With the leftover yarn from the Chicken Hat, I knew I would have to make something super fluffy. There is a local maker who specializes in making loveys (a snuggly stuffed animal and blanket hybrid), and families absolutely adore her stall at markets. Seeing her finished products inspired me to give loveys a try, with my own spin of course. Since my yarn is white, I thought a lamb would be a safe choice.

• 2/3 skein of Bernat Sheepy – a super bulky weight (6) yarn (colour A: Cotton Tail)
• 1/20 skein of Red Heart Soft – a worsted weight (4) yarn (colour B: Charcoal)
• 7g Regular Cotton Balls
• Size J (6.00mm) hook
• Size N (10.00mm) hook

Pattern by Emilia at Swe Craft Corner
MODIFICATIONS by tick-tock hobbies

To start off, I was using much heavier weight yarns, so I had to increase the hook size. For all work done with the grey, I used the 6.00mm hook, and for the white yarn, I stuck with the 10.00mm hook. I also chose to make some changes to the head shaping, as I thought that the head would need to be bigger to match the larger hooks and yarn. After the yarn change row (24 stitches), I did another round of increases to bring me to 30 stitches. I then worked three rounds of just single crochet, before beginning the decrease rounds. It also took me a few rounds of trial and error to get the right dimensions for the ‘body’ or blanket portion. In the end, it turned out that 30 was my magic number for this project, and that was how many stitches to work for each row. I completed 14 rows before running low on yarn, and I thought it was the perfect size to match the head.

I thought it was really interesting that the ‘arms’ on this lovey were just tied-off corners! It was a bit of a lifesaver for me, as I definitely wouldn’t have had enough yarn to crochet a proper 3-D arm or knotted off leg, like I’ve seen in other loveys. I asked my friend if her daughter would want two or four limbs, and we settled on two. I think this was a great choice, since it looks like the lamb is ready to give hugs now, and you still get the blanket aspect of it with the loose bottom corners.

As I mentioned last post, I despise working with this yarn. It is so hard to see your stitches, so you really have to work by feel alone. I got so frustrated trying to keep my stitches at 30 for each row that I eventually used stitch markers every five stitches so that I could get across each row. It definitely slowed me down, having to clip and unclip all the markers, but it meant that I wasn’t ripping out entire rows each time, so it was kind of worth it. I would definitely recommend stitch markers for all fluffy yarn projects though, as the extra time it takes to use them will save you so much headache later on when you are trying to count stitches.

This lamb is off to its new home already, but I will have another lovey adventure coming up soon as there is a younger sister who also needs a lovey if her sister is getting one. Let me know what animal you think I should try to make next, or if there is an easier yarn that I could be using.

Until next time, happy crafting!