10 June, 2010

Of pattern changes and dinosaurs

Oh no, there goes Tokyo! Go go Godzilla!





Pattern: Jellybean Dinosaur (Ravel it)
Yarn: Yarn Love Anne Shirley- Ancient Forest & Sparkling Pool
Needles: US size 8

This is pretty much a new pattern, maybe a month old. (Free too!) There is a part of me that loves finding it before it's had a chance to go viral or have many projects before mine. I have these delusions that someday I'll make That Project. You know the one; the one that everyone on Ravelry sees and exclaims how it's made them see the pattern in a new light and they will now make it. Perhaps it's time to talk to someone about my ego. Ahem.

This was very quick and easy. So much so that I'm working on a second one for The Boy in a larger size. You may have noticed it in yesterday's WIP post and wondered what the bowling pin looking thing is. It's a dino body. (Admittedly, The Boy's color choice for the tummy and scales makes me cringe a little, but it's for him, not me. And he can't be totally blamed for it: he tried to snake several of my fairy farts yarns for those parts, including some Wollmeise. Had they been remnants from a project, they would have been his. But as it were, they were virgin skeins so I told him to keep his little mitts off. Boy has good taste, though. )

I noticed a very minor error in the instructions, but it would be easy enough for anyone to figure out and know to change it, I think. In the instructions for the spines, row 5 reads, "5," when it should read, "k," for knit the row. Very minor.

I did make changes to the pattern. The entire thing is written to be knit flat. A lot of seaming. I converted all pieces, minus the legs and spines, to be knit in the round. It worked just fine and left a nice, neat guide for sewing the spines onto the back. The instructions for the face call for embroidering the whole thing, but I prefer the look and ease of safety eyes. So, I stuffed the head, placed the eyes in, and then gently removed the stuffing so I could snap the washers onto the eyes. Then while the face was still waiting to be re-stuffed, I figured out where I wanted the mouth to go. I did a straight line and then made it dip in the middle using an embroidery stitch I can not recall the name of--it's that one used to make flower petals and such. Then, I went back and back stitched over the mouth a second time to make sure it was nice and secure. My kids love to pull on threads and mess them up otherwise. The final change I made was to the tummy panel. In the pattern, the decreases are both written at K2tog; instead, I did mirrored decreases with a SSK. Minor, but I think it made a difference.

And that's it: my FO post for the month. Be seeing you all in blogland or on Ravelry!

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Yikes! I hope your move is smooth and easy.