manta ray hand puppet
I made a toy for my nephew's 3d birthday. Despite his getting a mountain of other gifts, including a doll house and an OLPC computer, he actually played with the puppet a few times without being prompted, which made me happy.
Here's the Ravelry page for those of you who have drunk the Koolaid:
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/firecat/manta-ray
It's based on Manta Ray by Brigitte Read on the roman sock blog.
Size G hook
Yarn: The underside is bulky wool handspun by kiyowaramiyuki. The topside is Plymouth Outback Wool, colorway "Multibright". Both were acquired at yarn swaps.
Pattern modifications:
* I embroidered on eyes rather than sewing on safety eyes (didn't have any safety eyes, and thought it would be safer for a 3 year old)
* I didn't use internal pipecleaners (again, thought they might not be entirely safe for a 3-year-old)
* The crochetwork was kind of open and I thought stuffing would show. So I made it into a handpuppet rather than stuffing. There is a side benefit that it is more interactive this way.
* I attached the two halves with single crochet rather than sewing. (I suck at sewing.)
* I crocheted the mouth piece rather than sewing in a piece of felt. (I suck at sewing.)
This might be my last crochet project, since I discovered while doing it that I'm now faster at knitting than crochet.
Here's the Ravelry page for those of you who have drunk the Koolaid:
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/firecat/manta-ray
It's based on Manta Ray by Brigitte Read on the roman sock blog.
Size G hook
Yarn: The underside is bulky wool handspun by kiyowaramiyuki. The topside is Plymouth Outback Wool, colorway "Multibright". Both were acquired at yarn swaps.
Pattern modifications:
* I embroidered on eyes rather than sewing on safety eyes (didn't have any safety eyes, and thought it would be safer for a 3 year old)
* I didn't use internal pipecleaners (again, thought they might not be entirely safe for a 3-year-old)
* The crochetwork was kind of open and I thought stuffing would show. So I made it into a handpuppet rather than stuffing. There is a side benefit that it is more interactive this way.
* I attached the two halves with single crochet rather than sewing. (I suck at sewing.)
* I crocheted the mouth piece rather than sewing in a piece of felt. (I suck at sewing.)
This might be my last crochet project, since I discovered while doing it that I'm now faster at knitting than crochet.