Tuesday, September 9, 2014

A Woobie Giraffe for Samoline


Woobies for my besties!   As soon as I created the woobie bear for Baby G I needed to cast on for Samoline's baby giraffe. Why so soon?  The baby isn't due for another 7 months!  Well I wanted to let part of all of the woobies cuddle together, they are pals after all!  Mama-to-be Caroline loves giraffes, and as soon as I saw this woobie pattern I had it earmarked for her future child. 

The Pals woobies all together, at least in-progress.  (It is kind of fun, only 2 of the babies were "in progress" at any one time, too!) 
I used shine sport in Clementine (Orange), Mongoose (Brown) and Dandelion (Yellow).  I would have liked a paler yellow but there wasn't an option for that.  This little boy will LOVE his brightly colored giraffe, so I'm not worried.  (And I think his mama will be pretty thrilled, too!)   Like the previous woobies, I used size 3 needles to complete the project.


Notes from Construction
  • Can I please cast on enough stitches in one go this time?   Clementine ball 1 weighs 35 g.  I tried to OVER estimate the long tail I'd need.  If I did too much it is okay because of the orange fringe on top in the end.  4th time's the charm, right?
  • I did not knit one round before starting the increases since I used a long-tail cast-on rather than provisional.  
  • Clementine ball 1 finished at the end of round 11.  Ball 2 weighs 49 g.  
  • You would honestly think that since this is my fourth woobie that I would have my act together.  Nope.  I kept messing up the increases and decreases.   Now, this is mainly because I decided to work on the project at crochet club, airports and other public places.  This means that I kept forgetting to click my row counter resulting in loosing track of whether I was on an even or odd row.  Thankfully this will be a little easier to keep track of once I start on the main section after the picot edging.  (Don't worry Caroline, I went back to make sure it would be perfect!!  Nothing but the best for baby Samoline.)  
  • I do my decreases a little differently from the way they're written for Rnd 13 (more like the instruction for Round 1 of main blanket.)  On a decrease round, I slip the first stitch and then knit until 2 stitches before the marker where I make a cdd.  The slipped stitch becomes part of the last cdd of the round. I realized that I don't think I've ever written this down, and given that this is my 4th woobie you would think that I'd have mentioned it before!  
  • Row 22, switched to Mongoose (50 g) to pick up the cast on edge.  (Note that like the bear the contrast stripe is 3 rounds.) 
  • Row 25, switched to Dandelion (49 g) to work on the body.  In crochet club I lost track of whether I was on an odd or even for a few times in the rows that followed, but I was always able to make things work in the end.   Hurrah for catching mistakes before it was too late!  
  • Yellow Ball 2 (49 g) joined half way through round 48.  
  • I knew from the bear that round 63 is where the extra decreases should start.  After row 55 I have 41 sts between each marker so I am right on target.  I love it when I'm on target!
  • After row 62 I have 35 sts between each marker and am ready to begin the additional decreases.  I love how I had to put this project down multiple times and I was able to get my stitch count correct, but the first two times I made a woobie with FEWER distractions (i.e. no baby Lucky) I messed up.  I made mistakes along the way on this giraffe, but I caught them in time so I was able to go back and fix them.  I guess being aware that I was going to make mistakes was helpful after all.  
  • I am having so much more trouble on this woobie!  I think that having a baby has really altered my focus.  Thankfully I've been catching my silly mistakes, as I want this to be perfect for baby Samoline!
I moved into a new apartment in June, and this project was the only knitting project I had accessible.  (NO DISTRACTIONS!  MUST FINISH BEFORE BABY GETS HERE!!)  As I was nearing the top of the head at the end of July, I realized *gasp*, I don't know where my fiberfill is!  Thankfully I had it listed on the packing inventory so I knew what box to look in.


This is the first of the woobies I've created to have some spots on the blankie portion itself.  They were a cinch to knit but unfortunately my stitching will show up on the wrong side of the fabric. I have a feeling this little boy won't mind, though.  I considered crocheting the spots, but in the end decided to just follow the pattern as written.



I was nervous when it came time to stitch the ears onto the giraffe head.  I wish that there were some step by step photos to help with the placement.   I folded the ears in half and stitched them to the sides of the head.  Then I took the inner side and secured that down so they would be less floppy.


Attaching the horns was much easier after the ears were on.  i'm thrilled with the way the placement worked out.  (and relieved!)


Mane time.  I wonder how this will hold up after machine washing (I have not machine washed Lucky's woobie yet.)


My sassy little giraffe needed a hair cut.


I finished this project 1 day shy of 6 months since casting on.  It used Orange 67 g, Mongoose 17 g, and Dandelion 98 g.


Thankfully there are some photos of the spot placement on the Ravelry page to use as reference.



I am SO GLAD that I finished this project before the little guy comes into the world.  I love you, Caroline and Sam!


"Guess What?  I fed a giraffe!" - Caroline after my bachelorette party.  I love you (and not just because you always read my blog!)