A while ago, I tried to knit a unicorn, for a friend’s newborn baby. I knitted his head, and added different colour threads for his hair (which took a while). Then decided it just wouldn’t work, so knitted a bear instead.
But after a while I knitted the head a body too, just to see – still no clothes – and he sat in the yarn bowl, naked for a while.
Then, Julie released a pattern for a horse/unicorn/donkey, which was just what I needed, but a bit too late. This prompted me to make him a T-shirt. And once I’d done that, it wasn’t that much harder to finish him off properly:
Actually, I really like him, after all that!
He’s got pretty solid / robust ears, as originally they were made to withstand a baby pulling them about, and a little tail, which I’m too lazy to photograph. In the end, I think he worked out pretty well. Poor thing.
Now I’m trying to decide if I should actually give him to the intended recipient after all. She was so kind about the bear, and said that it was the perfect size for a newborn – the only thing he had that was the right size to hold. (The bear didn’t have any buttons on his clothes, in case you’re worried.)
In the spirit of tidying up, I also finally made the light grey elephant a dress. I can’t even remember when I knitted her she’s been waiting so long. Now I just need to force her onto someone who may appreciate her. (You can really see why Etsy took off as a business, right?) I have a horrible feeling I’ve given a knitted toy to anyone who may want one. Maybe it’s finally time to knit something else. Or knit neater and sell them for charity, maybe.
Anyway. Tidier. Fewer naked animals lolling about in the heat. Can only be a good thing… I think?
Occasional Crafter 
Thank you so much for your occasional blog. I am always very excited to see your heading in my inbox. I always loved your tatting (which I do at U3A and now I am enjoying your knitting which I think is very neat! So you don’t ned to say that you will knit neater as I don’t think that would be possible! Thank you again for your inspirations,
Carol in a very cold Melbourne!
Thank you so much – your comment has made my day!
I must get back to tatting. So much has changed in the last few years and I keep looking at my tatting (and other people’s) and wondering how I could’ve stopped for so long. I hope you’re enjoying it.
And greetings back from London, which is currently far too hot!
I completely agree with the comment that you don’t need to improve on your neatness if you decide to knit for charities. Everything about your little critters, from your skill to your yarn choice, is head and shoulders above most charity offerings (not to be unkind to charity knitters – but I just was!) Making your knitting available to the public is a minefield though, as I discovered a while ago. I offered to knit little dolls for someone I know, who sells her crocheted blankets on Folksy, so she could include them with the blankets as a sort of package. I didn’t want payment, just a reason to carry on knitting them. When she informed me of the rules and regulations (like having to conduct fire tests and strength tests on your dolls at home, which meant knitting then destroying them!) I began stressing at the thought that my dolls might possibly kill someone (!) and gave up the idea. The same rules apply to charities. I’m sure you know this but I didn’t.
Yeah… this is what worries me. I was thinking more of selling them and donating the money, but this is also a problem because a lot of people make a living selling them, and I don’t want to take away from that either. I work, so this is just a thing I do to relax, not to put food on the table. I dunno. In the meantime, they’re sitting here waiting. I think I will give the unicorn to the person it was intended for. Then she’ll have a bear *and* a unicorn, but I’m sure she’ll manage 🙂
Knitting to relax is also a key factor. Our hobbies probably fulfil us in ways not attainable at work (I haven’t worked most of my adult life, so not sure if that’s true though.) Once you think about selling items you may be introducing a ‘work’ element into the process with some associated stress etc. Definitely give the unicorn to your friend. I knitted a Jean Greenhowe humpty dumpty for my eldest son 30 years ago when he was 5. I was genuinely surprised when he took it with him when he left home for uni and it’s now on a bookshelf in his home. I didn’t know he felt that attached to it. It’s always worth making things for other people
I think your animals are utterly and uniquely charming, they have a lovely spirit. Recipients could only treasure them.
Thank you! 🙂