Effey the Heffalump and Jeff the Giraffe

I am getting quite addicted to the african flower motif animals by Heidi Bears.

For Effey I used Stylecraft DK: cream, jaffa, aspen and yellow.  I used a size 3mm hook.

I made her with her trunk curled upwards as I think they look nicer like that.  She is for my youngest daughter's birthday in May.

For Jeff the Giraffe, again another Heidi Bears pattern, I used Stylecraft DK: cream, turquoise, shrimp and spring green.  I used a size 2.5 hook.  I really enjoyed making Jeff as it was a little more than just making the motifs and assembling.  You had the ears, horns and mane to do. I think he looked rather handsome!  He was made for my eldest daughter's birthday in May (also). She will be 19 - never too old for a soft toy.  Here are a selection of photos of Jeff:

Ellie and Jeff

Ellie and Jeff

Minstrel the doorstop

I was asked to make a cat doorstop.  I've not done much amigurami so searched for an easy skill pattern and found this: Amigurami Black Cat Door Stopper which can be found on the Lion Brand (pattern number 90695AD).

Feeling slightly anxious, I was about to make a start when they asked if I could make it to look like their cat......that is to say, the same markings as their cat.  Fortunately, it is a black and white cat and not a tortoiseshell.  So after many photos sent, I drew a rough sketch of the cat and with its markings.  Here are all the parts:

Head with eyes, nose and whiskers

             
Then I added the eyes and stitched on the nose, whiskers and ears and stuffed the head and it started looking more like a cat. I lightly stuffed the ears so that they had a softer feel to them. I stuffed the tail by using the end of a large hook to poke the stuffing in.

With this project, I decided against using sand and went for curtain weights.  I used about 25 which I put inside a bag. You can get them in fairly large quantities off ebay. 

curtain weights

After I had stitched him altogether, I gave him a nice red collar to complete his appearance.  I think he looks rather smart and was pleased with how he turned out.