Knitting The Lion's Mane

This weekend I am test-knitting a lion hand puppet for Audrey Knits.  So far I'm finding the pattern directions to be very clear, plus all the photographs help a knitter to know exactly what they are to do.

As with so many things in life, there is more than one way to accomplish something.  I'm finding this to be true when it comes to knitting the lion's mane, holding two strands of novelty yarn together.  The pattern directs you to work in stocking stitch.  This results in the long eyelashes of the yarn to be on the inside of the puppet.  Then, when finished, you carefully brush the mane to bring them to the outside.  As you can see in this picture, it's a successful way to accomplish a full and fluffy lion's mane.  (Ahhh...how cute!)


Audrey's Lion

I decided to try a different method and it worked, too.  I finished knitting the yellow cuff and knit the first row of the mane, as in the pattern, with the right side facing.  Again, it means that the long eyelashes were on the inside, but for one row, it's okay.  I did this because I wanted this row of two-colored stitches (yellow plus the eyelash) to be on the inside.  Then, instead of continuing in stocking stitch, I switched to reverse stocking stitch, starting with a knit row on the reverse side.  What this did was to make the long hairs lie on the outside of the puppet.

Confusing?  It really isn't difficult.  I just changed from stocking stitch to reverse stocking stitch.  As you can see, I won't need to brush the yarn to bring the strands to the outside.  They are already there.  The mane is really thick, hopefully not too thick, and I think it's going to be fine. 

Next up was the short row shaping for the jaw.  If you ever want to reinforce your short row knitting skills to the point where you can do them mindlessly, make a Lizard Ridge afghan.  I made one full afghan (Ravelry link) and 3/4 of a second one.  By then, I decided to move on to other projects and gave away the squares to a friend who is going to finish it up for herself.  I'm looking forward to seeing it. 

I've had some enquiries about where to get the pattern and I'll post a link when Audrey gives me the details.