Tag: Mummy can make that!

So, when I made the Chaffys not that long ago, I mentioned that Felix liked to play ‘Find Chaffy’ with them. This is fine and fair enough when playing games, but the Chaffys appear to sneak around and get into all sorts of places…

Like under the sofa.

Nestled in the sock drawer.

Lurking in the toy box.

Peeping out from in the blankets.

Hiding under cushions…

The list is pretty endless. The point is trying to get all ten in one place and staying there was driving me mad. So, I did the obvious thing!

I made a  Chaffy bag. In all the colours of the Chaffys. It’s pretty bright, and almost but not quite rainbow like! I used the free pattern ‘Taffy’ by The Noble Thread – mostly because I liked the construction and it would allow panels of colour as opposed to the normal stripes.

It had nothing to do with the fact I found it highly amusing that Taffy and Chaffy rhyme.

Honest.

You’ll notice in the photo that only nine of the ten Chaffys are present, and a little set of fingers, this is because Inkling has taken a shine to them, especially the dinosaur one, and kept photo bombing and stealing them, this was the best of a bad bunch!

Wool count:

Starting total – 622

Wool used – 46 (1 since last post)
Wool bought – 6
Wool given – 5
Wool gifted – 0

Total – 584

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Look who else has been sneaking into my Pak choi!

It’s Peter Rabbit! As with Flopsy Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny, this is another Alan Dart pattern. I really am enjoying these, and debating who to knit next!

I do have a few in between projects though that need doing before I start the next one, so I have plenty of time to decide.

Oh, following on from my post last week:

Engels hats now have stars and moons! Thanks to Rabbie for the idea of using felt – so much quicker!

Only a short post today as it’s Father’s Day and I think Inkling and Felix have exhausted poor Engel!

Too cute!

Wool count:

Starting total – 622

Wool used – 45 (0 since last post)
Wool bought – 6
Wool given – 5
Wool gifted – 0

Total – 585

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Following on from my last post, Hobgoblins, I have finished Engel’s request of making two more…

Engel’s hat, based on Wychwoods ‘KingGoblin’…

And for Inkling, Wychwoods IPA Hobgoblin…

Both based on the free pattern Oblio’s Cap by Emily Anna Bingham (I increased the sts and rows for Engels hat, decreased them both for Inklings)

So, it only took me making three hats to get my original one back, just in time for another spell of hot weather… sigh…

I have, however, managed to cast on Peter Rabbit, fingers crossed he’ll be fine next post, but no promises I won’t get distracted and/or my knitting commandeered!

On a tangent to that, I was looking at ‘top 25 scientific knitting patterns’ and one of them was a computer hat – a beanie featuring CRT monitors – and I showed it to Engel asking if he’d like a hat like that.

His response was no, he wanted one showing John Von Neumann Architecture

I really should learn not to ask his opinions on things…

Wool count:

Starting total – 622

Wool used – 45 (2 since last post)
Wool bought – 6
Wool given – 5
Wool gifted – 0

Total – 585

 

Edit:

While proofreading Engel demanded to know why his hat didn’t have stars and moons on it… Sigh.

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About a decade ago I knit a green night cap (it was vaguely supposed to be based on Links hat from The Legend of Zelda, but I was winging the pattern whilst taking turns playing the game, so take that as you will)

Anyhow, I have thick hair, so in the winter months after I’ve washed it at night, I pop on my hat and go to bed (yes, I know going to bed with wet hair is supposed to give you a cold, no, it doesn’t actually give you one and no, I won’t hairdryer it as the only times I tried took an hour and it was still damp in places).

This past winter, Felix had taken to stealing my hat when she had her hair washed, and I would steal it back when I washed mine. A few weeks ago she pointed at a t-shirt Engel was wearing and stated ”I want a red night hat like that!’

The t-shirt happened to be a Wychwood brewery Hobgoblin T-shirt (the classic ‘lagerboy’ one).

After we explained that the red hat was a hobgoblin hat, it was agreed that she would return my green one in exchange for her own hobgoblin hat.

Its a bit big, but she’ll grow into it (I know I generally don’t post photos with people in, but I wanted to get one showing the drape and Felix refused to let me put it on anything else!). Made using the free pattern Oblio’s Cap by Emily Anna Bingham – very easy pattern to follow, and a pretty quick, simple knit all things considered.

Which is good, as Engel has pointed out that there are more Hobgoblin beers, in fact, the King-goblin would suit him, and wouldn’t Inkling look adorable in the IPA Hobgoblin hat?…

Guess what my next knits are?

As an aside, last May I posted that I had discovered some Tribbles in my wool stash, and despite attempts of extermination, found more not once, but twice!

Well, sadly, the originally caught specimens are showing their age, and one has also passed on through the wooly gates…so I went to see if there were any survivors lurking in the wool stash…

Yep. Found six more!

Till next week!

Wool count:

Starting total – 622

Wool used – 43 (1 since last post)
Wool bought – 6
Wool given – 5
Wool gifted – 0

Total – 587

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Inkling turned one on Friday, and I can honestly say I have no idea where the year has gone. I swear time moves faster the older you get!

We had a BBQ for him on Saturday (Hungry Caterpiller themed due to Inkling being nicknamed as such due to his bottomless appetite- he actually gets separated at nursery from the others during meal times as he steals the other kids food!) and it was great – gorgeous weather, tasty food, and great company. Unfortunately, not everyone could make it (to be fair, most had good excuses, like being in Australia, looking at you Rabbie!)

Something that has changed since I was little, is that kids get party bags when they go to someone’s party, and on this note, it was decided that since Inkling was a kid, there needed to be party bags.

But adults don’t need bubble wands and sweeties (ok, they do, but that’s not the point!) and with the Hungry Caterpillar theme…

A caterpillar! Based on the free pattern Easter Egg Toys by Kimberly Chapman.

And for the bag, a cocoon! Based on my own free pattern! Just reduced by a third in size.

And a beautiful butterfly to finish it off! Based on the pattern Common Blue Butterfly by Lesley Stanfield from her book ‘100 Flowers to Knit & Crochet’.

I, umm, did make too many though…oh well! They looked cute strung up with some ivy Felix helped make!

Wool count:

Starting total – 622

Wool used – 42 (5 since last post)
Wool bought – 6
Wool given – 5
Wool gifted – 0

Total – 588

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This is an image heavy post, just to warn you!

So, when we were up visiting Rabbie at Easter, her husband introduced Felix to ‘Find Chaffy’ by James Smart, a sort of incredibly cute and fluffy version of ‘Wheres Wally’. But of course, it didn’t end there, you see, Rabbie had made Chaffy, and four of the nine other Chaffy forms.

Felix fell in love, and decided that she needed her own Chaffy set. Yes. Set. Chaffy and all nine forms!

Classic Chaffy

Classic Chaffy

Panda Chaffy

Cat Clown Chaffy

Ghost Chaffy

Robot Chaffy

Dinosaur Chaffy

Pig Chaffy

Octopus Chaffy

Ninja Chaffy

And lastly, Bear Chaffy!

Based all these on the free pattern Oh Balls! by Marcie Nishioka – with additions and modifications to suit each one.

Here’s a group photo:

But that’s not all, Felix insisted that I also need to finish off Auntie Rabbies set of Chaffys, so that she can play with them when she next visits. So, here’s the five to do just that!

Felixs current favourite game fright now is ‘Find Chaffy’ where you hide them all and give clues as to their locations…

With that, I’ll leave you all there this week! Oh, except for the wool count mind you.

Wool count:

Starting total – 622

Wool used – 37 (1 since last post)
Wool bought – 6
Wool given – 5
Wool gifted – 0

Total – 593 

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Its a very short, slightly belated post today. Yesterday I was at a very good friends wedding, it was an amazing day and beautiful hardly describes it. The venue, the bride, the vows, the food…all beautiful.

And of course, Inkling had to fit the part! At the very last minute I decided he needed a little bow tie to go with his waistcoat:

Based on the free pattern Erika’s Knit Bow by loareknits – its super quick, super simple and super adorable.

The other thing to note, and I shouldn’t have been surprised really seeing as the friend who got married is the friend who requested several cthulhus and matching dice bags, but I bumped into a few Americans who, after spotting Inkling cuddling his knitted cthulhu, exclaimed ‘your the lady that knit the cthulhus!’

I love it when things like that happen! (I had been busy admiring the detail in one of the girls knitted shawls prior to this, still debating what pattern was used…pretty sure it was a Birch Leaf motif…)

Anyhow! Two big projects on the go, very nearly finished one and almost finished the other so hopefully you’ll see those next week!

Oh, ended up buying wool this week as I didn’t have enough in a colour I needed. I could not for the life of me get hold of said colour in straight up acrylic and DK weight (kids toy, gotta be sturdy and machine washable) and it took five shops (two of them large craft stores) to find what I needed! ‘Sadly’ it only came in packs of two, oh well!

Wool count:

Starting total – 622

Wool used – 36 (3 since last post)
Wool bought – 6 (2 since last post)
Wool given – 5
Wool gifted – 0

Total – 594 (Net loss of 1)

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I’ll start with a recap: my mum works with autistic children and she finds having physical props helps with learning and development.

I’ve made The Hungry Caterpillar, The Stubborn Goat, Elmer and friends and now…

Flopsy’s bunnies!

The bunny pattern is based on the free pattern Square bunny by Annette of Lebenslustiger.com – with paws and little kerchiefs. (I’ve made these before, here and here, as always, a brilliant, quick pattern!)

The story these guys are from is ‘The tale of Flopsys bunnies‘ by Beatrix Potter. It’s a cute story, though be warned, lettuce is soporific!

I need to make a lettuce.

After searching online, I couldn’t find a lettuce pattern. Nothing. So I did the next best thing – I made up my own pattern!

If anyone else is ever possessed with the burning desire to also knit a lettuce, the pattern is available for free on my ‘Free Patterns‘ page, or you can just click this link here

Flopsy’s bunnies certainly seem to enjoy eating it!

Hmm…I think thats everything I need to make to tell “The Tale of Flopsy’s Bunnies” , unless, you know, the kids might want to put the bunnies into a sack like Mr McGregor did.

I’m just going to dig out some brown wool and my knitting needles…

As an aside: I made an extra two bunnies as my little ones both fell in love with them. Felix kept ‘relocating’ the finished bunnies to ‘bunny town’ which appears to have mystical magical properties that allows it to change size and location every time you look away…and Inkling is just crazy about bunnies. He squeals when he sees them…

These are the extra bunnies, you may have noticed that they all have scarves of different colours – this is so that each one can have its own little personality, and in the case of the extra two, can be clearly identified as ‘the one that can be chewed on, and the one to keep away from Inkling’…

I think that’s all for this week – and to be honest, that was quite a lot! Bunnies, bunnies and more bunnies, a new free knitting pattern and even a heads up on my current knitting project! What else could too that?

The wool count because…drum roll…I finally have less than 600 balls of wool!

And here’s the count to prove it!

Wool count:

Starting total – 622

Wool used – 31 (5 this week!)
Wool bought – 4
Wool given – 5
Wool gifted – 0

Total – 597

I am so ridiculously pleased with myself right now!!!!

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I’m having a very strong sense of déjà vu…

But at least this post has no pesky crocodiles!

First of all, happy St Gertrude’s! As I mentioned last year, this is the day we celebrate our cats birthdays. Though with the ‘Beast from the East 2.0’ our festive spirits have been somewhat dampened as the cats are all in a huge sulk as they have the snow!

Onto the magic mittens, as I mentioned last time I made them, my friends little one has eczema and, after her eczema developed an infection from scratching during the night whilst her previous magic mittens where in the wash…

Well, I couldn’t have that!

Pattern used was once again, the amazing free pattern The World’s Simplest Mittens by tincanknits, these are knit in the next size so there’s growing room. And when they’re in the wash…

A second pair!

The patterns where picked by my friends little one, anything to help her wear them!

Wool count:

Starting total – 622

Wool used – 26 (3 this week!)
Wool bought – 4
Wool given – 5
Wool gifted – 0

Total – 602

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Or maybe that should be Crumbles! Crumbles! Crumbles!

Why do you ask?

Because: Crumbles!

Crumbles!

Crumbles!

Hee Hee! I couldn’t resist, apologies. Patterns used are both free, the sitting cat is Tiny Window Cat and the lying down cat is Tiny Parlor Cat both patterns are by Sara Elizabeth Kellner. She has full sized versions of them also but…well…let me start this story at the beginning.

For Christmas Felix got me a ball of wool and, upon opening my present, informed me it was ‘Crumble wool’ and that it was to knit little Crumbles. Crumble btw is my pet cat, and the one that we’ve had the longest, she’s a big old softie with the loudest purr I’ve ever heard. Anyhow, I’d managed to free up my knitting queue to knit the little Crumble, only the wool is chunky. So I had to find a pattern for a tiny cat to make it a good size. Then I found not one, but two, perfect patterns, and so I made a not-so-tiny parlour and window cat!

That’s pretty much everything for this post, it’s mothers day and with two little terrors celebrating the day with me, it’s been pretty busy!

P.S. the word ‘Crumble’ appears eleven times in this post. That’s impressive!

Wool count:

Starting total – 23 – 0 this week – 🙁

Wool bought – 4
Wool given – 5
Wool gifted – 0

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

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