Making Domo-Kun Fingerless Gloves

My eldest niece LOVES Domo-kun. He's a mascot for a Japanese public broadcasting company. He's kinda cute.

When she came to visit, we went to Japan town, and she kinda went crazy over the various Domos you can find there. So, for her birthday, I decided to make her some fingerless gloves, ala Dom-kun. Luckily, Ravelry has everything and I found a few patterns. However, the pattern uses worsted weight yarn, and I was using sock weight yarn. Because I tend to make a lot of fingerless gloves AND her hand size is a bit smaller than mine, I just used my "vanilla" fingerless glove pattern.

1. Cast on 40 stitches.
2. Knit 2x2 ribbing for 1.5-2 inches
3. Knit stockinette until it reaches where you want a thumb
4. Make thumb gusset

Then came the actual turning the brown gloves into Domo-kun. First, I cut out a rough template based on the size of the glove.

I picked up some red & white felt at Joann's; they are about $0.40 a piece.

Then pinned the pieces to the glove and sewed them onto the glove using embroidery thread.

To give the mouth a more 3D effect, I crochet'ed a single chain of 50-51 stitches, and wrapped it around the mouth.

Then used some yarn to sew on the button eyes. They don't look "quite right"

But look fine when you put them on your hands.