A nice surprise, actually.

Hello again, and happy Memorial Day Weekend to everyone.  Be sure to take a moment during your festivities tomorrow to remember all of those, past and present, who have dedicated their lives to protecting us and the freedoms we so often take for granted.  While I never considered going into the service myself, the majority of my family has served or is serving, and I have to say I am proud of and grateful to every one of them for doing so.

But on to crochet.  

I have officially scrapped the Bright Eyes Baby Throw/Homespun project.  I am just at a loss with what to do with that yarn, so I have stuffed it in one of my yarn drawers and will revisit it at a later date, or find some other deserving home to pass it on to.  Sigh, which reminds me, I think it is time for a clean out and reorg of my crochet station.  It is getting rather wild again, plus now that it's in my closet, it is easier to let it get out of hand.  But that's for another day.

But what did I get done this week, you may ask.  Well, the answer is, I made a giraffe, huzzah!  The huzzah is because it actually came out much better than I thought it would and because it was not nearly so frustrating to assemble as I had anticipated (minus the "horns"--those did drive me a little crazy).  But Wednesday I sat down and started on the pattern for Lion Brand's amigurumi Georgina the Giraffe and I was very pleased with the outcome.  

See for yourself:

The pattern is available for free on Lion Brand's website (though you may have to register to see the free patterns, but there's no cost or anything).  

This is actually a pretty quick and easy project (I did it in a day even with breaks for food and calming down).  I did make a few deviations from the pattern though.

1. The horns:  I did not stuff them as the pattern calls for.  I tried to at first, but that just made them so much more difficult for me, so I ended up just leaving them flat.  But I think they work, they're not extra floppy or anything without the stuffing.
2. The spots:  Pattern calls for two big ones and three little ones, but I only made two little ones.  This is more because I misread the directions than anything else and afterward decided that I didn't want to go through the trouble to make and then attach another piece (I was almost done by that point).
3. The eyes:  The pattern calls for safety eyes but I stitched them on instead with the same brown yarn I used for the mouth.  I did this because the giraffe is going to a newborn.  While I had initially intended to make it just a decorative toy to go with the safari theme we're doing in her room, I realized I wanted her to actually have a toy I had made for her and that she could play with.

So there you have it.  All in all, I am really pleased with how this came out.  I just hope my baby likes it half as much!

Next up I am going to try my hand at more apparel.  I'll be trying the Blooming Bolero by Jacqueline van Dillen.  But I think I may insert a quick project this week before I start that.  I've been walking a lot lately and now that it's starting to really get into Texas summer I need to start carrying water with me on my walks.  So I think I am going to make a quick little crochet cozy/sling to carry a water bottle in.  Shouldn't take too long to whip up, and I've got plenty of leftover yarn to choose from.  

So that's it for me.  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!  

Until next time, 

C