2.10.2008

Pattern: Stuffies, Kitty Version
By: Ysolda (free download on Ravelry)
For: Ami
Yarn: 74 yds of some random indigo 2-ply wool from the farmer's market (left over from Droplet Hat - stash busting!)
Needles: US size 10 Takumi Bamboo DPNs
Stuffing: from an old pillow
Eyes: a bit of Istex Ãlafoss Lopi in 9975 (left over from Farmer's Market Bag
Heart: a bit of Istex Álafoss Lopi in 9970 (left over from Farmer's Market Bag
Timeline: started 02.04.2008; finished 02.08.2008

This was my first attempt at needle felting and I think it went pretty well.

This is for a friend's little girl. I wanted something relatively quick, something that would use stash yarn, and something incredibly adorable, and this fit the bill perfectly. The only issue I had with the pattern was that I found the "Inc 1" a bit confusing at first. I thought it meant M1, but it actually meant to do K1fb or another such increase into the stitch.

I needed to make sure that I conserved as much yarn as possible when I was knitting it, since I didn't have much yarn for it. Obviously, I skipped the arms and legs. I also decreased the body at the bottom to a sort of point: a stylized tail, if you will. The other thing I did was to keep the stitches on the head between the ears live instead of binding them off. I knit the whole first ear in the round, kitchenered the middle stitches together, and then knit the second ear the same way. It worked out great. It all seemed to work out pretty well, since I only had about 6" of yarn left.