I had yarn left over, but not enough to make anything big. So I pulled out that old penguin pattern from the first page. The yarn weights were totally different. So, I had to use a different hook, and it ended up nearly an inch taller than the original penguin. So, because I was using smaller weight yarn for the belly and beak, I had to freehand extra rows and just use my experience to know when to increase stitches.
Since I was on a roll, I decided to add some more creative additions, freehand--the under-eye feathers help the eyes pop, I think. And I used a heavily modified version of the one-row heart pattern I made for my beanies, so that it made a clover shape instead of a heart shape, which worked great for feet. I'm so happy with how this turned out, and so proud of myself for being able to just one-the-fly make creative decisions that worked out .
The original pattern was much daintier, but I used a heavier yarn and marginally larger hook because I was more interested in 1) being warm and 2) fitting my big man hands. Plus, I picked a rough and rustic looking yarn--and, well, my stitches are still a little rough.
