I've never made an animal lovey before, so this was really fun for me!! I used the star pattern for the blanket because it's such a pretty stitch and it turned out more like a crib blanket as it measures 42" x 29". My niece is pregnant with her first little boy, and she wants to include her first "baby" (Griffey dog) in the joy of the real baby. I was able to match the color perfectly to her Red Field Retriever (variation of Golden Retriever). I included a personalized dog tag and collar - which are removable to keep baby safe during play or nap time. Also, it has special safety eyes, eyelids, and nose which are impossible to remove. As an extra precaution, they were glued in as well. All of the stuffed parts are stuffed inside dark stockings or knee high stockings and placed inside the head and legs, so there is zero possibility of baby being able to extract stuffing. I used pretty tight stitches too. I only brushed out the tail and I sculpted in toes. The original pattern just had plain feet.
I had trouble choosing my favorite photos, so I included a lot!! I can't wait to surprise my niece with this blanket. I'm also going to include a red retriever ragdoll and a red retriever beanie for baby. I'll post all items together when the full set is done.