Claudia Cottontail is an adaptation of a Caolyn Christmas pattern found in an out of print Needlecraft Shop Book, Crochet Private Collection. The book was originally published in 1999 for those of you who might be interested in finding it.
My Claudia is slightly different from the author's. For one thing I don't have experience with soft sculpture needles and decided to forge ahead and make a more traditional ami. This is a skill I'd like to learn more about, but this is a time sensitive challenge and I needed to move forward.
I started with the suggestion of worsted weight yarn for this bunny, but it was huge. I ended up using some lighter sport weight yarn I'd bought previously. This caused a challenge when it came to cloth the bunny. I started with lighter weight cotton sport yarn I had on hand. However, Miss Cottontail was larger in the chest area and that required a medium white sport weight yarn to get the dress to fit in the bodice as it was too tight with the lighter weight sport yarn.
This one of those patterns I'd have loved to see the back side for both the dress and the hat. I think it would have helped with my on the fly adaptations. However, you work with what you get. The details were cute with this pattern. This bunny is quite modest as she has panties that remind me of the old fashioned pantaloons. I used a draw string to help make mine fit a bit better at the waist, but I thought they made a cute addition to the pattern.
I started this pattern well before the St. Patrick's Day box left but I ran into problems when I realized I needed more Knit Picks sports yarn as I'd fully intended to use worsted weight for the bunny and some heavier weight sport yarn I had on hand for the dress. Since I had to order yarn the project to a back seat until my order arrived. However, it will be ready to mail before my deadline and that is what really matters.
