Gigi - My First Hippo Rug

Gentle Gigi

Gigi was very much a work in progress from long before yarn touched the hook.  When my niece, Erica, announced her pregnancy, we were all elated!  Remember when I mentioned all the babies in the last blog post?  This is the second of the group for this year.  Erica has always loved hippo's and everyone knows it.  She commented on one of my elephant rugs requesting a hippo rug.  I prayed there would be a hippo rug on Ira Rott's website, but she did not have one yet.  I didn't like any other styles I found online, so I had to get creative.  

I was desperate to make this happen, but I didn't know if it was going to be possible.  I let Erica know I was going to attempt something, but I couldn't make any promises.  Ira did have a pattern for a hippo lovey that was so adorable.  As I looked over the features, I immediately knew I would make this for her, but I still wanted to find a way to make her a rug.  After all, it was kind of a trademark for me now.

I printed out the pattern and looked over the design and then it hit me.  Surely, I could figure this out on my own!  I glanced over all of the patterns in Ira Rott's library and decided I could modify the Eh Moose rug to create a hippopotamus rug.  Easy peasy, right?!?  Well.....maybe.....but I was determined, remember! My husband can attest to how many times I wasn't sure it was going to turn out right.  I wanted to stop at least ten times!  I stayed the course and completed her in enough time to finish both the rug and the lovey in plenty of time.

She has a quirky attitude and you can see it in her eyes.  She's not perfect, but that gives her a special flair!

Now let's talk about the lovey.  I have decided stuffed animals are not my specialty.  But, if I stand back and look at her with the same quirkiness of the rug, I am mostly satisfied.  Erica is happy, so I am happy and that's all that matters.  Just don't look to close at her and you won't notice the imperfections.  I know I am harder on myself than I need to be, but if I were to ever do it again, I might hope for some improvement, but I won't count on it.

Baby Genevieve will be here before we know it, she won't care if the nostrils are crooked (I mean quirky).  I hope she has the same love for hippos as her momma!

For more Gigi pics, click here to see the full album.

Until next time...There is still one more creation to come this year, so keep your eyes peeled! ~RR

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Lexington - My Ninth Elephant Rug

Babies! Babies! Babies!  

All on the way!  

You know what that means!  

Time for more rugs!

Baby Landon (my great-nephew) will be here in just a couple of weeks!  He is scheduled to arrive at the beginning of August.  We don't really think he is going to wait that long to make his appearance, but only time will tell.

Both of these ladies are my nieces and both are pregnant with boys!

When I found out Kayla was doing the nursery theme in elephants, I was beyond excited! (They just make it too easy sometimes! LOL!)  I officially started on Lexington on May 6th.  The shower date was set for June 23rd.  I know, I know, how absolutely crazy that I get started over a month early. (49 days to be exact.)  What was I ever going to do with all this time?  If I just do a little a day, I will be done with time to spare.  Who just laughed at that?  Come on, admit it!  I am pretty sure you all know exactly how this went.

Day 1 - May 6th (Officially Day 1 of 49)

So optimistic, I have a lot of time to get this done!  This is so uncharacteristic of me! (Feeling very confident!)

Just getting started!  May 6th

 Day 2 - May 7th (Officially Day 2 of 49)

Am I really going to keep this up?  I am so good!  A little a day and this will be done in no time!

Progress!  Let's do a little every day!  May 7th

Day 3 - May 12th (Officially Day 7 of 49)

Okay, I might not be able to work every day, but at least every few days.  All is well in the world.  Just keep working! Taking lots of pictures to show detail.  Adding the trunk and hair at the top start to make it feel real! (Still feeling amazing!  I can do this!)

This picture says it all!

 Day 4 - June 9th (Officially Day 35 of 49)

Time for a chat.  Let's stop and talk about everything that brought this project to a halt for almost a month!  First, I was finishing a class and had lots of homework.  Second, I started a new job.  Third, Memorial Day weekend camping trip exhausted a whole chunk of time.  The shower is officially in 2 weeks!  I am starting to lose my optimism.  But, I will get it done! 

Starting the ears!

Day 5 - June 17 (Officially Day 43 of 49)

What the heck!?!  Time is not passing normally.  Days are just flying by!  Learning a new job is exhausting.  I just don't even want to make time to crochet! (Maybe, I won't get this done in time.  How about some picture and a promise to Kayla that it will be done before Landon arrives?  I feel this is acceptable. - I really don't, but it is a thought that went through my mind.) 

Day 6 - June 20th (Officially Day 46 of 49)

I had a renewed ambition to finish.  I really wanted to show my new co-workers my creation!  The shower was 3 days away and I was going on vacation the following week.  I didn't think I would have another shot to show him off!  I completely finished the small details and assembled him late Wednesday night.  The following pictures are taken in my office on Thursday.  This all caused me to be finished 3 whole days early! 

I always love how much better the pictures come out when you have great fluorescent lighting flooding the room.

June 23rd - Shower Day (Officially Day 49)

I think she liked him!  Her expressions were great!  I don't always get to see the recipients reaction, so this was priceless for me.

Until next time...I have a few more babies arriving in the family this year.  I can't wait to show you some more creations! ~RR

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Edie - My Eighth Elephant Rug

Meet Edie!  

She was created for a very special little girl who is scheduled to arrive in October.  I have to admit, I was a little rushed to finish her.  I needed her ready for the baby shower on Saturday and I was up late on Friday adding the finishing touches.  The procrastinator in me was showing.  I try really hard to stay organized and on task, but sometimes it is just too much and my brain convinces itself there is plenty of time. (There is never plenty of time!)

My friend, Gina, is the baby's grandmother.  When we found out Aubree's nursery would have an elephant theme, we knew we couldn't go wrong! It does seem to be my specialty after all.  I was a little nervous because I had just seen a post from the designer of the pattern regarding a change.  I almost thought I should stick with the original design.  Why change something that was already working?  But, I had faith in Ira Rott!  I have been using her patterns for awhile now, and she never ceases to amaze me.  The changes wouldn't even be noticed by the average person.  They were just tweaks to make the flow of the pattern better.

As the present was unwrapped, I heard the oh's and ah's from the guests.  It always makes me feel good to hear the pleasant surprises and amazement.  I guess I just don't see it as well as everyone else. Don't get me wrong, I know they are beautiful creations.  I just tend to pick apart my work and I will always notice the little mistakes.  Okay, okay I am working on changing my outlook.  The mistakes give them "character".

Congratulations to the Cole and Walker families!  I can't wait for Miss Aubree to arrive!

I'm not sure what my next big project will be, but be assured, you will hear from me again soon!

RR

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Naming my Rugs

Did you ever wonder why I name my rugs?  The answer is pretty simple.  They seemed to be such a big hit and I knew I would be making several.  I didn't want to loose track and I didn't want to name them after the recipients.  Sometimes, I don't know who is receiving them.  Some of the names bare a slight resemblance to their intended.  I just didn't want to name them after anyone in particular. They really are very large projects and I wanted to be able to remember each one individually. Projects that takes days or weeks to complete are always memorable, but naming them gives them character!

After realizing I had hundreds of pictures, I knew that naming them helped.  Now, if I am looking for pictures for an exact elephant, I can remember details like eye placement and bow colors to help determine which is which.  They do seem to run together some days, but I can usually figure out which one I am looking for fairly quickly.  I am hoping to keep this blog going to make sure each one is documented thoroughly.

As always, I hope you enjoy following these projects.  If you would like to look back at any of the previous rugs, you can click the links below the pictures.

Orchid

Busy Bee

Ellie

Horton

Lissa

Bright Eyes

Telly

Eloise

Edie

Thank you for visiting, I hope to see you soon!
RR

Eloise - My Seventh Elephant Rug

This is a very late post. Eloise was finished 10 months ago.  I purposefully avoided posting anything about her because she was a gift for my cousin.  When my Aunt asked me to make one, I was so excited, but if anyone in the family would have liked or shared the post, my cousin might have seen it.  I just couldn't risk it.  It has happened to me before on the Owl rug, Bright Eyes.  Then, life happened and I forgot to post her!

Oops!  I forgot to crop out the shoe!

As I love to point out, this is a pattern that was designed and written by Ira Rott.  She is one of my favorite designers.  Her patterns are so well written and easy to follow.  I have since purchased several other patterns from her, but haven't had time to try them all.  The owl and the elephant are the most demanded by far!  Ira pays very close attention to her customers.  She has just revised the pattern and I can't wait to work it up for my next customer.

I will see you all in another week or so when I post the elephant that is currently on the hook.

RR

Telly - My Sixth Elephant

Mr. Telly was a trying fellow.  He wasn't any more difficult than the others, I just couldn't make myself work on him non-stop.  I had to walk away and do something else every once in awhile.

Telly was commissioned by a fellow Etsy user that wanted him for her son's nursery.  She had found someone else's posting, but I don't think that shop had enough time to do a special order for her.  She contacted me from my posting for Horton.  She wanted him to be lighter than my other elephants.  I found the light grey yarn on another website and sent her a picture of a swatch of the yarn.  She said it was great!  Almost immediately I received her order and payment.  Her only request was the lighter grey yarn and try to do the eyes as close to the example as possible.  So, I told her I would get the yarn and start on him right away.  Well, who knew that a standard grey yarn from a popular company would be so hard to find!  None of my craft stores carried it and I was too scared to try another color because I had sent her a picture of the yarn and she approved.  The defeated shopper that I was, went home yarnless. (I know, it's not a word!)  I jumped online and ordered it from Amazon and it was delivered two days later.  I was so mad at myself because I felt I could be almost done with it by then.  My buyer was not upset in the least.  She knew it was going to take some time and she wasn't in a hurry.

Here is the picture that she sent me to work from:

I worked on him on and off for a week and a half and he was finally finished.  I had just put on the finishing touches and took my final picture.  I then opened her original picture to make my final comparisons to see if something needed to be changed.....I almost lost it.  The eyes were so WRONG!!!  They were huge in comparison!  I panicked and send her a picture cautiously asked what she thought and told her that the eyes would not be very hard to change out.  (It really wasn't that big of a deal to change them, I was just so irritated at myself that I could get to this point without noticing the difference.)

Here are the pictures of Telly:

As you can see, the eyes are huge.  I do know how I messed up, I just can't believe I didn't notice.

Well, her response was an amazing "I like yours better!!  I think the eyes are adorable!!"

Would you just look at those extra exclamation points!?!  I was over the moon happy!  She liked it, she really liked it.

She is my first real sale on Etsy!  I wanted her to be beyond happy with Mr. Telly!  He is going out in the mail today. Here's hoping for a great review!

My next project is....surprise!  Another elephant!  I will be working on a few smaller projects while I am working on her.  So, who knows what my next post will be.  I have a few things in the works that you are all just going to LOVE!

RR