Oliver the Valentine Octopus!

I knitted an Octopus and sent it into a Chinese Auction at my local church. A couple of little boys really wanted to win him and one of them did. The other little chap was quite heartbroken, but luckily I had another one at home that needed a new friend, so both were happy in the end.

With all those legs made for hugging, Oliver would make a perfect Valentine's gift too! He can even be a soccer fan mascot in team colours for your soccer playing Valentine!

By the way all the Ollies were knitted with oddments of Red Heart Yarn, http://www.coatsandclark.com/Products/KnittingCrochet/Yarns/Medium/Coats+and+Clark++Medium+Yarns.htm which comes in a multitude of lovely bright colours.

As with all my toys, they were stuffed with non toxic fiber fill and all the legs sewn on very tight so that little ones can't pull them apart and swallow anything. For the same reason, I never sew on buttons for eyes or noses, but always embroider the faces. It's much safer! Even the pom pom on the hat is knitted all-in-one with the hat so it can not be pulled off! The hat itself can be taken off, as can the scarf for added play value. If you have a small enough head, you could even wear the hat!

This is another Jean Greenhowe pattern. It's one of my favourite toys to knit too! It comes from her pattern book, called Toy Collection. http://www.jeangreenhowe.com/toy.html Happy Knitting!