Gifted

Maybe you remember that I recently wrote about a report that llama toys have supplanted all other eccentric critters in popularity? Supposedly unicorns aren’t top dog anymore. It was a bit of a sore topic since I’d just completed knitting my granddaughter a winged unicorn, OK a pegasus, as a holiday present.

I decided to hunt for llama knitting patterns and came across Wee Sandy’s Llama Divine pattern. Llama joined unicorn in my granddaughter’s holiday gift package. Honestly, it was a fiddly knit. I much prefer knitting critters that require a minimum of sewing up after the knitting’s finished. But, for this result, I’ll consent to sewing. Happily, the boucle yarn covers up a multitude of sewing sins.

Now, about that boucle yarn.

It’s Classic Elite Mouton. This designated super bulky boucle is 73% wool, 21% mohair, and 6% nylon. It was skeined up with 51 yards. Maybe you can make out the price tag? $6.25. That is a good indicator of just how old this skein is. It’s not quite as old as my 35-year-old-son. My estimate is I bought it in approximately 1995. I bought 2 skeins to use as doll hair. My version of Kristen Nicolas’ Eclectic Ethnic Dolls came out all wild and wooly thanks to Mouton, which was exactly the look I hoped for.

And now llama. The boucle was perfect for this project. I’m satisfied that my llama has just the right level of wooly, with an excellent sassy expression. I think llama looks just about ready to spit. Mouton waited a long time to be knit up. Maybe it was worth the wait.

Next up is a Janice Anderson pattern. It’s a bit of a mystery. Until recently, it was freebie available on LoveCrafts site. I am certain it was a freebie originally called “Rowan PureLife Sheep Toys,” yes, as in Rowan the major yarn company. I am certain because I downloaded and retained a copy of the Rowan PDF. When I knit this very distinctive sheep, I found that it had disappeared from Ravelry and from LoveCrafts and from Rowan. (I know you’re not really tempted, but I do get inquiries from time to time, and must refuse providing anyone with a pattern copy.) I figure that someone’s in a tiff about the rights to distribute this pattern. For now, anyone without a copy will have to drool from afar or wade into the Wayback Machine. where this knitter dares not go. Hopefully this cool pattern will be released again and soon. Here’s how the Rowan cover-page shows the sheep:

And here’s my version, knit in Barrett Home Worsted Weight wool.

You can see that I didn’t quite capture the full oddball sheepiness of the originals. Somehow my ears turned out quite small. And though I tried those long vertical slit eyes, I couldn’t get them to look right. Plus the mouth turned into more of a muzzle. Bottom line, I winged it some.

Every single time I look at this character, I smile. It’s pretty much impossible to ID him as a sheep though. It kept bothering me about what my critter looked like and then a fellow knitting friend, Audrey, figured it out:

By golly I’ve knit a white Pink Panther. With a bobbed tail, poor thing.