And Then There Were Two

Pattern: Hop by Susan B. Anderson for Blue Sky Alpacas
Yarn: Blue Sky Alpacas Organic Cotton (I think), unknown colorway, and Dream in Color Classy in Happy Forest
Needles: US 3 (3.25 mm) and US 5 (3.75 mm) dpns
Started/Completed: September 18/October 8

This bunny was so cute I had to make him again. Luckily, I had a good excuse -- a new cousin in the family. She'll be geting the usual handknits (sweater, hat, etc.) eventually, but we'll be meeting her for the first time this coming weekend and I didn't want to come empty handed.

Hop, version two, is very similar to the first go-round. I did make a few minor changes, some intentional, some not. One change of the latter category is this bunny's tail, which is just a bit more voluminous.

A change done on purpose this time was to alter my cast on. The pattern has you cast on as you would for straight knitting, join to knit in the round, and then later use the cast on tail to stitch up the hole. I decided that it made more sense to use Emily Ocker's circular cast on, so all I had to do after knitting a few rounds was snug it up and secure the end. It was a small change, but it did save some time.

I also did lifted increases rather than the knit front and back specified in the directions for the feet. The end result is the same, but I like the smoother look it creates.

The yarn for the second bunny came by way of my aunt -- the same aunt who taught me to knit a couple of decades ago. She knit Rainbow a couple of beautiful sweaters and wrapped up the extra yarn for me when she delivered them. There was no tag with the two skeins of yarn leftover from the one sweater, but to my eye and touch, they're Blue Sky Organic Cotton.

As with the first bunny, the face is embroidered using a bit of leftover brown sock yarn and fully secured so that baby fingers and mouths can't disfigure it. I think these two make quite a handsome pair, don't you?