Pig In A Pod

I really have no idea why I am compelled to crochet things like this. What sane person in their mid forties would pick up a crochet hook and some pink yarn and create an ipod cozy that looks like a pig? The answer is the same person who made a purple monkey ipod cozy last year. The insane part is that I crocheted them for myself and not as a gift for a small child. The pattern came from the book The Happy Hooker- Stitch and Bitch Crochet. I used sport weight cotton yarn instead of the worsted weight that the pattern called for, so I pretty much winged it and fit the ipod to the cozy as I went along. Crocheting the ears was the trickiest part. There must have been a dozen little ears in various shapes and sizes strewn across my living room carpet by the time I figured out a pattern that I was happy with. Figuring out the shape of the ear was like working out a little geometry project. Since I happen to like math it was kind of fun trying to work out a shape that would wrap around the corner of the ipod, have a nice cupped shape to it and a little point at the tip of the ear. For the nose, I settled on two crocheted circles stacked on top of each other. One circle was too flat and I wanted the nose to stick out a bit farther. My knitting buddies Beth and Sue helped me select the right size of googly eyes for the piggy. I think the larger sized googly eyes bestows an appropriately insane look to the pig.The screen cover on the back of the ipod cozy is made from heavy gauge vinyl. I punched holes around the edge of the vinyl with a Japanese hole punch. It's this wonderful little tool that punches lovely perfect holes in a variety of wee sizes. I use it mostly for paper and cardboard, but it worked beautifully on the vinyl. Unfortunately, it also worked beautifully on skin as my poor chopped up fingers can attest to. That little hole punching puppy is sharp and is not for those who are dexterously challenged. Once the holes were punched in the vinyl and the Hello Kitty band aids were applied to my fingers, the project proceeded with no further bodily injuries.
My new little piggy will get her public debut tomorrow. Adrian and I are traveling to Hawaii for some fun in the sun. This little piggy that plays music will be my companion on the hideously long plane ride.