tap, tap...is this thing on?

Phew! What excitement abounds in blogland...I have been so busy admiring everyone's various preparations for the holidays I forgot that I have a blog myself! So here I am breaking the silence for one final post of 2005. Today I bring you the one teeny tiny little bit of Christmas knitting I did, which I alluded to in an earlier post. May I introduce Leopold:

Leopold was made to accompany a book about an elephant for my 9 month old nephew Massimo. Of course 9 month olds receive lots of cuddly toys for Christmas and Leopold was cast aside with the lack of interest I have come to expect from such aged children, however his mum was suitably appreciative so hopefully Leopold will get to play once the excitement of all these new toys wears off for Massimo...
Nevertheless, he was heaps of fun to make. Typically for me, I did not read the instructions all the way through before starting the knitting, so I wasn't sure how this amoeba-shaped thing with two legs was going to become an elephant. But the instructions (from the 6-8 hour section of Last Minute Knitted Gifts) were so clever once I got through to the finishing part - I simply had to giggle out loud as I pulled the two strands of wool threaded through at the neckline to create a distinct head...then even more hilarity ensued as I stuffed his little body (here's more project info, including details of the yarn I used).
I made the kerchief as directed but was happy to discover that, beyond hiding the sort of 'garotte' look of the neck shaping, the kerchief can also be used in playing dress-up with Leopold. For example, here's Leopold the Bandit: (or Leopold the public health worker?)

And here's Leopold the bandana wearer:

I've been enjoying my holiday immensely, and will post soon about what was waiting for me under the 'tree' (a few pine branches in a vase) for me on Christmas morning!
Of course there has been a lot of knitting done as I sat through nearly every hour of the Boxing Day Test. Although I will not be starting the year with a clean slate, I have been having a very Polly Christmas and have finished the knitting of the French Market Bag and am one or two repeats short of getting to the edging on Kiri. Details will follow in due course! Happy new year, gentle reader, I hope 2006 will bring you more than you have wished for in your wildest dreams!