Leo The Lion, King of the Prairies

I mentioned my other road knitting project in my last post and thought I'd share a bit about it today with you.

Baby Boy - I really should think of a new name for him, he's hardly a baby now that he's in grade two and about to turn seven years old - made the discovery recently that everyone in the world (or at least all his siblings) have a sock monkey and he does not.  He had found my Paton's booklet, "Monkey Business" in the basement a week or so before we were to leave on holidays and he put two and two together and realized all those sock monkeys he's seen in his sibling's possession had to have been mama made.

He desperately wanted me to knit him something.  But not a monkey.  What he wanted was the last pattern in the book.  A cheerful looking lion named Leo.  I told him that as soon as I was finished knitting his sweater I would start Leo.  Every time he saw me knitting on his sweater he make a comment as to the fact that it was good I was knitting his sweater because then I could start his Leo.

He was actually playing with his lion in his head all the time and had so many imaginary adventures with the yet un-knit Leo.  Oh the stories he made up about their adventures.  It was unimaginably sweet.

Before leaving on the trip I let him go through my stash of worsted weight yarns and he picked out the colours he wanted.  I put together a kit of everything I would need to complete Leo from yarn, to needles, to fibrefill and popped it in my bag for in the front of the truck.  As soon as I cast off his sweater I cast on the lion.

I only knit on long driving stretches but slowly and surely all the pieces started coming together.  Lots and lots of pieces.  I am not overly fond of knitting toys.  Especially toys that have a billion fiddly pieces to sew together in the end, but it was a labour of love so I bit the bullet.

I worked on the head between Swift Current, SK and Medicine Hat, AB.  Then continued on two days later from Drumheller, AB to Calgary, AB and bit from Calgary, AB to Jasper, AB.  The muzzle was done while driving to the "Enchanted Forest" outside Revelstoke, BC and back into town again, and the body started somewhere around Rogers Pass, BC and finished somewhere between Calgary, AB and Moosomin, SK.  Seaming, his face, mane and feet (I ran out of yarn for the legs) were finished for the most part between Moosomin, SK and home here in South Eastern MB.  Last Wednesday evening I put the stitches onto the needles and got the four legs done and sewed them on and then added a few more strands in left over orange Berroco Vintage to add a little depth to his mane and fill in the bare spots that were left because I'd run out of the dark brown.  Since most of the knitting was done throughout Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta I've dubbed him "King of the Prairies".

I had Leo already by Baby Boy's bedtime and he was thrilled.  And not just him.  Little Man was equally excited for his little brother to have a "sock toy".  It was such a gratifying moment as a mom and as a crafter.