I know if you follow me you might be thinking "Why a chocolate lab, and not a black one?" Simple answer, I hadn't enough black wool, but plenty of brown. I was flicking through ravelry, looking at the other patterns that someone who had liked one of my patterns had also liked. Does anyone else do this? It sounds a bit creepy, "a knitting pattern stalker", but I often find it a good way to find patterns I like. So I came upon this pattern Rufus the Lab Puppy by Dyah Dyanita, and I thought I would give it a go.
For me this pattern was interesting, as all the pieces except for the ears were knitting in the round. Although I do knit in the round, it is usually only for socks or hats, and in my own designs I tend to knit flat and have lots of seams to sew. All the curves and shaping in this pattern were done by turning mid-row, a technique I use a lot. I can't cope with circular needles so used doublepoints, which made the legs and tails a bit of a fiddle, but this was mainly because my needles were just too long.
The hardest thing I found was to attach the legs and tail in quite the right place.
The tricky thing now is keeping this little lab away from my real labrador. She destroys all her toys in a moment or two.
Just
a reminder that my Ginx Woolly Linx party for July 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.
Yes, I know, I have slightly wandered off the Spring flower theme. I was looking through my embroidery stitch book, and found a page where they actually tell you how to embroider a butterfly. I couldn't resist having a go.
Unusually for me, this is just a generic butterfly. I usually like to be precise, possibly with a latin name, but this time I just used the wool colours that I had to hand.
These shoes are for sale in my Etsy Shop, and the pattern is my Baby Bee Shoes.
Just
a reminder that my Ginx Woolly Linx party for July 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.
Hello again, and welcome to the Ginx Woolly Linx Party for July. I have just spent a long time looking at all the links for June. Once again I am in awe of some of your projects, and picking favourites has been tricky. I am so happy that the party is getting just a little bit bigger each month.
Maaksels van Carlak has knitted some adorable little rabbits and a bear. Check them out in their shoebox house.
Wild Daffodil has made has crocheted not one, but two of these beautiful blankets for her twin granddaughters. What lucky girls.
EyeLoveKnots has made a crochet summer tank vest. My daughter is now pestering me to make her something similar.
and finally Lalka Crochetka has made really unique doll based on a child's drawing. I love this project.
Looking forward to seeing your July projects. Remember only projects made from yarn or wool. Doesn't have to be knitting or crochet though - does anyone still do macramé or it could be weaving!
I've been struggling a bit with my knitting for the last few weeks. I've been working on a new pattern, and it just keeps not working out. I am so disheartened, that for the moment all my attempts, notes etc. have been put in a bag. I will come back to it, but for the moment I wanted to just knit something fun, and not have to write down every stitch.
So it seemed a bit like fate when a knitting competition came up in my facebook feed. CreaCraft's Knit a Selfie competition. The basic head pattern is provided, and after a lot of self-scrutinising in a mirror, here I am.
The green glasses are fairly realistic, and I improvised the nose, as you need somewhere for your glasses to balance. My hair took a lot of thought. I think of myself as blond, but am getting more and more brown each year. I hope you will notice the touches of grey at the front. Actually I would be over the moon if my hair were as funky as this.
As I don't think I have a terribly distinctive look, I decided to give myself a nice red beret. I do like a cosy woolly hat. The competition is knit a selfie, although I would quite like to have a go at making the rest of my family.
Just
a reminder that my Ginx Woolly Linx party for June 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.
I don't usually post my daughter's drawing. She is doing GCSE Art, so there is quite a lot of drawing and painting going on. But these ones are a bit personal, as she did them for the family. They are charcoal drawings of our pets. The first one was done about a year ago, and has been up on the wall, so I have been pestering for a picture of the cats to go along side it. I was really pleased when she did one of the cats last week. Although they are mother and daughter, they don't like each other very much, so it would be very unusual to get them sitting this close. I do think she has captured their characters - particular Noodle, who is often a bit of a grump.
Just
a reminder that my Ginx Woolly Linx party for June 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.
In nearly the last of my series of baby shoes, I have strayed from Spring into Summer.
I have not been able to take a photo of the meadow I have in my head that inspired these shoes. I was going to look for a picture online, but perhaps I don't need to.
The meadow I was thinking of is a complete mixture of flowers: a few bold scarlet poppies, a smattering of deep blue cornflowers, some jolly buttercups, a cow parsley reaching above them all, and some daisies down low. Can you see the meadow now in your mind's eye? The sun is shinning and the flowers are blowing in a gentle breeze. It is a perfect day.
Just
a reminder that my Ginx Woolly Linx party for June 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.
OK guys, this month you have me beat. I really could not narrow my favourites down to just four. There were so many lovely projects, so I have decided to pick my four favourite crochet projects, and then my four favourite knitted projects.
My party, so I guess I can change the rules. Perhaps I shall say that this doubling up, is to celebrate the party having been running for half a year! Even with this doubling of my favourites there were still some projects that I wish I had picked, but had to leave out. So keep on linking, and you will get featured ...
Howling at the Moon made this wonderful cat bag for her friend. I love the stylised cats. Take a look at the other pictures on her blog.
Marjan of Atelier Marie Lucienne has combined crochet with sewing to make this beautiful bag. She dyed this wool herself.
Carla of Maaksels van Carlak has crocheted some feathers, some of real birds and others imaginary.
and finally Ineke inekedcblog has made a whole airport of planes and a heliocopter. Aren't they great!
And now to the knitted projects
Barbara of Knitting Work in Progress has use a textured stitch called Pin Check to make this beautiful blanket. Lovely subtle colours and the stitch is reversible. I want to try this out.
Tonna of Sew Crafty Crochet has made this scarf in shades of denim. I love the simplicity of the design, and the fact it is all in garter stitch.
Anja of Zoomsnoren has made the Danish entry to the Eurovision song contest, Rasmussen. Just shows there really are no limits to knitting.
and finally I just love this hat from Gema of Hebra de Lana from Spain. The pattern is called Anagram, and I want to knit one.
So thank you all for joining the party, and congratulations if you were featured this month. I would love to see what new projects you have been working on. Remember the party keeps going all month, so you can join in at any time.
If you were featured this month you can display the You Were Featured Button if you wish.
