Chocolate Bunny & Rabbit

Chocolate Bunny has been, perhaps, my favorite knit item to date. 

It's certainly not the most difficult, and some might not see the charm I find in this knit, but I found it irresistible and just had to make it for the Easter Swap.  I found this pattern after doing a search on Ravelry for Easter related knits.  This one jumped out at me.  I wasn't sure how hard the pattern was going to be.  I've gotten used to reading patterns written by Susan B. Anderson, who writes wonderfully clear instructions to all her knittables.  This pattern caused some confusion for me at first, but I eventually figured it out.

Back side

And once the knitting was finished, I decided to embellish and embroider him to make this chocolate bunny as realistic as possible, hence the blue & yellow eyes and yellow ribbon on the neck.  I was so very tempted to keep this little guy for myself.  I used KnitPicks yarn - colorway Truffle - how fitting for milk chocolaty goodness.

Embroidered eyes & Ribbon

My other knit project, and the project I originally intended on knitting for the swap was Rabbit, a free pattern on Spud & Chloe. 

Rabbit is intriguing because I'd never knit ears like this before, as well learning this furry fella held a few secrets that were fun.  Can you tell?  He's got a tennis ball in his tummy!

I love his expression!

I usually choose to knit in the round using magic loop, so I proceeded to do so for this project. After the tennis ball was placed in the body, I found it very difficult to knit around the ball and maintain even stitches and tension.  If I were to go back and do this project again, I would most certainly use dpns instead!

Back view - see his cute bushy tail!

Another secret this furbunny holds is that his ears can be manipulated to give him different expressions.  He's kind of quirky in that way...love it!

I can't remember if I wrote about the swap in an earlier post so I may be repeating myself at this point.  I'm a member of the Itty Bitty Knits group on Ravelry. Consistently, there are swaps held for members of the group to knit handmade goodies for others in the group, as well as send along something for another project.  Any goodies you'd like to include in the swap are the decision of the sender, but definitely appreciated and loved by the recipient.

Our current swap is the Easter swap.  For your secret swap partner you may choose to make any of Susan B. Anderson's Easter themed patterns - be it toy or hat.  In my case, I chose to knit a toy and send the yarn and other necessary materials for a  hat (Bunny Tail).  And since it's Easter, there are so many yummy Easter goodies, it makes the swap so much more fun to include these items.  For me, this meant chocolate eggs, Cadbury Eggs, marshmallow Peeps, Easter type games, mini chocolate bunnies, etc.  I also sent a pattern for Chick & Egg (an Alan Dart pattern).  I even made the swap wrapping Easter themed - wrapping all goodies in Easter treat bags and stuffing the box with Easter grass to provide a little extra protection for the more delicate objects.

I also included an egg cozy - Cadbury Chick.  A quick knit that's meant to cover a Cadbury Egg (works for either large or small eggs).  These would make for fun Easter baskets treats.

Last week over break I got my package in the mail to my swap partner on Tuesday and she received it on Wednesday! :) I can't wait for the next swap!