Freddie the Pheasant

As I reported in my LAST post I was knitting two projects at the same time which was taking up quite a lot of time and I was a bit worried about completing before the Christmas. I am very proud to report that I have completed my second project and present. 

Freddie the Pheasant

He was a fantastic knit and took know time at all, I didn't knit the feet but placed a small fabric bag of rice inside Freddie so he would stand up. I would recommend this knit to anyone that likes something fun and quick with a good result. I would say it is a intermediate knit with a tiny amount of picking up stitches and requiring good grafting skills. As you knit it the shape will look very strange (more like road kill Pheasant) but when stuffed I understood the pattern and the lay out . the yarn which is Artesano Alpaca Hummingbird 'Pheasant' which is a really good yarn and I will be using again in a planned future project for the new year.
A great knit!

I haven't forgot to blog

I just thought I would let you all know that I haven't forgot my blog :)
I have been very busy knitting away but current have haven't finished any projects to show you.
I have a huge list of Christmas knits to get through and none of them seem to be moving very quickly which is a bit worrying.
I am currently knitting a Xiaopang Panda by Alan Dart for my husband, who has always moaned that I have never knitting him anything. He pick it out of Simple knitting July issue and I don't think either one of us realised how big it would be, I thought it would be quite a small quick knit just a bit bigger than my hamsters buy he is three times the size.

I am also going to knit a toy Freddie the Pheasant for my Grandad who loves pheasant s , but I haven't started him yet :/

 A lovely lady called Penny from oliverboliver.com sent me a knitting kit for him for only £8.00! So I hope to crack on with him soon.


So thats what I've been up too :)

Halloween Hamsters

I am and always have been a big fan of Halloween, as a child I use to draw up lots of paper bats and hang them round the house and make jelly with raisins for flies in it. So this year it was time for another little project to enjoy over this very special holiday.

In this months Simply Knitting (October 2011) I found what I was looking for and discovered a set of patterns by Alan Dart of little Halloween hamsters. I have knitted a Alan Dart pattern before and it really suits my type of knitted and the results are always really good. Last year I knitted a Christmas Turkey which proudly sat on my table through the festive period

The Hamsters knit up really quick and look fantastic, they were a real stash buster as well. The devil knitted quicker than the witch as I had to make the clothes, but she looks great. :)

Nemo Clown Fish

I am sorry I haven't been blogging more recently but I have been busy knitting away, and haven't forgot about you all waiting for me in blog land.

I have completed my second handmade pattern which I have added to the pattern section here and is available PDF from Ravelry. 

My friend had requested a Clown Fish sometime ago and I decided to knit him one for Christmas. But at the time I couldn't find a pattern , and when I did you had to pay for it. So after my success with the prawn I took on the challenge of making my own.  It is by far the biggest and most complicated thing that I have made and only my second thing.  Yet again it was a sea creature I seem to be becoming a bit obsessed!

It can be quite tricky to find a good orange coloured wool so l found DK life by Stylecraft it was a bit thin to use but knitting little creatures is quite forgiving as you don’t really need a gauge. I used safety eyes size 12mm which I found in Hobbycraft and a little bit of black yarn to put the mouth on. 

I am very pleased with the way he turned out and hope other people will be able to use the pattern I made to knit their own Finding Nemo.  

Little Tortoise

My new little friend! 

It's was a bank holiday the weekend so plenty of time for knitting so I started alittle project that I have been meaning to do for a while. It was a real stash buster as I used only the wool that I had left around.

The pattern is from a lady called Debi Birkin, the original design called for a under shell but

I couldn’t put the bottom of the shell on as it made him look like a burger! 

Spud wasn't too keen on him!

I have had a small problem in the last few days of that I am developing repetitive strain on my hands and elbows so knitting might be off the cards for the next few weeks.

First Home made pattern!

I recently attended the opening night of the Purls By the Sea exhibition at the Belfry Arts Centre, there was some fantastic work by some very talented artists. I was very fond of the work by Joanna Jack who sea creatures were beautiful, we had a long chat and she explained how she designs her creations and how the a completely knitted in the one piece!

My Dad was very taken by a small broach in the shape of a prawn by designer Angela Knipe and I was inspired to make one for him.

The only problem was that I couldn't find a pattern and so I decided to make my own from scratch which is the first time I have ever done anything like this before. 

I knitted a small tube in the round and slowly decreased very slowly into an I-Cord and then expanded it into a tail. I added french knots for eyes and threaded wool through the underside and the split it up to create the fringe of legs . Finally soaked a piece of wool in hair spray and threaded it on top of the head.and left to dry to make whiskers.

 

I am going to add the pattern to the blog, but I love him and so proud of managing to make my own item. 

Pompon Scarf

A little while a go I decided it was best that I start my Christmas knitting. I know it early but I want to get in quick and make sure I did actually make some Christmas gifts this year.

I picked up some wool called Pompon by Rico. 

One ball of the wool and it makes a whole scarf out of it

I knits up really quick and to be honest I should have finished this in one weekend but I made a bit of a meal out of it and it lasted two weeks.

But oh well, here the finished thing is!