That Time of Year

That time of year is approaching, and as I still having nothing new to show you (working on the mystery pattern), I just thought I would remind you of some of my Christmas patterns. Here are photgraphs of some of the patterns that I label as Christmassy.
 

 Although my own tree is usually covered with some of my seaside creatures.

Just click on the photo to link to any of these patterns on Craftsy. (Feeling rather proud of myself for having worked out how to make a photo into a link!)

Sea Urchins

I have added a new pattern to my sea creature collection: a Sea Urchin Shell. Do you like my real sea urchins? They were my Christmas present from my husband. I know that is a bit odd, but I really like them. They sit on a shelf in the room where I make things with a few other seaside bits and bobs. I thought they would look good with the knitted ones in my photographs. 

Sea urchins are really fascinating creatures. It took me quite a while to find exactly the right wool. These are knitted with James Brett DK Marble Colour 5, which seemed to have exactly the right mix of grey and pink to give a natural look. This is the same wool that I used for my Our House project.

The knitting is done on two needles, and is not difficult. The dots are then embroidered on down the ridges afterwards. I refer you to my photo tutorial for some help with these french knots. I have tried to be very careful with the number of ridges, and there are five main ones with large bumps, each with two smaller ones inbetween. 

"You Shall Have A Fishy ..."

I have been working all week on a new knitting pattern, Little Minnows.

It is a really simple little pattern, but I am happy with the way it has turned out, as it gives the knitter options, and all the choices are included in the one pattern.

First of all 4ply or doubleknit. The pattern works well in both.

There is the beaded fish. The beads are not sewn on, but incorporated into the knitting.

Then there is the Minnow with Bobbles. I thought this would be a fun way to make the scales if you didn't have any beads handy. But even with this version you can decide whether to do it in one colour or two, for which the patterns are slightly different.

Then there is the decision of whether to use a separate colour for the tail and fins, or even whether to knit the top and bottom fins at all. 

A minnow does have fins, but I knitted a few without as I thought they also looked nice. Hubby says those ones are not minnows, but anchovies, but I think he is just thinking with his stomach.

So not a good pattern if you find decision-making difficult.  It might put you in a spin trying to decide.
 

Thank you to my virtual friends for all the kind comments on my starfish and scallop shell last week.