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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting, Little one, Updates 2 Comments

Went swimming one day, over the hills and far away, mama duck said ‘quack quack come back’ but they were all eaten by a crocodile…Wait a second…

Look! There’s that pesky crocodile again!

I gave in and knit Felix those ducks she wanted to keep her crocodile ‘company’ in the pond. The crocodile number has increased as well, there’s two helping control livestock…

For those curious, I tweaked the free Tiny Chickens by Anna Hrachovec to make these guys. Easy to do, just lots of colour changes!

Speaking of colour changes…

Yeah…I know I said I was 99% sure I would never make another, what with the 156 colour changes but…I did. This is my second Elmer the Elephant now, and again, it’s made using the ‘Eddie the Elephant’ pattern by Ann Franklin from the May 2015 edition of ‘Love Knitting for Baby’s. Engel came up with a method for working out the colour changes so they are more uniform but still rather random, does it look any better or more like Elmer?

Felix had a friend’s birthday coming up (it was on Saturday) and I know the gran is particularly fond of my knitted toys so…Yeah. One cuddly toy and Elmer the Elephant treasury and sorted!

Though this time, I really am sure I won’t be making more.

Starting total – 650

Wool used – 31 (2 more since last post)
Wool bought – 0
Wool given – 49 (Felix felt I needed a treat, so she and daddy got me three balls of wool, aww!)
Wool gifted – 16

Total – 652 (Curses! I’ll never get back to my starting total at this rate!!!!!)

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

As mentioned last post, everything got put on hold so I could whip up a knight costume for Felix with just six evenings to do it in.

(Super short version: Felix school having Royal Banquet, gave a weeks notice, Felix chose knight from options of knight, prince or princess, unable to find costume Friday, decided to make one)

So did I do it? Do the knights of Ni say Ni?

All the knitted parts are free knitting patterns:

Helmet by Geraldine Allemand

Knitted Chainmail Hauberk for a Young Knight by Kara Shallenberg

Knitted Lace Belt by Anna Waites

The sword was made by Engel, painted and tinfoiled by Felix, and the sheild was made by me, painted and decorated by Felix. Never show a three year old a Google search on knights sheilds – she wanted to do them all! Settled on four colours, split into quarters with bats on it (thank goodness for bulk buying post Halloween craft packs) and little red bead eyes.

The Royal Banquet was a success, as far as I could get out of Felix (getting information from three year olds is like getting blood out of a stone, unless it’s a secret, in which case they’ll tell everyone! Prime example: Mummy! I got you a mother’s day present! It’s a surprise! It’s chocolate oranges!)

She was the only girl dressed as a knight, all the rest were princesses, and all bar one boy was a knight, the one boy who wasn’t came in his uniform and was apparently very sad, so Felix gave him a hug.

Engel did however teach her that knights say “Ni!”… Sometimes I question his parenting skills​…

After all that excitement I did manage to finish another project and mostly done another, but I’ll go over those next week as I am pretty exhausted from a rather fun packed weekend!

Till next week.

Starting total – 650

Wool used – 29 (2 more since last post)
Wool bought – 0
Wool given – 46
Wool gifted – 16

Total – 651 (So, so close to getting back to that starting total!)

 

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

Hi all,

Long story short:

Recieved a letter from Felix’s nursery class Thursday evening saying they were having a ‘royal banquet’ and encouraged the children to dress as princesses, princes or knights that following Thursday.

I looked at Felix, she looked at me, I hesitated then began the question ‘What would you -’

‘A knight! And I can save dragons!’

Ok. Went to the shops Friday. Nothing. Checked Amazon, lots of knight costumes but Felix sized? Nope.

Start the countdown, it’s time to make a knight costume with…six evenings in total to do it? Three left as of now?

All projects on hold, and its another ‘from the archives!’ for all of you! This time round: Sackboy. I imagine most people have played, or at least have seen Little Big Planet being played. Sackboy is the star of the show.

In 2009 when this pattern came out, Engel was games testing Little Big Planet, and I thought it would be cute for him to have one.

Pattern is Sackboy by Alan Dart – and came with a simply knitting magazine back in 2009.

I later made him a trenchcoat and shotgun, unfortunately never photographed, when I realised the abuse the poor guy was getting at Engels work. It seems people who test games, hate the games they test.

Oh well.

I’ve made a dozen or so plain ones, but also two more fun versions:

Dr Who – based on the 10th doctor, played by Tom Baker, and that scarf! I actually made a 1/20th to scale version of it for this little guy.

And lastly, a ninja!

Cause ninjas are awesome.

Starting total – 650

Wool used – 27 (2 since last post)
Wool bought – 0
Wool given – 46
Wool gifted – 16

Total – 653 (So, so close to getting back to that starting total!)

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting, Little one 1 Comment

I realised when looking through the archives that I never posted Felix’s baby blanket that I made whilst I was pregnant:

It’s knit using the pattern ‘Embroidered baby blanket’ from Kitty Knits: Projects for Cats and their People (a Christmas gift from Rabbie long, long ago that keeps getting loved and used) by Donna Druchunas.

Donna actually got in touch with me via Ravelry when I posted it! I was really happy she complimented it.

Anyhow, the purple blanket was made over three years ago, and now this one:

Was finished just last week. It’s a lot brighter in real life, more of a lime green. Felix chose the wool, so I shall blame her, though it was nice knitting something so bright with the days being so dark and grey!

So, what does this mean? It means Felix has a brother on the way, and in the spirit of fairness, I made them the same baby blanket. (I will not deny that I actually really like this pattern – simple enough for baby brain, complex enough you don’t have the urge to throw it out the window). It also means that there will be more baby knits no doubt in the near future.

That’s all for today’s post!

Wool count:

Starting total – 650

Wool used – 14 (3 since last post)
Wool bought – 0
Wool given – 46

Total – 682

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting, Little one 1 Comment

As an aside to all the Christmas knitting I’ve been doing, I took part in a Halloween MKAL – which turned out to be a cuddly Frankenstein.

My only issue? He doesn’t have trousers on, and, well, I knit it as given, so it’s seamed, not knit in the round, and he has a proper little behind too…

Ah well. That’s life!

Other than this, knit wise, not much to report as I’m still plodding on with Christmas knitting, and that’s going slow as I keep getting by everything!

It’s been a busy few weeks at home – Engel started a new job so the usual routine is gone and the new one has a lot of kinks to get worked out still. Felix’s friend turned three this weekend, so we’ve been doing lots of birthday stuff (there was even a make your own pizza party, which she took very, very seriously)

And my work has been manic. So manic I pretty much get home, see to Felix then once she’s in bed, veg out. Hence not so much knitting…

Alright, short post, time for the unchanged wool count…

Starting total – 697

Wool used – 106 (0 this week)
Wool bought – 53
Wool given – 7

Total – 661

 

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Uncategorized 1 Comment

Hi all,

Apologies for not posting last week – been having a number of security issues. Some of you may remember that I had to take down my site a few years ago, strip it and start again because some moron with too much time hacked into it.

Since then, I’ve learned. As such, I’ve had no issues until the last fortnight where I’ve been getting multiple failed attempts of people trying to log in, judging by the times, it’s an automatic system but still, it’s irritating.

Why anyone wants to hack a knitting blog of very low notoriety I don’t know, but there you have it.

So rather than blogging, I’ve been beefing up my security, again, as I do not want to start this site over again.

Now that my rant is done, cute turtle time!

It’s based on a free online pattern called ‘Duuuude, the sea turtle‘ by Cheezombie. Only changes are the front flippers and the eyes. It’s super cute and works up fast – I actually have an army of them forming! I think there’s 14 last count, but I lost track after the fifth one.

There’s been so many turtles I’ve used up five balls of wool! OK, they were all partial balls, between 15-30g but I just started on a full 100g one so let’s see how many turtles i get out of a full ball!

Unless I get bored. in which case I have an alarmingly long list of things I fancy making!

Till next post.

Starting total – 697

Wool used – 84 (5 since last post)
Wool bought – 9
Wool given – 4

Total – 626

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Uncategorized 2 Comments

Aperture science, you do what you must because you can…

AS issued hot water bottle cosie anyone?

Or maybe you’re own turret?

But no one can say no to cake right?

And everyone needs a companion cube.

For those interested, generic hot water bottle cosie pattern with the Aperture Science logo worked into it via intersia. A little turret I created purely by just winging it. The legs are reinforced with wire ad green stuff. Cake was winged too, as was the Companion Cube, but I actually wrote the pattern for that one – you can find it in the free patterns section!

Anyhow!

Sorry for the huge hiatus (and all the photos are of old projects), between Felix’s first birthday, secret christmas knitting, starting a new job, travelling up north for a bit and back again, I’ve not had much time to go online.

That and I lost my camera somewhere along the way. So all the cool stuff I’ve been working on? No photos.

And knitting blog posts without photos are really rather dull and pointless.

This however, is one of those, but apart from the old knitting projects of mine as a bit of a compromise (at least they’re not posted here already), it has one juicy bit of info! I finally counted my wool – I received some as presents and acquired a few stashes, so was really dreading it, but after some serious stash busting (later post when I find my camera) I decided to take the risk and count.

There was only 747 balls of wool, not as bad as I feared!

But still, 747 balls of wool is a little on the large side. Ok. A lot on the large side seeing as it’s mostly providing insulation in my conservatory…

So for the next while I’m going to keep a running record on the coming and going of my wool stash – hopefully doing this publicly will guilt me out of buying ‘just one more ball/pack/colour lot…’

It should also encourage more posts and a better record of what I’ve been making – my Ravelry account is terribly behind!

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting, Little one No Comments

Seriously, I blinked and its February…

Been a busy few weeks – Rabbie Burns day, Australia Day, Chinese New year, and that’s only the official days! There’s been learning baby massage (I was sceptical at first, but I’m converted now) finally addressing my silly little rather irritating fear of water by going swimming (I ache all over, panicked twice, floundered a few times and got water up my nose, but I didn’t die!) and soon I’ll be taking little Felix to a baby swim group so she wont get my phobia, hopefully.

Or I may get Engel to go instead and watch from the side lines with a thermos flask of hot chocolate and some cake…lets see how brave I can be in that regard.

I realised that its been over 10 years since I nearly drowned, and I haven’t swam since then – oh, I’ve put my feet (and even my whole body) in the water to show I was brave and willing, but swim? Ha! Though I did go diving with sharks 7 years ago, but I think |I only coped with that because a) there were sharks! and b) there was a trained instructor with me at all times and c) I can breathe through those masks, oh and d) no way was I going to let Rabbie have all the fun without me!

Did I mention the sharks? So cute! Especially Tinkerbell, the 10ft Great White…

But enough about me! Lets get to the knitting. This update theres mostly been an awful lot of boring sock knitting (about 8 pairs of men socks for Engel – the feet on those are never ending!) a toy hammock which I need to get an action photo of (see next post I think for that) and this:

Drop bear using the Mother Koala pattern by Kath Dalmeny from World of Knitted Toys

Drop bear using the Mother Koala pattern by Kath Dalmeny from World of Knitted Toys

Its cute, isn’t it? I made this for my boss whom I joined in the celebrations of Australia Day with.

Its a drop bear, which are commonly said to be unusually large, vicious, carnivorous marsupials related to koalas that inhabit treetops and attack their prey by dropping onto their heads from above.

Various methods suggested to deter drop bear attacks include placing forks in the hair, having Vegemite or toothpaste spread behind the ears or in the armpits, urinating on yourself, and only speaking English in an Australian accent.

To the right of the cuddly critter is some home made lamingtons that she made, as was as sugar free anzac biscuits for Engel. Both are very delicious traditional Australian desserts, and tasty ones too…

I’ll try and not leave it so long until the next update – hopefully the month of February wont up and vanish on me like January did…

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Cats, Knitting, Little one, Updates 1 Comment

…coming to you from under a blanket…

First things first, photos of all the holiday knitting I’ve been keeping secret.

Haughty Hen Trio from Knit & Purl Pets by Claire Garland

This is for my niece, a miniature version of her very own pet chicken!

Holy Hand Grenade, free pattern by Wylde Strandes

And this is for a good Monty Python loving friend of the family! Pattern is a ravelry download that can be found here.

For those not in the know, its featured in the movie ‘The Holy Grail’.

And lastly, advent stockings!

Little Christmas stocking for beginners, free pattern by Fluff and Fuzz

Never. Ever. Again. Ever. That’s five sets of twenty four stockings, that’s a hundred and twenty stockings! I was dreaming of knitting these things! For anyone out there mad enough to attempt their own, the pattern can be found here. From the top, red, white and purple for my niece. Green, white and blue for my nephew. Dark red and sparkly white for my mum. Black and grey for Engel. Red, green and white for me.

Sadly, the hardest part wasn’t the knitting or sewing, but assembling it together. Here is a photo of me trying to do so:

Crumble supervising to ensure all is done properly

Wool everywhere, stockings everywhere, cat trying to ‘help’…the moment I gave her a sacrificial extra stocking, she lost interest and decided to go play with her catnip mouse instead…

Anyhow, a good festive season has been had so far by myself, Engel and Felix. Engel has actually been festive and put christmas music on yesterday, in the 6/7 years I’ve known him, this is a first! He blames Felix on being the christmas spirit…

How about you guys?

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting, Little one, Updates No Comments

Did everyone go out Haggis Hunting in preparation for their traditional St Andrews feast on Saturday?

I did! Here’s the evidence:

Traditional method of catching the wild haggis

Had friends round and a good time was had by all. Except for the haggis. I think being skinned and boiled wasn’t very enjoyable…

What else has happened since my last post? Went to see the Barenaked Ladies in Manchester (I blame my friend entirely for that).  It all started with their album snacktime…

Anyhow, I would highly recommend seeing them if yo enjoy a good laugh, Engel doesn’t so he stayed home and looked after Felix.

Finally everyone has the plague.  I came down with a cold and have managed to infect Engel and Felix…

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