The Hamsters of Harmony Street -- A Winter Adventure

Another short story, illustrated and inspired by my knitted toys!

Winston, Veronica, and Molly decided to celebrate the lovely sunny day by getting dressed up in their snow suits so they could go outside to play in the snow. Mother Hamster told them to keep their hoods over their heads and to keep their mittens and boots done up so they would stay warm and dry while they played.

The hamster trio climbed a snow bank and tried to decide what to do now that they were outside in the snow.Winston wanted to build a snow fort, Veronica wanted to make snow angels, and Molly thought that a walk would suit her just fine. With the plans in place, the hamsters set about the task of making large snow balls to put together for a fort.

They discovered the snow was too dry and far to difficult to roll into the necessary size for a fort, so that plan was abandoned in favour of making snow angels. Veronica made the first angel while the others offered directions in how to make it just the right shape. After each of the hamsters had a try at the snow angel making, they climbed off the snow bank to start their walk around the property.


                                     

They discovered a perfect place to sled not too far away, so they changed plans to take advantage of some sledding fun! It was hard to climb all the way to the top of the hill, and once they got there, they took a few minutes to enjoy the view and to catch their breath! Then, onto the sled and down the hill they went, taking turns of course.

Molly reminded Winston and Veronica that she really hoped they would still be able to go for a walk around the human house so, the hamsters stopped sledding and walked down the sidewalk for a bit. Winston found some interesting tracks in the snow and called the girls over to examine them with him. They decided the tracks looked like a cat had been there, so they knew they had to be on guard in case it came back.

A little further up the sidewalk, they found some other tracks. These were from a different animal, and there were many of these, going in both directions. They decided these tracks must be from a rabbit, no worries there about being chased.

All of the little hamsters were getting tired and a little cold by now, so they went back inside the house. It was nice to get inside again after all that fresh air! As they came up the stairs, Maggie the cat was there to welcome them back and check that all was well with her little house friends. Winston asked her to bend over so he could tell her about the tracks they saw outside. Maggie was glad he shared that information about another cat close to the house and she promised she would be on the lookout for the unknown cat visitor.

The snow suits were taken off and left in the sun to dry. The hamsters enjoyed a taste of cookie. Daphne, another cat friend in the house, wanted to join the cookie party! The hamsters did not mind sharing with her. Then everyone, hamsters and cats, laid down for a well deserved afternoon nap!

The making of the hamsters
I did not set out to make the even smaller hamsters, but I made a mistake while making a set of heads for the  hamsters I am making. For some reason, I forget to do one of the increase rows. These heads were way too small to use for the intended hamsters, so I set them aside, planning on using them for a smaller version. There is no pattern for these as such. The heads were a mistake from the altered Alan Dart hamster pattern, so it is a modification of a modification of the Hippie Hamster pattern. The ears are totally my own doing and are crochet. Basically, they are a magic loop of 6 stitches which is not pulled or joined into a circle but left as a semi-circle.  The bodies are a modified version of another pattern for a mouse and they would be just as cute if you actually made the mouse to start with rather than make them into hamsters, but, well, I already had hamster heads so ... This is the pattern for the mouse and it is free so that is a bonus! Mouse pattern is here! And other wonderful patterns for toys as well, I modified the pattern a little by making it a few stitches wider and also did extra rows of st st. The tails are my own -- just a twisted cord that is sewn on. The clothing, snow suits for this adventure, just came out of my head as I was knitting them. They are getting a little more fitted! The small hamster just has bobbles for arms and legs, so the clothing has its own arms and legs attached to it. It would make it very easy for a little one to dress and undress this way. I think I will make some other outfits and adventures for this little trio in the next few months. No hurry though, as I am now onto making 2 KAL's in a few groups in Ravelry, and I have some other projects to finish for the wedding.

I hope you enjoyed my little tale of the hamsters! Just something a little different for you!

The Hamster Party

Something a little different for this blog .... a mini story!

Martha and Max were getting weary of the long winter, being cooped up inside. As they spent yet another day looking outside at the snow, they decided it was time to spice things up a bit. Martha called her friend Athena to invite her and her husband Apollo to an impromptu dinner party that night. Athena's cousin Cassie and her husband, Cooper, were visiting from Paris so Martha was thrilled to invite them as well .... the more the merrier!

Martha and Max

Athena and Apollo

Cassie and Cooper

Martha wanted to make it a very lively gathering, and she knew her sister, Margie spoke French so she would be able to talk with Cassie and Cooper as well, so she picked up the phone to extend the invitation to her and her husband George.

Margie and George

Hamsters are very small animals, so Martha knew many more friends could be entertained comfortably, and they had plentiful supplies stored, more than enough for a gala celebration. Michelle and Morris would be happy to come, as would Barb and Dennis.

Martha was smiling from ear to ear at the thought of having her friends over for the evening!

Michelle and Morris

Barb and Dennis

At last it was time for the party, and all the guests arrived in their evening attire!

Martha ushered everyone into the living room for a group photo before the sun went down. 

The men gathered together to discuss the exercise wheel and how to improve it, while the ladies found it more interesting to discuss the bits of world news they were able to pick up from reading pieces of newspaper that lined their nesting area. 

After a wonderful meal of dried corn, fresh carrot slices and crackers, the men decided to entertain the ladies with a lively rendition of "At the Hop". The ladies were very appreciative of the song!

And that is the short story of Martha and Max and the Hamster Party!

The hamsters were all made based on the Alan Dart Hippie Hamster pattern, however I modified the pattern to make it smaller, and I incorporated other changes, such as making the feet using an I-cord, and using crochet for the ears and some of the clothing. All of the clothing is my own design. I am quite pleased with the tiny suits on the men and the fancy dresses on the ladies! 

Mouse Power!

Now that I have a good handle on the crochet bunnies, I switched to mice. A dozen little mice are now ready to go, all dressed up for the wedding! This is the same pattern as the other little mice I made, which is actually called Christmas Mice by Celia Webb.The Mouse pattern on Ravelry I am having a most enjoyable time designing their clothing!

Bride and Groom and 6 Wedding Guests

Bride and Groom with the Attendants

The groom appears to be enjoying the sun in these pictures! :D

Individual Mice Couples

And of course, the bride and groom! 

Penguins perhaps

Another possibility to be considered for the wedding favours ...... PENGUINS!

I started with a crochet amigurumi pattern for a penguin, which turned out very cute, but also very large. This is a Lion Brand free pattern.  Penguin pattern here I did not make the hat and scarf but may go back and do so at a later date. Back to the pattern searching for me ....

I found a pattern for tiny knit penguins that looked like a good possibility. Except, they really were very small - about the size of an adult finger.  Small very cute knit penguin pattern

The first penguin is in the back but you can barely see him even though he is huge compared to the others! :D

Second Couple I made

First Couple I made

A double wedding I guess! :D

Using this pattern as a base, I cast on 20 stitches and followed the colour sequence given in the pattern to knit a rectangle. ( They actual pattern had no shaping at all but I increased 2 stitches at the side for the body so it is a little chubbier than the pattern gives. The rectangle is sewn together and gathered at the top to make the head and body, and a gathering thread is used to define the neck. Then the back and wings are made by knitting another rectangle. I altered the given pattern once again by decreasing the last few rows that would attach to the back of the neck so I did not have to gather it when sewing it on. I crocheted the eyes, beak, and feet. To make them a bride and groom, the lady got a bouquet to carry and a tulle veil, and the man got a bow tie, boutonniere and top hat. It is hard to dress a penguin, I discovered, so they did not get any clothes!

The weather here continues to be definitely wintery so making penguins was not at all out of line. The wedding is in Sept though so perhaps the penguins would not appreciate the warmth of that season! :D

My goal for the Ravellinic Games is to make 1 of the little creations every day of the Olympics. I am on track so far, but it is only the second day of the Olympics! :D

The Bunny Wedding

 This is a Lion Brand free pattern for a cake topper, really, that I adapted to make a wedding party of bunnies! The bride and groom are made exactly from the pattern, but the yarn was perhaps a lighter weight than the others so they are a little smaller than the attendants and wedding guests.  Now that I have a good feel for the pattern, I will make another bride and groom and also some additional wedding guests in more colours.

I need to give credit (or blame!) for the bunny overload to my son and future daughter in law! I am having such fun making these little guys and gals! 

I think I may also make a wedding party of penguins, and mice. Time will tell!

Other things I have been busy making include my matching cowl, beret and fingerless mitts, and a large polar bear complete with snow suit. And another cake topper designed by Alan Dart that might merit its own post ...

Cowls are really just a scarf without the annoying bulk

I made several cowls as gifts for Christmas this year. Some were from TinCan Knits, the False Creek pattern. The original design called for a 3 button closure, which made it quite versatile in how it could be worn. I also made some as a joined cowl, for those who don't want to fuss with buttons. These were all done in acrylic of various shades, in a bulky yarn weight. (I wish I had taken pictures of them). I made some other cowls in Paton's Classic wool, which will undoubtedly be very warm and toasty to wear! One of these is out of a knitting magazine I bought in the fall. It is from Knit Simple, and is called Merry Mesh. Originally a long scarf but I modified it to be a button-up cowl as I liked that idea so much!

I just completed another of the wool cowls, using a pattern I found on one of the blogs I follow. It is a hand cabled cowl, and it closes with 1 button. This one I did take pictures of! It will be so versatile to wear! I love how the hand cable turned out. I may play around with another like this to keep the cable front and centre.Perhaps fewer stitches on one side of the cable ..... we shall see. Directions for making this are found  here  directions for the collar on Chris Knits in Niagara's blog.

So, now that I have made mittens and cowls, I suppose I will soon turn to hats! LOL No, actually, I am finishing off a stuffed toy for a KAL, then I am making a sweater for myself with the yarn I bought at Romni Wools in December. I can hardly wait to work with those yarns as they are sooooo soft and luxurious!

2014 Begins!

Happy New Year to all! It was a bit of an unusual holiday season for my family, but, that is most likely normal for us given the last few years history. I was busy creating some last minute gifts that caught my eye and interest .... cowls, and mittens, and some other small toys. I did not think to take pictures of them in my haste to gift them, but I was very happy with the results and will most likely make more of these.

The mittens, however, I did continue to make. My ddil expressed a very strong wish for some shark mittens that she saw on Pinterest. I ho-ed and hummed about the pattern as it was done in tunisian crochet. I am certain I could master this craft as well, but then I would just end up investing in more tools (the hooks for this) so I put making them off for a few months. As Christmas drew near, I became determined to convert the pattern into one I could knit, as I read others who had done so on Ravelry. And so my adventure began. I do wish I had taken a picture of the adult sized shark mittens. They were well worth the effort! I found I had yarn left over, and so I set about down sizing the size to make some for children. And these I do have pictures of! I did not make note of the size of needle or number of stitches, since I was more or less just working on instinct. I did however make them flat, leave about 6 - 8 stitches on a holder for the thumb which was worked after the body of the mitten. It was not all that difficult to figure out how to reproduce them.

While looking for plain mitten patterns to guide me on my quest, I saw some very sweet kitten mittens. These stayed in my mind so once I was content with making 3 pair of shark mittens, I set out to see what the kitten mittens would be like. Again,  I just used the picture of the finished mittens for inspiration and did not actually follow the pattern at all (even though it was a free pattern). So 3 pair of kitten mittens then appeared. Again, I knit these flat and then seamed them at the end, except for the baby mittens which I knit in the round as there was no thumb to deal with. The thumb on the larger mittens is supposed to be the cats tail .....  I think I was inspired to make mittens as it has been so cold the last few months here!

Some of the last minute toys I made were some kittens with pink dresses and a bow by their ear (you know the ones I mean!) I then dove into making some mittens, but with peach instead of pink. I am quite happy with these as well.

My mitten making is on the back burner again and I felt obligated to make some little mice as I had previously purchased a set of patterns called Christmas Mice. Of course it was a little late to make them for Christmas, so I made 2 dressed in street clothes rather than Christmas wear! They are very sweet.

Now, onto a mystery KAL that I joined, and then to cast on a sweater for myself using some of the wonderful yarn I got at Romni Wools late last year!

Happy New Year to all! May this year bring you endless joy, smiles, love and contentment.