Frogs & Fairies

I shared with you what I was sent in the “What’s at the Bottom of Your Garden?” swap, but I didn’t share what I sent to my partner. 

I think my package may have been a bit heavy on the frogs…but I still enjoyed putting it all together.  I had Pat’s name (plynn on Ravelry) and she had mentioned that she would prefer to see a little froggy sitting on her shelf. 

I dug around in my stash and found some Tahki Cotton Classic Lite in Moss Green.  Although she said it was okay for toys, I wanted to make little Ribbit (a Susan B. Anderson design) out of cotton as Pat has sensitivity to wool. 

I really like how Mr. Frog came out – the green is a dark, rich color.  And the yarn has a bit of a sheen, which makes it even better.  I opted to leave out the tennis ball as the toy knit up a bit smaller because the yarn was sport weight, not worsted.  Instead I filled his bottom with some poly pellets and fluffed him out with fiberfill and he was good to go.

A note on the hands and feet – many people weren’t really up for knitting 12 bobbles and then attaching them to the hands.  There are several helpful notes on knitters’ pages giving instruction or helpful tidbits on how to do these appendages in different ways.  I-cord seemed to be most popular.  I tried something different, but in the end went back to bobbles because I liked the effect better and I thought it gave a cleaner look (my icord fingers and toes looked terrible!).  It was tedious, but as I’ve found with most things, the extra effort was worth it when finished. 

I always like to include more than one handmade item if I can swing it.  I really wanted to sew a project bag, but I just ran out of time.  I did however, manage to include two other items I made.  I included a set of 5 frog and fairy stitch markers.  I can never get enough of markers, so I assume others can’t either.

And one of my favorite pieces of the swap, a Knit iPad Cover.  Pat recently received an iPad 2 so I thought it fitting to knit a cover to keep it safe.  Knit from Araucania Ruca Multy (color 22 Rose, Slate, Silver), this was a joy to knit (perhaps why it became my favorite). The cables are visually enticing, especially when stretched over the device.  This yarn was a self-striping, DK weight yarn made from sugar cane.  I’d never knit with sugar cane before. There is a slippery texture to this fiber, it glides nicely over your needles and hands.  I didn’t block the cover because it seemed unnecessary. Perhaps a wool would require blocking, but when pulled over my tablet, it stretched and evened out nicely.  Add a button and you’re done!

Something local is always included in my packages, so an Iowa magnet and a bar of sheep soap (Citrus splash? Raspberry vanilla?  I can’t rememeber) made locally and sold at a nearby LYS (Local Yarn Shop).

There were frog statutes and fairy & frog stickers.  A Tinker Bell Pez, a flower notepad and a little sheep eraser (okay, there was a lion too).  I also included some garden starter plants, strawberries and flowers.  I even found a frog puzzle (I really wanted a fairy puzzle but couldn’t find one.)

I sent a kit for Susan Anderson’s Flora and Fairies pattern, 5 skeins of Knit Picks Comfy Fingering (a cotton blend), Chibi needles and a pair of scissors.  Even if she doesn’t knit a fairy from this squooshy yarn, I’m sure she’ll find something she loves to knit.

Finally, some chocolate and a skein of Handmaiden Sea Silk in the Glacier colorway.  I was very tempted to keep this myself as I am a blue sorta gal…but I figured she needed a little spoiling too.

Pat – I hope you enjoyed it all as much as I enjoyed putting this all together for you!