Surprise, with photos

So, I got my mail today. There was a surprise in there. A big Amazon box. First, I thought "Wait, did the "curvy" articulated Fashionista I ordered back in like January and which has perpetually been out of stock at Amazon finally arrive*"

(*Yes, I could cancel the order to save the $15 or so, but....I think I'll keep it open and hope it does come some time)

Then I thought, "Wait, this isn't one of those Packages To Look Out For" (even though the Austin bomber done blowed himself up, there is still some concern that mysterious packages may still be around. When I peeked over the counter as the person was processing it, I saw the return address - OH, one of my friends from Ravelry. Okay, so it's either a late birthday present or some other kind of a surprise.

Yup:




A big box of Pony stuff.

Single best item? This:

I'M AN ALICORN PRINCESS!!!

See? PRINCESS.

It is sized for a child so it's a little hard for an adult to comfortably wear. (The crown is a little too small for my average-sized adult head)

But, yeah. If I were braver, gave fewer darns about what people thought, and weren't worried about the crown falling off, I'd totally wear it to class some day.

There was a lot of stuff in there:




A couple of Pez dispensers (yes, with Cherry Pez, I checked - as made famous in "Stand By Me":)



And a plate, and some band-aids, and a couple coloring books, and the little McDonald's Rarity figure (she comes with a stand that is a compact and has a comb for her tail in it). And a Fluttershy tree ornament which is different from the other one I have so next Christmas, THE FLUTTERSHY WILL BE DOUBLED. And some buttons and a placemat....

***

And here is the first and only item I actually finished on break. I used a Pony (well, actually, it was a unicorn, but I decided to make a pony) pattern an ITFF friend sent me for my birthday: Unini the Magic Unicorn

The best part, I think, is this was effectively a "free" knit - I used up yarn I had kicking around at my parents' house, and the tail end of a bag of stuffing, and bits of felt left from the felt I bought at Christmastime for my projects.

I call her Sugared Violets, or Sugar for short:





This was a fun knit (as opposed to the abandoned hippo kit, which wasn't). The head and body are all made in one piece, with shaping like that of a sock heel to shape the forehead and chest. (The legs are separate and sewn on). I also learned how to do the "German Style" short-row turn (that's what the pattern author calls it, she also calls it "double stitch" because fundamentally the stitch gets stretched up so you see both of its "legs," and it makes for a tighter turn when you do the short rows.)

It was a pretty well-written pattern and easy enough to follow (though I would regard myself as an advanced knitter; I think someone with less experience might want a little guidance, but then again: she has some tutorials up on YouTube with links from the pattern. I didn't need them, though)

She's bigger than the crocheted ponies I made, but not a LOT bigger. (Hm. Maybe this might work as a "stallion" pattern, if one wanted to make an in-scale stallion, and for a character like Troubleshoes it would be easier to do the "blaze" on the forehead using something like intarsia or even French darning)

Here's more of a to-scale photo: