Did you know there are apparently two ways to spell loveable? Lovable and loveable. Who knew.
![Loveable Elephant](http://www.digginthedirt.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/16408355987_ea6e3178f8.jpg)
I made this guy once before for my friend Alice’s little boy, her first child. I’ve wanted to make him again ever since, so this time I made him for my baby. The pattern is Lovable Toys from the book Last Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson, and it’s a regular go-to for me in making baby gifts.
I used some really nice Brier Run Alpacas yarn from a little place called Oil Springs, Ontario, that my Mom bought for me for my birthday one year at a local tractor show with my Dad. I’ve been saving it for something special and this seemed really appropriate.
I had to bump up the needle size because this yearn is heavier in weight than the Blue Sky alpaca yarn that’s recommended in the pattern. This created a few false starts as I realized as I tried to get started that doing the double-strand as called for was too much on 4mm needles. I then tried doing it single stranded but I started to feel like the toy was going to be too small, and the fabric potentially too leaky once stuffed with fibre fill. So last weekend while I was at the cottage I opted to start over on 4.5mm needles double-stranded, which was perfect. But of course I didn’t have all the right tools, so I made it work with the magic loop method (see video below). I was able to make all the toy parts except the trunk, which I finished last night.
![Loveable Elephant](http://www.digginthedirt.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/16589678456_e8ba6fbf74.jpg)
Going with the magic loop method made for some tension issues moving from knitting the legs to knitting the body of the elephant. This pattern is made in a bunch of parts so it’s easy for this to happen. Despite this, I’m happy with how he turned out.
One more week of work left and then I hope to enjoy a couple weeks off before our bambino arrives! Can you believe the time has already come?! Whoa.