Striped Crochet Giraffe

So I’ve been brainstorming and collecting ideas for our soon-to-be baby girl’s bedroom, which naturally means I have a new crochet project to share. The first step in planning a new room, as any professional will tell you, is to stop planning the new room and crochet something to go inside it instead.

As I’ve been browsing nursery pictures to figure out the look I want to go for in her bedroom, I keep gravitating to the same sort of style: very simple, very clean-looking white/gray spaces that just have little bursts of color tossed in with wall art/pillows/accessories. And since that room is still packed to the gills and ready to puke forth its mess of craft supplies and discarded projects and miscellaneous crap that gets tossed in when we’re too lazy to find real homes for it, I figured I’d start small (and start far, far away from that scary messy room) with a crochet project that fits into my ‘pops of color’ bedroom plan.

How cute is that? I used this free pattern HERE for my little giraffe, and figured this was a good opportunity to use up some yarn I already have rather than go out and shop for something new. To tell you the truth, mixing colors like this scares me. I don’t mix colors. But I decided to go big for this little project, and I think she’ll make a great pop of color perched on a dresser or bookshelf in the baby’s room.

I thought there were a few confusing spots in the pattern (rows that didn’t add up to the right stitch count, or notes added in later that I wasn’t sure how to interpret), but it seems to have worked out (and sadly, if any of you have questions, I’m afraid I’m not going to remember what I did). I need to work on crocheting as tightly as humanly possible in amigurumi—there are a few spots on this giraffe that look like they’re stretched mighty thin over the stuffing, but it is murder on the hands to crochet that tightly. I need a massage, stat.

And amidst all this colorful, baby-hormone-ridden cuteness, let’s not forget the little man of the house and the reality check that his PMS mood swings always bring about. He literally jumped in front of the camera for the picture above, and when I suggested he go stand by the giraffe for more pictures, he trotted over excitedly ("Yeah! Forry pitcho!”) aaaaaaaaaand:

. . . promptly changed his mind about the whole idea. At least this gives you a sense of scale on the giraffe.

Also, this real conversation really happened when he first saw the giraffe.

Forrest: Is nice goat. Pet the goat.

Me: It’s not a goat.

F: Oh. Nice moose. Pet the moose.

Never a dull moment with this one. Let’s hope little missy is a bit more even-tempered.