Featured pattern: Mama and Baby Bunny

I've decided to try something new this year. I have so many patterns now that some tend to get overlooked, so I’d like to feature a different pattern each month. Since I missed January, there will be two patterns featured for February. This post will be about the Mama and Baby Bunny pattern (Ravelry, Etsy), and I'll write about the other featured pattern (the Flat Foot Floogies) on Feb. 2.

As an extra bonus, the featured patterns will be 50% off during the month they are featured!

I designed the Mama and Baby Bunny pattens to be part of my Festive Knits collection back in 2008. I was pregnant with my first child that year, and I'm pretty sure that influenced my choice! Right from the beginning, a bunny toy was one of my most popular designs (and still is today). While I love the size of my regular toys, I also liked the big, squishy teddy I made from chunky yarn, and wanted to make a rabbit in the same style. Because it's knit from thick yarn on big needles, the toy works up very quickly. However, with the big feet and ears, 100 g of yarn isn't quite enough, so I designed the toy to be made from two colours. It can be fun to play with different colour combinations, or you can knit it in natural colours like mine.

I tried out a few different outfit options for the Mama Bunny, but in the end decided to go with a very simple apron, so the toy would still be quick to make. Also, aprons don't get in the way of bunny tails! You can knit the apron with a plain colour, or use variegated or striping yarn for a more colourful apron. It can be finished with some pretty ribbon, or I-cord ties. You could even try making it fancier by adding a bit of embroidery. However, if you want different outfits for your Mama Bunny, you can try the anorak from the Pug, or the overalls from the Big Teddy. As well, any of my clothing patterns which call for fingering weight yarn can be scaled up to fit. Knit them with worsted weight yarn on 4.5 mm needles, adding a few rows for some extra length, if necessary. You can see an example with this toy, which is wearing a modified pinafore dress from my Well-Dressed Bunny pattern (photo used with permission).

Once I had designed a Mama Bunny, of course I had to make a Baby Bunny for her! I did this by scaling down my other bunny pattern, using lighter yarn, and making a few adjustments to the shaping of the toy pieces. The finished Baby Bunny will fit in your hand! A slightly fuzzy yarn is a good choice for this toy, and use 10 mm safety eyes to make it extra cute. The nappy/diaper is simple to knit, and a couple of small safety pins are a sweet detail (I found these as scrap-booking supplies). The Festive Knits book also includes a pattern for a very simple blanket, made with yarn scraps. Since this isn't included in the individual pattern, I will post a free pattern later in the month for a similar scrappy baby blanket.

If there is anything more you would like to know about the pattern, please let me know and I will add my answers to the bottom of the post. I will also be posting some examples of the pattern in another post, so look forward to that!