Wound up having to pick up a bunch of yarn remnants to do this since I had gotten rid of 96% of my stash this winter when we moved out of our studio.  I took it on the plane with me during a trip a couple of weeks ago, and the pattern *does* travel well.  I finished most of the body work on the drive home to Portland, although we had to stop at the Safeway in Yreka so I could pick up something resembling a yarn needle since I had forgotten that part of my kit at home.  Very pleased with how it turned out!  I am planning on doing more in different shapes now that I have the general idea on how to make them.  What I would do differently next time is to knit the face color in when I am working on the head instead of stitching it on later, and I would stuff the head with something lighter, as stuffing the whole thing with pinto beans made it rather top heavy.