Elijah the Elephant

I just finished up this little guy for my nephew coming in the spring. All I can say is this little elephant was a labor of love. He's so squishy and cute, but -if we're being honest - he got thrown across the room with a string of curse words more than once.
It wasn't a difficult pattern to follow at all. It was straight forward, and the designer included some great photos to help. I think it was a combination of yarn choice and knitting at such as tight gauge.
I decided to dig in my stash for the yarn, and came out with TLC cotton plus. The cotton yarn had zero give, and I had to yank like crazy to avoid ladders. My hands were so achy after a few hours on this guy.
And the increases and decreases caused me such as headache due to the stitches being so tight. This is worsted weight yarn, and while the pattern called for size 2 needles, I had to go up to size 3.

I'll admit, he really isn't the picture of perfection I has dreamed about. His little ears are a bit wonky, and I stuffed his body way too much. But, he's done now. And I love him, and I hope baby Jack will love him just as much as I do.
If I were to re-do this little guy, I would make his arms and legs longers, and probably skip the short rows in his ears. Oh, and I would absolutely never ever ever use cotton for amigurumi again!

Here's the link to my Ravelry project page, with all the yarn, needle, and pattern info!