to come out, you know.) Then I will do the ears, a duplicate stitch around the neck – which I’m not quite sure of how or why it needs to be done, but I’ll do it. And then embroider the face. The head is freaking HUGE. I looked at the photo and I believe the head is supposed to be as big as the torso, but it looks, so far, gargantuan. But I think I may still be able to pull it off.

It snuggles good though. And, because I will eventually HAVE to mention it, so does this:

Look what Dr. Doolittle found in the woods. Yup, that would be a beh-beh kitteh, about a week old, abandoned by its momma and starving to death. No, it will not be living with us. In fact, I’m hoping that someone that will remain nameless will get off the fence and take this here little-un off our hands once it is old enough to go. (It has to be bottle fed and so far I’m proving myself to be not very maternal, thank goodness Jeff is maternal enough for the both of us.)

Or rather, she. I definitely feel like this bear is going to be a girl. It is FOR a girl, so she should be decidedly feminine. I’m not sure what colors the bedroom for the new baby girl is to be, so I dove into my stash and dug out a white, fuzzy, bouclé yarn. No, I’m not using the yarn the pattern suggests. I started to purchase some, but wasn’t sure of which colors and which yarn to buy(it had three suggestions). Then I figured exact gauge isn’t as important for a stuffed animal. Besides, I saw in my struggles to get my hands on a copy of this pattern (um, as of today,I now have two) and this person did one in bouclé yarn and it came out cute – plus I knew I had some floating around ye olde stash somewhere. Do I know the maker of the yarn? Not a clue. If I had to guess, I would say I bought it somewhere unsexy like Wal-Mart. But if the baby barfs on it, it would be nice to be able to spot clean it without fear of felting the little bugger, right?

How wouldn’t she be cute? (Have you seen the face?) I’ll probably put a pink or purple bow around the neck anyways. I dunno yet. So fun, off to get to it.

I’ll give a teensy peek of the finished stealth project, ok?

Hey- she reads my blog! I can’t show it to you or mention it much- except I had a ‘block party’ at my house this weekend and said item is beyoootiful! I promise, two-three more weeks, tops.

In other knitting news, I started another project for another birthday- she doen’t read my blog so I can show you this:

Yes, that is a 9 Volt battery for scale. Scale is important. And, so I’ve learned, is gauge. I’m making a shawl. It needs to be warm and washable (she is a new mommy). I found the pattern on the Lion Brand site- I know- very unsexy, but it will be pretty and she will like it and the baby can barf on it and she can wash it, verrrry important. It is on probably the longest Denise needle ever created. I had an “A-HA” moment when I balked at purchasing a $17.99 Addi Turbo #8, 60 in. I have a Denise kit, why not just purchase the 52″ lead? How many times will I be asked to use such a length in a pattern, honestly? And when and if I am, at least the damn thing will be interchangable. Not to mention that at about $6, it is a winner. The pattern so far is 201 stitches worked back and forth in seed stitch for 15 inches- THAT I can do! It is also a good knitting project to have when watching a movie in subtitles- I watched Pan’s Labyrinth this weekend- wonderful but not, I repeat, NOT a movie for children. Anyways, back to the shawl, it will have this gi-normous ruffle that will pick up all the way around (hence the mondo needle) so it will be a little girly. Which is also good. I’m using Lion Brand Wool Ease in Chestnut Heather- shut up, I like it just fine. I made my Kyoto with it last year (My ‘first’ real sweater and I can’t wait to wear it again, it is truly awesome.) See?

Wool Ease feels warm and soft because of the wool, but you can WASH it-because of the other stuff. I find that important, because, in my home, whether the tag says so or not, sometimes things just get warshed. I did NOT use a washable yarn for the stealth knitting, I used something decidedly more 100% Merino and num-num-nummy- but it was pretty, and a gift for someone that is growed up enough to be able to handle the responsiblility.

Oh how could I forget? Guess who arrived in the mail today?

I was prioritized by the good folks at kpixie.com. Still no sign of the initial order, sad. But, after my loopy, lengthy, verbose letter , they sent another pattern by priority mail. I feel so special. And no, I don’t think I over reacted at all. I might have spent a little too much of my time obsessing, because I was feeling bitchy and they were the lucky recipients. But look at that face- I suppose Baby Bobbi could be a good beach project (2 weeks!) although those ‘seeds’ aren’t going to plant themselves.

And, because I can, a little ‘eye candy’ which, in this case is actual candy.

Elvis Pez Despensers, uh-huh, Momma. Cola flavored pez. From my Mayun. There is a CD in there too, although I’m not allowed to open it. Action figure geeko says it wouldn’t be ‘collectable’ then.