Purple Hedgehog!

Today we spotted something quite unusual in the plum trees in the yard.

Wait do hedgehogs even climb trees? I guess purple ones do. She seemed to be a big fan of flowers, because next thing I knew she was in the front flower bed, smelling the hyacinths.

Many thanks to Salvbard for his help documenting the habits of the elusive purple hedgehog.

Pattern: Huggable Hedgehog (FT228) by Debbie Radtke

Pattern Source: Fiber Trends (bought at Wild & Wooly ~2005)

Felting Yarn: Rowan Magpie Aran & Ruby Rubycampus

Novelty Yarn: Jo-Ann Sensations Cello in color 07

Yarn Supplies: Woolcott (closed), Cheer Wool (in Hong Kong), & Jo-Ann Fabric respectively

Needles: US 10 - 6.0 mm

Eyes and nose were embroidered with some embroidery floss from my stash in a color that coordinates with her hair. I am so happy with how she came out after felting, embroidery, and stuffing. (Pre-felting pictures viewable here.)

I probably should have gone another needle size up at least. Although the hedgehog's underside felted well, her back which has the carry-along of the novelty yarn still has some stitch definition despite my efforts. I had read in several Ravelry projects that people wished that they had gone down a needle size or two as this project just barely broke into a second ball of the novelty yarn. I can tell you from experience now, that going down the needle size you still need to go into the second ball. So it is better to just use the recommended gauge or consider using a finer yarn if you really want to use a little bit less of the novelty yarn.

Even so, this turned out larger than I was expecting for some reason. You would think the finished size listed in the pattern would have been a clue. I would love to make another one of these in fingering weight, since I think it would be tiny and adorable!