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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Gaming, Knitting 1 Comment

At long last, the final dog has been knit! I present to you all…

I made him following the pattern Border Collie by Sally Muir and Joanna Osborne from the book Best in Show: Knit your own Dog.

I really enjoyed this particular knit, not sure if it’s because it wasn’t a husky or if the pattern was simpler nicer and easier to read, but I did enjoy it.

However, I am far more looking forward to knitting something that isn’t a dog!

But what?

So many choices…

In other news, I snuck off on Thursday to have a playdate of my own with Rabbie and ‘the girls’ (which included her husband, but that’s totally fine, he knows how to talk the talk!) and had a great time running about like a lunatic at Alton Towers. I went on the new ride, Wicker Man, and for being built out of wood, it’s so very, very metal!

There’s been work, kids party’s, and after three sessions, we managed to finish off our “one shot” of Pathfinder, featuring none other than Reyth Strunmah and Calinan. He now has a very impressive battle axe. And a tiny Haggis.

Till next week!

Wool Count

Starting total – 576

Wool used – 82 (1 used)
Wool bought – 19
Wool given – 157 (2 as birthday presents!)
Wool gifted – 31

Total – 641

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 1 Comment

Mixing it up as in mixed breed of doggy!

I present…a husky/collie cross!

As with all the previous huskies, I based the pattern on Siberian Husky by Sally Muir and Joanna Osborne from the book Best in Show: Knit your own Dog.

I have just the collie left to post and then it really will be time for something different!

In other news, life has been its usual relentless self – I ripped apart the kids rooms last weekend and only just now have the worst of the scrapes and bruises healed. We’ve had the usual ups and downs you have with small children and have begun to plot the fine details for Felix’s birthday in a few weeks.

I may have to do a few emergency knits for it…

I also spent some time with friends last night which involved a very long journey down memory lane – the youngest present (a baby of 16) just looked at us all as if we were absolutely mad! It’s crazy how fast technology has moved, and yet here I am with a spinning wheel and knitting needles!

Takes all-sorts, right?

Wool Count

Starting total – 576

Wool used – 81 (2 used)
Wool bought – 19
Wool given – 157 (2 as birthday presents!)
Wool gifted – 31

Total – 642

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 1 Comment

Yep. I’ve been asked to remake husky no.1 again as the person who was given him was put in a situation where they kindly gifted him to a little girl who wants a pet dog but can’t have one, so now has part ownership of hers…

And yes, that brown blob is a tiny knitted dog poo to go with it.

I do get some strange requests…

This is the last of the pure bred huskies, there’s a husky/collie cross and a collie to go to finish this set off. There’s also other behind the scenes knitting going on, but we’ll get to that later.

In non knitting news, I am very tired! Friday and Saturday saw to the kids rooms being ripped out, some painting, new beds and lots of furniture building and some toy sorting with only a few scraped and bruises and a particularly badly bashed elbow to show for it in regards to injuries!

Today was a treat day with some friends at a cat cafe, with lots of kitty cuddles!

Apologies for the blog post being late this week, I’ve been unable to select ‘add post’ in my wordpress directory and yeah…two hours solid trying to resolve the blasted issue and I’ve finally managed it, but it’s left me rather cranky and debating if I should really continue this blog post on its own little website or just switch to a freebie one and have you all suffer lots of ads instead…wordpress has been very glitchy since it did a major overhaul a few months back and it’s not getting much better…

Oh, and with everything going on, I haven’t had a chance to play with my spinning wheel other than to check it works and have Engel align it all for me…hopefully next week!

Anyhow! Wool count then bed I think!

Wool Count

Starting total – 576

Wool used – 79 (5 used)
Wool bought – 19
Wool given – 157 (2 as birthday presents!)
Wool gifted – 31

Total – 644

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

Hi all!

Short post this week as I am ready to fall asleep and it’s not even the little terrors bedtime yet! My mum came down for a flying visit this weekend and we literally crammed as much as we could before she went back north in the train less than an hour ago.

The main highlight was Sci-fi in the sidings at the East Lancashire Railway – both myself and Engel have soft spots for steam trains and it’s passed on to both Felix and Inkling. Coupled with storm troopers and daleks? Sold!

And today it was a cat show, none of us had ever been to one, neither had the friends we met there, but it proved a laugh. Felix has now decided she’s going to show cats when she’s older after falling in love with a litter of kittens! The women who owned/showed them was very good with her and let her ‘help’ with filling out the numbers and giving the cats a lucky pet before they went for each showing…

We may also have rocked up wearing cat ears and tails, myself included, much to the bemusement of most of the people there… unfortunately my mum “borrowed” my cat Welly socks and they are now classified as MIA, so I’ll be needing to make another pair before winter sets in…

Enough of that, on to the knitting!

The second in a pack of huskies! The next few weeks will be seeing more of these guys. Like the first one, I’ve used the pattern Siberian Husky by Sally Muir and Joanna Osborne from the book Knit Your Own Dog: Easy-to-Follow Patterns for 25 Pedigree Pooches.

Till next week!

Wool Count

Starting total – 576

Wool used – 71 (3 used)
Wool bought – 19
Wool given – 155
Wool gifted – 31

Total – 650

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Gaming, Knitting 1 Comment

 Have you ever had one of those conversations with a group of friends, where everyone is being a bit silly and having a laugh, and some idea, or concept is created from the collective, that’s just so funny, bizarre or stupid that you have the urge to somehow make it real? To make it happen?

Meet Reyth Strunmah, riding Calinan.

The crazy collective idea that had to be brought to life amongst myself and my gaming friends, was of a Scottish Kobold, complete with woad, who tosses cabers from his Sporran of Holding whilst riding a corgi. (There was a side conversation about Cowboy Bebop and how Ein is my favourite character)

Let’s take a better look at that corgi, shall we?

This guy is made using the pattern Corgi by Sally Muir and Joanna Osborne from their book ‘Best in Show: Knit your own Dog’.  I later winged a saddle and a set of reigns to fit him.

Now let’s have a better look at my Kobold.

This guy…well…the Kobold body is based on the pattern Bag of Troodons by Tina Barrett, from her book ‘Knitted Dinosaurs’. Then I kinda tweaked him a bit here and there, added some horns and did a whole lot of embroidery…

The kilt? That was fun. I looked at an amazingly clever free pattern – Princess Franklin Plaid Collar by Franklin Habit. Using five colours, garter stitch and a whole lot of patience, you can make something that’s fairly passible for tartan. But I wanted only a tiny piece, and as I was basing it on Black Watch tartan, just needed three colours, so I took the idea and the method and with a bit of tweaking, got myself a teeny tiny Kobold kilt.

The Sporran of Holding? That was just winged. The fluffy effect is loop stitch that I have cut and then combed the loose threads.

And there we have it: Reyth Strunmah and Calinan!

…

Yes, I am insane. No, I don’t have that much spare time, but I also don’t have a TV. Yes, my friends are also insane, they are gamers, it’s goes hand in hand.

Well, I shall leave you all at that with the wool count, and a photo I call ‘Freedom’.

Wool Count

Starting total – 576

Wool used – 68 (4 used)
Wool bought – 19
Wool given – 155
Wool gifted – 31

Total – 653

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting, Little one 2 Comments

That as indeed been very much the question! Our nerf group is supposed to run every last Sunday of the month, but it was cancelled last week due to rain (anyone in the UK will be more than aware of all the recent floodings) and looks to be cancelled again this week…

Which is a shame as Felix had me make this cute bag for her:

After playing with one of the other club members Vortex nerf blaster (it shoots discs instead of darts, and is super easy to prime and fire do she can do it all herself unaided) she batted her eyelashes at daddy and he got her one. And Inkling too, at least.

Then one of the other club members turned up with one for Felix as, despite not aimed at him, he too fell for those batting eyelashes.

I’m going to have to watch that girl…

Anyways, so we have three nerf blasters that all take discs and Felix rightly pointed out that discs and darts should not mix, so I made a matching bag for the Vortex for all the discs to go live in.

And there’s a lot of discs, we went to buy some and there was a crazy good special on glow in the dark discs…and they really do glow! The fact this bag was so promptly made has nothing to do with the fact the discs were on my bedside table and actually distracting me from sleeping,nope, not at all…

That’s all from me this week, busy with everything and feeling rather poorly as I woke up Thursday morning with no voice. Fridays trip to the doctor confirmed that I had laryngitis, so I get to drink hot honey and lemon water.

I really, really dislike the taste of honey. And fresh squeezed lemon? Not much better….

Wool Count

Starting total – 576

Wool used – 64 (1 used)
Wool bought – 19 (3 more, I needed a pick me up!)
Wool given – 155
Wool gifted – 31

Total – 658

Fleece bought/own – 13 lots, varying quantities…
Fleece washed and bagged – all the above! Now in 10 bags.

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting, Little one 1 Comment

Buzz buzz buzz!!!!

These are based on the free pattern Teeny Tiny Bumblebee by The Ginger Hooker – larger needles used and I changed the wings.

For those curious, Felix chose bees as the next insect for her mini beast birthday party, having already picked butterflies. I’ve ended knitting over 60 bees as Felix kept giving them away, Inkling decided they were the must have for his bed and my MIL took a shine to them…

Not sure if I’ll make any more insects for the party (she has asked for ladybirds, worms, stick insects and woodlice amongst others) as I have a few other projects lined up first, but we’ll see if I can sneak another one in!

Short post this week, it’s been so hot I’ve not had the energy to do much knitting and certainly not spinning, though almost all the raw fleeces washed!

I have picked up a little table loom which Felix and Engel have had quite a bit of fun with, and subsequently used up some of my odds and ends bits of wool!

Oh, and I’ve joined a new gaming group, well, more a friend is putting together a time and place for people who want to play boardgames, wargames or RPGs to get together and do just that. I have a number of victims – I mean volunteers – who want to play cthulhu with me! I feel an evil laugh coming on…mwahahahaha!!!!!!

Till next week!

Wool Count

Starting total – 576

Wool used – 63 (4 used)
Wool bought – 19 (3 more, I needed a pick me up!)
Wool given – 155
Wool gifted – 31

Total – 659

Fleece bought/own – 13 lots, varying quantities…
Fleece washed and bagged – all the above! Now in 10 bags.

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

As mentioned area weeks ago, I’m trying to take up spinning and make my own wool. It’s slow going, mainly as I have a lot of fleece that needs washing and carding before I can try spinning, but it’s there.

One thing I need to do all this though is a drop spindle. Before going to the wool experience where I ended up picking up three, I organised a trade:


A beautiful, 3D printed drop spindle (this photo was taken before I attached the hook) in exchange for:

A little knitted replica of his recently deceased kitty, Minnie.

(Pattern used is Tortoiseshell Cat by Sally Muir and Joanna from the book Best in Show: Knit Your Own Cat)

Even though I used a pattern, the markings where all done by eye to match up, as best at I could with wool, the markings on the actual cat. I had six very cute reference photos for the job!

And even though I now have four drop spindles, this newest addition is just lovely to work with…well worth the effort! Though I don’t fancy trying to match Calico cat markings again any time soon!

In other news, I got a little table top loom for Felix, which has been surprisingly fun! She’s finished a bag on it, though I have yet to cut it off, and currently starting a wash cloth for her grandmama! Looks like creativity is running in the family! Photos will come soon once I’ve got them off the loom and all the ends weaved in.

That’s it for now, has been a very busy week at work and at home and an absolutely manic weekend with playdates, christenings and birthday parties all to attend…

Oh, and as I’ve had a few private enquiries regarding last week’s blog post, my sister’s brother in law survived the operation so it’s now just the long road to recovery. He’s not fully out of the woods yet, but definitely over the worst! And the knitted hugs went down well, and didn’t over step any boundaries, so very, very pleased with how it’s all worked out!

Wool Count

Starting total – 576

Wool used – 59 (1 used)
Wool bought – 16 (3 more, mentioned above)
Wool given – 155
Wool gifted – 31

Total – 660

Fleece bought/own – 13 lots, varying quantities…in process of being cleaned  (just three little bags left! The big fleeces have been washed!), carded and combined by sheep breed.

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 1 Comment

This is a very wordy post, apologies, feel free to scroll down to just the knitting.

Before I moved 300 miles away from home, the duty of fixing my family’s drama fell to both myself and my sister Rabbie. Its been a decade since I moved, and unfortunately I’ve left her with the brunt of dealing with this task alone.

I’ll admit, I feel guilty about it, but having two children of my own, it’s generally coupled with the thought that my plate is full enough already, and a wave of home sickness best left not being dwelt upon.

About a fortnight ago, I found out that her brother in law was in a very, very bad way and going in for a major operation with a 50/50 chance of survival.

It was going to fall to my sister to help keep her husband’s family together, to be the shoulder to cry on and to say the right things and keep the world turning for them all.

My reaction: she needed a hug.

But I’m 300 miles away.

So I made her one.

(Clapotis by Kate Gilbert, a beautiful, simple and effective free pattern.)

A long time ago, an old lady told me about prayer shawls (she was making one), at the time I didn’t think much of them, not being religious, but now I see there place in the grand scheme of things.

The energy and need to do something whilst not knowing what I should, and the worry and concern I have, can be knitted into something beautiful that can offer someone comfort.

A hug, that can be worn when I’m not there to give her one.

Wool Count

Starting total – 576

Wool used – 58 (2 used)
Wool bought – 16 (3 more, mentioned above)
Wool given – 155
Wool gifted – 31

Total – 661

Fleece bought/own – 13 lots, varying quantities…in process of being cleaned  (three lots of washing), carded and combined by sheep breed.

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting, Motorbike, Uncategorized 1 Comment

The title of this post has definitely given the game away over the knit to show you this week!

This is made following the pattern Siberian Husky by Sally Muir and Joanna Osborne from the book Knit Your Own Dog: Easy-to-Follow Patterns for 25 Pedigree Pooches.

The reason behind this cutie is based on the events that occurred the other week, which I mentioned in this blog post.

Short story: Engels motorbike died. Engels motorbike was revived temporarily. Person who helped revive motorbike also helped him find new replacement motorbike. New replacement motorbike is very, very nice. And called Meowzebub.

Said very lovely person also owns four huskies and a collie. I got lots of doggy cuddles that day. And as a thank you for helping us out for near enough a whole day at incredibly short notice, literally the night before, Engel suggested I make a replica of one of her huskies.

Isn’t he cute?

There may be the rest of the pack on its way eventually, I believe that’s in debate…

In other news, today was The Wool Experience! And my friends Sisterex and Charisobelle have convinced me to pick up spinning as a new hobby. Or to at least try it. So I went to get a little bit of sheep fluff and a drop spindle.

Yeah…

I now two whole fleeces, 5 little sample bags of different fleeces and 3 drop spindles. Sisterex also gave me three lots of commercial fluff I gave her the other year as it wound up in my stash by accident and Charisobelle also gave me three little bags of fluff in different washed stages so I could see the differences each step made and could practice on those for washing myself.

I think I need to learn this hobby, and get competent in it, pretty quick…

Oh, and I also picked up three skeins of undyed wool for me to have a play with my dyes some more…

Wool Count

Starting total – 576

Wool used – 56 (Still no change…)
Wool bought – 16 (3 more, mentioned above)
Wool given – 155
Wool gifted – 31

Total – 663 (It went up!)

Fleece bought/own – 13 lots, varying quantities…

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