Crochet Update: Meet Louise!

So, my planned "productive Labor Day weekend" went pretty much nothing like I planned. I got a lot done cleaning-wise around the house on Saturday, plus I got to thrift at a few of my favorite stores I never get to go to. I planned to paint my living room Sunday, but ended up having a wave of unexplained illness. What to do instead? Crochet an elephant of course! Meet Louise!

I was so excited to finally make this little lady up. I used the Petrie the Dragon pattern from Monster's Toy Box. Yes you read that right, it's a dragon pattern. The same pattern I used to make Henrietta. I had the body made of my dragon and showed it to my husband and said, "Guess what it is!" and he said, "An Elephant!" After my initial disappointment that he didn't see it as a dragon, I realized he was totally right! If you flipped the body over and added a face, it would really look like an elephant. And the idea has stuck with me ever since.

When I imagined this guy, I knew I wanted to use a light purple yarn. This is SMC Worsted Weight with Wool yarn in Lilac. I used the same yarn in Taupe for the toe nails. I put 12mm safety eyes at round 23 and embroidered a black mouth between rows 25 and 26.

I free handed this tail. I started with a chain and ended up chaining 6. I left the last chain pulled out loose and added a few scraps of the yarn, then pulled it tight. To secure the yarn pieces, I wrapped the yarn around them all and then pulled the tail through like a knot. Those babies are there to stay.

For the nose, I stopped using the pattern when I had decreased down to 9 stitches. Then I sc3tog 3 times and pulled the knot through the center to secure it. This made for a nice flat spot to look more like a trunk.

I'm seriously loving how this little lady came out. She's so cute and friendly looking. My nephew particularly likes the long nose because he can use it as a handle, lol. Incidentally I've already come up with yet another animal I can make using this pattern :) I can't wait to make it!