A present

As I've noted before, I'm quite a selfish knitter. But every once in a while, even I am moved to knit for other people. In this case, because one of my oldest friends -we've known each other since we were 12- has gone and gotten herself knocked up. Because I adore her and her husband and am deliriously happy that they are deliriously happy, I presented them with Ephalent:

Ephalent
Yarn: Sirdar Supersoft Toddler Aran, from Pandora in Guildford, less than half of one ball of the main colour
Needles: 4.0mm dpns
Pattern: Ysolda Teague's Elijah, of course

Notes: Great pattern, knit in the round, stuffed as you knit, with extremities picked up and knit, so no seaming. The pattern's very well written, and easy to follow. The only real problem I had with the knitting was that it's hard to get the eyes large enough using French knot embroidery. I guess I could have gone out and bought really chunky yarn just for that, but that seemed to be going a bit far.

Because I've never made toys before, I had a hard time figuring out how much stuffing to use. I also had to figure out how to stuff so that it wasn't too lumpy. I think it turned out alright, though.


Instead of the DK weight yarn specified in the pattern, I used an Aran weight. Actually, I had also made one in DK weight, but wanted a bigger toy for this gift. Obviously, I also used a constrasting colour for the ears and the feet/hand pads.


Other than those, the other modifications I made were to do things in a slightly different order. After knitting the head, I put on the eyes, and knit the ears before doing the body. From making the first, smaller toy, I knew it was a pain in the ass to be doing the ears at the end, when you've got turn the whole body, with legs and arms around at each row.

It's just so cute that I could hardly bear to send it off, but it's now in California, waiting for the birth of its new owner.