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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Cats, Knitting, Little one, Uncategorized 2 Comments

Some of you may remember this time last year I was knitting fish for Felix’s birthday party, it was for a game called ‘Feed the Shark’. This year it’s been demanded to make a return but, seeing as this year’s birthday theme is cats, not Octonauts, we’re going for ‘Feed the cat.

And what do cats eat?

Mice!

Haven’t made the cat part to ‘Feed the Cat’ as I need a big bit of cardboard, but the mice are done at least! Though I’m debating more, 55 just don’t seem like enough…

Seeing as I don’t have a photo of the finished game (yet!) I’ll reward you all instead with a photo of Dashie being Queen of the Cat Scratcher, Hoarder of knitted mice!

She looks so regal…

Got a few more little projects, and a small one, on the needles but more in them when they’re done! I may knit a few more mice in between projects mind you, just in case 55 isn’t enough…

Not much to say on the non knitting front, life’s been busy with work and family time (had a good laugh at Portland Basin Museum today)and I may have gotten severely distracted playing Unravel (Yarny is so cute!) but getting there. Even if my boiler decided to die on me whilst I was in the middle of washing my hair…so cold still…

Alright, enough of me whining, wool count time!

Wool count:

Starting total – 622

Wool used – 66 (8 since last post! Hooray for odds and ends!)
Wool bought – 8
Wool given – 6 (1 as a birthday present!)
Wool gifted – 0

Total – 570

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting, Patterns 1 Comment

Hee hee…I do love a good pun…seriously though, I finished my mystery creation!

*Drum roll*

An octopus hat!

Much like the story behind the aviator hat, Rabbie saw a crocheted octopus hat, and demanded suggested that I should make her one…that was back in March and put on the back burner until now as I couldn’t find anything pattern wise that was remotely doable.

With her birthday coming up, I resolved to just wing a pattern instead. I have to admit, I’m fairly pleased with it! Especially the tentacles!

So cute!

After much debate, I have posted the pattern up as a free pattern! You can find it in the free pattern section, or just click here. Not sure if many people would want to wear an octopus on their head mind you, Rabbie is certainly a one of a kind individual…

Speaking of Rabbie, I’ve just come back from visiting her in Scotland for a birthday bonanza! (More about that on her blog.) In short though, BBQ at other sister’s, murder mystery with this sister, a rather soggy doggy fun day, birthday cake bonanza, Walking With Dinosaurs arena show (so awesome), Kelpies, soft play, trampoline park, back home. That was crammed in between driving up Friday and driving back down Tuesday. No wonder I’m tired!

Oh, another cheer for the Hot Flash Dash on Ravelry:

Knit! Knit! Knit!
The dash will end in a bit!
Purl! Purl! Purl!
You’ve all done really well!

Wool count:

Starting total – 622

Wool used – 57 (1 since last post)
Wool bought – 8
Wool given – 6 (1 as a birthday present!)
Wool gifted – 0

Total – 579 (No change in net total)

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting, Little one, Motorbike 1 Comment

Now where to start?

No knitting to show this week as working on a surprise mystery project! I know what it’s supposed to be, but we’ll all have to wait to see if it turns out the way it’s supposed to! If it does, I’ll post the pattern, if not…oh well…

As for the motorbike part of this blog post, Felix finally got her first taste on daddy’s motorbike at the ripe age of ‘very nearly five!’ I made sure Engel knew very, very, very well what the consequences would be if he wasn’t super careful with my most precious cargo…

But I needn’t have worried. They both came back fine, so fine that she demanded another go right away! So glad I invested in a full set of miniature bike gear (jacket with spine guard, trousers, gloves and helmet) though she looks so tiny in it!

And for those questioning the legality of this decision, in the UK the only restriction for a pillion is that their feet must touch the foot pegs, which, depending on the motorbike, ranges from those with short legs to long legs! It’s also perfectly legal to adjust or modify the foot pegs too!  Engel is now planning all sorts of trips out with her.

I can feel my hair turning grey at the thought…

The only other thing to comment on really is that after much persuasion (bullying? Peer pressure?) I have joined Instagram. I’ll post the photos from my weekly blog posts on it, perhaps some knits in progress and on Thursdays my old blog posts till I’m all caught up.

Don’t be surprised if some of Felix’s creations end up sneaking into it though!

Oh, and the Hot Flash Dash’ cheer for this week?

2, 4, 6, 8!
Your all doing great!
1, 3, 5, 9!
Your projects are looking fine!

Till next week!

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting, Little one 2 Comments

They might EGG-splode!

Ok, ok, I know it’s an EGG-stremely bad pun, but it had to be done!

These are a little pair of knitted hand grenade egg cosies, based on the free pattern ‘GRENADE’ by Ali Hogg (Cast kn 42, start from row 15, follow pattern as written) and the purpose of these EGG-celent knits is as a little token gift for my dad for his birthday. I’m sure he’ll appreciate them, at least more than my awful sense of humour!

Though I’m sure he’ll at least get the YOLK! Hee hee! I crack myself up!

Ha! Unintentional egg pun! Thats pretty EGG-citing!

Ok, ok, this post has probably become EGG-scrutiating so I will stop there.

Hope everyone is coping with the hot weather, we haven’t been at all, Engel, Felix and Inkling appear to have given up trying to sleep unless they literally crash out, and I’m fairing only marginally better, but that could be exhaustion (see, I didn’t make a pun there) creeping in and making me deluded.

I wonder if I could blame this post in the heat as well…

Till next week, where hopefully it will be cooler and I’ll feel more inclined to actually knit – it’s a bad sign when the weather has stopped me from my most favourite of hobbies…

Wool count:

Starting total – 622

Wool used – 49 (2 since last post)
Wool bought – 7
Wool given – 5
Wool gifted – 0

Total – 582

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 1 Comment

There are two parts to today’s post, the silly and the sad.

Let’s do the silly first. Last post I mentioned that I needed to knit something for Flopsy Bunny’s basket, and despite the severed head of Mr McGregor being the most popular choice, I went for bunny edible flowers.

First of all, a dandelion! The pattern is Chrysanthemum (knitted) by Lesley Stanfield from her book ‘100 flowers to knit and Crochet’ (I just tweaked the pattern a tiny bit and worked it in yellow to make it a dandelion)

Also from the same book, Lavender!

And lastly, chamomile! This one is based on the free pattern: Gerbera Daisy by Jessica Goddard.

Want to see them altogether in the basket? Course you do!

And now, on to the sad part of this post. The woman who ran the knit club I attended has, unfortunately, lost her fight with cancer. Her funeral was on Thursday and was a very lovely, dignified affair, with many, many, knitting related puns. They had us in stitches.

I wanted to give something, and traditionally that would be some fresh cut lillys or some such flowers. But I didn’t want to buy flowers that would just wilt and die within a week or so, I wanted something more permanent, like the impression the recently deceased had left upon all who met her.

A free pattern, The Good, The Gilded, and The Goth by Heather Broadhurst. It’s a very nice, clever little knit, that I would love to make again under more pleasant circumstances.

That’s all for this week, it’s been busy, with lots of ups and downs and now quite a heatwave that’s sapping what little energy I have left.

No wool count as no changes since last week.

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Gaming, Knitting, Little one, Motorbike 1 Comment

I’m sure most of the world knows this but the UK was not by both ‘The Beast from the East’ and Storm Emma this past week. Unlike my family up North, we only got a few inches of snow over the course of the week – enough to stop Engel going to work on the motorbike (he did manage to ride in it the first three days, but after a lucky miss, I insisted he didn’t try again) but not enough to stop me going back to work.

Sigh.

It wasn’t a bad first week of work, but I was ready to go home, curl up in a blanket with a hot water bottle and a stack of chocolate and not leave my nest for the immediate future…

Felix did however have a ball – she got to make snow cats and finally have that snowball fight she spent all winter asking for. Inkling in the other hand… yeah… he’s not a fan of this strange, cold, wet, white stuff!

The weather aside (I am a true Brit and can discuss the weather for several hours, it’s a cultural thing) I have two completed projects to share this week!

First of all:

Yep, it’s another chunky Wayfarer! (Pattern by Jen Lucas from the book ‘Doomsday Knits: Projects for the Apocalypse and After’) I literally had this on the moment it was cast off the needles! So warm and cosy…

And project number two:

I made one of these for Felix when she was tiny, and it felt fitting to make one for Isaac. I did hers in the colours of the rainbow, but for him, well, it’s a running joke that he is in fact the Hungry Caterpillar! Made using several free patterns – the alphabet series by Frankie Brown on Ravelry.

So aside from the weather, starting back to work and a little bit of knitting, there’s not much else to say at the moment. I’ve started reading through the Achtung Cthulhu rules and setting, so don’t be too surprised if more random lovecraftian things start to crop up!

Oh, and on the Pokémon hand puppet front, both Felix and Engel are trying to convince me to make ALL of them. I will say now that there is no way I’m doing all 800+ of them!!!!

Maybe just a few more favourites…

Wool count:

Starting total – 622

Wool used – 23 (5 this week!)
Wool bought – 4
Wool given – 5
Wool gifted – 0

Total – 605 (So near my 600 ball goal!)

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Gaming, Knitting, Little one 1 Comment

And this is why I should never have Engel come up with blog post titles…

Two completed projects this week. Let me start the first with a bit of an explanation…

Engel likes computer games. Loves them really. Especially open world type RPGs. He puts a worrying number of hours into them, just wandering, doing little side quests, pointedly ignoring the actual plot…

Anyhow. One of his most favourite is Fallout (depending on his mood depends on whether it’s Fallout 3 or Fallout 4, but that’s semantics) and watching him play through the nth playthrough of one of those two, I spotted this:

And I commented that wouldn’t it be cute if Inkling had one of those…Engel looked at me, with a look that I know far too well…and so the hunt for a pattern began!

This was made using the free pattern: Mini Knitted Rocket Ship by Ilana R. Marks and although incredibly cute and awesome, needed a few tweaks to get them a bit more like in the game…

Lengthened the centre part of the rocket, added some extra windows and voila! Now I just need to turn them into an actual mobile…when I do, I shall photograph it and let you all know!

The second completed project is no less geeky than the first. Felix was playing with her cat puppet I made forever ago, and it was having a conversation with her cuddly toy Meowth (her favourite Pokémon for those curious). After watching this adorable exchange an idea took route in my mind and refused to shift until it was knitted…

A Meowth hand puppet! I used my own free cat hand puppet pattern and added a number of small additions and a few tweaks and voila! I may publish my notes so that more Meowths can be created to conquer the world! I am also debating knitting a few other Pokémon hand puppets and if I do I’ll probably put all the pattern notes together and post it under one pattern…not sure yet…need to think on it and see if inspiration strikes…

Anyhow! In non knitting news, tomorrow is my first day back at work after maternity leave! Every time I think that I just want to cry…

Updates will probably be a bit patchy for a while until I get back into the swing of things. It currently up for debate as to whether I will actually get more or less knitting time…

Till the next post!

Wool count:

Starting total – 622

Wool used – 18 (2 this week)
Wool bought – 4
Wool given – 5
Wool gifted – 0

Total – 610 (Will we get below 600 this year? It turned out to be an unobtainable goal last year…)

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Cats, Gaming, Knitting, Little one 2 Comments

Ignore the title. I may be a little giddy and/or sleep deprived!

But! There is a reason for it!

Here’s the Octopus:

Its a wash cloth for Inkling – using the free pattern: Baby Octopus Cloth by Elaine Fitzpatrick. Believe it or not, this pattern and the wool had been picked out before Inkling was born, I just haven’t gotten round to knitting it until now! He’s been eating finger foods and desperately needed something that could scrub all the food off him in the shower!

And now for the pussy:

Free pattern Attachable Rainbow Kitty Ears by Saphy kun. I spotted these on Ravelry a while ago and knew I had to knit Engel a set, particularly for when he’s playing violent computer games and/or doing online gaming with our friends.

They have been used, not sure if it’s because he can’t get them off the headphones (they do have buttons so can be removed) or if he likes having the cat ears on himself…

Also this week, I finally sorted through my wool stash (this occurs every year or so to some extent) this time I’ve segregated it by colour and each ball is bagged with any matching friends of the same kind and dye lot. The lone balls of wool are put together with the other lone balls of wool of that colour group (so they don’t get sad and lonely) and now I can tell at a glance what wool is best for the size of project I’m doing. This will hopefully get me to focus on using up the odds and ends of my stash! And also future yarn purchases – I know what colours I have lots of, and not so much, so hopefully I’ll buy what I need, not what I want!

I don’t believe that either, but I can hope!

Oh, also, whilst I was sorting my wool out, these scampered out:

Yes. More tribbles. A  red subspecies of the pink mutant variant discovered, only two have been captured and sent for further study up North…

Early post this week as my sister is coming to visit and it’s going to be awesome!!! But before the fun and games start, I need to tidy up all the toys everywhere – it’s amazing how much mess two children, three cats and a husband can make in the blink of an eye…

Starting total – 622

Wool used – 11 (2 this week)
Wool bought – 0
Wool given – 5 (I mentioned to Engel I only had one ball of black DK wool, he brought home four more for me! And I didn’t even ask him to!)
Wool gifted – 0

Total – 613

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting, Uncategorized 1 Comment

Things have gotten a little bit manic here this past week – mixture of life not going as planned and taking on a few too many knitting projects which kind of got bigger and bigger…

More on that though when said projects are finished! So this weeks post is another ‘from the archives’ which is better than a ‘nothing to see here’ post at least!

Rather than picking a broad theme, like pineapples or tea cosies, I’m going for a designer here as I have made a lot of her things over the years. The majority before I started to document my various knitting successes and fails. Here is what I do have photos of though!

McIntosh the dog! Another pair can be seen on this post here.

The brontosaurus from Little Men and Monsters pattern – I’ve made them all, but only have photos of this one.

And here’s ‘Panda’.

And ‘Piglet’.

And ‘Koala’ (A butchered version can be found in this post where I turned it into a snuggly)

And lastly, a butchered version of the last three to make something a bit more unique – a little red bat!

Thats all now!

Wool count!

Starting total – 650

Wool used – 43 (2 this week!)
Wool bought – 33
Wool given – 49
Wool gifted – 59

Total – 630

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting, Little one 1 Comment

It’s another from the archives!

I noticed a while ago looking through the blog that almost none of the knitting I did for Felix when she was proper tiny actually got posted. I don’t know if it was because I was busy, the sleep deprivation or that I thought I would only post toys not baby knits, but they were never blogged.

Sorting through all the baby things for Inkling (baby number 2) I took the opportunity to photograph and reminisce over them. So without further ado:

A mini version of Cat-Ears Hat by Donna Druchunas from the book ‘Kitty Knits: Projects for cats and their people’

An adorable and geeky creation that was a combination of the free pattern Mummy’s Little Dalek Jumper (Doctor Who) by ABitterKnitter and Pinafore Dress by Nikki Van De Car from ‘What To Knit The Toddler Years’

Knitted using the free pattern ‘Baby Sachiko Kimono Sweater‘ by Erika Flory. I used the same wool as her kitty blanket so that they would match… So cute!

Knitted using the free pattern Little Garter Cardi by Ragga Eiríksdóttir – Felix chose the wool and the buttons, and yes, it is sparkly! Unfortunately I chose to make a bigger size so she hasn’t been able to actually wear it yet, but soon, soon she’ll grow into it!

Yet another free pattern, Child’s Lamb Costume by Margot Stevens, I made it for last Easter, again, in a larger size so it drowned her. Still too big for Christmas. This Easter? Too warm so she wouldn’t even humour me. I will get her in it at some point! I will!

It’s not all old knits this post though, I whipped up a pair of Toy Hammocks by Eileen Casey (free pattern, very quick and easy, only thing I did different was work from the bottom up)

Felix has officially moved into her new room and I needed more places to store her cuddly toy collection! The reason for knitting the pattern bottom up was I had the perfect coloured wool to make the toy hammocks with, but it was fingering weight sock yarn, and I had two balls, which had to be held double. So I was playing yarn chicken again.

I won this time, with literally an inch of wool to spare.

Go me!

Hopefully I’ll have something more exciting to show you all next week, I do have a little something cute in the pipeline…

Starting total – 650

Wool used – 36 (4 this week!)
Wool bought – 0
Wool given – 49
Wool gifted – 16

Total – 647 (I’m finally below the starting total!!!!!)

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