Crochet, Carrots and Catnip

Yesterday I bought a copy of Mollie Makes.    This month's issue has crochet carrots and peas on the front and I was very interested because I had thought of making catnip carrots for the Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, as the knitting pattern I used for the catnip mice looked very like a carrot before the ears, tail and whiskers were added.  I made the carrot from Mollie Makes, and it looks good, and was simple to crochet...



...BUT it was almost impossible to fill.  In fact I started the carrot with a 'magic circle' and pulled this up tight a few rows later, without reading the instructions (how typical of me) about stuffing at the end.  So I had to pull a few rows back, stuff as much filling and catnip in as I could, and then keep stuffing until the end of the carrot.  I overfilled so I could poke a needle through the stitches and persuade some of the stuffing down into the very tip, but it was a bit tricky and the carrot is a little bit bent at the end!

I'm going to make some adjustments to the pattern to make stuffing easier, and I'll let you know how it goes.  I'm also going to knit one, which I think will be much easier. I'll use DK as I haven't yet found any 4ply (as in the original mouse pattern) in a carrot colour!

I also wanted to show you the finished draught excluder!  Here it is.



I may refine the pattern for the next one and work in a spiral, as I think it is a bit spoiled by the joining of rounds.  It is also not symmetrical with regard to the patterns I've incorporated, as I got bored with doing stripes towards the end and made up some more fancy work!