Tag: Felix

Deep in the depths of space, lies a small moon like planet, where a family of peculiar creatures live…

Of course I’m talking about the Clangers, this here is Small Clanger! I was given a kit to make him a little while ago and finally decided to get him on the needles after Inkling spotted Felix’s Tiny Clanger.

I had fun knitting this guys, but not so much on the cutting out and sewing of all the felt pieces, though he does look really good for it. There no plans though in the near future to make Mother, Major or Granny Clanger!

Wool count:

Starting total – 622

Wool used – 68 (2 since last post!)
Wool bought – 8
Wool given – 6 (1 as a birthday present!)
Wool gifted – 0

Total – 568

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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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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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Can you guess who I found sneaking in the cat mint this time? Armed with her handkerchief to try and catch mice?

Here’s the culprit from the back…

And the front! Why it’s Miss Moppet, Tom Kittens sister and daughter of Tabitha Twitchit.

This is the kitten Felix has been wanting me to make the most, whilst she adores the two stories of Tom Kitten, it’s Miss Moppet that first caught her heart and attention. I used the basic body pattern of Tom Kitten, added the paws on again, as well as extra stripes and a little tummy. The bow is of my own creation – basic rectangle bow on top of a keyhole scarf that tapered into wider ends to give that nice bow shape.

The handkerchief is actually based on the free knitting pattern Waffle Check Dishcloth by Rain Coast Knits. It was the most suited pattern I could find to give the not quite checked blue and white appearance of the handkerchief in the book.

Felix was very critical in the making of this particular toy, and was in charge of every step – the choosing of the colours, number and placement of stripes, the bow shape and the handkerchief also.

I’m fairly sure I have memorized the whole story of Miss Moppet I consulted the book that much!

At least I’ll be in for a much easier knitting journey for Moppet and Tom’s sister, Mittens!

In other news, the dash is still going on and I did a little kid week chant that went:

Knit it! Spin it!
You’re all trying really hard!
Craft it! Weave it!
Go and use up every yard!

Not as good as my first but…it’s still a cute chant. Hmm. Need to come up with more…

Have a nice week everyone!

Wool count:

Starting total – 622

Wool used – 56 (2 since last post)
Wool bought – 8 (1 since last post – it called to both myself and Felix!)
Wool given – 5
Wool gifted – 0

Total – 579 (checked my numbers and at some point I made a mistake, hence why the total has gone up!)

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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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How I wish I was doing just that! It’s gotten so hot at the moment that we’re keeping our time outside to a minimum (I can cope with a fair bit of heat and sun, but Felix and Inkling? Nope) there’s even been amber health warnings issued!

Apologies for the lack of post last week – we had Rabbie, her husband, a good friend of theirs and Felix’s favourite doggy cousin, Missy all staying with us! Lots of fun was had, which Rabbie has covered in a fantastic blog post already, but between that and having no finished project to show you all, I decided to skip a week.

This week though I do have something to show! A birthday present that I was literally casting off at the last minute before heading out to give them!

Its based on the free pattern Wavedeck by Kate Atherley – it’s actually a semi circle but I thought it would showcase the gradient change in the wool off beautifully and I had twice as much as needed…so I made it a full circle.

Which is why my timing was so far off, that and it’s been far too hot to knit with essentially a blanket on my lap…but it’s done and I have another ball of gradient wool, but much nearer the recommended yardage for the pattern, so I see another wavedeck in my future!

But after some smaller knits, at the very least once the heat subsides…

Wool count:

Starting total – 622

Wool used – 47 (1 since last post)
Wool bought – 7 (Bought that lovely ball of gradient wool…)
Wool given – 5
Wool gifted – 0

Total – 584

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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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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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Following on from Flopsy Rabbit, I’ve now made…

Benjamin Bunny! And what a little rascal, eating the pak-choi!

The pattern is Benjamin Bunny by Alan Dart, and like Flopsy, it’s very well written and pretty easy to knit, but the sewing! So much sewing!

That said, I’m a glutton for punishment and plan to cast on for Peter next, though I have a few smaller projects to fit in as well…more on those when I’ve made them, or at least have something to show you all!

Just a quick post this week, it’s been a pretty busy week with work and the little ones, and there was some drama as something’s taken a chunk out of Ziggy’s tail, but it’s all been cleaned and bandaged and despite the dirty looks she’s been given me, she’s all fine now!

Though I suspect she’s had her revenge as last night, I jumped up and landed on one of Inklings wooden blocks, and subsequently have a chunk of my toe missing…so much pain…

We’ve also been doing most of the activities at the MOSI today (Felix was deemed too young to be allowed to do any soldering, much to her daddy’s disappointment!) but she did manage to convince the poor chap running the 3D printers to let her have the space invader charm he’d just made as she recognised it as something her daddy likes…

Shame it’s bright pink!

See you all next week, where I’ll no doubt be even more worn out as it’s the school holidays and it’s all me and the terror days subsequently! Now, to Pinterest for ideas on what to do that are fun, educational but not going to destroy the house…

Wool count:

Starting total – 622

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

Total – 588

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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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