Friends of Winter (冬 の 友達) & Hachimitsu (蜂蜜) and Mochi (餅)

So ... I had run out of yarn for my Tröjan Barbros stjärnor sweater and now had to patiently wait my yarn order to arrive in the mail to finish off my sleeves.  And, to top it off, my stranded sock project was still elusive to me. 😳😱😭🤦 Thus, I needed another project to keep me busy in the meantime.  Since I've had several projects in my queue that I was thinking I would make next year for my niece, I figured now was a good time to start it.

First up is a snowperson like doll from Red Heart called Winter Friend.  With confusing help from my niece (& more directed help from my Mom), we picked out turquoise legs, a snow white body, a sparkly red hat and a pink scarf.  Using my Chiagoo 4.5mm needles, I casted on and here's how my adventure went:   

• It took me a total of 22 rows to complete the legs.
• I followed most of the instructions for the body, except I did a M3B, instead of a M5B as I was using bulky weight yarn for the "buttons"; did 6 additional rows then shaped the shoulders.
• For the head portion, I did not cast off from the shoulders; instead, I did 2 additional rows after the 9th round of the shoulders (@ 20 sts per row) then proceeded with the instructions for the head.  Then, I ran out if white yarn on the 11th row!😱😳🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️  
• I called my mother back to debate about how to move forward and after some discussion, we decided that a pink body would "match" the legs and a snow white head.  So, I ripped out the what little of the head I was able to complete as well as the body to change the body colour and ensure I would have enough white yarn for the head.
• Since I had to change the body colour, I decided that I would also modify where the buttons would go as I didn't like how the buttons originally looked: instead of the 1st button on R3, I changed it to R5 & the 2nd button to R13.  I completed the (new) body as described above.
• As I started on the head again, I followed the initial instructions as noted above and finished it with an additional 5 rows before I started decreasing for the head then decreased until I had 5 sts left before binding off.
  
• I stuffed and seamed it as well as sewn in the legs and arms.  Here's what it looks like:

Now that I finally made one, it seemed lonely and looked like it needed a friend so, I made another one. 😉😁☃️ Since I had some experience with the first one,  did the second one a tad differently where I made an extra 20 sts row after I connected the yarn for the head.  I also didn't knit any of the "buttons"; instead, I added real buttons for the body, nose and eyes.  Here's how it turned out:

 

Then, I wanted to make accessories for them as well.  But my inspiration for knitting simply dried up. 😱😭🤦🤷  After a very long knitting drought, I remembered I bought a pattern to make Good Bear (Hachimitsu (蜂蜜)) and Good Bunny (良いうさぎ) back in April and that pattern had accessories so, maybe if I made one of those animals, it'll inspire me to make the right accessories for these Winter Friends.  

I made Hachimitsu (蜂蜜) in the matter of 2 days and I loved it so much, I kinda didn't like my Winter Friends anymore. 😔🤦🤷 And with that, I decided to frog them to reuse the yarn for accessories and a Good Bunny.  In less than an hour, I frogged both softies and  got lucky: I lost only the black yarn that I had used to make the nose and create shaping for each "friend" and very little of the pale yellow and fairy tail colours.

Here's how Hachimitsu looks (in its full natural state):

With my reclaimed yarn, I was ready to start making accessories for Hachimitsu (蜂蜜).  With the help from Hubs, he picked out a yellow hat, grey cargo pants, a blue vest and a sparkly red sweater.  In the span of six (6) hour Hallmark holiday movie binge, I finished everything except the vest:

I made no changes to the hat:

Then I tried it on Mochi and determined I needed ear holes.  So, I fixed the original hat I made (it would only fit on Hachimatsu because its ears kept it on): modified hat to include ear holes so that it could be used on both animals.  Fortunately for me, I didn't need any additional yarn for the modification. 🙌🥳

For the pants, I added pockets by picking up 7 sts on eat side, then made 6 rows:

For the sweater, I used the instructions as a guideline and:

• casted on 24 sts
• 2 1x1 ribbing rows
• 2 k rows
• inc row (k3, m1)
• 2 k rows
• split for sleeves (8 sts)
• 2 k rows
• inc row (k4, m1)
• 6 k rows
• inc row (k4, m1)
• 7 k rows
• 3 1x1 ribbing rows
• for the sleeves (16 sts total): k 17 rows, 2 1x1 rows

Here's how it came out:

The next day, I started the vest where I used the instructions for the jacket as a guide and

• casted on 28 sts
• k 8 rows
• button hole row
• k 1 row
• inc row
• k 1 row
• split and bind off for armholes
• k 2 rows
• inc row (k4, m1)
• button hole row
• k 6 rows
• inc row (k5, m1)
• button hole row
• k 8 rows
• button hole row
• k 5 rows & bind off

It took a bit of work to figure it out and I'm happy with the outcome:

Then, as I was scrolling through all the pictures of Good Bunnies and Bears on Raverly, I saw someone had made a pair of overalls!🥰  It was so cute that I wanted a pair for Hachimitsu (蜂蜜) too.  I used the pants as a guide to make my bottom-up overalls:  

• cast on 16 sts for each leg
• 2 rows of 1x1 ribbing
• inc row (k2, m1)
• k 9 rows
• connect both legs
• k 21 rows
• bind off 24 sts
• k2tog, k20, p2tog
• p 1 row
• k2tog, k18, p2tog
• p2tog, k16, k2tog
• k2tog, k14, p2tog
• k16
• k2tog, k12, p2tog
• p4 (place sts on stitch holder as this is part of the straps)
• bind off 6 sts
• p4
• k4/p4 for 27 rows for the straps & attach straps with a 3-needle bind off to the back part of the overalls

For make the front pockets (make 2): 

• cast on 6 sts
• k 4 rows
• k2tog, k4
• p3
• p2tog
• bind off and use remaining yarn to sew the pockets on

For the back pockets (make 2):

• cast in 6 sts
• k 4 rows
• k2tog, k2, k2tog
• k2tog 2x
• bind off and use remaining yarn to sew the pockets on. 

For the chest pocket:

• cast on 8 sts
• k 6 rows
• ssk, k 6, k2tog
• p2tog, k4, p2tog
• k2tog 2x
• bind off and use the remaining yarn to sew on pocket. 

Finally, for the hammer "pocket": cast on 2 sts; *p1, k1; k1, p1* 10x then attach to overalls:

Next up was a skirt.  I based it on the pant pattern:

• cast on 30 sts
• 2 rows 1x1 rib
• inc row (2x for a total of 48 sts)
• split sts for 16 sts ea in each colour using helical stitch
• k 3 rows
• inc row (k4, m1)
• k 4 rows
• inc rows (k5, m1)
• k 4 rows
• bind off

Here's how it came out:

Next up was a striped puff sleeved tee which I based it on the sweater pattern:

• casted on 24 sts
• 2 1x1 ribbing rows
• 2 k rows
• inc row (k3, m1)
• 2 k rows
• split for sleeves (8 sts)
• 2 k rows
• inc row (k4, m1)
• 6 k rows
• inc row (k4, m1)
• 5 k rows
• 3 1x1 ribbing rows
• for the sleeves (16 sts total): 
• k6 sts
• k2, m2, k2, m2, k2, m2, k4, m2, k2, m2, k2, m2, k2
• k 2 rows
• k, k2tog 6 times, k2, k2tog 6 times, k
• k 1 row
• purl bind off

Here's how it came out:

Now I wanted to make a dress! 🥰  So I used the puff sleeved tee & skirt patterns as a guide:

• casted on 24 sts
• 2 1x1 ribbing rows
• 2 seed st rows
• inc row (k3, m1) (32 total sts)
• 2 seed st rows
• split for sleeves (8 sts)
• 2 seed st rows
• inc row (k4, m1) (42 total sts)
• 10 seed st rows
• 6 k rows
• 1x1 vertical k stripes for 4 rows
• continue 1x1 vertical k stripes, inc 2 sts every 4 sts (60 total sts)
• continue 1x1 vertical k stripes for 8 rows
• continue 1x1 vertical k stripes, inc 2 sts every 6 sts (80 total sts)
• continue 1x1 vertical sk tripes for 8 rows
• continue 1x1 vertical stripe in seed sts for 2 rows
• bind off
• Then for the sleeves, pick up 8 sts (total 16 sts)
• Continue seed st for 11 rows
• Bind off

Here's how it turned out:

It was finally time to make Mochi (餅).  I decided that I would try my hand at intarsia and give the bunny patches.  Initially, I was going to make a rainbow Mochi but decided that I didn't have the energy or patience to make all those transitions to various colours.  So with my Chiagoo US 8 (3.5mm) needles, I used my Yuzawaya Cream yarn and casted on the feet and put two (2) small black patches on 1 leg and a larger light grey patch on the other leg.  Then I connected the legs and on the 3rd round (after the increase), I added a 5-st bobble tail on in a dark grey.  By the time I reached the 7th row of the body, I realized that I wasn't going to have enough Cream yarn to finish the bunny.  So, I regrouped, ripped everything out and started again with black yarn as the main colour of Mochi and used the Yuzawaya Cream, Knit Picks Dove Heather & Cobblestone Heather and the remnants of my Caron Grey Heather for various patches and bits and pieces of Mochi.  Overall, I think Mochi came out quite well:

The best part?  All the clothes I originally made for Hachimitsu fit perfectly on Mochi.  Now they can both share clothes!  I realized that I just needed to make another top so that they would have two (2) outfits each as well as modify the original hat I made along with a few accessories to round out their outfits. So, here's a few more additional items I made:

A bonnet: I virtually followed the pattern except I changed the ribbing part to another colour (to match the shawl and did a 3 st i-cord instead of a 2 st i-cord (due to the weight of the yarn I was using - it looked better a little "thicker").

A shawl: I also virtually followed the pattern as well except for the picot edging; instead of having the edging close together, I spread it a few stitches apart (because I was running out of yarn).  Fortunately for me, I was able to win at yarn chicken this round with 4.33 yds leftover! 🙌🥳

A tanktop:  I used the sweater, striped top & dress top as a guide.  I initially thought I'd find a reverse stitch pattern but when I tried it, it looked like a muddled mess.😱🤦‍♀️  Then I tried a linen stitch and that was also a muddled mess too. 😱🤦‍♀️😭  I finally ended up using a slip stitches create horizontal stripes.  Here's how it went:

• casted on 24 sts in the blue color
  
• 2 1x1 ribbing rows in the blue color
  
• 2 k rows in the blue and yellow colors
  
• inc row (k3, m1) (32 total sts) in the blue color
  
• 2 k rows in the blue and yellow colors
  
• bind off 8 sts and cast on 8 sts for "sleeve" in the blue and yellow colors
  
• 2 k rows in the blue and yellow colors
  
• inc row (k4, m1) (42 total sts) in the blue color
  
• 4 k rows alternating in the blue and yellow colors
• inc row (k5, m1) (42 total sts) in the blue color 
• 22 k rows alternating in the blue and yellow colors, ending on a yellow row
• 2 row 1x1 ribbing in the blue colors
  
• bind off

And, here's what the outfits all look like on either Hachimitsu and Mochi:

I think my most favorite articles of clothing is the overalls and the tank top.  I realized while making all the clothes for them, that little girl in me who used to love to play with paperdolls where I could dress them up was still there. 😊💕 Both Hatchimitsu and Mochi are so cute and adorable! 🥰😍💕  And, I had so much fun making them and their clothing!  Now, I almost don't want to give them to my niece! 😉🤭😊  They may just need to live with me for a while longer and who knows how much more clothes I'll dream up for them!😆🤭🥰💕