FO Friday: Springy Animals!

First on my finished pile this week is my new pal, Hazel :)

I used the Well-Dressed Bunny pattern by Fuzzy Mitten and absolutely love how he came out :) 

The bunny is made using Patons Canadiana yarn in Flax, the jacket using Lion Brand Microspun in Turquoise, and the waistcoat Red Heart Designer Sport in Mint. I picked the Canadiana because it was the color I want, and it was really nice to work with except one thing ... his ears! The yarn is actually a little too soft for this pattern it seems, because the ears just don't want to stand up. I can position them and then with the slightest movement they fall down. I'm still contemplating starching them :) Also, I think the yarns I used for the clothes were too large because his clothes came out a bit big. I doubt anyone really sees it but me though - it's just a small thing.

Hazel graced our table at Easter dinner and he was definitely a big hit :) Even my nephew likes to hold him by the ears and make him hop (this is a big deal because he usually couldn't care less about my animals, lol). He made a great center piece.

Here's a full frontal nudity pic, lol. Isn't it funny - all my other animals I would never think of as 'naked' even though I've never made clothes for them, but since this one has clothes I just look at this pic and think he's incomplete. By the way I named him Hazel after the main character in Watership Down :)

And here's his little accoutrements :) I never would have thought making what are basically doll clothes would be fun, but I really like it. I'm sure there will be many more articles of clothing in my future.

I also finished my pattern test for Adrialys Designs :) I'm not sure how much she wants me to divulge about it since the pattern hasn't been released yet, so you just get the one pic for now. I'll post about it fully once she releases it! It was lots of fun to make.

So that's what I've finished this week :) Head over to Tami's Amis' Blog to see what others have finished (and this week she did actually post an FO Friday, lol, so there are things to see!)

Look At This Cute Bunny Puppet! Plus A Sale!

I just found this pattern designer today and her designs are so adorable, I just had to share them with you :) Barbara Prime runs Fuzzy Mitten where she makes amazingly cute knitting patterns for toys. I randomly found one of her animals someone else had made on Ravelry, which made me look at her others and fall in love. I mean, look at this cuteness!

This is her Bunny Puppet pattern. I just love that sweet little face. I loved the design straight off, bu then I decided to read her blog and discovered that this pattern is currently 50% off both through Ravelry or her Etsy shop. Apparently the design is close to Barbara's heart, but has never had the sales success that her other patterns have, so she is hoping the sale will give it some more love. I hope she's right! This pattern is only $1.50 for the whole month of March! The sale certainly made up my mind - I already bought the pattern :) 

I'm not getting anything for posting about this, I just really thought her designs were lovely and worth sharing :) Have a look at the rest of her animals here. I can't wait to make this sweet little bun up and I know it won't be my last pattern from Barbara. Hooray for cute animal designs!

Knitting Update: My Reversible Duck/Bunny!

After finishing my Wee Ones Elephant last weekend, I needed another project to keep me busy while my air conditioner was installed. I decided to troll around the Spud Says Blog Ravelry page because I knew that Susan B. Anderson had designed a bunch of cute free patterns for them when she ran the blog. I found this mini reversible toy and decided it would be the perfect quick project!

Awe look, it's a duck :) But it doesn't stop there! It also becomes...

A bunny! This little guy is only about 3.5" tall and it is actually two toys that tuck up inside each other. How cool is that?!

See? You just push the head up as you roll the hidden animal out and the other disappears inside.

This is the Mini-Reversible Duck to Bunny pattern. I used Cascade 220 Superwash in Daffodil and Orange for the duck (left over from my giraffe) and Aran for the bunny. The pattern didn't have wings for the duck, but I knew mine needed some so I used the directions for the feet and made them in yellow, but I decreased once at the end before I kitchener stitched. Also the bunny didn't have a tail! So I used the scraps from tying off the aran color and made a little pom pom. Now they are complete :) Their eyes and the bunny's nose are done with black embroidery floss. 

Everyone I have showed this to has loved it. It's gotten such a great response because it's reversible! This project was quick and easy and just so cute. I happen to have Susan B. Anderson's newest book Topsy Turvy Inside-Out Toys where all of the projects included are reversible, so this project really made me excited to make one of the patterns in this book!

This is my first knitted animal that wasn't assisted by a Craftsy class and I am really pleased with how well it went. I definitely feel confident that I can tackle other knitted toy patterns now :) Plus I can flip this guy back and forth in the meantime, so how can that be bad? :)