I knit a lot of little under-the-radar things that never make it to this space. For example, on the recent holiday extravaganza weekend (Passover/Easter/Snow Melting Lovefest) I had the sudden wants to knit a bunny for Zoe.
In case you lost count, Zoe is 3 now. Can you see why, despite
my long history of having no interest in knitting dolls, I was seized by
this impulse? I could have downloaded a pattern for any of these
irresistible softies: Bunny Nuggets from Rebecca Danger, Beau the Bunny from Woolful, Susan B. Anderson's Bunny Love...in fact go search bunny on Ravelry and you'll find plenty of wonderful patterns.
Instead, I made it up as I went along, using yarn that last saw action as baby booties for Zoe. I thought the angora was a nice nod, like a fiber private in-joke.
Say hello to Funny Bunny, as we call him. I was aiming for something in between the Bunny Nuggets and a more realistic doll. I maybe{cough}{pretty much} missed my mark, but Zoe loves him. Although she told me his eyes are "not right" and requested button replacements. It is, in all truth, amazing what the face stitches do for a doll. Refer to my last knit doll foray, 10 years ago (!) when I coerced my favorite friends into knitting bears for the Mother Bear Project.
(and how the heck is that 10 years ago, anyway??)
Anyway, Zoe's comment gave us a good excuse to dump out the button tin and sort buttons--an activity I seriously love.
It does leave me with some questions, including....why don't I knit little dolls more often? and, what do you all stuff your knit dolls with? I used to have some of that acrylic fluff I use when making Halloween costumes but couldn't find it, and anyway, it seemed so wrong inside the wool. Do you use batting? Washed fleece? I ended up using some old, clean, well darned and still holey wool socks- -a lumpy solution, which added to Funny Bunny's odd demeanour.
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Psssst- Kirsten Kapur's brand spankin' new book: Ten Best Loved Shawls Book 1 is out! Order it directly . Or request at your LYS. I did the photos and I am super proud of this collaboration.
Par-tay at Trillium Yarns in Morristown NJ this weekend. See you there?
that acrylic fluff really doesn't cut it, does it? I've sort of loved my wool fluff but I can't remember where I got it and it's now ...... gone!!!!!! (I think the last thing I used it for was a bunny, too----that cute sewn bunny that Alicia Paulson designed a couple years ago. ) Funny bunny turned out very cute....and you can tell, is already very loved---and that's what counts. When s/he springs a leak, at least it won't be a huge mess. :)
ReplyDeleteIf you need a little weight at the base, un popped popcorn kernels works really well, topped off with fibre fill.
ReplyDeleteThat is an excellent tip. thank you!
DeleteIf you were really organized, you could save all the bits and pieces of yarn trimming and odd yards for the next one. I, of course, am not that organized! They do make wool fluffy stuff for needle felting.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to get my hands on Kirsten's book.
ReplyDeleteYour bunny is about as cute as they come. You could use yarn orts (you'd be collecting cut ends for a long, long, long time) but it would make a soft inside. Bunny is cute no matter how lumpy!
I love Zoe's bun bun. For stuffing I have used ends of yarn fleece bits of socks. Kind of despise fiberfill tho.
ReplyDeleteZoe's funny bunny is great! Purple is the perfect color. I still use the acrylic filling I get at the craft store to stuff dolls and animals. However, if my piece is not knit or crocheted tightly enough, the filling shows through. I end up lining my piece with a bit of fabric or craft store felt pieces and THEN I stuff the doll.
ReplyDeleteThat photo is just tooooo cute (as is the bunny!) I save end of wool snippets for stuffing - seems a waste to throw them away!
ReplyDeletelove the bunny! Great idea! I should make my Zoey one too! & by the way - Starcroft makes 100% island wool batts for all your stuffing needs (plug), sold at Clementine (plug).
ReplyDeleteHave you seen Henry's Bunny from Rabbit Hole Knits on Ravelry? She also has a broccoli pattern.
ReplyDeleteRe: stuffing -- I took Susan B. Anderson's doll class at VKL this winter (because my teenager needs tiny people for animation projects). There was much discussion of stuffing. Susan warned us off cotton, because it gets all lumpy and collapses, but says cheap craft store fluff works just fine.
If I can find my bag of polyester fluff, I prefer it, but I stuff with whatever is handy when I can't find it, including yarn ends, roving and the odd tiny leftover ball. I've stolen fluff from pillows, and once stuffed something with very dry grass clippings. Most farmers would have called it hay. Smelled nice, but was kind of, well, rigid.
Super cute! Junah would love something like that. I don't usually knit little dolls and things because they can be so fiddly.
ReplyDelete