FO- Augustine Aubergine: The Cutest Eggplant You've Ever Seen

Augustine had a lovely little frolic in the garden outside my office building yesterday. I must give credit to Yoelknits, since she suggested the name for this little cutie. There were lots of great names suggested, but I'm a sucker for the fanciful.

Pattern: Aubergine, in Amigurumi Knits

Yarn: stash yarn- the purple is acrylic, the green is superwash merino. Machine washable is necessary when making plushies that might be given to small kids.

Needles: 3.25 mm dpns.

Mods: Well, the limbs and face aren't part of the pattern. I embroidered the face on, although I'm not sure if I feel that the eyes turned out as well as I would have liked. I knit the arms by casting on 13 stitches onto dpns and working in the round for 1 inch. The decrease round was k2tog to the last stitch, k1. Next round: knit. Do the decrease round again, thread yarn through remaining for stitches. The legs were exactly the same, only I made them 2.5 inches before doing the first decrease round, and I angled the feet up by just adjusting the polyester fill inside. Augustine Aubergine is very excited to match the bearded irises! Notes: The actual needle size called for is 3.75, but I couldn't find mine when I was looking to cast on, and figured a slightly small and more densely knit plushie wouldn't be a bad thing. I still stand by the needle choice, I think it worked out well. She does sit up on her own quite well, and has a nice plump shape. The pattern was well written and error-free, and was a really quick knit. I should mention that it is designed to have no seaming, which is incredible! I stitched the bottom of the green leaves down, which has created some shadowing across her face, but otherwise I'm really pleased with it. She's going to make a nice little gift to a friend's little one!

Amigurumi Knits- Eggplant in Progress

I'll admit it- one of the major reasons I've wanted to learn to crochet is make amigurumi toys. Who can resist such cuteness? But my crochet skills are just not up to par yet, and I find that being such a beginner can be really frustrating-each time I haul out the hook, I have to spend time focusing on learning the basics (I just learned how to crochet in the round), and not much whipping up of crochet amigurumi creatures. Fortunately, us knitters now have a solution: Amigurumi Knits! I first heard of this book over on Orata's blog, and was immediately smitten- I've been eyeing Hansi's designs for a while, and here is the book version of collected cuteness. The book is divided into 4 sections, each containing related patterns: the first section has garden veggies (tomato, eggplant, carrot, peas in a pod, garlic, cucumber); garden critters (earthworm, praying mantis, ants, garden snail, spider); sea creatures (crab, octopus, jellyfish, anglerfish, sea star, sun star); and then three wonderful mythological creatures (kraken, jakalope, and nessie the Loch Ness monster). I'm a sucker for knitted toys- kids love them, adults love them. Cuddly softies are always a win. So, I cast on for the eggplant this weekend: (I apologize for it's dishelved state- I know the top looks like Bart Simpson's head, but I will wet block those leaves down when it's finished!) Although the instructions are simply for a gorgeous stuffed eggplant, I'm going to add a face and some limbs, give him a little personality. But I can't bear to call him Eggplant, I need a better name. Monsieur Aubergine? Eggy Purple? Anyone have any ideas? P.S.- Midas is coming along, it's nearing the finish line! I'll have a pictorial update next week, I promise.