Knitting Toys: Hammerhead Shark

Recently I received another toy request from young B.  He wanted a hammerhead shark.  A hammerhead shark?!!! That had never crossed my mind as a possible toy.  Fortunately someone else had thought of it.  "They are gray, Grammie," he told me, "and they can look in both directions."

Mary Kate Long posted this pattern for a hammerhead shark on Ravelry.com, a fabulous place to find free and for purchase patterns for absolutely anything you want to knit or crochet.

Because I had a few other projects going, I told B it would probably be after Christmas when I could work on the shark. He said that was okay since his birthday was after Christmas.  Very philosophical little creature....!

Hammerhead shark (or some other fish) with floppy dorsal fin, side fins, and tail fins.  Eyes on each side of the hammers.

However, on vacation I found some gray yarn, purchased it, and knit up the shark.  Very cute.  When home, I closed in the eyes, knit the fins and sewed them on and stuffed the shark.

Yesterday I took the shark to B.  He was home sick from school.  He immediately smiled when he saw what was in my hand and reached out for it.  He inspected it thoroughly then said, "This isn't really a hammerhead shark.  The mouth is supposed to be here! (pointing to a place closer to the front.  I must have misunderstood the directions...)... But I like this fish, whatever it is."  He is four years old.

Wrong mouth on hammerhead shark

He particularly liked the top fin.  "That is a dorsal fin, you know."  Well,  I had heard of dorsal fins but do not know if I would have picked that name out of a basket of names...

Anyway, he was happy.  I was happy to make it for him.  I expect his siblings will also be happy when they see it.  And it got finished before Christmas.