Kieran the Leprechaun

Hurray!  I finished the leprechaun for Dad.  I've decided to name him "Kieran" - "little dark one."  I'm not totally thrilled with him - his arms are wonky and the hat sort of sucks, but he needs to get in the mail tomorrow, so he'll have to do.  I don't think Dad will mind.  :)

I did basically the same thing as I did with Lorcan - I used the Human Amigurumi pattern from Geek Central Station  though I used a smaller hook this time to get a slightly smaller Kieran.  I'm fairly certain he's totally acrylic.  This left his hair a little less wirey, but much softer and I actually think the tendency of the Bernat satin I used to fray slightly works well for the hair.  Yarn details are available on my project page on Ravelry.

My attempt at a cowboy hat failed miserably.  I should either have made the crown higher or narrower and the brim wider.  Alas, I didn't figure that out until it was a bit too late.  I do have a friend to thank for the idea of using hairspray as a stiffener - it didn't leave the hat too stiff, but it helped a bit.  My husband was kind enough to give me some wire to thread through the edge of the brim in an attempt to make the hat look a little less lame.  Meh.  I think he's still pretty cute and the shapeless, oversized hat is sort of fun I guess.   Better luck for me next time.

I'm afraid the photos aren't as lovely this time either as I just remembered a few minutes ago that they needed to be taken and hubby obliged.  So, you can see how I totally don't dust under my couch.  :)

I'm sure Dad will be pleased to know that Kieran underwent a rigorous quality inspection: