Herbert the Elephant
When I came into the store on Tuesday, I was excited to see a large brown box containing new-to-us yarn! It is Hikoo’s CoBaSi. This mixture of cotton, bamboo, silk and a little elastic comes in lots of shiny colors (thanks to the silk!). I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it.
It will make great summer tops or socks but my mind went straight to dolls and animals. This yarn is DK weight which makes it perfect for toys. It's also washable and comes in relatively small skeins which means I can buy more colors without breaking the bank.
I quickly logged into Ravelry to see what I could find. In the advanced search function I put in "softies" in DK weight yarn. Of course there were hundreds of patterns but they are usually listed in order of popularity so the best are mostly at the beginning. I hesitated on the Christmas elves and a miniature dachshund but settled on the Elephant. I call him Herbert.
Stanley the Dachshund
Herbert was a breeze to make, knit in garter and flat. Once the body and legs are done you move on to the head in one continuous piece. That’s mostly it; just 2 little elephant ears and you are done.
If you have never sewed up animals, it may seem a little daunting, but in garter stitch it is much more forgiving. And remember: the seams will mostly be hidden under the toy. A tip when stuffing: use multiple smaller pieces of stuffing rather than one big lump. It will make shaping easier.
Herbert looks so cute, I may have to make a whole herd of them! Using thicker or thinner yarn with the same pattern to make other sizes!