Noodles the Mouse

Remember Eli the Elephant, and how much I lamented amigarumi knitting? Yeeeeaaaa... I take it all back. I am so so so in love with this little guy. And I loved knitting him. It was quick, and easy, and not once did my hands feel like they were going to burn off.  As it turns out, it's not so much the Amigarumi that I hate - it's the double pointed needles. So I found this awesome pattern for a magic loop teddy, and gave that a whirl. I'm still on my quest to knit from stash, and I lucked out and found the perfect yarn for this little guy. It's Aslan Trends Artesanal, which is a tweedy cotton/alpaca blend. It's not the softest yarn ever, but it has a furry little halo that was perfect for a mouse. And it feels like it will hold up well over the years.

I needed this little guy to be a mouse, not a teddy, so I had to make some alterations to the pattern. I made his ears a little larger and more concave that the bear, used a pink nose instead of black, and added cute little whiskers and a pink tail. All in all, I think he resembles Noodles from the book pretty closely. And fortunately for me, newborn babes are not harsh critics. This is a first part of the set that is going to my new niece/nephew who is coming in just a couple weeks. I'm working on the blanket that goes with it, and then I'll be done with all of my baby knitting for this year.

This pattern has inspired me to give Amigarumi another go. Since my son got "Sharky McShark", I'm going to try and make a dolly for my daughter. Of course, I also still haven't made her baby blanket, and she's coming up on 3 years old. So yea, it's probably time she got some mama knitting love.