Stuffies a/k/a lovies

You know I couldn’t resist this one: “Grandma, I don’t have even one unicorn lovie. Can you knit a unicorn for me?”  The child is knitworthy with a capital “K.”  When she opens a package containing a newly knit lovie, she smiles broadly and immediately expresses her gratitude without prompting from her parents. Then she sets to playing with her new lovie. Her mom sends me photos of my granddaughter’s bed with a tumble of lovies and there’s my granddaughter sleeping among them.

So, this is Helena Keighley’s, soon-to-be-Evelyn’s, sensibly named Unicorn or Winged Horse. It’s knit all in Novita’s 7 Veljesta Solids. I discovered this yarn fairly recently. It’s a reasonably priced 75% wool 25% nylon yarn that works up as a worsted weight for me. I really appreciate that it comes in a wide choice of colors, including many kid-friendly saturated ones. I’ve not even encountered any knots. This is a wonderful easy-care yarn and is both machine washable and machine dryable.

This critter’s entire body (except for the wings and ears) is knit flat in one piece. That really cuts down on the sewing-up time. The mane and tail sections are added individually which is a bit of a pain. And since I super-sized Uni by using worsted rather than DK weight, and worked on size 4 needles rather than 2.5s, I added 2 sections to each side of the mane and tail dangles.

I stuffed Uni with polyester stuffing, being sure that its hind quarters and legs were firmly stuff. Uni stands without any internal aids.

I asked my granddaughter if unicorns had wings. She emphatically told me yes and that her unicorn needed wings. So wings it is. Technically I believe that makes this critter a pegasus instead of a unicorn, but no matter.

Supposedly toy sales show that unicorns aren’t the trendiest sought-after-stuffie anymore. Unicorns have been unseated in recent years by llamas. Llamas. Really? Upon hearing that, Uni spat at me and turned away in a huff.

This you-don’t-know-anything retort shows the wonderful shaping that helps give Uni an endearing sense of gesture.

And now for something completely different. Susan B. Anderson’s Mother Hen. I like to knit my critters all in the same yarn. It helps assure that parts and clothes fit together proportionally so I bought Anderson’s kit with Barrett Wool Home Worsted Weight. The kit had enough yarn, but just barely. I had only 3 yards of gray left. I’d have preferred if I didn’t have to play yarn chicken with this hen kit. But mother hen is super cute. If you haven’t figured it out yet, that’s a chick and an egg in her sweater pocket.

Here’s mother hen naked and outraged.

And here’s her accessories.

Don’t tell Evelyn–she reads but not my blog–Mother Hen will be joining Uni in the package to be sent out soon. I told this irascible hen that there will be hell to pay if she pecks at Uni on the way. I’ll know.

The blues, again

It’s time to sing the blues again as in 2020. First up in this blues redux is Benjamin Matthews’ conveniently named Art Deco Redux. I worked mine in Malabrigo Rios in the Teal Feathers colorway. Rios is right up there among my favorite yarns for knitting worsted weight hats. And Teal Feathers is a beautiful vibrant deep blue.

Some don’t like purling in the round. That’s not a problem for me. The reverse stockinette sets off the gradually increasing height of the rib section very nicely. The simple architectural design ends at the crown with some excellent swirling decreases,

Next up is Vanessa Ewing’s Dodging Raindrops Cowl. I knit mine in MCN Fingering, by Sun Valley Fibers. It’s 80% Merino,10% nylon, and 10% cashmere goat. I’ve been enjoying fingering weight cowls these days.They can take the chill out of air conditioning or take the chill out of winter. Very versatile.

It’s easy to see the falling raindrops in this pattern. I wasn’t sure if raindrops would be closer together at higher or at lower altitudes. I’ve been known to wonder about things like that. But this is the way the designer’s project page features the cowl, so I’m sticking to that.

It’s a fun knit. And this cashmere-content Sun Valley yarn has wonderful drape and feels great next to the skin.

You’ve seen Joji Locatell’s fingering weight Bobble Cowl once before on this blog. This time I bobbled away using Anzula’s Domino. Domino is an unusual mix of 80% merino, 17% acrylic, and 3% polyester. Honestly, the merino doesn’t shine through as much as I’d like. But what a great cowl.

Here’s a closer look at how the short rows and bobbles create the interesting design.

Though I miss the softness of the merino, Domino folds over onto itself very nicely and drapes well.

Back to hats. This is Ellissa Gilbert’s Hazelnut Hat.

The yarn is Jagger Spun of Springvale Maine’s “Super Lamb.” Gilbert’s pattern includes directions for DK  and worsted weight versions. I wanted a hat for a big noggin so I worked the 104 stitch DK version even though I used a worsted. I didn’t think that an 88 stitch hat would work for my bigheads, especially because of the twisted ribbing. The pattern directs you to twist the knit and the purl stitches. I dutifully twisted both and had the very sore hands to prove it. It is a nice effect though.

Pouffy slouchies are a thing these days. Uncuffed, Hazelnut poufs. And cuffing tames its pouf quite nicely.

A solid good hat pattern.

That’s all for today’s blues.