Say hello to our new…

Say hello to our new owl. I think his name may be Ollie.

A few notes:

• Super-fast to make; started it one evening, finished it the next morning, while chatting with Alex. 2-3 hours total. Conclusion: animals with fewer limbs are much faster to make. :-)

• I made Ollie notably bigger than Edward, Sir Heffalump (using an I hook instead of a G, and thicker yarn), because I thought he would be more cuddly for Kavi. I think that's the right choice, given the intended function, but the animal does seem a little less cute when it's bigger. Do you agree? I want to be consistent in size with the toys I make from this point going forward, so they can be a little woodland family, which means I do need to decide whether they're hand-sized, arm-sized, etc.

• I used the Red Heart acrylic this time (TLC essentials in brown and linen), because of the notes on how it's good to make amigurumi in tough, machine-washable yarn, to stand up to toddler play. I think that was a big mistake, for two reasons:
  1. I find this yarn unpleasant to work with, having a sort of rubbery feel as it slides through my fingers, and
  2. Kavi looks at the owl, says with great excitement 'owl!', grabs it, holds it to her face for a second, and then drops it, instead of snuggling it the way she will her other stuffed toys.
  We're pretty sure she likes her toys to be softer; this owl is somewhat rough and very artificial in texture. Sad. No more Red Heart for me! (Lori/Simone, I have most of two balls left, please feel free to claim it next time you're over if you want to experiment.)