Gotta Gator?

I do! But not for long. This gator is flying to England tomorrow, by hook or by crook. I won't wish having the gator arrive before the baby on poor Stephanie, but I do want it to get there relatively soon so she can use it!

I see it as first a nursing pillow, then a baby support boppy sort of thing and finally a body pillow. The original pattern is the Morehouse Merino alligator scarf, but I took a lot of liberties with it.

For those knitting afficionados who like details, he's 42 inches long, stuffed with a stocking which was, in turn, stuffed with pillow stuffing, and has cat toy eyeballs. The eyes and legs are stuffed with stockings so they can be washed. The mouth is a braided cotton cord that can be undone so the big stocking (which looks like a worm, I swear!) can be removed. I used Lionbrand Wool-Ease Chunky and size 10 needles for the green part and two strands of a worsted weight for the tummy. I wanted to make the legs bend so I tried several sock patterns, thinking the heel would turn into a knee, but I couldn't make it work. For those who are more concerned about alligator accuracy than knitting, please let me assure you that this one has 4 claws on the back legs and five on the front and that the 4th lower tooth on each side should be hidden. I'm betting that if it really bothers them, Jason can, and will, fix it! I expect Stephanie will be busy with the baby. Stephanie will be relieved to know that I'm not sending Jesse, Alligator Wrestler Extraordinaire.