Last week I posted the article about the Easter Bunny Surprise! I made for my little one, but that wasn’t the first little animal I had made. My sister-In-Law, who lives in Tucson, is expecting a baby in April. She had her baby shower last month and I decided it was a perfect time to make a gift for her. Grandmas on both sides of the family had already announced their intent to make afghan blankets, so I decided to make something a little more cuddly.

I once again turned to my favorite book, One-Skein Wonders, Crochet, for a simple and cute puppy pattern. It was my first experience making a magic circle, and I’ll let you know right now, it’s one of the toughest things to learn “backwards” in videos. I say backwards because I’m left-handed and most tutorials are for right-handers. Once I got that down, it was a pretty easy time.

I really enjoyed making this little guy. It let me work on keeping my stithcehs nice and tight and even o the stuffing wouldn’t fall out. I used caron Simply Soft Coffee Latte Yarn, and really enjoyed the way the dark brown created little “spots” on the puppy. I decided an acrylic was the best choice for ease of washing and care with it going to a little one.

Now, before you all start freaking out on me, and saying that I’m going to choke the little child and that I’m a horrible person for using buttons for the eyes, let me explain: The baby shower’s theme was “Cute as a Button” I have informed the mother and everyone in contact with the puppy that a switch to safety eyes or just stitching on little eyes with some black yarn might be a better option.

I had a person lambast me about how irresponsible I was to make a toy like that after posting a simple pic to my Facebook page, so I wanted to clear the air. On a side note: People just want to suck the simple joy out of things by being the harbingers of doom online WAY too much.

I hope you enjoy my little project. I was apparently praised by the mothers and grandmothers at the shower and they couldn’t believe I had made it. I really hope the little one likes it. My daughter was really sad to see it leave after she had spent so much time “training” the puppy for her new cousin.

What are some other good patterns or ideas you’ve made for newborns in the family?

I fully plan on sending a bunch of other little things down to them in the future.