As a knitter who had just purchased a copy of Susan B. Anderson’s “Itty Bitty Toys,” there wasn’t much of a debate. I had to knit Bill a Hippo for Christmas!
Each Hippo body part is knit separately and they are all whipstitched together. After a brief consideration of making a Hippo-colored Hippo, I was convinced to go stash diving and see what I came up with. The Ty-Dy Sock marinating in my stash did the trick quite nicely, I think!
The feet, “hands” and inside of ears were all in accent colors. That yarn came from leftovers from my second-ever socks, knit many many moons ago. It’s Cherry Tree Hill. That’s all I remember.
His head is a pretty darn “true” shape if you ask me. Susan really thinks of details I would not have taken time to figure out on my own
His nose is kitchnered together. Eyes, nostrils and mouth were sewn on with leftovers from the Hubster’s socks I knit last year.
The ears were the only part of the project that got annoying. The whole Hippo is knit double-stranded, and when the ears were folded over at the bottom prior to being whipstitched onto the head? Yeah. That’s 4 layers of knitting smushed into a very small space. But it worked out OK.
This is certainly something I’ll knit again. It went quickly, it was a lot of fun to knit, and Mr. Hippo was a big hit everywhere he traveled during construction. He’s a bit over-stuffed (hence the arms sticking out more than I’d like), but otherwise I’m thrilled. Bill will be instructed to return the little guy if he doesn’t like him. It was tough to put him in the mail!
Oh, and just a small word of warning: If you embark upon the project of knitting a Hippopotamus for Christmas? Just accept the fact that you’ll have the song in your head the entire project. I still think it’s worth it!
Bill’s Christmas Hippopotamus
Pattern: Hippo from Susan B. Anderson’s “Itty Bitty Toys”
Yarn: Knit One Crochet Too Ty-Dy Socks
Color: Blueberry Fields
Scraps: Fiesta Boomerang and Cherry Tree Hill
Needles: US 5/3.75 mm. Magic Looped with Knit Picks Options needles
Started: 13 December 2009
Finished: 17 December 2009
Mods: None!
Pattern: Hippo from Susan B. Anderson’s “Itty Bitty Toys”
Yarn: Knit One Crochet Too Ty-Dy Socks
Color: Blueberry Fields
Scraps: Fiesta Boomerang and Cherry Tree Hill
Needles: US 5/3.75 mm. Magic Looped with Knit Picks Options needles
Started: 13 December 2009
Finished: 17 December 2009
Mods: None!
9 comments:
So freakin' cute!!!!
Next year Dominic the Donkey? ;-)
The hippo turned out great!
His arms don't stick out - he's offering a hug!
He's SO CUTE!
What a cute toy! OMG! Hippo!!
That is excellent!
This is by far the cutest hippo I've ever seen! I need to get my hands on this book just as soon as I have time to knit again.
That is so cute!
Aren't we all a little overstuffed this time of year? ::burp::
I just found your blog -- hello! I wanted to say hi and I think the hippo is so cute!
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