elijah

Despite the fact that I’ve covered four states and territories in the past two weeks, I have actually managed to get some knitting done.  Let me introduce you to Elijah (here he is in the jungle, aka the weeds outside my brother’s house):

Pattern: Elijah by Ysolda Teague

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran, less than two skeins

Finished: February 23rd

I made this little chap for a friend’s new baby.  My friend was amazing enough to let me house-sit her flat in Melbourne while she was away, so I had an amazing base in the inner city for my stay.  I was hoping to have him finished by the time I left Melbourne, but he took alot longer than I expected, so he’ll have to be posted back to his recipient.

The pattern is very well written, and very detailed.  I found all the picking up of stitches to be a bit fiddly though, and I seriously had my doubts about how it would turn out.   By the time I was halfway through I swore that I would never knit another toy again.  I was very worried that I would run out of yarn and stuffing, so his legs (and arms?) are a row or two shorter than in the pattern, and his belly could do with a bit more fullness.  Of course, I ended up with a heap of yarn and stuffing left over, so he’s just slightly skinnier than intended.  Being such a detailed and clever pattern, his ears are grafted, and I was forced to learn kitchener stitch – after hearing horror stories from other knitters I thought I would manage to get by without ever learning how (hence all my socks are toe-up).  Thankfully I had help from the Richmond SnB with learning to kitchener, and it all went remakably smoothly.

It’s amazing what a difference it can make for a toy to have eyes; he suddenly came to life and actually looks like an elephant!  I’ll be giving him lots of cuddles before he goes to the post office today.