A Neighbourly Mini Cooper

I've been busy making another mini cooper, this time for my neighbour at my new home in Cornwall. Being a neighbour here in the country is a different thing, than in London. There you could easily hear neighbour's conversations, as they were a matter of feet away, but here even a close neighbour is a bit of long stride across a field. 

We seem to have a lot in common, as we met at the local craft fair. And both owners of a mini cooper, a lovable black dog, and a black and white cat. 

For this mini cooper I slightly altered my pattern - adding details to the wheels, and adding a spoiler to the back. Rather a sporty model.

Black Mini Cooper

Another Christmas knit, which I could not show until it was given to the recipient, my sister-in-law. Her previous red mini cooper had a little knitted version on the dashboard, but when we saw her in the autumn we heard how that car had come to a sad end in some flood water. But she was in a new black mini cooper, which I have made a version of. Had to sneak out and take a few photos, just so I could get all the details correct.

Knitted from my own pattern, which you can find here. I have made a lot of these little cars over the years, and I am currently working on another one for my mini cooper owning neighbours.

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.

2CV Cushion

My last new pattern was for a 2CV cushion. I got the idea for this project from Jo, who saw my Henrietta 2CV pattern, and sent me a message on Etsy to see if I had a pattern for a cushion. I didn't, but I thought it was such a good idea, I set to work make one. And when it was done I sent her a copy. She has sent me some photos of the cushion that she made, and I have been holding them back so as not to spoil the Christmas surprise for someone.

She had done a fantastic job, and very quickly. I really like her method for the back of the cushion. Much more practical than mine, which may have to be unpicked at some point, when it needs washing.

I have really had very little interest in the pattern, but actually suspect it may be one of those slowburners. But my own 2CV cushion has sold, and is now in  France! Very happy about that, and am thinking of making another one.  

Also I have just thought that I would mention that I have rethought my pricing of knitting items on Etsy. I have removed all the postage fees, and adjusted the pricing. It was almost impossible to keep the postage accurate, as it seems to go up so often, and the rules about weight and size of packages seem quite hard to follow. I also find it a bit annoying to put something in your basket and then find that the postage puts it beyond what you are happy to pay. So I will see what happens ....

Just a reminder that there is still a little bit of time left to join in my Ginx Woolly Linx party for January. 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.

2CV Cushion

I've been working away for so long on this pattern, but am really happy with the final result. Not at all my usual style, but I keep just looking at it and smiling. I nearly published the pattern a few weeks ago, with just the front view, which I had intended to sew onto a fabric back. But once I had had the idea for the back view, I just had to do it. 

So this pattern contains the charts for the back and front, and a smaller chart for the chevron corners. Then there is an explanation of how I used them to make this cushion. But you could use them for other projects. I do really fancy the idea of a jersey for my husband with a car on the front and back. Probably not enough time to do this for Christmas. Other ideas are possibly to make a car rug incorporating it, or perhaps a scarf for those breezy ride in your 2CV with the roof open.  Would love to hear if you make a cushion, or use it in another way.

I have called this pattern hard, which might be a reflection of the fact that I have not done a lot of work like this. If you are used to intarsia knitting from charts you might find it fairly easy. The wool is only carried across the back behind the wheels and on the striped roof. You can end up with a few colours on the go at once. I found the best way was to try not to worry about this, but then every so often just turn the work over, and do a bit of untangling.

The pattern for this cushion will be available in all my shops, ravelry, Etsy and Loveknitting. I've also decided to put this cushion in my Etsy shop. Pricing is going to be tricky, as it has taken me weeks of work. Don't tell anyone, but I might be quite happy if it doesn't sell, and I can keep it! 

Just a reminder that there are still a few days left to join in my Ginx Woolly Linx party for October. 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.

My Garage Project

I just thought I would give you a peek at the project I am working on at the moment. I had a message on Etsy from Jo asking me if I had a pattern for a 2CV cushion cover. I had a search over the internet, and surprisingly couldn't find one. Plenty of minis, beetles and campervans, but no 2CV that I could see. 

So I decided I would give it a go. These are just my first attempts. Version one seemed a bit too wide and not tall enough, and I am more happy with the second version below. The next plan is to scale this up to at least double the size. I will keep you posted.

Just a reminder that there are still a few days left to join in my Ginx Woolly Linx party for September. 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.