Whoooooo’s your favorite?

Remember when I made a test owl back in November? I was pretty happy with him, except I felt he needed bigger eyes.

So I ordered some beautiful 15 mm safety eyes from my favorite eyeball shop, 6060.etsy.com. Owl #2 was my Gettysburg College owl (go orange and blue!), which went to live with a lovely Gettysburg parent and knitter who will cherish it:

But I was still not completely satisfied with the owl. The head was too straight. So I improvised some short rows on my next owl, and this is how he came out. S1 picked the colors and this is going to her mother for Christmas. Isn’t he handsome?
A couple of people asked me to write up my modifications, so I knit a 4th owl in order to do that. Here he is. His head is a little too long. I must remember to start the short row shaping a little earlier, because his proportions aren’t quite as pleasing as those of Owl #3.   If you’re interested in experimenting, my owl mods are on my Ravelry pages for #3.