FO: Elijah

Otherwise known as the cutest freakin' thing ever in my opinion. But also one of the fiddliest things ever as well. I tell you, knitting this was a bloodbath. Poor little guy was getting stabbed right and left with double pointed needles.

Pattern: Elijah by Ysolda
Recipient: My cousin's baby girl born last December.
Yarn: Sirdar Snuggly DK; about 3/4 of one skein; color green
Needles: US 3 dpns
Duration: October something, 2008 through April 7, 2009
This really only took about a half day of knitting all told. The cast on was troublesome for me and that took time to figure out but the head/trunk/body only took a couple hours of knitting. From there, the appendages got a bit 'harder' and I'd say each one was 45-60 minutes each to complete. I struggled with the first couple rows after picking up the stitches...needles going everywhere, heads and trunks and legs in the way...just took a bit of time to get far enough away from the body that it was smooth knitting. The six month duration was mostly due to gift knitting for Xmas and then just procrastination picking it back up again.
Modifications: None needed.
Size: I got stitch gauge with this yarn, but my row gauge was pretty off. So my Elijah ended up slightly smaller than the original. But in the end, everything is proportional so I'm fine with the slight size difference.
Ravelry link: Here
Verdict: I seriously don't want to give it away I'm so smitten with this little elephant (don't worry, I will!). The original plan was to make three of these...but that simply isn't going to happen anytime soon no matter how much I like it. The pattern is genius in my opinion and the result is incredible. But this type of knitting is so fiddly that I think I can only do it once in awhile.

So why choose fiddly little toy in the first place? While I see beautiful little baby clothes items pop up all the time and want to make them, I have two problems with baby clothes. First is that I have a hard time putting that much effort into something that will be useful for a couple months. Second is deadline knitting. Normally an okay, if not stressful, part of gift giving. But if you miss Xmas by a few weeks for an adult, really it doesn't matter. Missing a date with baby knitting may mean the child can never wear the clothing in it's lifetime...and with my work schedule, I really have no idea when I start something whether it will be weeks or months before I find time to finish it. Toys (and I'd add blankets, bibs, etc on this list) on the other hand are totally cute and are more flexible in terms of timing. So Elijah it was.

Here Elijah is playing Vanna and showing off the beautiful flowers that are just starting to cautiously peek through--testing to see if spring really is here and it's safe to come out and play.
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Now Playing: Bonny Swans by Loreena McKennitt