Monday, March 31, 2014

Happy, Happy days



Introducing Happy the Happypotamus


This is the little chap I've been making for a very special lady who I was expecting to meet up with on day 2 of my marathon weekend.

You see, my friend Ruth, who's appeared on my blog many times, ran her 300th marathon on Saturday. Yes, you did read that correctly; 300! I couldn't be there on the day she reached that amazing milestone but she was scheduled to come to the second day of the Buttons for Brathay Bells and Whistles Race Festival which was organised by my lovely running chum Kaz.

So why on earth did I choose to crochet a hippo for her?

Simple; her chosen nickname has been 'Plodding Hippo' for as long as I've known her so when I saw Heidi Bears Happypotamus I knew I had to make one for her. It is such a well written pattern with detailed instructions and lots of photos and it was a joy to make.

So here he is. He's made using small amounts of sock weight/4ply yarn and my colour choices have special meaning, but I will share them with Ruth as they are personal.

I'm a bit shy actually
Cute ears
Clever shaping
Enough of the photos, I'm out of here!
I thought he needed a tail (some people on Ravelry added them too) so I plaited him one and attached this pretty flower button rather than a ribbon
The sad thing was that on Saturday night, when she should have been travelling down to Dover for day 2 of the marathon weekend, her car packed in and she couldn't get there! So for the moment Happy will be living with us.

I really enjoyed making him and Mike and I both love him so much that I'm going to make another of Heidi's designs for us. I'm thinking about the elephant but the rhino's cute too and then there's the frog……….

I'm in a rush now so I'll just leave you with a couple of photos from the marathon weekend. I'll write about it in detail tomorrow but for now here we have me, still smiling on day 2 (which means I survived the marathon on day 1) and my 2 medals.





3 comments:

Anne said...

The hippo is very, very cute! I adore Heids designs. My friend Michelle (with whom I share the blogs) make beautiful beasties from Heidi's patterns too! I bet your friends loved her gift!

Take care,
Anne

http://crochetbetweentwoworlds.blogspot.de

Susie Hewer said...

Thanks Anne, he's even more cute in the flesh (so to speak!). Heidi's patterns are just perfect.

Idiosyncratic Eye said...

I don't crochet but I adore that pattern. Every time I see it, I wish I could have made it for my Dad. Love the button detail. :)