Little Pumpkins

I have been busy working on a pattern for some little pumpkins for Halloween. The pattern contains instructions for two sizes of pumpkins, which are really quite simple and quick to make.

 

The pictures above are knitted in DK, but searching through my stash of oddments I found a lot of pumpkiny (is that a word) wool in other thickness. It is very simple to adapt the pattern to whatever wool you have simply by changing the needle size. For DK I used 4mm, for 4ply 3.5mm and for the scrummy thicker wool 5mm.

 

So here are some photos of some individual pumpkins that could be used as decorations. 

 

 

The pattern is available here on ravelry, and Etsy and will be on Loveknitting in due course.

 

One other idea that I think would work well would be to make a bunting mixing the pumpkins with my knitted bats. Still working on this, but here is a link to the Bat Pattern on ravelry. 

 

Just to show that you could make your pumpkins in any colour here is a photo of my own homegrown pumpkin and squash.

 

 

Sloths are Trending Again

Sometimes I like to return to my own patterns, just because it is reassuring to reknit them and check that they are still workable. So I decided to make a few sloths, as all the originals in my Etsy shop sold fairly quickly. And despite selling a few of this pattern, I still have not seen any sloth projects. Although this doesn't mean sloths haven't been made, it is always very reassuring to me when I see successful projects from my patterns.

So it seemed really funny that I was sitting working on a sloth a few weeks ago, when a section came up on The One Show, saying that sloths are once again becoming fashionable. The One Show is a UK early evening magazine show, that sort of covers everything.

These little sloths are heading to my Etsy shop. I usually try to make my little animals in realistic colours, but I thought for the sloths it was fun to use some bright colours in slightly fluffy wool that I had in my stash. I think that kids would love to have them attached to a bag or keyring. If you fancy making your own sloth the pattern is available on ravelry, and is a fairly quick make.

 

 

Still lots of time to join in Ginx Woolly Linx Party for June.

My Very Own Mini Cooper

I have made my fair share of knitted mini coopers over the years. I have tried to do a count up, and think it is at least 15, but I have have missed some. But finally I have made a car for myself, and it is going to live on the back shelf of my very own mini cooper.
  

This knitted car is smaller than the usual cars I make from my Mini Cooper pattern, as I decided to knit it in Cornwall over the half-term holiday. I rather stupidly only took the needles for the wheels. The body of the car is knitted on larger needles. So I had to really adapt the wheels so they were in proportion.

It sort of upsets me that real life minis seem to be getting bigger and bigger.  Occasionally you still see an orginal mini, and they really are like a different car to the mini countryman. Little confession - I was quite keen to get a Fiat, but was over-ruled, and now we have the mini (called Neville) I really love it. It is very easy to park, but also quite nippy when needed. I am taking my daughter out in it for driving practice, and she finds it a lot more powerful than the driving instructor's car on which she is also learning.

Just a reminder that there is still plenty of time left to join in my Ginx Woolly Linx party for March. Click on the photo above or at the top of the page to find the party. I would love to see what you have been working on this month.

A Few More 2CVs

2CV orders are a bit like buses. You wait for ages, and then two come along at the same time. The first order was for this black and yellow Charleston 2CV. I really like it when I have to slightly adapt my pattern. Much more interesting for me, and I was really pleased with how the side panels turned out. Here is an actual 2CV Charleston, to show you what I was aiming at.

And then just a few days later I got another order for a red 2CV. Both are knitted from my pattern Henrietta 2CV, and you can read about the original car that inspired me here.  And if you would like me to make a 2CV for you, here is link to the page on Etsy where you can place on order. Although making these little cars is part of my business, it is always very cheering when I hear someone is happy with their purchase.

Just a reminder that my Ginx Woolly Linx party for August is now running. Click on the photo above or at the top of the page to find the party. I would love to see what you have been working on this month.

Alpaca

I've just looked it up, and the plural of one alpaca can be either alpaca or alpacas. I wish there was a more interesting collective word for a group of them than herd. Perhaps you can suggest one. But for now, as I have no better word, I have been knitting a whole herd of alpaca. This new pattern has now been thoroughly tested, and I am really pleased with the result. My husband keeps telling me that I should have made the necks thinner, but these are meant to be alpaca who are just about ready to be sheared. Sorry about the huge number of photos - I just can't make my mind up.

The very first brown alpaca was made with Bearhouse Alpaca mocha double knit, and you can see some more photos here. I made the second one with the same weight of wool, but this time Bearhouse honeycomb double knit. The smaller cream one is made with Bearhouse vanilla ice 4ply, as I really wanted to knit one in this shade, and it doesn't seem to come in double knit. I just reduced the needle size, and he has turned out fine, although I recommend the double knit on the pattern. This is quite a tight knit, with a small needle size, as I wanted to make sure that the knitting is quite firm and the neck doesn't flop. I am sure that there are other alpaca wools, but I would recommend this one which knitted up really nicely, as is 100% pure alpaca.

I just love alpacas. I have sat and watched a TV show about some alpacas near Oxford, which shows them giving birth. I definitely want to go on visit the alpaca farm where this wool came from on our next visit to Devon. I have some oddments left of all the wool, so may have a go at a piebald alpaca.

The pattern is available on ravelry, Etsy, and LoveKnitting. This was just one of those projects that I felt compelled to do.

 

"You Gotta Have A Dream ...."

I truly believe the lyrics of this song, you do have to have a dream. So I am going to "talk about things I'd like to do". My dreams have changed over the years, some of them I have achieved, and some I am still striving towards. The current dream, which I frequently natter on about, is to move to the country. There I will have a herd of alpacas, will spin the wool, still design my patterns, but also maybe run knitting workshops. My husband's dream is to have a small area of woodland, which he will stride around managing. I am not sure if we will achieve any of this, but as I started by saying, you do have to have something you think about when drifting off to sleep at night.

So perhaps I talk about this dream too much, which may be why my other sister-in-law gave me this lovely pure alpaca ball of wool for Christmas. The wool was from Bearhouse Alpacas, near Sidbury in Devon, and is doubleknit mocha. I have been working on this alpaca for many weeks, and in fact this is version three. Number one alpaca was too sheep-like, and Number two was really like some sort of mutant. So they both had to be unravelled. I am finally happy with Alpaca Number Three, but won't publish the pattern until I have tested it out a few times. So I am going to order a few more balls of alpaca wool, and get to work on creating my own herd.

"The Traditional Christmas Elephant"

Many weeks ago I decided to design a new pattern for a Christmas decoration. But what to do? It all seems to have been done before - stockings, baubles, snowmen etc. So I had the idea to research some more unusual symbols of Christmas from other countries. Did you know about the traditional Norwegian Christmas mouse? The Swedish Christmas goat? Or even the Christmas spider from Ukraine?
  
But even with this research I couldn't really come up with an idea that I thought would make a good decoration. So my next plan was to start a new Christmas tradition - The Christmas Elephant. Will it catch on? Probably not. Perhaps I could say it originates from the little-known fact that the Three Kings really travelled to Bethlehem on elephants.

So although I know this is completely the wrong time to bring out a Christmas pattern, here they are - Christmas Elephants. (I toyed with the idea of the Easter Elephant, but decided that was just a step too far!)

The pattern contains instructions for both large and small elephants. They have a felt backing, and my pattern contains photos and instructions on how to put the elephant together. You can also make it with or without the coloured seat section.  

What is great about these elephants are that they really are a very quick make. I can knit several in an evening, so if you were looking to give the decorations as gifts it is ideal, as they are handmade and personal but not too time-consuming. You can use up oddments of wool that you have left over from other projects.

I think the elephants would also make a great hanging baby mobile toy. Perhaps I shouldn't say that - as I don't want to distract you from the real concept, The Traditional Christmas Elephant.  Spread the word, I know this is going to be big!

The pattern is available on ravelry, Craftsy, and Etsy, and will be on LoveKnitting shortly.

Blue 2CV

I just thought I would show you another of my 2CVs, made for someone in the UK, just a few weeks ago. I try really hard to get the colour of my knitted cars just right, but sometimes this is hard. 

I wonder if there is a wool manufacturer somewhere who could specialize in metallic car wool? Perhaps there isn't really the demand. (I better explain that I mean this as a joke. My husband says that my dry sense of humour is not always apparent.)
 

"Heigh Ho says Anthony Rowley ..."

These little frogs are knitted from my new pattern. They are made from small amounts of 4ply sock wool, and I think are a great way of making something cute from those little bits of leftover yarn. (Well I think they are cute, and hope you agree with me.)

I have been working on Mr Frog for quite a few weeks, and I don't know if I am getting slower or just more pernickety. The frogs legs were the main worry, as you can see from the photo above they are long, but frogs' legs are really, really long when they are extended. I have spent quite a while looking at frog anatomy pictures. (Be warned if you type frog legs into google you come across a lot of French cookery pages.) I wanted him to be just right, so his front and hind legs are the right length, with the right number of joints and toes. So you can keep him as a swimming/jumping frog, or if you want him to be permanently sitting I explain how to fold his legs and secure with a few extra stitches.

The frogs are photographed in my friend's garden. I have been cat sitting, so each day frogs and camera have come with me. It is a really beautiful pond, and has some real frogs and newts in it, although I haven't been able to photograph them. I did think it would be rather cool if knitted frog could come face to face with a real one.

Like most of my patterns the pieces are knitted flat, with some short rows to get curves. You will need some doublepoint needles, as there are just a few rows of icord knitting. I have used black beads for the eyes, as I thought they looked realistic, although you should use safety eyes or a knitted knot if giving the frog to a child. The speckles on the frogs are also made with french knots. The pattern is available on ravelry and Craftsy, and will be in all the other usual places later today.

Water Lily