Knitting Critters and Other Things

 One thing I'm finding out about retirement is that it's important to set daily goals.  It's silly that I'm finding this out now, a year later, especially when I think back to my working days and my beloved prep lists.  I loved writing them, and I especially loved crossing each task done as it was completed.

Well, today my list was:  vacuum, fold the laundry, finish the frog.  Okay, the laundry is still not folded, but here's the frog:

He's very cute, but I must say, I will not make another.  So fiddly!  There are other frog patterns out there, and I will find another, but I'm glad I made it.  I've been following the designer, Claire Garland on Instagram, dotpebble_knits, for a long time, and love to see what clothes and little videos she's made with her frogs.  

I've also made one of Susan B. Anderson's adorable animals, Christopher Bunny.  Now, this one was fun.  It's knit in pieces that are connected as you go.  Knit the head with stitches made to be the bases of the ears, then pick up for the body, with stitches indicating where to pick up for the arms and the legs.  It went fast and was fun to do.  The sweater pattern that comes with the bunny looked too small, so I made up my own pattern.  The pants are currently in progress, and I am following the pattern for those.  They're striped!  

And how about that tail?  I even knitted it out of some Angora in my stash, so it's a real bunny tail.  It makes me giggle when I see it.  And everyone I've shown it to has to touch it.  

And here is the handsome Beau, all decked out in his Garter Baby Kimono, a pattern by Joji Locatelli.  I have to say that I didn't enjoy knitting this, but I sure did love the yarn.  It's hand-dyed by a local dyer, Storied Fiber Arts from the collection named after local landmarks.  This one is named Arther Ashe Boulevard.  It's red to burgundy, and just lovely.  It is a shame that the pattern said this was size six months, and you can see that 11-week-old Beau is about to burst out of it.  And he's not a big baby!  Although, incredibly handsome!

Last week, I showed you a sweater made with the blue from the failed heart afghan.  This is made with the gray.  I made it in size 12 months, so I'm hoping it does better than the red one.  It looks big to me!  I just need to sew the buttons on, but I think I'll wait to give it to Beau when they come to visit next month.  

Time to get back to those striped pants for that bunny!  Have a great week!