The Tale of the Lost Duckling

A little while ago my daughter Rachel asked me to make something duck themed for a friends little boy's first birthday. After lots of searching on Pinterest and Ravelry I found this sweet Just Duckie Lovey by Lisa van Klaveren and set about making the duck.

 I haven't made any 3D figures before so this little fella was a baptism of fire and once I got my head around the pattern terminology he didn't take long to finish. I popped him on top of the TV cabinet and made a start on the blanket part.

I just couldn't get to grips with the ripple stitch in this pattern so I replaced it with Attic 24's ripple pattern which crochets up beautifully and quickly. 

In order to get the present finished (I was behind schedule as we were renovating the garage at the same time) I took it with me to Tomas' swimming lesson one Sunday morning and as happens when you crochet/sew or knit in public I was soon deep in conversation with one of the other mum's about crochet and crafting in general. Cue the end of the lesson, I grabbed my crochet hook, wool and half finished blanket and popped them in my oh so lovely plastic carrier bag, (note to self - make a pretty project bag as plastic bags just don't cut it!) and made my way to the changing rooms to meet Tomas. Later that evening when I was finishing off the last rows of the blanket I took a look in the bag for the duckling to find that he WASN"T THERE! A frantic search of the living room began, was he hiding behind the sofa cushions, had I put him in my stash box, where on earth could he have disappeared to??? 

I honestly can't remember taking him to the swimming pool with me but that was my last resort so I messaged the swimming teacher and began my message with "I know this is going to seem strange BUT, you didn't happen to find a small crochet duckling beside the pool did you?" The swimming teacher replied without the hint of a snigger or laugh (although it is hard to tell in a text message) "No, sorry I didn't", and because it was a Sunday there wouldn't be anyone at the school where the swimming lessons take place so I had to wait until the Monday to find out if I had left him there. I rang the school office first thing on the Monday morning and asked for the caretaker who kindly said he would take a look for me and didn't seem at all phased by my question "Please can you have a look and see if there is a small yellow crocheted duckling in the pool?"
An hour later the phone rang and the caretaker was back on the line, YES he was there and none the worse for his little overnight adventure. Would I like to collect him from the school office he asked, "Yes please", I said, "I'll come straight away, thank you so much". Apparently finding my little yellow crocheted duckling made him smile that day and perhaps he will tell his family of the mad woman who crochets whilst her son swims and forgets to take her projects home. Next time though I WILL double check that I haven't left anything behind.
And as for the duckling, he was finally sewn onto his blue ripple lovey and belatedly given to the birthday boy!