This was a fun little knit for a friend’s baby. When he was finished he looked strangely naked until I gave him a scarf to wear… I think it was the making of him! Elijah is made from Rowan Cashsoft Baby Dk, while his scarf is made from tiny amounts of Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino.

A few notes about this pattern:

1. It is extremely well written, with no ambiguity anywhere about what to do or where to pick up stitches.
2. Picking up and knitting stitches against an already-stuffed body part is surprisingly difficult - the first few rows of each limb are really quite torturous, but once you are over it, the beauty of not having to sew up any parts makes it worthwhile :-)
3. The increases used here are mainly M1L and M1R… on the stuffed body they leave tiny holes that I feel look a bit rustic and give Elijah a definite ‘home-made’ look. (This may be part of his charm, but to get a more professional looking finish I might be tempted next time to try out a different increase method.)
4. This pattern forced me, once and for all, to master the use of double pointed needles. (I often cheat with mini circulars.) This was made vastly easier by adopting a set of lovely rosewood sox stix by Lantern Moon… so much easier to work with than slippery metal ones! I am a convert to dpns.