Ammonite

Given the sort of little things I like to knit, and my son's interests, I am not sure why it hasn't occured to me before now to knit some fossils. He had a very definitely period when he went through his "dinosaur-phase", and I am trying to remember if that was before or after he had his "space-phase". Actually I think he is still interested in both, it is just that I don't sit with him reading books about them. 

I was watching a documentary earlier in the year that was set on the beach in Lyme Regis. We went there many years ago, and had a rather fruitless hunt, but these people on the television seemed to be finding fossils every few minutes. Perhaps we need another trip down to Dorset. When I was very young, my mum used to crack open stones in our back garden with a hammer, and would occasionally find a fossil.

I have written a pattern for one of the best know fossils - the ammonite.  This is knitted with two flat pieces, with short rows to get the curve. I am working on a pattern for another fossil, which I hope will be ready soon.  The ammonite pattern is available on ravelry, Etsy, and LoveKnitting.

For my photos I have borrowed some of my son's fossils.  

Just a reminder that my Ginx Woolly Linx party for September is still 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.

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.

Direwolf Socks (learning by my mistakes)

There is only one member of my family now that I have not knitted socks for - my son. So I decided to give this a go, as part of my Christmas car knitting. I like to have some knitting to do on our travels at this time of year. 

He really likes "Game of Thrones", and it would be nice to knit him something related to that. There is a pattern on ravelry for a Game of Thrones blanket, and although I have thought about making that for him, it would probably mean I would have to devote a year to it and nothing else...

But I found a really nice pattern for some Direwolf Mittens by Carly Hill, but he is not really a mitten-type of person. (He is a bit like his Dad, who seems to think that real men don't need gloves, however cold!) So I thought I would use the direwolf motif from this pattern, but on a fairly standard sock pattern.  I used Favourite Socks by Voolenvine.

Mistake Number One. I pretty soon worked out that I could not just knit the direwolf motif, as I was knitting in the round. But that was a problem I could overcome, and so I decided I would have to also include the background pattern to get the wool to go the whole way round. (The only other way I suppose would be to find a sock pattern that is knitted flat, with a seam. Does such a thing exist?) I decided to have a patterned section, and knit the rest of the sock plain, but with an alternative colour for the ribbing, heel, and toe.

Mistake Number Two - Just don't try knitting from a chart in the car. I tried all sort of techniques: pinning the chart to the dashboard. But the car movement and my eyesight just made it impossible, so I had to be satisfied with just doing the plain sections on the road. I hasten to say that I am a passenger, not driving.

Blocking on my homemade cardboard feet

So all seemed fine. I thought if I knitted the largest size of sock it would all work out. Mistake Number Three. The first sock was nearly done, and I thought I would get my son to do a try on, to make sure it was the right foot length. But my poor son was a bit like an ugly sister trying to get into the glass slipper. Because of my patterned section, it was just too tight to fit him. 

Good news! - They fit me (Miss Cinderella) perfectly. 

Mistake Number Four. The next thing I realised was that although I had planned to have the direwolves facing in different directions, I had placed their faces fairly near the front of the socks. I think it would have been better to have put them slightly further to the sides, but too late for that now ....

I am still determined to make him some Direwolf socks. (He tells me that grey and white would be more House of Stark.) I think perhaps the best way is to incorporate the motif into a seamed sock. A seam on the foot might be uncomfortable though, but I wondered if I could knit the foot section in the round, and the leg bit flat with a seam. I would welcome any advice. Have you knitted any socks with a motif on the leg, or a flat-knitted seamed sock? Does anyone know of any patterns with the foot in-the-round and the leg seamed?

There are still plenty of days left in January to join my new monthly Ginx Yarn Linx party and share your woolly projects. There is a link to it in at the top of the righthand column.

Tiny Dutch Christmas Elf Clogs

I decided to make some new Christmas decorations for my tree. What could be more cute than some tiny pairs of elf shoes? 

In The Netherlands at Christmas, children leave a shoe out by the fireplace or sometimes a windowsill. They also believe that if they leave some hay and carrots in their shoes for Sinterklass's horse, they will be left some sweets or small presents. I am not Dutch, but this seems like such a lovely tradition that I thought I would make  some very tiny elf clogs, to contain sweets or nuts on the tree. My daughter tells me that her German friend leaves a boot on the front doorstep for Saint Nicholas to fill, even though she lives in England.

I am posting about this today because we are very close to the days, 5th/6thDecember when St. Nicholas's Day is celebrated. (Although in some countries it is celebrated on 19th December.)

 

The pattern is available on ravelry, Etsy, and will be on LoveKnitting. They are an easy knit, all in garter stitch, and with one small seam to sew.

I apologise for the huge number of photos. I have rather got a bit carried away with making these little shoes. I also wanted to show them before and after they have been decorated. They are such a quick make, but also great fun to decorate. I have embroidered with wool, and added some beads. I am sure they could be zhuzhed up in other ways. I would love to see what other people do with them.

I've taken most of these photographs at the front of my house, where I have a fir tree. Lots of curious looks from passers-by. So my only problem now is when I do put them on the Christmas tree (we don't have it yet as my husband like to leave it closer to the day), how to I stop one very greedy labrador getting to them. 

In fact the whole dog/Christmas thing is a bit of a worry. We don't go to town with decorations, but do always have a tree in the living room, with gifts around it. I would love any tips on how to do Christmas with a dog who will eat anything and everything. I suspect the answer is, "carefully".

 

Licence to Knit

I've been knitting one of my mini cooper cars for someone in the States this week. Often I embroider a name or real number on the plate, but this time the customer asked for 007. Great idea, for James Bond and Mini Coopers are both British icons, and this also the version with a union jack on the roof.

Then I thought I would see if I could find a link between James Bond and the mini. A mini moke does appear in some films, and I found this picture of Daniel Craig and a mini, but I think it has been photoshopped from the original poster.

But there is a link between James Bond and knitting. Here is a picture of a very young Roger Moore in the days when he was a knitting pattern model.

"Traditional Christmas Elephants" ... Again

I try not to repeat things too much, but it seems the right time of year to remind you about  "The Traditional Christmas Elephant". I published this pattern in the Spring, as I just couldn't wait, but I think now is the time of year people start thinking about making Christmas decorations. (You can read more about my ideas then here.)

For my new decoration I wanted to make something that had not been done before. You can find the pattern on Etsy, LoveKnitting, or Ravelry.
   
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.  These elephants are a fairly quick make, 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.

My other reason for repeating the pictures is that I have put the actual elephants in my Etsy shop. I have taken the opportunity to add a few other knitted items and relist some patterns that I had let drop out of the shop.
 

I am busy working on a new pattern. I am very excited about it, but this doesn't seem to have translated into getting on with it. It is one of those patterns that the family have scoffed at - "you just can't make one of those out of wool". Ha, they will see. I have the whole thing worked out in my head, but I need to get on and knit it and write the pattern. I would also say it is something that is iconic, and I think people who like them, really like them. If you want to have a guess in the comments please do ... but you will never, never, never get it.

Baby Conker

I've made this conker and shell for a lady to give as a gift to her new granddaughter, whose pre-birth name is Conker. Did any of you have a pre-birth name for your babies? 

My husband and I used to refer to our son as Nobby (after Nobby Styles, the famous footballer), and then for a while as Clovis - just because we thought it was possibly our least favourite name in our book of potential names. (Apologies to anyone called Clovis out there.) But never anything as cute or apt as Conker. Our second baby was very briefly called "Baby Bee" after she was born, before we had settled on her actual name. She was our second, so "B-baby", and she had a cute little striped suit that made here look a bit like a bumblebee.

I would love to hear your babies' pre-birth or nicknames.

If you want to make your own conker the pattern is available on Craftsy, ravelry, LoveKnitting and Etsy, or if you would like me to make one for you, it can be ordered on Etsy.

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.

 

"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.