Design Week day 5: Problems

Today for Design Week we are talking about problems we have had while designing our projects.

The hardest part of this project has been by far the ears.  I wanted my ears to actually look like elephant ears.   I have seen plushies with round ears, oval ears or even rectangular ears. Early this week I sat down with my sketches, a crochet hook and some scarp yarn and started trying to figure out to shape elephant ears.  I initially thought that I would start with an oval and add the shaping form there.  After several attempts and I had a pile of oddly shaped curly bits sitting next to me on the couch.  That's when I knew I was going about it wrong.  I tried making two circles, sewing them together and the crocheting around them.  I ended up with a an ear far too peanut shaped for my liking.  All of a sudden it occurred to me that I already knew exactly how to make the ears, it was a technique I used for several of the animals on Noah's Ark.  I needed to start a circle and after it got the the appropriate size turn and begin working flat.  As soon as I realized that I quickly hat ears worked up, that looked great.

As I mentioned on Wednesday,  I am having minor  yarn issues.   I did more research and discovered Bernat Cottontots is very similar to the Cottonade I had wanted but that they only do "baby colors".  Which means no grey or black or brights--Silly manufacturers who says babies have to wear pink and blue and only measly pastels. I decide to order the Knitpicks Brava and try it out for this pattern.  I have heard some really good things about it, its easy to find, washable and it fits in my budget.  I'll lose the lovely texture of the Cottonade, though.

To see what  the other designers are doing today visit FreshStiches.