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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 2 Comments

A lot like Christmas, or, as much as it can in my house! The advent stockings are up and full of person specific treats, the stockings are waiting for their gifts to go inside, all the cute handmade decorations cover the house and the tree has made a very early appearance for us.

Every year I make a decoration, to commemorate something about that year. And this year? Well, it could only be one thing:

Yep. The coronavirus. This is made following the free pattern Fearsome coronavirus ball by Tamara Kulikov. Strangely enough, it’s one of the few decorations that could almost pass as an actual Christmas decoration. I mean, it does look like a bauble, just a bit…

There’s been a lot of knitting as I bit off far more than I could chew when agreeing to the kids demands for little decorations for their class mates rather than the horror of trying to make them write out Christmas cards…

I didn’t realise that would mean knitting 60 of the cursed things…at least it’s let me use up 5 small balls of green scraps! Hopefully I will be done by next week and show those off then!

Till then, keep safe!

Wool Count

Starting total – 704

Wool used – 151 (5 this week)
Wool bought – 28
Wool given to me – 318
Wool gifted to others – 8
Wool handspun – 16

Total – 902

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 2 Comments

Yeah, I gave in and made Inkling his own Pokémon hat, and he insisted on Meowth. I tried, so very hard, to get him to pick a host of ones I thought would look far cuter but…no.

Here is the finished hat next to a cuddly toy version of Meowth. I will admit it did come out cute! I made it using my own generic hat pattern and then just winged the rest to give something approximating the proportions and shapes I wanted.

He’s smitten with it, so my job is done! Or at least, I thought it was until Engel informed me that I definitely owe him a few hats and if the kids have Pokémon ones, he wants a Pokémon one too.

I spoke with the kids and in under three seconds it has been agreed that a Snorlax would suit him the best, so keep an eye out for that!

In other news work has been manic, and Christmas is creeping into the house, so much so I gave in and put the tree up today as the terrors had asked for it at least three dozen times…does bring colour to the house! I will share photos of it and this year’s decoration next week once I have rearranged all the decorations once the terrors are in bed…

Till next week, stay safe!

Wool Count

Starting total – 704

Wool used – 146 (4 this week)
Wool bought – 28
Wool given to me – 318
Wool gifted to others – 8
Wool handspun – 16

Total – 907

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting, Little one 2 Comments

This week and last I have been knitting Christmas gifts. Yes. Christmas gifts. I always say I won’t do them then change my mind in December and rush, rush, rush. Seeing as I am in the limbo of lockdown, I figured I would start now.

There is one gift I can show you though…

Inklings birthday was on Monday, and like most three year old boys, he is obsessed with Paw Patrol, and Zuma is his favourite. So I knit him Zuma as part of his present. I used the free pattern Dexter the Labrador by Amanda Berry. The pup tag I just winged, but I feel it came out well!

It was a very quiet celebration this year, again because of lockdown, but at three he doesn’t understand what he missed, which was a blessing really. I suspect I was more upset than anyone else as I didn’t get to see my family from up North. Twice now this year and lockdown. Twice!

Anyhow, back to Christmas gift knitting – I’ll try and fit a few things in that I can show you or else it’ll be a rather dull couple of weeks blog post wise!

Wool Count

Starting total – 704

Wool used – 46 (7 this week!!!)
Wool bought – 7
Wool given – 8 (Engel brought two home today as a little pick me up as he noticed the home sickness was setting in)
Wool gifted – 0

Total – 672

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

Happy new year everyone! May it be happier and healthier than last year!

Since my last post, I finished up three projects – a snake hat for Felix, a cosie for the in-laws and a teeny tiny knitted jumper, as I keep getting asked by someone to make them a jumper and, no, just no.

The tea cosie is based on the free pattern Mug and French Press Jacket by MK Carroll, as you can see in the photo, it’s a glass teapot with a very, very short spout and I figured having the bottom covered was better than the top!

The jumper is made following the free pattern Mini Sweater Ornament with Cables by Emily5446 – very cute, very well written pattern and I have a jumper that’s about 4 cm tall!

As for 2020, I have finished my first project just yesterday! Maleficent!

This pattern is based on Dragons by King Cole Ltd – though I had to tweak it a fair bit and add a lot of extra details to turn it into Maleficent! The reason for this is that every year I knit a Christmas decoration, and for 2019 I planned to knit a Mickey mouse head to mark our first proper family holiday to Disneyland Paris!

Except Felix told me no, I had to knit Maleficent. I argued that I wouldn’t get all the detail into an ornament, to which I was told not to make an ornament, but a dragon big enough to sit on top of the tree!

Engels oh so helpful in put to this was ”if you knit an even bigger one it could sit under the tree and guard the presents!”

So Maleficent it was, and at a hefty 60cm long she’ll either be taking the whole top of the tree, or hoarding the presents beneath – we’ll have to wait till next year to find out!

Till next week!

Wool Count

Starting total – 704

Wool used – 2
Wool bought – 0
Wool given – 0
Wool gifted – 0

Total – 702

I feel I had best explain why my wool count has gotten so much bigger – I was given quite a few balls for Christmas (Inkling gave me two yellow balls and informed me that one was a digger and the other a bulldozer, hmm, I suspect he’s learning from Felix) and I ripped out a few old finished projects that weren’t being used, so that wool has gone back into the wool stash. I also bought four balls of bright orange in order to make a project I have planned! This year, I really do hope to finish with 600 or less!

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting, Little one 1 Comment

It’s been one hell of a week. Fortnight actually. Home stuff, stuff that doesn’t belong on here, but needless to say it’s pretty much killed what little festive spirit i’ve had.

Seriously, I have felt festive for two hours this year. Which in turn makes it hard to create the magic for Felix and Inkling. I think I’ve managed – they’re eagerly counting down the days and it’s getting harder and harder to settle them at night!

The tree is up, the decorations out, presents squirrelled away everywhere…yep…even if I don’t feel it, it’s nearly here…

Even if I haven’t been feeling it, I have been cracking on with Christmas knitting! Though I had said I wouldn’t make any this year…

In order to not be eaten by the Yule Cat, you must receive something warm and wooly. I showed Felix a bunch of patterns and without looking at them, she informed me I was to make her a snake jumper. When I sarcastically asked her if there was a specific snake she had in mind, she replied cobra…and that it had to be a green jumper…sigh…

The jumper is based on Heart Sweater from the book ‘Cool knits for kids’ by Kate Gunn & Robyn Macdonald. I used the snake charts from the free pattern Swing-Snakes by Tina13.

And if I make something for Felix, I make something for Inkling! He chose the free pattern traffic by Amy Bahrt, insisting on a red car. Then I found the matching Traffic Hat and yeah…

But wait, there’s more!

My new gaming group are obsessed with Pokémon, and with the new sword and shield game out, have sorted themselves into teams of Pokémon type to have battles with their other friends. There was talk of team colours and then I saw this free pattern on Ravelry (Dawn/Hikari Pokéball hat in 2 variations by Mina Janssen) and I knew I had to make them.

So, top left is bug, top right is ghost, bottom left is poison and bottom right is dragon.

There’s other things in the works too, but you won’t be finding out about those until next year, so until then, have a good festive season!

Wool Count

Starting total – 576

Wool used – 112 (3 this week)
Wool bought – 63
Wool given – 167
Wool gifted – 31

Total – 662

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 2 Comments

Even though it’s early (for us) the pleading eyes of Felix and Inkling have led to the Christmas tree being put up, the decorations festooned around the house, and the Christmas knits are falling off the needles.

If only I had more hands and time to work on all the things I want made for Christmas…

One project that I have finished however was a request from Felix. She wanted to give everyone in her class both a present and card. After a bit of negotiation, we agreed to a small Christmas tree decoration for each child and no cards.

I suggested candy canes, as they are quick and easy and cute, but what did she want?

Stockings. Little advent stockings, like the ones I have made for her and Inkling. Sigh…

There’s 33 there. 29 for her classmates, 2 for the childminders children, 1 for her teacher and 1 for the teaching assistant.

They went down well, but I hope to not knit anymore! At least for the rest of the year! (Pattern is free, Christmas Stockings by Amanda Berry)

How goes everyone else’s Christmas preparations?

Wool Count

Starting total – 576

Wool used – 109 (1 this week)
Wool bought – 63
Wool given – 167 (was gifted four balls this week)
Wool gifted – 31

Total – 665

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 2 Comments

Have you noticed that most couples have some cute or endearing little terms they use with one another if the other is say, in a bad mood, or being particularly excited?

For example, if myself or Engel want to be left alone, it’s described as ‘being a squeezle’ ( a No Reservations reference to a porcupine) or if one of us is being just grouchy then they’re ‘a grumpy bunny’ if all’s well then we’re ‘little/big cat’.

Well I was requested to make someone else’s version of ‘grumpy bunny’ and that is ‘angry badger’…

Think he looks angry enough? I think he looks ready to murder someone…

And a side view of him having a tantrum and destroying all the Duplo…

I’ll be honest in that I had a lot of fun with this, I’ve not knitted a badger before (this is a great free pattern Miss Barlow Badger by Jem Weston) and I have never purposefully tried to make a toy look angry before!

He went down really well, and there’s already been a request for a ‘bad news badger’ for Valentine’s, I’ll wait till closer to the time to see if that’s something that is genuinely going ahead, but it’s certainly made me laugh!

Not much in other news, well, that’s not quite true, a lot has been going on, but not the kind of stuff I talk about here. It’ll all be fine in the end, just need to remember that there is an end, and it is in sight.

Christmas has descended upon the household, did a Grinch-mas trail last week and the tree has gone up today. A bit early for myself personally but the combined puppy eyes of Felix and Inkling made me cave in.

Oh, one more thing, the wool count! Normally I pop it on the bottom of the post and leave it at that but after using one ball up these last two weeks I am now at 666! The number of the beast!

Though I keep singing ‘Knit-Knit-Knit, the stitches of the beast!’

On that note, cheerio till next week!

Wool Count

Starting total – 576

Wool used – 108 (1 this week)
Wool bought – 63
Wool given – 167 (was gifted four balls this week)
Wool gifted – 31

Total – 666 the number of the beast!

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting, Little one 1 Comment

Thankfully, no, it’s no where near Christmas time. However, having left Christmas knits until December…never fun…

Also, this particular item needs to be done before December!

They are Inklings very own advent calendar! (He was rather jealous christmas just gone that he didn’t have one and Felix did…) Pattern is my go to free pattern for advent calenders – Christmas Stockings by Amanda Berry. So cute, easy and versatile!

Going to have to say though, knitting Christmas things when we were having unseasonably warm weather is just wrong!

In other knitting news, my tribble infestation has resurfaced, and mutated into a rather interesting form…

They’re bath tribbles! (Or scrubbies, or puffs or puffles, no one seems to quite agree on what they’re actually called…)

As you can see, the very large mummy tribble has given birth to eleven sturdy baby tribbles, and a little runt…Felix has claimed the runt for her toy kitchen and Engel has claimed the mummy as it’s so big he can actually scrub his own back…

I’ve based these on the free pattern Tribble by Abigail – 1870pearl, but worked in stockinette and using ruffle wool.

Been a busy week at work and today was at Foamfest, Britain’s first Nerf convention – it was good, lots of ideas of what can be done to the Nerf blasters to make them more awesome, be it internal modifications or paint jobs!

That’s all for now, have a good weekend everyone!

Wool Count

Starting total – 576

Wool used – 16 (1 this week!)
Wool bought – 13
Wool given – 4
Wool gifted – 0

Total – 577 (Just one more ball to go before I break even!)

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Gaming, Knitting 1 Comment

May the stars align and great Cthulhu rise! Oh, wait, no, that’s only what I want to happen in game…

Playing Arkham Horror with friends and eating far too much to bring in the new year, but putting up a quick post in a quiet moment as I don’t know when I’ll see the next one!

As mentioned in my last post, I’ve been visiting the family and staying with Rabbie, there’s been dog walks, Nerf Battles, Christmas, Butterfly World, and the drive back and all the cleaning and tidying to do as well! It’s been constant.

Worth it mind! As such, not managed much knitting (I have one finished project which Missy got, but due to an ear infection hasn’t had a chance to wear it)

Oh, wait, I do have one tiny finished knit! This year’s Christmas decoration (I make one every year)

Its a Nerf dart, to commemorate the Nerf craze that has hit our house, and subsequently my family, pretty hard!

That aside, it’s been a very busy year and I have a few resolutions to try and make next year better. The wool count will continue (this week I’ve used two balls but gained four at Christmas) and I’m going to try and slowly declutter the house. I’m also going to try and take a moment every day to think about something positive, and hopefully this will improve my currently rather pessimistic outlook on life!

I’m aiming to be a realist, optimistic is a bit too high an aim, for now.

May you all have a good new year and an excellent start to 2019!

Cheers!

(And now time to start playing ‘Auld Lang Syne!’)

Wool Count

Starting total – 622

Wool used – 89 (2 down!)
Wool bought – 27
Wool given – 16 (4 up!)
Wool gifted – 0

Total – 576 (net gain 2!)

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

Ducks?

I went out to the cat mint the other day, in the rain (it’s done nothing but rain for weeks now it feels!) and to my surprise, I found…

Jemima Puddleduck! I brought her in, dried her off, and we got gabbing over some nettle tea and discussed the weather in true British fashion…

(We also spoke fondly of that handsome fellow, dear Mr Todd…)

Joking aside, I’ve picked up in my Beatrix Potter knits again and decided to start with Jemima so I would have the full cast for when Felix and I are acting The Tale of Tom Kitten…this pattern, like the others I’ve made, are the ones created by Alan Dart and after a request the other day by someone trying to find the patterns, it appears that they are completely out of print, you can’t even get them from the Alan Dart website…so if anyone does want them, eBay or Amazon are my only suggestions.

In other news, I’m up North for Christmas and have already had a ball – you can read more on the adventures over at Rabbies/Missy’s blog. (Exact link to be posted when she finishes typing her blog post, we are totally not racing, though I am definitely winning!)

Edit: she finishes her blogpost about today!

I’ll see you after Christmas! Have a good holiday no matter what you celebrate!

Wool Count

Starting total – 622

Wool used – 87 (1 more down! Not going to reach my goal of 100 though, oh well, there’s always next year!)
Wool bought – 27
Wool given – 12
Wool gifted – 0

Total – 574

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