Adorable, clever, creative design.
I learned stuff from this design:
a really good cinching technique and
a superb seaming technique.

Love that it is worked flat.
Me. Knitting. Small yarn animals. Work flat. Always.

I have many notes. Please bear with me.

Fabulous video tutorials:
designer has a sequence of YouTube videos on how to make a DDuDDu, so one can knit along with her in real time. How amazing is that!

Time Saver:
At link provided on design page: videos: scroll to the right and view the three at the right. (See screen shot picture, lower left.)

Seams:
The designer’s seaming technique is pure perfection.
She demonstrates it very clearly.
It is super-dee-duper nifty and you won’t mind sewing things up.
Promise.

Bind off technique:
The finish on the body, arms and legs is unique, quick and easy and beautiful.
None of the pieces have any actual bind offs! Nice, huh!
One gathers up the loops from the last row with a long yarn tail, going thru them twice, then continues with the seam.

Arm and Ear placement:
is shown very clearly in the video.
The ears are designed beautifully.
Elected to place the arms a little differently than the design.

a teensy modification of the ears:
for symmetrical shaping of the ears, work r 8 of the ears as follows:
one ear: p1, p2tog, p2.
other ear: p2, p2tog, p1.

Face features:
are demonstrated very clearly.
clever, subtle and easy contouring.

Helpful tip:
Legs:
Before casting on each leg, pull out a generous length to gather up the cast on stitches and sew the leg seam.
Alternatively, one could work a provisional cast on for each leg, long tail, then, close the loops up similarly to the arms.
Another option:
Cast on legs as written = r 1.
Before proceeding, insert a length of yarn thru the loops on the needle to use as the gathering yarn later.

Very happy with how the first one turned out, so…
Made a set of 5, using nearly all the yarn.
Made a tail and carry handle for each one.
One can easily adapt this design into a bear or bunny by simply modifying the ears.
For a bear: make the arms two more times, working 6 - 8 rows. Attach cast on edge to the head, no stuffing.
For a bunny, make the arms two more times, as written or a little longer, as desired. Attach cast on edge, crimped, to the head, no stuffing.

The designer messaged me on her own.
Very considerate.
Mongaknit used 1 ball DROPS Alaska among others and recommends using a needle 1 mm smaller than the ball band recommends.

Animal Eyes Safety Tip:
with invisible stitches, reinforce the stitch that the post of each eye goes in and those directly around that area.
(used 9.0 mm and 12.0 mm cat animal eyes.)

Source for beautiful, quality cat eyes:
Hand painted and sent from Ms. Clara at:
6060eyes.com
6060.etsy.com
6060eyes@gmail.com
Inexpensive, very good selection and service.
She sends a personalized signed business card with each order.

My DDuDDu family plan:
(needles, yarn quantities, gauges)
#1: 8 1/2“, US 5, 3.75 mm, aran yarn, single str, 40g, 85 y, 22 st 24 r / 4”.

#2: 9”, US 6, 4.0 mm, aran yarn, single str, 50 g, 105 y, 22 st 28 r / 4”.

#3: 10”, US 7, 4.5 mm, bulky (aran yarn, one str held with the green plies only from a second ball), 75 g, 155 y, 16 st 22 r / 4”.

#4: 11”, US 8, 5.0 mm, super bulky, (aran yarn held double), 85 g, 175 y, 15 1/2 st, 22 r / 4”.

#5: 12“, US 9, 5.5 mm, super bulky (aran yarn held double), 135 g, 290 y, 13 st 20 r / 4”.