As I mentioned in my last post, if I know you’re particularly into something (like David Bowie), there is an extremely-non-zero chance that I’ll think about things to knit that reflect that interest.

And so it manifest, at Christmas in 2014.

This wasn’t my first themed-to-recipient’s-interests knit. The first thing I ever made (in 2013) was a TARDIS blue tea cosy. It took me a long Sunday afternoon in front of YouTube to get going, with many breaks for muttering, cursing and sulking.

However, the knit in question wasn’t quite so geeky. My sister had just passed her driving test and got her first car – a Volkswagon Fox. She called (and still calls) it Foxy. So when I learned about the concept of a travel blanket, that rolls up and lives in your car for emergencies, I knew that the only sensible thing to do was make one with a fox’s face on it.

The fox pattern was based on Villi Pohjola (Ravelry link), and the blanket size was based on a Lion Brand pattern which no longer exists, but in zooming in to the photo looks like stockinette with a garter stitch. It’s definitely done in Stylecraft Special Chunky (colours Spice and White) because the remains have stayed in my stash all these years, and the label has peeked up at me often.

Years and years later, a friend who likes foxes had a baby. One fox blanket, coming up! But in the intervening years, I’d grown more ambitious, stronger, more powerful… On searching through baby blanket patterns, I found the Sleeping Fox Blanket (Ravelry link) by Le Pavillon Creatif (designer’s website). It was absolutely too adorable not to make, and I ordered up the yarn.

The pattern wasn’t super complicated. The main thing was learning intarsia properly – I’d freestyled colour work before, in whatever way seemed to make sense to me in the moment, with mixed results. It hadn’t occurred to me to look it up. Sometimes I’m a looker-upper and sometimes I’m a figure-outer, you know? Anyway, understanding the way to hold and twist the yarn meant that I could be consistent with my colour changes, and I was so proud of how it came out.

The yarn I used was Amigo from Hobbii and I gotta be honest, I’d make a different choice if I was doing it over again. The yarn colours are great and it’s very affordable, but it’s also kinda squeaky – not something I usually notice, and I’ve used a lot of brands of acrylic. The pattern, on the other hand, I loved everything about: the nautical stripes, the gold edging, the bright red fox and its wee sleepy face… just an absolute smash hit.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that FoxFest was over, but no! The blanket went to my pal when the baby was born. For his first birthday, he got this:

The Little Fox (Ravelry link) from Drops Design (Drops link) was on my list for at least that full year, if not longer – it’s entirely possible that I started scanning for patterns as soon as I found out my pal was expecting. It’s how I react when I hear about a baby on the way – to figure out what’s in it for me, how I can best take advantage of the excuse, nay, necessity to knit something new?

The sweater was still in use in November (with the birthday having been in the Spring), just with the sleeves now being three quarter length.

These foxes were all fun and special in their own ways. In fact, the Sleepy Fox Blanket is one of my favourite things I’ve ever made! And maybe that’s why I like knitting for others – it’s a chance to make something I’ll really enjoy, without having to find a place to store it, as well as a chance to make someone else happy. Win/win/fox.