More Scooters From Susie

Susie has been making some more scooters from my Vespa knitting pattern. She has made some little side stands so they will stand up nicely. Love them! Thank you for sharing.

Vespa Scooter

Every now and then someone makes one of my patterns, and does it so well, that I feature it here. Susie bought my Vespa knitting pattern back in June, and has made this lovely model for her brother-in-law to put in his workshed where he loves renovating vintage scooters! She says "The trouble is he's a Lambretta fanatic so not sure how well a Vespa will go down!" Well I am certain he will love it!

If you have used one of my patterns I would love to see what you have made. 

Lambretta

I love seeing projects made from my patterns, and this one is special as Wendy has made a this lambretta for her husband using my vespa pattern. It is not an easy pattern, as there are a lot of little pieces to attach, and an insert to keep it rigid. She has done a great job!

Lambretta Wedding Anniversary

I had an enquiry on Etsy from Ally, who wondered if I could make a lambretta scooter, as a gift for her husband on their first wedding anniversary. I hope she doesn't mind me mentioning that they went on their first date when they were 12, went their separate ways, but met up again 35 years later. How cute it that? She sent me a photograph, and I thought I could give it a go ...

I actually love this sort of order, when I am following my own pattern, but having to personalise it. The lambretta is different to a vespa in quite a few ways. The back section is longer and doesn't have the wheel hubs, and the seat has a very distinctive kink at the back. The front and hub caps are slightly different in shape, and the wheels smaller.

So I am wishing Ally and Col at very Happy Wedding Anniversary celebration on Monday.

Just a reminder that there is still time left to join in my Ginx Woolly Linx party for June. 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.

Pink Vespa

I have been busy making a Pink Vespa from my own Vespa pattern for a customer on Etsy. I will make these to order in any colour, or you can make your own. The pattern is available in all the usual places.

What was really nice with this order was that it came from a customer who has shopped with me previously. Quite a few years ago. And it was really nice to hear that she now has a new granddaughter who is now getting old enough to play with some of the knitted toys that she bought back then.
 

Just a reminder that there is still time join in my Ginx Woolly Linx party for June. 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.

Red Vespa

I have a new item in my Etsy shop, which is my Vespa Scooter. Up until now I have only had the pattern for sale, but I had a request from someone in New York to make a Red Vespa, as a birthday gift for a friend. I'm not sure why I hadn't listed it before, but it is quite fun to have a break from the pattern writing, (or trying to pattern write as it is not going very well at the minute), to knit a customised item. I also like to returning to my own patterns, and on reknitting I decided to slightly reduce the size of the wheels, as I think it looks more realistic like this.  

Just a reminder that there is still time 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.

Happy New Year and Ginx Yarn Linx Party

Wishing everyone who visits my blog Happy New Year!

If you do knit anything from my patterns, please send me a photo, or link the project on ravelry. It is lovely to see my patterns knitted up, and get a bit of feedback.

I have done much less pattern creating than other years. So although I have been knitting, I have sometimes found I just haven't had the energy for the pattern-inventing sort of knitting, which requires a lot more thought.

That said, I have come out with some new patterns. You can click on the photos to go to the pattern.

Alpaca

Vespa

Christmas Elephants

Tiny Elf Clogs

My other main knitting sales have been versions of my car patterns. Seven cars, 1 van and a caravan. So that is probably why I feel I have been knitting. I do enjoy it when someone asks for a personalised version of my cars, so below are photos of some made this year. I have a few more coming up, but I like to know that the recipients are happy before I post about them.

So what for next year. I have ideas for some new patterns, I do feel perhaps I should update the look of this blog, but that seems such a major task I am not sure how to start. I still have the ambition to publish a book of patterns, but the main thing that I have decided to do (and can start straight away) is run a monthly link party. 

Quite a few of the knitting parties where I used to regularly link have folded this year. So perhaps rather than feel sad about this, I am going to try and run my own. 

I don't want to set too many rules, so you don't have to follow me unless you wish to. I had the idea for it to be monthly, and just for fibre or yarn related crafts. (So knitting, crochet, and any other crafts that use yarn or wool.) Please only link posts that fit this criteria. Apologies to other crafts, but there seems plenty of other parties out there for you. 

I will also feature my favourite link/s each month when I open the party for the next month. And if you have linked this month I will send you a reminder for next month. Please try and visit some of the other posts. (I know I have done it myself, been one of the first to link and then forgotten to call back. But as this party is going to run all month, please try and pop back from time to time and see who has joined in.) I don't mind if you link to old posts, so long as they are yarn-related, and a max of 3 per person per party.

Now I have just got to work out how to make a link party!! If you do come and party it would be great if you could mention it or post my blog button (which you can see below) on your own blog. There will also be an "I was featured" button. 

This is my first party (and I am a bit of a technophobe), so I hope you will support me and each other, and make it a fun place to share your projects and ideas.
 

Ginx Craft

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Vespa

Ta dah! At long last I have finished my latest pattern. No one guessed that what I have been making is a Vespa scooter. Iconic, and I think those who are into them really, really love them. 

It was also one of my patterns where I was spurred on by being told I could not possibly knit one. You might say pig-headed, I would say determined.

So for Vespa-lovers, I would call this knit an ornament, and definitely not a toy. (I would quite like to display my knitted scooters under glass domes.) There are a huge number of different models of Vespa, and I have spent a long time looking at them. They have slight variations, but I would call this classic Vespa. I have a Pinterest board where I have saved loads of pictures of Vespas old and new, and also started saving celebrities on their Vespas, (also old and new). 

What I love is all the colours that Vespa scooters come in. You really could knit this in any colour and not be wrong. I thought I would need to insert wire in the handlebars, but by using thickish wool and small needles, the icord is rigid enough without.

The structure of the body is made by using a bit of card in the the front panel and base. There is a template for this in the pattern. The pattern is 14 pages long, and jam packed with photos to help with the construction.

One of the main problems I had writing up the pattern is that I don't really know the correct names for parts of the scooter. (After all, I am a knitter, not a mechanic.)  The knitting of the parts is not hard, but the sewing together is quite fiddly.

The pattern is available on ravelry, Etsy, and LoveKnitting.

And here is a photo of my daughter, sitting on someone else's Vespa at Goodwood this year.  I would love to be able to nip around on a Vespa.