Animal Lovies

Animal Lovies
Gifted by: Leisure Arts
www.leisurearts.com
Reviewed by Janice Ogata for AllFreeKnitting.com

If you or anyone you know is expecting a baby, the book Animal Lovies by Yolanda Soto-Lopez is the book for you! Yolanda is an accomplished crafter who knits, crochets, sews, and makes jewelry. The book contains 10 different animal lovey patterns. Since the foundation of each lovey starts out with a 12 inch square, each animal pattern can be worked up quickly, and easily. The beauty of a lovey is, it doesn't have to be big; it's something for your baby to snuggle with, and something to comfort them.

There are patterns for boys, and girls. The book contains instructions for the following animals: bear, bunny, lamb, penguin, duck, owl, puppy, panda, kitten, and giraffe. Something for everyone. All the patterns were made using worsted weight yarn, with the exception of the lamb, which also uses some super bulky weight yarn for the head, and arms. Feel free to use any yarn you choose; the back of the book has a suggested yarn list. These patterns use basic knitting stitches; if you can knit, purl, increase, and decrease you will find these projects a breeze to make. To give some character to the faces, the book also includes instructions for some basic embroidery stitches.

Please don't fret if you aren't a knitter, Yolanda has also written a crochet book called Animal Lovie Blankets. I suggest you give both books a try. Once you make one, you'll discover that you are hooked, and will want to make lovies for all your friends. Since the animals in the book are so cute, you'll want to try making them all. Have fun, try different yarns, and color combinations, let your imagination run wild.