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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 2 Comments

Its been a ruff week, and I’ve been somewhat melan-collie. But, behind the scenes, IRL, things are making progress, and that’s a paw-sitive thing.

This week the hot weather finally broke, and it has been raining pups and dogs. However, I was also flying to Ireland and back in a day to visit my dad. The turbulence was definitely terrier-fying, but it was all fine in the end.

My dad currently has five dogs, mummy dog, daddy dog and three of the pups. They were also lookin after two other people’s dogs making the pack total seven. Engel doesn’t like dogs paw-ticuarly but…he did well. Even with he jumping and barking and ‘kisses’.

Daddy dog is a short haired dachshund, and despite his grumpy temperament, is really cute…

But not as paw-sitively adorable as his knitted version! Knit following the pattern Dachshund by Sally Muir and Joanna Osborne from their book ‘Best in Show’.

With that, I shall end this post as I am dog tired, and fear the puns are just getting corgi now…

Till next post, take care!

Starting total – 880

Wool used – 26 (+1)
Wool bought – 17
Wool given to me – 13
Wool gifted to others – 3
Wool handspun – 2

Total – 882 (Net difference: +2)

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 1 Comment

Hey all! Apologies for no post last week but I didn’t have any FOs and I was pretty tired…

Covid has done a number on my energy levels.

On a more pleasant note, I received two flying over night visits from Rabbie! A nice little chance to catch up, hug my fur niece Missy, and coo over our collective craft hobbies.

She left me with quite a few ideas for the fabric stash, and in exchange, I handed over:

This is Biscuit the Dog PK7 by Debbie Minton, a Popcorn knitting kit, and I love and hate him.

Lets rewind. Back when I was visiting Rabbie for my cheeky trip up North to play Zombie Nerf, her husband handed me this knitting kit, stating that he had bought it 7 years ago and despite many, many promises, had never been touched.

I dont think I’ve seen my sister go so red and splutter before…

With a chuckle, I accepted the challenge. And it was a challenge. Not only was it twice the size I thought it was, the pattern itself is a sewing pattern with the knitted pieces mirroring those flat bits of fabric. But knitted fabric doesn’t behave like woven fabric, and trying to figure out where point Z is and how it’s supposed to match CC with CC whilst matching DD to a completely different piece is just…

Needless to say, never again.

But he has turned out super cute for the hard work, and my BIL left with a big grin and hugging his newest toy, so all in all, a good turn out.

Next time, I hope he asks for a simple knit…

Until next week, stay safe!

Wool Count

Starting total – 843

Wool used – 27 (4 since last post)
Wool bought – 1
Wool given to me – 13
Wool gifted to others –0
Wool handspun – 3 (I got the spinning bug and whipped up two pretty skeins)

Total – 827 (Net difference: -10)

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting No Comments

So last week, I very briefly mentioned that I had spun some dog hair. Allow me to go into a little bit more detail now. So, my work colleague who has now left has the most gorgeous collie, Holly:

And we had previously had a few conversations about my spinning and trying some interesting fibres, like reindeer, and how I wanted to try more types. She commented that her dog Holly had hair with a lot of the qualities I was speaking about – a good long staple, a fine crimp… And so:

This is 13 meters of pure, unblended, collie fur. I was given a ‘small’ quantity and was very pleased with the softness, staple and crimp. It spun beautifully, those due to the softness of it, I had to go quite slow compared to most sheep fleece. So, goal achieved, what do I do with it?

Knit a teeny tiny Holly of course! I very loosely followed the free pattern Small Sausage Dog by Amanda Berry – it was the smallest I could find and given I only had 13 meters…well, a bit of tweaking and voila, a collie! The white detailing is some white Jacobs fleece I have spun previously, and the brown eyes is some suffolk-texel fleece that I had dyed with fresh coffee grounds.

I have to say, I am super impressed with how this whole project has come out from start to finish. It’s not often that an experiment done completely on a whim with no planning actually works out!

I’m going to give the wool count here, and then finish off with some sad news, as I feel it’s more respectful that way.

Wool Count

Starting total – 897

Wool used – 21 (5 this week)
Wool bought – 0
Wool given to me – 0
Wool gifted to others – 1
Wool handspun – 7 (3 this week)

Total – 882 (a net total of 2 down)

On a much sadder note, my eldest and very beloved cat Crumble crossed the rainbow bridge yesterday morning. She has always been a fighter and had a habit of defeating the odds. Going from an incredibly awful start, she was deemed too emotionally damaged to be rehomed, and so we took her in as our first and only foster fail. In October she was badly injured after going missing for two weeks, the vets didn’t expect her to survive but she did. And out of sheer stubbornness she got an extra four and a bit months of love and cuddles.

May she enjoy herself across the rainbow bridge, eating all the boiled eggs she wants and continuing to be Queen.

RIP Crumble.

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by RoxyPosted on Posted in Knitting 2 Comments

Which is your favourite? The Scottie or the Westie dog?

I think they themselves quite like the other!

These cuties are knit following the free pattern Tiny Scottie Dog by Sue Stratford. I am on a mission to reduce all my craft stashes in a bid to make room and get more organised. I had a set of 30 bone buttons and recorded they would look rather fetching on little dogs.

So there are 15 Westies and 15 Scottie dogs!

Now what to use up next in the stashes…

I am currently working on Felix’s birthday bags, and a school vest for Inkling. The bags are cute and will definitely make an appearance, the vests…we’ll see how slow a week we have when they’re done!

Wool Count

Starting total – 704

Wool used – 115 (8 this week)
Wool bought – 18
Wool given to me – 301
Wool gifted to others – 7
Wool handspun – 15 (4 have been used! 5 gifted)

Total – 910

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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, 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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