Fair Isle Sweater and Bear

 Believe it or not, I had never made a sweater with this kind of colorwork pattern before. The instructions are clear and easy to follow. This little bear was one of the first animals from Little Cotton Rabbits that I made. I just have to make more bears now in different yarn colors.

I've been so busy making animals that I can't get them photographed and uploaded fast enough. I've made nine of them so far. I'm working on the sixth one from LCR and I've crocheted a doll and my first animal from Pica Pau books... I picked the Cayman. 

I've never been a huge fan of amigurumi but I am a fan of these animals from Pica Pau by Yan Schenkel. I've also gotten a couple of other patterns from other makers too. And I just saw some little amigurumi bugs in a book somewhere that I want to make too. Now I have to see if I can find the book again.

I think I'll be busy for a while even into spring.  I'm loving making these little toys.             

Little Girl Badger

 I got her done in only two days. I'm not trying to set a record or anything for the fastest toy knitted but she went quick because I'm getting better at making these dolls. 

She is the fifth doll in a series that I've made so far. The bodies are all so alike and easy to do. I think a beginner could easily make these. The heads are a little more challenging on some of them but intarsia is easy enough to learn.

I won't post tutorials because there are already enough of those you can look up for yourself and I can't make them better than what's already out there.

I really like to make the clothes for them. The dresses and pants are so cute but I have to make something to put them on too! So I make another animal.

I'm doing Frog and Toad next from Frog and Cast. The pattern is pricey but so worth it I think. Although i would not recommend it to a novice. I think a newbie would find it pretty difficult to make as it uses some pretty advanced techniques especially around the eyes. And it has a lot of stitches that a beginning knitter probably has not done yet. More about Frog and Toad later.

Working Vertically with Intarsia

 Most people who have knitted for a while know all the terminology. It's been a while since I knitted anything so I never used this method before on anything I've made. Until now, I didn't even know what intarsia meant. It sounds complicated, but it's not.

But working on the fox pattern, I did get to know it well. Foxy girl's face was the first time I used intarsia... ever. Did I mention previously that making these little animals are a crash course in knitting just in themselves? All intarsia means is that you are changing color by working vertical rows that you do not carry the threads behind the stitches like you do for regular color work. The big thing to remember about intarsia is to intertwine/twist the color strands together while you knit so your colors will be knitted together. Otherwise you will have strips of color that are not connected together on the needles.

This really is a great way to do sections of color like spots, dots and splotches. And once you get the hang of it, it's pretty fun. You can already see the pattern in the Badger's head starting to show.

Bunny Rabbit

 I did finish the dress I was working on. It is for a little black and white rabbit. The rabbit is the third animal I've knitted from Little Cotton Rabbits patterns by Julie Williams. I love these patterns and I've only found one mistake in the pattern so far but not on this animal. I'm now working on my fifth knitted animal and I so hope my interest in them lasts through spring because I'm really enjoying making them a lot.

The patterns give you several different variations for making them different each time you make one and I want to make about a dozen of each. I'll probably make a couple of dutch rabbits and I've got two sizes of patterns so far. I'm buying them a couple at a time until I collect them all.

  

I just bought her Badger girl pattern and that's what I'm working on today. Every one I make is my new favorite! I recently completed the boy elephant and I am absolutely in love with him. I'm getting a crash course in knitting with each one. I get to use all the colors and do all the fancy stitches I've ever wanted to try with these projects from color work to intarsia - nubby textures to cables AND the mattress stitching was a challenge. It's something you have to practice to get good at. My back seams will get better.

    

I love making the shoes and socks and I got her separate shoe patterns too. I love this little rabbit! I hate to take time away from them to do other things. It's like I'm on a mission to make these things... lol.

Crochet Revisited

 I love to knit and crochet but I'm in a knitting phase at the moment. I don't know how long it will last but as long as it does, I'll be making little knitted animals. At least that's my plan. I go through these little crafty spurts. My last crafty spurt had me crocheting birds.

I still love to crochet and if I see something I want to make then I'll drag out the crochet hooks again and work on that. One thing I recently fell in love with was crocheting with string. I'd never tried it before and I fell in love with a bird pattern online so I had to make me some parakeets.

I used to have real parakeets aka budgies years ago but I can't have them now because of my cats. But I can make some stuffed toys that really look like them from a distance and these are so cute. I made a bunch of them up and gave a few away to friends. Love, love them and I'm going to make some more of them some day... and maybe even finish the ones I have done that still need beaks and eyes.

I use Hobby Lobby's brand of Egyptian cotton string and I bought the pattern from TNGiftsUA on etsy. The color variations on this are endless. 

I modified the original pattern and made my own type of wings on some of them.

Dressmaking

 WHAT I'M WORKING ON TODAY

I'm really working on two things at once for one finished project that's part of a bunch of similar animal toys. I'm making the dress for a black and white rabbit. I've got the rabbit done and will be putting her together after I get the arms and legs stuffed.

I'm color working a polka dot dress pattern. I haven't done that much color work before but I'm getting a workout with these cute patterns. Now I love to knit patterns too and these little dresses go really fast. 

I like each animal in this series more than the previous one that I make and so far I've done only three of them. I am so in love with the patterns from Little Cotton Rabbits. They not only got me knitting again but also inspired this web site to show them off.

FUTURE ANIMALS

Oh, I've got more of these I want to make and what better way to spend the winter than making toys. And I've learned so much from these patterns. Julie Williams is the creative genius behind these knitting patterns. She not only writes them well but gives you directions for finishing them.

I've learned how to execute a better mattress stitch from working on these. And I also learned how to cast on with cable stitch to keep my first rows from curling. You would think I would already know this from previous years of knitting but it's really important to do these well with her patterns and not so much with things I knitted before.

I may do an elephant next... or a badger... or another bunny. There are so many to choose from and they are all so darn cute and fun to make. There's even a pattern for a cat. I could make dolls of my pets. I am wishing for her to come up with patterns in the future for dog, squirrel, beaver, the possibilities are really endless.

I had to get some longer 14" needles for the dresses but I knitted the first one on regular 10" needles even though I had to keep it crumpled up and the stitches wanted to fall off the edge of the needle. It's much better to use the longer needles for making the dresses. 

Yarn, Yarn, Yarn!

There are so many yarn sales going on now, it's not funny and of course I had to get in on it. I have not knitted or crocheted in a couple of years so about a year ago I donated about half of my unused and unwanted yarn to a friend of mine who was just getting started in crochet. And I'm glad I did.

If you haven't used it in a while, why not get rid of it? You can always buy more. And there are different kinds of yarn so what I was making two years ago does not use the same kind of yarn that I use now for a different set of projects. I'm using softer and more lightweight yarns for my knitted toys than I used for crocheting afghans. Yarn has always been a passion of mine.

That being said, I no longer feel guilty for splurging on something I love for myself. It's about time for a little self care I think.

I got in on two different sales. Hobby Lobby has a sale about once a month so I caught the 30% off all yarn sale and got some really pretty yarns BUT the mother of all sales and the one that sucked the money out of my pocket was the Joann's Yarnormous Sale... their brand of Big Twist yarn at only $1.99 a skein was a no-brainer. But I was after the Caron Simply Soft yarn at three for nine dollars. And of course I had to have some super saver jumbo skeins for $6.39. And the Lion Brand Basic Stitch was only $2.50 a skein. It is so soft!

I check the sales and I never pay full price for yarn, even if I have to use coupons. I'm so glad I did.

New Year - New Blog

LET'S KNIT!

Welcome 2021. It's gotta get better than 2020, right? I'm bringing in the new year knitting toys and collecting dust bunnies. Seriously, it's raining ice outside today and I'm trying to keep busy until I can get out again. I am a creative and I've always done crafts. I particularly love the needle arts of crocheting and knitting. 

I'm currently knitting my way through some of the cutest little animals ever. I got the patterns from Little Cotton Rabbits . These are the cutest things! They take longer than I'd like but knitting does go slower than crochet. I think that I am probably better at knitting than I am crochet as far as the execution and making fewer mistakes, but there are a lot of patterns and stitches in knitting that I have never tried yet. 

On the other hand, I have crocheted my arms off making afghans before, but I really like the way knitted toys look. I just don't have the patience to make clothing or anything big if it has to be knitted. Small projects - I'm good with that.

Crocheting is faster but it's also bumpier and chunkier. It can also be stiffer meaning that it holds its shape well when worked tight. Knitting is smoother, expandable, takes longer to make items and has a more finished quality to it. I like them both but I'm on a knitting kick at the moment after seeing some little ones done in December's Let's Knit magazine edition called "Santa's Little Helpers". Let's Knit magazine came with the mini kit and now I'm hooked once again... no pun intended.

PAST PROJECT

I crocheted these in one month for Christmas presents a few years back. This pattern is the fastest afghan pattern that I have ever used. Each afghan took me about 4 days to make! I know... right? The only drawback is that is uses about ten skeins of yarn for each afghan to finish. That's a pretty big investment in yarn for most people, but it's worth it. If you like to make these, you could sell them for a profit I think. You work from the center out and the center goes really quick. This pattern also makes a beautiful throw pillow if you stop at a smaller size.

Free Bavarian crochet afghan pattern here.

I gave three of them away but I still have the yellow one. I kept it for me. If you need a quick gift project that has a WOW factor, do this pattern. It is quick. I would say, "plan your colors out and have at least one skein each of about 10 coordinating colors for the biggest impact.