Pattern Review – Knitapotamus by Heidi Bears

I’ve had my eye on Heidi Bears’ crochet patterns for a while now. It’s so creative, the way she takes all different regular polygons and magically creates wonderful creatures with them. But at $6.50 each, I always hesitated to try one. I didn’t really have any NEED for a stuffed dragon, after all…

4 of my friends are having babies this year. I was browsing through Ravelry hoping to find inspiration to create some new, fun baby designs, when instead I stumbled upon the Knitapotamus. This is the knit version of Heidi’s Happypotamus, and appears to be the first knit version of one of her polygon motif animals. I could resist no longer.

I’m so glad I finally gave in and bought this pattern, it was more than worth it! I just can’t say enough good things about it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a pattern so thorough as this one. It’s 45 pages (yes, I said 45) of clear, highly detailed photos, charts, and very well written instructions. If I’m honest, I skimmed through some of the text because it was more than I needed. Every motif is charted and every step is illustrated so clearly that I believe someone could follow this pattern even if they did not speak one word of English.

At first, I thought the actual knitting might be too hard for me. I had to learn a new-to-me cast on, and there’s a LOT of picking up stitches involved. I even managed to stab myself with a needle at one point (that’s what I get for using size 2 sharps, right?) Overall though, the learning curve wasn’t too bad. After the first 2 or 3 motifs, I had the concept down and was cruising right along at my normal (slow) knitting pace. I think the only bad part was the weaving in of the ends. There are a LOT of ends.

I was more or less monogamous while working on this – it’s very addictive. Here he is! What do you think?

I do like the button eyes better, but since this is for a baby I went with embroidered ones. I hesitate to wash him now, for fear of the stuffing getting lumpy. I think he’ll be getting a bath tonight though. It should make the wool bloom nicely and help even out some of the stitches. After all, what good is a child’s toy that can’t be washed? I do wish I had chosen a different colorway though – the bright, primary colors in the original pattern pictures are so cute!

I also think I was wrong earlier – I think I do NEED a stuffed dragon….(and maybe even a dinosaur too….ooh but the turtle is so cute….)

Disclaimer: While there was no expectation of any sort of compensation when I initially wrote this review, I did receive a free pattern after writing it. Heidi Bears saw the finished review, and sent me the dragon pattern for free to say thanks!