Another friend of mine is having a baby. This can only mean one thing… The inevitable baby shower. 😱😱😱 For me, showers (baby showers in particular) are akin to torture. Three words: Baby. Shower. Games. Ugh… Now, don’t get me wrong, I enjoy showering my good friends with gifts, but there is always the pressure as a “maker” to make something fabulous. However, I have this looming realization that the person to whom the gift is intended is going to stick it in their mouths, drag it through the mud, and probably spit up on it, and they won’t be able to comprehend the fact that someone put hours of love/work into that item. Heck, most of the adults I know don’t seem to understand that.
With that said, one of the most obvious items to knit/crochet is a baby blanket which just happens to be my absolute least favorite things to make. Why? I’m not 100% sure, as I quite enjoy making full size afghans, and a baby blanket is just a smaller version… Maybe one day I will gather my thoughts completely on that one, but until then, I will continue to find ways around making the dreaded baby blanket because I truly want to make things for my friends babies! (even if snot and spit-up end up all over it)
So, for this particular project, my way around that was a lovey! The theme for the baby shower was Baby Bunny. At a complete loss for what to make or buy (because I don’t always make things, I’m not that awesome 😉), I headed to the internet. For me, if I plan on making a yarn item, as opposed to sewing, my first stop is Ravelry. If you are not familiar with this website, wait until you have some time to explore it. It is a treasure trove of knit and crochet patterns. I personally find it better than Pinterest, and a lot of links from Pinterest will bring you to Ravelry anyway. So, once on Ravelry, I simply searched baby bunny and applied my favorite search filter: Free Patterns Only.
I came across The Crafty Mama Bear’s pattern for the 6 Point Star Baby Lovey on Ravelry. This clearly shows a star with six points, mine is only five. Not sure how I managed that, but it came out beautiful so that is an issue for next time. The pattern for the blanket part of the lovey is on The Crafty Mama Bear’s blog. Here is the link that will take you directly to the pattern. She has photos of the lovey with a bunny, owl or octopus. She provides link to each of the heads she used, but you could also use the head and arm patterns for just about any amigurumi pattern.
As you can see, I chose the bun head. I used the link the Crafty Mama Bear provided in her blog which led me over to Katrine Klarer’s blog post for her Bunny-lovey. She also provides a pattern for the blanket part of the lovey. Her version is essentially a large granny square, and is a much simpler pattern than the star if you wanted something easier and just as adorable. Be prepared to work in very tight stitches for the bunny! You don’t want any of the stuffing to come out. Also, I have heard mixed reviews on the plastic eyes being a choking hazard so I always opt for embroidery eyes when I make things for little ones, so you will notice my bunny is different in that respect, but otherwise I stuck to the pattern.
In conclusion, the bunny head pattern was easy to follow, a lot of very tight stitching. The only change I made to the head and arms was the embroidery. The blanket I would rate as a little more challenging. I attempted to follow the pattern as written, but did mess up somewhere as I only ended up with five points on my star instead of six, but I don’t believe this “mess up” had a negative effect on the end result, so I’m not really that upset about it. I used stash yarn and am honestly not sure what exactly it was. I just followed the yarn gauge. I would recommend both of these patterns.
Fancy Andy Wear 