Wrap-me-ups

These are, you must admit, the cutest thing since sliced bread. Wait, no. Don’t admit that. That’s supposed to be the greatest thing since sliced bread. They are as cute as a bug in a rug. No. That’s not right either. That’s supposed to be as snug as a bug in a rug. But that expression always sounds rather ominous. Especially to yarnies whose fear of bugs in rugs and other woolens is legendary.

They are as cute as a bug’s ear. There. That’s at least a proper homely expression. But what on earth does it mean? Apparently, the origins of the expression should have us saying that something is as “acute” as a bug’s ear. Ok. That at least makes a kind of sense even though I’ve not really met a bug with ears, not exactly anyway. And whatever they have that passes for ears is not something that’s at all cute but possibly bug hearing is still acute. There’s nothing acute about these little critters though.

This knitter is digressing. Again. These are “wrap-me-up toys” by Susan B. Anderson and I couldn’t be more pleased about how they worked out. Evelyn, just turned three, likes them. Here’s a closer look at the individual wrap-me-ups. They are knitted in my favorite go-to toy yarn, Brown Sheep’s Lamb’s Pride Worsted.

Here’s the kitten, up close wrapped and then unwrapped.

Here’s the puppy. I’ve named him Clifford, given the red yarn I used. I didn’t have a full stash of Lamb’s Pride colors and sort of just found colors that worked OK together.

The body and legs of each of the animals are knit the same. What distinguishes one from the other are the tails and ears, the facial features, and in the case of the pig the nose.

The animals are knit in the round, on needles a few sizes smaller than what you’d normally use for the weight of the yarn. Once the critters are stuffed, it’s hard not to have some of the “ladders” show between the needles and some of the increases and decreses. You’ll see that more in the next two animals, who posed for you with their construction details showing. Here’s the lamb, first wrapped and then not.

 

All of the animals are meant to have eyes that look sleepy (or asleep). The yarn button in the blanket is just a bobble added on after the blanket is complete. I made an I-cord loop on one corner that fastens over the bobble when the animals are in wrap-up-mode.

And here is the pig.

I was running low on some of the four colors I used, so I went off the reservation on a few of the blankets. But mostly I was still true to Anderson’s pattern.

Admittedly, these were a tad fiddly to knit. The good thing? There are no separate pieces to sew together. The legs, ear, and tails are all knitted onto the stuffed animal body. That’s good for the sewing impaired, but it also contributes to the fiddly quotient.

Evelyn loves to cover up her stuffed buddies, so I figured she’d like these guys. But I also know that she sometimes likes to tote her toys around, so I decided to keep on knitting. I knit a fairly large (13″ by 18″) blanket that the whole bunch could gather on. I used some Sirdar Bigga, a discontinued super-bulky superwash wool, and size 17 neeedles. The largest size double points I have are size 11, so I worked up the applied-I-cord border on 11s.

As I approached each corner of applied I-cord, I knit 10 rounds of unattached 4-stitch I cord. That gives Evelyn a nice finger hold as she carries the blanket around.

Here’s how I I worked the applied I-cord. First, I picked up an entire side of stitches on a spare circular needle. I cast on 4 stitches on the doublepoints. Knit 3 stitches on the doublepoints. Slip the 4th stitch purlwise. Bring the yarn forward in a yarn over. Knit the first picked up stitch from the circular needle. Pass the yarn over “stitch” and the slipped stitch over the picked-up stitch. Then slide the stitches on the double point and repeat. The slipped stitch and yarn over work together to hide the white color-blip (from the main section) that would otherwise appear when applied I-cord is worked in a contrasting color.

Next, I found a perfect basket and lined it with the Bigga blanket.

Totally toteable.

4 thoughts on “Wrap-me-ups

  1. OMG Noreen! These are absolutely adorable! I want to make them and I don’t even have a little one around to make them for.
    As usual, you are making the greatest knits.

  2. These are amazing, I just love them!! These are wonderful keepsakes the Evelyn can cherish and hold onto for future generations. So special.

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