Recently I took part in a toy exchange on Ravelry. Actually being ahead of the game for once, I sent my package out early, and it has already been received, which means I can show what I made.

Greta and Scooped

The cat is Greta the Captivating Cat from Rebecca Danger (etsy pattern shop here), and the ice cream cone is Scooped by Em-En of i like lemons (pattern info here).

Greta is knit from Estelle Cloud Cotton, and is super soft. I mainly followed the pattern for her, with a few minor changes (like closing the gap between the legs, stuffing as I went, and grafting her head closed). And, instead of trying my surface embroidery skills, I used 12mm safety eyes and nose for her face. I absolutely want to make another one for myself.

The most interesting change, construction-wise, was that instead of knitting her nine stitch tail in the round (which would have been a fiddly mess dpns falling out of the yarn), I did an eight stitch icord instead. And then, I picked up the 9th stitch from the ladder in the cord (since 8 stitches doesn’t make a clean icord). I ended up with a perfect nine stitch tube, and I was totally delighted.

Picking up stitches for Greta's tail

Scooped was an easy knit that I did as per the pattern, using Bernat Satin. It was meant for the receipt’s little girl, so easy care was very important. And, to make it even more fun, I put in a rattle insert.

Ice Cream!

It turned out so cute that I want to make a few different styles to add to the little man’s play food collection.

I have one more exchange out there in the wilds of the postal system. Hopefully it will arrive soon so I can show another project I’m really proud off.

Can you believe it will be May tomorrow? Where has the year gone? It has been a busy year, at least, so I do feel like the time has been well spent, rather than one of those years where the time disappears and you haven’t got much to show for it.

And speaking of having a lot to show for time spent, boy did I get a lot done this week. Sadly, two pieces are for a secret partner exchange on Ravelry, so I can’t show pictures right now. Well, I can show you the package in the bag, waiting to go to the post office:

Mail!

I can also show a picture of this cute little guy:

Freddie the Flounder

I call him Freddie, and he is the Flappy Flounder pattern by cheezombie in the Spring + Summer 2011 Knitty. He is knit in Vanna’s Choice in colour Denim Mist, with a wee bit of white Mary Maxim Starlette.

Wow, those are some big eyes!

I used 9mm safety eyes for the pupils on his very, very big eyes.

He was a quick knit, less than a day from start to finish. He was a bit fiddly though, but part of that came from the fact that I used needles that were a bit too small. I just grabbed what was sitting next to my stitching spot, rather than getting off my fat bum and looking for the right size. Serves me right. 😀

Sadly, I didn’t do much stitching this week. In addition to the toys I finished up, I’ve been working away on the yellow socks. And, honestly, it has been hard going. I don’t like the colour yellow, so I’m not really enjoying working on these socks. But, I did promise to have them done at the beginning of May, so I need to get moving. I’m about 1/3 of the way down the foot on the second sock, so I should have them finished and in the mail in a few days. Thank goodness. Then it is back to more stitching, and that pink shawl I started a while back.