A couple of mice passed through our house over the last couple of months. The new-fangled, pleasant way, involving knitting rather than food scraps forgotten in corners.
This is actually Mouse #2–I don’t have pictures of Mouse #1, which I gave to Rahul’s little cousins over Thanksgiving, but it looks pretty much exactly the same as this one: i.e., very, very cute.
Pattern: Mousie, by Ysolda Teague, from Whimsical Little Knits
Size made: bigger than a rat, smaller than a ROUS
Yarn used: Caron Simply Soft Eco: about 0.3 skeins (74.7 yards) of Natural 0002, and about 0.1 skeins (31.5 yards) of regular Simply Soft in Soft Pink 9719. Scraps of black yarn for eyes.
Needles used: US 3 / 3.25 mm 40″ Knit Picks Options circular (magic loop). Well, given the US 3 size, these are not actually Knit Picks, but the compatible Knit Pro tips purchased off eBay.
Date started: December 12, 2009
Date completed: December 13, 2009
Mods:
- Knit the gigantic ears separately and sewed them on later, rather than picking up and knitting.
- Embroidered a friendly smile:
- Stuffed mouse with gingham scraps from my fabric scrap bag, and weighted the bottom with pennies (the pattern suggests beans, but I was afraid if the toy was washed and the beans got wet, they would get moldy or soft or start growing inside the toy)
Notes:
This is a great little pattern for gifts, very quick and simple, but with adorable results–I knit up the mouse in about 4 hours total. With the worsted-weight yarn, it came out much bigger than I would have expected–here it is sitting on my hand for scale:
I didn’t have any suitable mouse-colored, machine-washable fingering-weight yarn, but I prefer to think the larger sized mouse is maybe less tiny and adorable, but more huggable for a small child.
I sent the mouse to my little cousin Emma, who is just about 3 years old now, for Christmas. I’m told she loved it, and named it Sally (without any prompting from Mom and Dad!)
ADORABLE.
Aww, that mouse is so, so adorable!! I love those big ears. Great job!! I find that even people who don’t normally care that much for hand knits go absolutely gaga over knitted toys.
Hee, cute.
“Please, sir, can I have some more?” (said the mouse in the 2nd photo).
Way too cute! I love that she is huge, like a god among other mice.
It’s a perfect size! And so damn cute.
Aw, Mousie. I love this little guy. I like that yours is a bit bigger…seems more huggable.