5/21/13 - Have all the critters ready to sew on (everyone has faces except for the bird). Ark is sewn to the blanket then realized I wanted to tuck the house/giraffe into the edge. Will attack it fresh tomorrow!

I’ve looked at a LOT of other’s versions of this blanket and most complain about the number of pieces that have to be sewn together…. boy are they right! The giraffe alone is 11!

I modeled the lion after another I saw here and improvised. The mane is different (I used Bernat Boa Dark Mink and used the same stitch as the giraffe’s mane).

I kept a number of parts loose including: elephant’s ears/trunk, lion’s ears, bird’s wings, turtle’s extremities, giraffe’s ears/stalks. I also stuck a squeaker and a little polyfill into the turtle shell.

The pattern I rated as medium because while the pattern itself is easy (I think), the sewing of all the parts together can be difficult to keep them in the position you want them. I find on the larger pieces it helps to use small afghan hooks woven back and forth into both pieces to hold them in place.