I fell in love with this project the moment I saw it. Wouldn’t you too? This is the incredibly adorable Mr. Fox Stole My Heart collar from Tiny Owl Knits. I begged my boyfriend to buy this pattern for me when by birthday came around and he did not disappoint x3!

The original pattern is for a full-fledged scarf/stole, but I absolutely loved the way the little mini-fox collar looked, so I went with that design. I used Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light in Redwood Mix, Moonshadow (gotta love that name!), Pitch Black, and Winter White. Once again Berroco proved itself to be a very reliable brand 😀 It’s a very thin yarn, and I think pretty perfectly fit the gauge of the original pattern yarn, and despite being so thin it’s very easy to work with. It’s unfortunately not the softest yarn I’ve ever used, but it definitely is soft enough to make a fine scarf. I knew as soon as I saw the pattern that I wanted to make foxes in different colors, and I thought it worked out perfectly to make one in gray for my best friend, because she has blue eyes and a pinkish skin tone, whereas the red fox would look better on me with brown eyes and an olive skin tone.

Tiny Owl gives this pattern a 2 out of 5 owls :3 which I thought seemed pretty fitting. The majority of the collar is very simple, but making the ears, face, and the finishing embroidery is a little tricky. The face uses increases and decreases to create the shape, which is something I had yet to encounter since I hadn’t made plushies from knitting yet (crocheting definitely, but not knitting :3). The ears are done in a similar fashion, but in the round, which is always hard to get started with such a tiny piece. The legs are a flat piece that develops into an i-cord towards the feet.

The one thing I was disappointed by with this pattern was the body of the fox. Instead of being a tube, the body is a flat piece with a distinct right and wrong side. Most scarves are made so that there is no right or wrong side to prevent seeing the bad side while you’re wearing it. But this pattern depends on the fact that the body will curve in on itself so you don’t see the wrong side as much. It still happens though :/ If I made this pattern again, I would definitely find some way to change it so the body was a tube rather than a flat piece.

The finishing embroidery is a little finicky too. You’re trusted to place the eyes, nose, and ears just right to get the right look to Mr. Fox’s face. It’s hard to do since the yarn squishes however it wants to, so be prepared to take out your stitches and give it another go if you’re not very experienced. For the closure, I tried to use magnets as the pattern suggested, but the best ones I could find at Joann’s weren’t strong enough. You might have a similar issue, so I went with snaps instead.

In the end, I was very pleased how the project turned out, and I would definitely recommend it if the issues with the body don’t bother you 😀 It looks oh so charming, works out nicely with other fox-like colors, and whips up incredibly fast.