Otto

Pattern: Otto by Ysolda Teague
Yarn: Cascade 220, approx. 3/5 of a skein
Made for: Mom
Worked on: January 3, 2009 – January 6, 2009

My mom’s birthday is this week, so I made Otto for her. For some reason I always end up doing toys in last-minute marathons, I think because I underestimate how long they take. I finished it though!

Otto was a hit, and now Elijah has a buddy!

It’s really amazing how much the cuteness is enhanced with a little leftover black yarn. I embroidered the face when I was still knitting the legs, because I thought it looked a little creepy without a face.

That worked out just fine, but it made me feel a little bad to stab him in the head as I was sewing on his ears

ouch!

As Ysolda notes, Otto’s legs are constructed differently from Elijah’s. Otto’s legs are a continuation of the body, and Elijah’s are picked up and knit from his rear end. You can see the difference here:

I felt very rude taking this picture.

Now that it’s been a couple of days, I think that the legs were equally fiddly to make, and that there is really no way around it. The effect of the legs is different, and if I made Otto again I might use the Elijah legs.

As you can see, Elijah’s legs are floppy, and Otto’s legs are stiff.

As a result, Otto can stand if propped up. The downside is that he can only sit if propped up, and Elijah can sit on his own. I tried to stuff Otto’s thighs very thinly so it would make it easier for him to sit, but that was nowhere near as effective as the natural hinge formed by picking up Elijah’s legs in a triangle arrangement. Depending on your intended use for one of Ysolda’s knit toys, I might suggest swapping the leg styles.

I salute Ysolda on yet another clever and adorable knit toy, and I would highly recommend it.