Wooly Sheepy

After I had been knitting a while--that is, some of my projects turned out mostly all right--I started a tradition: I knit a baby sweater for each baby in the family. And sometimes close friends. This tradition started three years ago, when my cousin Cora and her husband had their first child, a smart and smiley little boy. They recently had their second child, a little girl, and I'm a little late in mailing the sweater.

Sheepy Time, by Laurie Undis, published in Stitch 'n Bitch Superstar Knitting (2010). 

I added to the tradition this time:

A stuffed sheep of my own design. I wanted to incorporate a lot of texture, so the body uses bobbles, the belly is reverse twisted stockinette stitch, the neck is stockinette stitch, the head is moss stitch. It sounds like a lot, but when you hold it in your hands, it's just enough to make you want to feel all of them.

The construction is different, cast on at the butt, then knit the underside; then the body, picking up stitches at the CO edge; the two parts are then joined, and the neck and head are worked in the round.

The pattern is available for free(!) as a Ravelry download.