"The big unicorn"

This is the biggest single thing I made over break - really, one of the bigger things I've made that's not a sweater.

It's from the Midsummer Magic Unicorn pattern, which I got free when it was being offered for free, but now is a paid pattern. IF the designer hasn't changed up the pattern from the free version, I DON'T recommend it - the pattern for the ears is missing (I was able to come up with an ear pattern, but if you're paying almost $8 for a pattern, it shouldn't be missing that) and the butt part seems to truncate too abruptly, so I knitted a few more rows and worked in some decreases to make it look more "right." (Even at that, the body looks a tiny bit short in the front-to-back direction to me)



All that said, I'm happy with how she came out. I used Lion Brand "Hometown" - Houston cream for the body, and Billings Chocolate for the feet, and Honolulu Pink for the nose. (I actually ran short on the chocolate color and had to sub in a similar-colored Bernat bulky - turns out Michael's doesn't sell this one, or at least the one near my parents doesn't).

And yeah, this is a BIG unicorn; she takes up most of my armchair when she sits in it. (This is an armchair that fits me comfortably):



Her name is Sugarplum. I wanted some kind of Christmassy name because I finished her on Dec. 24, and Holly didn't seem quite right, nor did Snowflake.

I wound up having to tie her legs to the handles of my duffel bag (the carry on) to take her back; she was too big to fit in either that or my suitcase and there was no way I was consigning her to the vagaries of the US Post Office. (I did send a box of books and some of my turtlenecks, so I had room for other stuff, but all those things would have been easily replaceable - and the box came intact today, so I don't have to worry about that)

The original one had lockwasher eyes, but (a) I didn't have any that big and (b) they're not as interesting and expressive anyway, so I used the standard "appliqued felt bits to look like My Little Pony eyes" to make her face. (Her only other feature is a couple folds stitched in the muzzle to look like nostrils; I didn't want to try to put a mouth on)



And maybe here's a better view of just how big she is, by comparison with me:

You can also see one of the Christmas presents I received in that photo - a berry-colored nightshirt (I came home after working for a few hours today and did the workout I couldn't make myself do this morning - I slept funny on one shoulder and it was bothering me - and then washed my hair and got into pajamas)