Meet Hot Lips (the Knitted T-Rex)

So I don't know if you all remember, because it was SO LONG AGO that I hardly remember, but do you recall when I decided that I was going to knit a dinosaur from the appropriately named book Knitted Dinosaurs? I actually went so far as to ask all of you which dinosaur you wanted me to make, and based on your votes (and the votes of your children and dogs), I decided to make the T-Rex!

Folks, this was so long ago that there were leaves on the trees, and they were turning pretty colors. Want proof? This is a photo I took from the window aboard the Amtrak train as I rode up to Rhinecliff to go to the Sheep and Wool Festival. See? Leaves!

And here is the dinosaur's tail, which I knitted on the train whilst sipping coffee. (Actually, looking back on this, I can't think of a more idyllic way to spend a Sunday morning...)

Not long after the Sheep and Wool Festival, I actually finished knitting all of the components that make up a knitted dinosaur. These include (clockwise from top): a body that, unstuffed, looks like a snake with a crocodile head, a mouth that turned out to be way too large, two tiny useless forearms, a couple of legs, a couple of of foot pads, and in the middle, a spiky ridge to run down the middle of his back.

Over the course of another week or so, I sewed the whole thing together, attaching this to that, stuffing each little limb, and weaving in all of the tails. I must say, sewing a dinosaur together is a bit less romantic than knitting him on a train while admiring fall foliage. But he came together really nicely (except for maybe that giant mouth.)

My roadblock came right before Thanksgiving, and it was so stupid I can't even stand it: I didn't have any felt for the teeth and the eyes. That was it. That was the ENTIRE roadblock. And so my poor dinosaur sat there fully assembled for months, with no eyes and no teeth. He was basically soulless.

Want to know how long it took me to fix this problem? FOUR MONTHS. God, that is so embarrassing. I know that I've been talking about this theme a lot recently, but why do I leave so many things right on the verge of completion? Here's what I'm thinking: This is the year that I attend a special month-long workshop held by, like, Oprah Winfrey, and my yoga teacher I loved so much in San Francisco, and maybe my mom, and possibly a life coach, and when I emerge from this workshop, I will be a person who actually completes things in a reasonable amount of time. Or, you know, doesn't start things until the other things are finished. Or, you know, become a perfect person.

Yup, totally gonna happen. I'll go call Oprah right now.

OK, my quest for perfection may be a bit unrealistic. What I should be focusing on is this: I finished the damn dinosaur. I had to walk seven blocks to buy the felt, and then it took one whole hour to cut out his felt teeth and eyes and sew them on. And now, I present to you: Hot Lips Houlihan the T-Rex!

So about that mouth...this is what I was talking about when I said it turned out a little, um, large. (I used a different yarn at a slightly smaller gauge and wow does that make a difference...well, now we know.) 

You'll notice, too, that his entire body is actually a little large--18 inches nose to tail! In fact, to show you just how large he is, I posed him next to a toy dinosaur that I've had for years and years. Not that this comparison will be helpful at all for anyone who hasn't seen the toy dinosaur before. OK, maybe I just wanted to take a picture of them together because I thought it was cute. So sue me!

For similar reasons of cuteness, I also decided to take pictures of Hot Lips eating the smaller T-Rex as he tries to run away.

And then they became friends.

Epilogue: After giving it some thought, I don't actually think that Robb and I need a stuffed dinosaur in our house. And so, pretty soon, he will be leaving his little buddy to go join a yet-to-be-born baby. (I can't tell you who yet. But if you are pregnant and you are a friend of mine, you might be in the running. But don't get your hopes up, because it might not be you.)

Let's hope that Hot Lips brings years of joy and fun to this little baby, and that his giant teeth and mouth don't scare the crap out of the child and scar him/her for life. Yay!

In the meantime, thank you, friends, for participating in the making of this dinosaur! I hope it was all well worth the wait.