alpaca pattern winner

Thanks so much to everyone who left a comment for the giveaway! It was rather fun reading how much everyone loves alpacas. I haven't had much real-life exposure to them, but my friend's enthusiasm was enough to inspire me to design one.

The winner, chosen by a random number generator, is Melerie:

I love these photos. Love Angela Alpaca's hair - her most endearing feature. I just started to work with Alpaca wool and I love it. I'm a big softie so of course all wool I choose has to be soft, and this was surprisingly easy to work with. I think I would make it for my friend Angela. I know you named her after your friend so it seems fitting I would make one for mine...

Congratulations! I think I even still have your email, so I'll be sending a copy of the pattern to you as soon as I'm done here.

For those of you who might still like the pattern, it is available on Etsy and Ravelry. I can't wait to see other knitter's alpacas turning up on Ravelry!

test-knit alpaca

Thank you so much for all your kind comments about the new pattern! I hope all of you who bought a pattern already enjoy knitting your own alpacas.

I thought I would share with you the alpaca made by my test-knitter, ilovewool. You can see here she's wearing a lovely lacy dress while enjoying the summer flowers. While the dress can be knit in one colour, Maria chose to knit it in two (the pattern has instructions for both).

Here she is hanging out by a pool in her tankini. While Maria did knit a bikini top following the pattern, she also tried out her own version by adding some length to the bikini top. Perhaps if you ask her nicely on Ravelry, she will share how she modified the pattern.

And as a treat for all of you who continue to read my blog, even when I'm so busy, I'm giving away a free copy of the Alpaca pattern. Please leave a comment here (not on Facebook) telling me why you think alpacas are cute, or who you would knit one for. I'll choose a winner on Monday morning (Aug 9). As usual, please leave an email address, or check back here to see if you've won.

Happy weekend, everyone!

alpaca pattern is ready!

Finally! Finally the Alpaca pattern is done and ready for you. We're very sorry for the delay, but there is still a little bit of summer left for your alpaca toys to enjoy (if you get knitting right fast)! Although, if you live in the Southern Hemisphere, I guess you have plenty of time.

So here are a few details about the pattern. Like most of my toy patterns, this one is knit flat and seamed (although you could try to knit it in the round). The knitting techniques include knit, purl, several increases and decreases, and simple lace. You also need to make the hair, but that's pretty easy (there are diagrams in the pattern). The toy is made from worsted weight yarn, and the clothes from fingering weight. Because of the long neck, this toy is 9" tall, a bit bigger than my usual toys (but the other small clothes will still fit her).

You can find the pattern on Ravelry, Etsy, and Lulu*. If it's sold out on Etsy, I'll try to add more copies as soon as I can. Thanks so much for all your patience, and I hope you enjoy this new toy!

* The pattern costs more on Lulu because their fees are much higher than the other two sites. I will soon change all the pattern prices there, although the books will remain the same price at all my shops.  My hope is that Ravelry will make my shop public, so I can stop using Lulu for PDF sales.