Pawpaw’s goose

When my Pawpaw got sick at the end of October, I felt compelled to make him something. Being in Louisiana, I knew that he wouldn’t have much use for knitted garments, so I offered to make him a stuffed animal.

I asked Mawmaw if Pawpaw had a favourite animal, and she said that he had been particularly drawn to a portrait of a snow goose that he got as a gift many years ago. Something to represent his Canadian heritage and his years in the logging industry in British Columbia.

Now, my goose ended up looking more like a duck, probably because the pattern I followed was Amelia the Duck from my trusty Knitted Animal Friends book. If I were to make it again, I’d probably modify the bill to be more pointed, and procure some black yarn for the ends of the doll’s arms to represent the dark primary feathers on a real-life snow goose’s wings.

Unfortunately, Pawpaw passed away before I could finish the doll. I felt some guilt for committing myself to try and finish something so quickly and get it shipped to Louisiana in time, only to miss it by a wide margin.

But I felt it was important to finish. And I thought that Mawmaw could use something soft and comforting right now, so it would still end up with them.

I knew from the moment I started the goose-duck that I wanted to make it a little sweater or something to match Pawpaw. Looking through old photos, I was struck by this one of Pawpaw wearing a green cardigan while watching TV with me and my brother.

And so I made this tiny green cardigan, a modified version of the shrug that goes with Dorothy the Mouse, also from Knitted Animal Friends. Essentially I did garter stitch where it called for picot, so it wasn’t a major modification. I made the doll’s torso shorter, so it made the shrug appear longer.

I’m happy to report that the goose made it south for the winter, where it’ll stay to keep Mawmaw company.