Rabbit in a Carrot

I've been splitting my crochet time between doll clothes and parts of finger puppets and small amis. I've been completing a portion of a finger puppet or ami, storing it in a plasic baggie and then when I'm close to finishing I'll assemble the item. In this case I also had the sleeping bag to make as well.

This is one of Laura Sutcliffe's patterns that can be purchased here.

Notes:

I'm going for small sized items for this donation. When I made this last in 2020 it wasn't as big an issue.

The pattern calls for DK yarn I went with Sinfonia cotton I am trying to use up and replace with Cotton Fair. They each have pros and cons but I have come to prefer the Cotton Fair for my small ami projects. This was a great project to hit my stash of old cotton I refuse to abandon.

I used a size 2mm hook for all items.

In my previous project notes I mentioned that the carrot needed to be wider to make it easier to get the bunny in and out of it for small hands. I increased the width following the pattern to 26 stitches.

I mistakenly read the front directions for the back and increased the length to make it long enough for the bunny but missed the shaping of the top for the carrot. After having finished the piece I was not redoing it but added the trim.

My note to myself on the pattern is to follow the lower directions and make the back piece first as this will determine I've made it wide enough and long enough for my rabbit. Then the front which is the first direction can be made and adjusted to fit the back.

This is going to be part of my Kits for Kids rotation.

Irish Bunny

When I have the chance I try to add a few holiday decorations to my house. I try to keep them small as even small ones take up ever increasing space over time. I'm also an avid collector of out of print crochet leaflets and books. This bunny pattern is from an American School of Needlework leaflet Birthday Bunnies in Thread Crochet #1156. It was written by Jennie Black and published in 1993 for those of you who might be interested in the patterns.

While the title of the leaflet is Birthday Bunnies they are more holiday or monthly themed rather than what I have seen in other pattern books for birthday patterns. I have a pattern of doll outfits where each month has a different outfit dedicated to the birthday girl but not any specific holiday that occurs during that month. These seem much more holiday or event themed. June is a wedding dress and August has a bathing suit so not specific to a holiday but not what you'd normally think of as birthday either. That worked for me when I saw this at a second hand pattern site as I was looking for holiday themed amigurumi's rather than birthday outfits. I actually bought it with the November Pilgrim bunny pattern in mind but here I am making the March Irish bunny first.

The pattern calls for off white for the bunnies. I went with white as I wasn't sure how much thread I'd need and I have a giant size 10 white but only a standard off white partial. Having made one I think I will work the Easter one in off white should I get to that with all the other holiday projects I need to finish. I'm planning on making the May dress for the Easter outfit instead of the suggested Easter dress. I rather like the May dress for Easter and I'm planning on using the July dress for my Memorial Day through the end of summer decorations so it works out well. I'm hoping to have a bunny for each of the holidays. I'm even thinking of using January's for my ornament project for this year. We will have to see what happens.

Notes:

I used size 10 thread I had on hand with a 1.8mm Tulip Etimo thread hook.

I added a row to the hat and changed the black head band to yellow as I wanted a bit more color. I also had to add more chains to the band as the hat was wider.

The pattern calls for a single sided ear. I used the pattern to make an inner and outer ear one pink, one white and then crocheted them together before sewing to the head. I liked the added shaping and color.

Bonnie Bunny

Bonnie is the second bunny I made from the Cottontails Pattern I received when I purchased the kit from Mary Maxim here. Bonnie is made from worsted weight yarn and a g hook and as you can see from the picture below came out significantly bigger than Robbie.

I chose to continue in similar branded yarns for the clothes. I had to go up to an I hook to get the dress to fit in the back. However the shoes fit with a g hook. I also used a g for the bow. The eyes came with the kit and the nose from CRC Crafts.

I shortened the neck line and altered the body to avoid the bobble head issue I had with Robbie.

Robbie Bunny

I ordered the Cottontails kit from Mary Maxim which you can purchase here after seeing it in the catalog. When you click on the kit details it tells you that the yarn for this kit is Ultra Mellospun but the white yarn is actually Mary Maxim Baby Value Yarn. Only the yarn for the clothing is Mellospun. According to the website the Baby Yarn is a 4 weight but it is more like a sport or DK weight and it while soft I had 2 issues with it.

First, with a g hook I found the stitches were too big not to show stuffing so I went down to an e hook to get the right look. Secondly, it was not a great yarn to use when you want tight stitches like one uses with amigurumi because I found it difficult to frog the stitches after making the tight, like when I realized I needed to move from a g hook to a smaller hook to keep the stuffing from showing.

I made the second bunny using worsted weight yarn on hand and found I had fewer issues with the yarn.

I have much to learn about sculpting so I will take the blame for that part of the pattern challenge. I found however, that I remade the body the second time when I made the girl doll because the neck on this doll was not solid enough to hold the head up until I did some reworking when I followed the original pattern. It had a bit of a bobble headed look to it. I am sure the fault could easily be mine but directions sometimes can help avoid these challenges, too.

The shoes were adorable. I often find patterns for girl amigurumis with shoes, but sneakers for the boys are also cute. I chose to sew the buttons over the holes as I liked the look better and wasn't planning on removing the clothing after the fact. I made the bow tie but chose not to add it after making it. I liked the way he looked in his overalls. The tail was a cute addition.

I am not a huge fan of having to embroider facial features. The kit comes with eyes and I added a nose that I purchased from CRC Crafts.

With all that is going on in the world I am happy to have some new Easter decorations. I decided to keep this pair and work on a different pattern to send out in the Easter box.

Rabbit in a Carrot Sleeping Bag

I've been slowly collecting patterns by this designer as they are perfect little presents to add to packages. I received this pattern as a Valentine's present and set out to make it right away for the Easter package. You can purchase the pattern here.

There are tons of patterns free and paid on the market. I love these patterns because the ones I've made are simple to make up and they all have little accessories that add some fun for little ones play time. I previously made the dog with bed for a birthday present and I've been collecting the holiday themed patterns to use for my holiday packages.

Thanks to a friend's search for eyes I found pink noses from CR Crafts here. I've been able to find my eyes and regular noses locally for the most part but colored noses have been elusive and I usually need to get those online. This way I can remember where I ordered them from when I run out. I have no idea where my previous supply came from so had no ability to reorder.

Additional notes:

I'd make the carrot wider for several rows and slightly longer before reducing the rows to the point. While you want the carrot to be tight so rabbit doesn't fall out, you also want it to be easy to get the rabbit all the way in and out.

I liked the grey rabbit. White was too white against the orange. The brown was OK but I think perhaps an off white if I needed a second rabbit again.