Little Cotton Rabbit from Willow Hill Yarn Company — Day 2

Heading into face the challenge…

This is where the rabbit hits the….um, perhaps I ought to use a different cliché.

The head and face are this project’s crucial steps, in my opinion.  They absolutely determine the cute factor.  The body can be technically perfect, but if the head looks odd, the whole rabbit is going to look odd.  I was nervous.

Fortunately for me, Julie  Williams gives lots of supportive, helpful instructions.  Of course, like every Pinterest Fail you’ve ever giggled over, my own personal results fail in charm when compared with the photos she provides.  Her bunnies look quaint and lovely.  Mine is assuredly going to end up looking “homemade.”

Still, come on.  It’s a bunny.  In springtime.  In a pink polkda-dotted dress.  Really, how wrong can I go?  

Wait, don’t answer that.

The most helpful of Julie’s comments was that it takes two or three tries to get the face right.  This proved true.  Since she handles the nose and mouth with a single threat embroidered in a clever sequence, you can take it out and start again with minimal fuss.  It did, in fact, take me four tries to get something I felt was close to pleasing. After that, the eyes were easier to align.

Phew!  My rabbit’s not totally adorable, but she can hold her own.  She can hold her little stuffed head up high (eventually).  And I can live with that.

Little Cotton Rabbit from Willow Hill Yarn Company — Day 1

The looming danger of non-cutenes...

I find it daunting to knit a stuffed animal. 

Those of you who remember the legendary “Sheepmantis" know I haven't had the best luck with such projects. 

I believe it’s because while you can follow directions perfectly and produce the exact casing required, stuffing it wrong can still land you with lumpy and disfigured results.  Let’s face it:  nobody wants to hug a lumpy sheep.  Or teddy bear.  Or, in this case, Little Cotton Rabbit.

The looming danger of non-cuteness starts you second-guessing your work, knowing your competency can fall flat at the hands of a handful of plush filling.  It’s not like I can take my bunny to Build a Bear and have them bail me out.

I decided, therefore, to start with a piece of this project that most closely resembles regular knitting. In this case, it’s the dress the bunny would wear.  I was also traveling at the time, and as such couldn’t really pack stuffing, nor would I be in many situations where I could pay the close attention that the bunny’s individual body pieces would require. 

This turned out to be an excellent strategy. I got a nice surge of accomplishment at creating a cute little polkadot bunny dress. This gave me confidence to start next on the piece requiring the most art talent in my opinion, that being the head. 

We’ll see if my choice was a good one. A cute dress won't do much for a homely bunny.