Since my sewing machine has been in the shop for the past week, I took the opportunity to make a new toy for The Toy Society. One of these times, I plan on sewing up a little stuffie using scrap fabric (these toys are great stash busters!). This time, though, I crocheted a cute little bunny. The pattern came from the September/October 1988 issue of Crochet World. No, I did not subscribe to craft magazines when I was 10. Last December I was the recipient of an old woman’s collection of crochet magazines and patterns. It has been a lot of fun to sift through. There are some cute baby layette patterns, adorable animals, and horrifying examples of why crochet should have skipped the 80s.
It's a MESH PULLOVER! With dripping triangles! And beads! WHY?!
This bunny pattern was a winner, though. I used a soft grey yarn that I had in my stash. I think I originally bought it with the intention of making a purse, but the USS Motivation had long since sailed on that project. The softness was perfect for a little rabbit. I finished him up on Friday night. His eyes went through several incarnations before I finally settled on this sweet look.
Bunny rabbit!
Saturday, my family and I went to Pike Place Market in Seattle to meet up with some friends and I took the little bunny along with me. It’s such a busy, active place, I knew he wouldn’t languish for long before someone found him. The trick was placing him without anyone seeing! Mr. Gren pointed out this street sign that conveniently had a bolt protruding from the side, just right for looping the string over and it was in a great location with lots of foot traffic.
Small bunny in a big city
Bunny in a bag and Rana's hair
After hanging up the bunny and letting the girls bid it farewell (they fell in love with it as I was making it last week), our whole group moved a few yards away to watch and wait. The first few people who walked by didn’t seem to notice. Then a couple of people leaned in to take a closer look as they passed. Two teenage girls walked right up to it and talked about it briefly before going on. Finally, a woman approached the sign and read the “Take me home! I’m yours!” note through the bag. Without unhooking it from the signpost, she held the bag in her hands and turned it over and over. We laughed a little as we watched and were quietly cheering her on: “Go ahead! You can really take it! It’s ok!” After a full minute of examining the bag and the bunny, the woman finally lifted the bag off the bolt and tucked it under her arm. It turned out that she was the one who was selling the teepees right next to the sign! Mr. Gren said that he had specifically watched her as I hung up the bag and that she hadn’t been looking at that time. Kind of amusing that with all the people passing by, it was the person sitting just six feet away who finally claimed the little rabbit.
You can doooo it!
I think that the next time I drop a toy, I will add to the note something along the lines of “No, really, it’s ok!” The people who actually got close enough to read the note in the bag all seemed to be a little nervous that they might be doing something wrong or that maybe someone had lost the toy. A little reassurance that there’s no catch might help ease the jitters!
My first toy was put up on The Toy Society blog a day or two after I dropped it. If you go here, you’ll see the comment from the finder: ToySociety Drop #1541. How fun! I’m so glad to have brightened someone’s day!
The End!
Two Frogs and a Grasshopper 