Saturday, June 18, 2011

Tah Dah: Very Hungry Caterpillar (Updated with Pattern Idea)

So I realize I've been super quiet. Our Red Roses winner is patiently waiting for her CD. It's taken a little longer than I would have hoped because she's really interested in getting it signed & I was out of town last weekend so I didn't see AJ at church. I'm working during his Mass this Sunday, so I'll be sending it with Dad to get autographed... assuming AJ is in town. I can't keep up with him. :)

I had to scroll through past entries to see if I had already shared this next project. I'm REALLY excited about it. My bestie is expecting a boy & her favorite book growing up was The Very Hungry Caterpillar. I absolutely love Eric Carle's illustrations and decided to try to make a baby "cocoon" & hat that looked like the caterpillar in the book.


I started with some Araucania Pomaire Solid that I received as a gift & had left over from the Forest vest. I bought a couple different colors of Araucania Patagonia, which is more "bumpy" with it's thick/thin texture. I think the tonal dye on both of them coupled with the bumpiness mimics the look of the paintings pretty well. I actually kind of wish I could have replaced the Pomaire with a similarly colored Patagonia, but it's a hard yarn to find and the price on this little piece got out of control anyway.

I improvised it for the most part. I think the cocoon itself might be a little big, but I'm not too concerned. The hat was just a basic baby hat shape with a rolled brim. I made the face out of scraps of Knit Picks Shine.


Overall I'm really happy with how it turned out. Such a quick knit and a satisfying result. The momma already has the book, so I bought a little Very Hungry Caterpillar rattle to go with the set. The family baby shower is a book theme, so I plan to give it to her then. I'm hosting the friend shower and have a whole stack of gifts I'm giving at that one. :)


For those asking for a pattern... I just free handed this and have no idea what I did. HOWEVER... you could just knit a basic baby hat pattern (like this one) and then crochet the details from this pattern. I just knit a tube for the cocoon. Basically something like this with alternated colors. Have fun!
Now what to do with the left over weird yarn......

2 comments:

chris said...

Very nice. I have a friend who found a pattern for this but it is crocheted and I prefer to knit so I'm trying to re-create the pattern for knit myself.

You did a very nice job!

Sharon Daniell said...

Is there any chance you could share your pattern? My daughter in law asked me if I could make one for her, but I really need a pattern (I'm not THAT clever!)

Your pattern is so cute!!