what’s that, mr mumbles?

My boyfriend is headed out this weekend for a trip to Cooperstown with the guys, and he leaves in about 5 hours. One of his friends, AC, has a baby on the way, and I wanted to knit a toy for the impending offspring. Hence, Mr Mumbles, the cousin of Mr Clunky.

Pattern: Kate from knitty.com
Yarn: KnitPicks’s Crayon in Project Spectrum blue, with some green
Needles: Addi Turbo US size 3 40″ circ
Method: Magic Loop
Started: Around 7 am on Thursday, June 1
Finished: 1am on Friday, June 2
Modifications: As with Mr. Clunky, I didn’t knit any arms or legs. I think it’s cuter without. I also got very distracted in my rush to get this finished and forgot to knit straight for the head/neck; I kept decreasing until I had 3 stitches between decreases. When I realized it, I decided to just increase from there back to having 5 stitches between shaping, giving the head a more rounded shape. It’s also, as a result, smaller. For the ears, I cast on only 12 stitches, rather than the pattern’s 16, since his head is so small. Oh, and I did the litle zigzag stripe, just for some fun.
Name: Back when I made Mr Clunky, the boy suggested Mr Mumbles for his name. But he’s so much more a Clunky. I pretty much set out to make this a Mr Mumbles, and I have to say, I think it’s a fitting name. There’s just something about him . . .
Time Crunch: I knit him in about 3 or 3.5 hours total, but it was hard to find the time to do so! Because of summer hours at work, I had to get in an hour earlier than during other seasons, so I knit from about 7:02 until 7:25, when I had to pack up to leave for the office. Then I knit during lunch for a little bit, but most of lunch was spent eating and doing some work. In the afternoon I took a brief break (15 minutes, maybe) from work and knit a little more. From there it was yoga, then out to dinner with the boy—when all was said and done, I was picking Mumbles back up again at row 22 at 10:45 pm. Sigh! The boy tried to convince me to just let it alone, but I was determined. I said I’d go for an hour and see where I was. Since I was at the head, I figured I had to keep going. And then it was just a question of sewing on the ears!

This pattern is so much fun as a jumping off point for dreaming up new toys. I hope the little one enjoys whispering his or her secrets into his ears; Mumbles will certainly keep them.