Bunny Blanket Buddy

Wednesday, June 24, 2009
This darling toy has been knit and in my work basket for THREE YEARS!! Why? Because I have a face phobia. Whenever I make something that entails putting a face on it -- I freeze. I have no sense of proportion or spacing when it comes to placing eyes, noses and mouths and that's in addition to the technical difficulties of embroidering circles on knit or crochet items. *sigh* I always need help from my daughters or my husband to verify that I have a pleasant looking face (eyes placed too close together produce a rather creepy look). A couple of days ago I had a bout of "face confidence" and managed to finish this cute little toy!

Bunny Blanket Buddy is a free pattern from Lion Brand Yarns and available here.

Notes:
  • I substituted Red Heart Baby Teri for the Lion Brand Velvetspun. Apologies to Lion Brand Yarns for not using their yarn with their pattern but, in my opinion, Velvetspun sucks and it really is an awful choice for a baby toy. The Baby Teri is a much better yarn for this project.
  • I worked with two strands of the Baby Teri.
  • I used size 6 needles for the head (instead of the size 8 recommended for the Velvetspun)
  • Wrap the first stitch of each row tightly when doing the double knitting of the head so that the ends do not gap.

  • Thanks to my Hubby for designing a face that I liked and one that was easy to embroider.

    My Ravelry project page for Bunny Blanket Buddy.

    7 comments:

    Bethany Chu said...

    Could you possibly explain how the binding off of the head and the stuffing work? I just can't wrap my own head around it! Thanks!

    Unknown said...

    Row 64 is *p1, sl1* across the row and creates a fabric known as "double knitting" and this makes a pocket which is the front and back of the head. Double knitting is the key to the head and if this is the first time you've done it then you're in for a treat of a new technique!

    Following the pattern you make the head and then the ears and (if I remember correctly) the stitches that remain, after the making the ears, are on the top of the head and centered between the ears.

    The trick now is to work a strand of yarn in such a way that the stitches will come off the needle with an open gap to stuff the head. The way to achieve this is to draw the yarn through every other stitch going one way and then back through the skipped stitches the other way. Now when you take the stitches off the needle the yarn should be running around in a circle of stitches like a drawstring on a bag.

    Once the head is stuffed then you draw and secure the thread to close it.

    Bethany Chu said...

    it does!! thanks so much!

    Judy said...

    Do you remember how much of the Baby Teri yarn you used to make the Bunny Blanket Buddy? Also, you said that you used size 6 needles for the head. Did you use size 8 for the blanket part? It's so cute & I have about 1 1/3 skeins of yellow Baby Teri and would love to make it! Thanks for any help you can give me.

    Unknown said...

    After u stuff the head, then what? There is a gap at the neck part and back. How do I stop the stuffing from falling out?

    Unknown said...

    How do u keep the stuffing from fall out....OMN's

    Ellen Bernstein said...

    I had difficulty too. I have finished and there is not a good hole to stuff. Think I may have to take the head apart and try again which is frustrating.

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