Knit your own bunny

Kramer is not thrilled by his companion.

My latest venture into toy knitting was prompted by the discovery of Rabbit Hole Knits. Its doyenne, Sara Elizabeth Kellner, offers many clever, adorable patterns for animals and insects, and most are either free of charge or modestly priced. (Incidentally, if you happen to be attending VK Live in Manhattan this weekend, Ms. Kellner is supposed to be in the Marketplace.)  The bunny I made--Henry's Rabbit, it's called--is a free pattern, is easy to knit and was interesting to do in Lion Brand "Scarfie"--a gradient yarn that in the colorway I chose moved from Easter bunny cream to hare brown. My single modification was to do the tail in Skacel's "Woolie Bullie," an ivory bouclé that gave the tail a satisfying texture.

This little rabbit will travel with me to California soon, to meet my new granddaughter, the person to whom he is dedicated. I think that both Kramer and Molly will be glad to see him depart.

Molly says, "I shall pay him no heed."

Hand-made holiday

a fuzzy needle-felted sheep will grace knitter Caroline B's tree

and two bunny friends will soon go to their forever homes.

We send our very best wishes for a serene holiday season, and a new year of knitting and friendship.

May your days be merry and bright!

Cloudy, with a chance of healing

Dr. Monchik eyeballed my x-rays today and, pointing to the break said,  "You see how cloudy it is there?  That's good.  It means the bone's filling in and it's healing well."

Three more weeks in the boot. On Saturday, when we fly to Rochester, NY, to attend the wedding of two wonderful people, I will be wheelchaired from ticket counter to boarding gate to plane. But I wouldn't miss this event for anything!

Meanwhile, I have had so much more time to knit, now that I can't walk Miss Lola or stomp around in the garden.  Gentle readers, I'm sure you recall the second mystery of July's "What IS it?" blog post, yes? Several of you hazarded guesses...but alas, you were wrong. So now for the revelation:

The off-white cup on dpns would eventually become Bunny's head. This charming pattern is from Susan B. Anderson's Itty-Bitty Toys (Artisan Press, 2009). I modified it a bit, mainly because I hadn't enough off-white yarn for the entire body, so I gave Bunny a permanent sweater with another ball of Blue Sky Alpaca's "Worsted Cotton." The book features many adorable patterns for toys, and I plan to try a few more of them. Perhaps I'm entering my second childhood--hurray!