What is a mobius? This is not really one!

At the Mary Maxim tent sale, a lovely skein of yarn caught my eye. It was the only one in this colour, and it really appealed to me. I do not normally work with fine yarns, or fancy yarns, or mohair! And this one was all of the above.  I bought it anyway. It is called Mohair Glitter, by Mary Maxim, and the colour is seapray. It was 100 g, and 550 m. It is 59 % acrylic, 17 % wool, 15 % mohair, and 9 % metallic. Hand wash in cool and lay flat to dry. Above the bin full of yarn, there were some patterns written just for this yarn, and so I also picked up one of those. It was called Knit Mobius pamphlet 99392N, and it required only 1 skein so I thought it would be perfect!

I started to work on it about a month ago while Vince was in the hospital. That was perhaps a mistake as I just plunged into working on it while I was sitting and waiting or visiting and I did not check the gauge right away. It was a nightmare to tear out, as I discovered when I made a small mistake and went to correct it. I was either committed to finish it or cut the yarn where I was and throw the part I had finished away.I also found the directions for the real mobius to be very confusing and did not have the internet available to look up some kind of tutorial, so I opted for the single row on the circular needle method. I kept at it for a few weeks, and when it was about half done I had to take a break from it as I did not enjoy working with the yarn and the rows were sooooo long. I knew the mobius was longer than it was supposed to be when it was about half finished, but hoped for the best.

It is finished now, and I was right. It is, in truth, about twice as long as it is supposed to be in the pattern. Yet I used the size of needle they called for, and the pattern looks just as it should in the finished picture and pictures of others who have also made it. I am not sure where exactly it went wrong. I considered keeping it to use as a scarf. I have so many scarves already that I really don't need one. I wanted it to be like a shawl. But it is too narrow for a shawl, since I realized I had to stop working the pattern well before the stated 10 inches. The yarn was getting dangerously close to the end. As it turned out, I have just a tiny ball of leftover yarn now so it was good that I stopped without trying to squeeze another pattern set out of it.

Front view 1, with the mobius twist.

Alternate front, or the back, overlapped and sewn together. It was so long I had to do something to control it.

Back view with the mobius fold over on the back.

I digress ..... I played around with different ways of shaping it to be something useful for a few hours after supper. I used some scrap yarn of a different colour to sew it in some new configurations. I came up with a kind of a mobius, I guess. The back is longer than it should be in the original, and it has the same shape as the front, which will make it warm to wear. I am not sure if I am really happy with it, but I am not unhappy with it either. I think it will prove to be useful in the winter when there is a chill in the air. I hope I will find it useful. It has more value in the time invested in making it than the cost of the yarn itself as it was half price at the sale. I think I will try a real shawl next time. I am not sure why  I have the urge to make shawls, but I do! I have my eye on a few nice ones ....

An extra picture ... Audrey made one of the poncho's with the Bernat Softee Chunky as well, and this is the result! She likes darker colours and I like almost every colour, and I do like this shade and so ..... we switched ponchos!  She did a GREAT job as she has just gotten back to knitting! Thank you Audrey! I will wear it with pride!

Desmond Dinosaur Drops from the needles!

Welcome Desmond to the stuffed toy collection!

He is made using the same body, head and legs as the giraffe. (Except I did not put as much of the contrast colour on the feet). Instead of a mane, Desmond got spikes along his back, and his tail is a very large knitted triangular invention. His underbelly needed a splash of colour so he got an orange patch. I am not sure of the main colour as it was some yarn that I had in my box and it did not have a label, but the contrast is Carrot and it is a Bernat SuperValue. I used a smaller size needle (4.5 mm) to  make him, as the yarn was not as thick so the resulting toy is a little smaller as well. Overall pleased with him! He is wide awake and ready for play. (I think it is the sleepy eyes that make the giraffe so cute.)

More Cats to add to the toy collection!

Yet another monthly challenge in another group. I find so many interesting patterns this way! We had a choice of a knitted cat or a crocheted dog for September in this one. I intend to make the dog as well but have to enlarge the written pattern so I can read it. Group info is here Amigurumi Addicts Group

I have 2 cats done, complete with little clothes. They are a little large to call amigurumi, I think, but perhaps there is no real size requirement for them. They are surprisingly light, because the pattern is such that it is almost a flat toy. This would be a great pocket doll to carry around for those reasons. In any case, I present to you Kate and Karl Kat as they inspect a tent for a future camping trip!

Kate is wearing a pink and rose dress with a touch of lace near the waistline, while Karl is sporting a raglan sleeve sweater and tweedy green pants with red waistband and cuff detail.

They have cute little tails! Karl is a little larger as he was created with a heavier weight of yarn, while Kate was created with baby sport yarn.

Some other people have used button eyes, which may be fine for these as they do not seem to be for young children, due to the removable clothing. 

This is grisig the cat, by Julia Weiss posted in Revelry. Here is Grisig


This is the link to see the other gnomes that have been finished, if you have been following Gharry in his travels. Travelling Gnome group

Gharry the Travelling Gnome

One of the groups I have joined in Ravelry has a fun project each month. This month everyone is making a gnome, and then taking pictures of him or her in different places. And so, I introduce you to Gharry, my gnome. There are a surprising number of free gnome patterns available, and I started with one, but as I worked on the hat I found I did not really like the pattern, so I just created as I crocheted. Just a fun little project. I may set him free to continue his travels in a few weeks so he will really be a traveling Gnome..... If you see him, please welcome him into your home for a while!

Gharry did not believe I still have strawberries growing. He really liked the smell of the verbena he was sitting in. 

Enjoying the sun in the garden. 

Daphne and Gharry share a laugh 

A walk among the flowers 

Tree climbing proved to be good exercise and provided a great view 

He helped harvest the daily tomato crop, still a few left to ripen.

Gharry went to dialysis one night to keep Vince 

 company. 

The dialysis machines are state of the art. 

Ah, what a sweet Giraffe!

The last week I have taken advantage of the abundance of sit and wait time to create another Christmas gift. This one is called Not so Itty Bitty Giraffe. I bought an online course and pattern for this from Craftsy. I thought, since I enjoy making toys so much, I would benefit from listening and watching an expert. I did learn a few new techniques, so it was worth the cost of the course (which I bought during one of the 50 % off specials, and that made it even more attractive!) This is a BIG toy, compared to the others that I have made. All of my cats are very suspicious of it, and they will just sneak up to it and give it a sniff before backing away. Perhaps cats don't like giraffes? :D

I used Bernat SuperSaver yarn, in cameo for the main colour and grape for the contrast. Not real giraffe colours, of course, but the world would be a very dull place without splashes of unexpected colour. I may make another in rust with dark brown contrast, and open eyes. For this one, I did as the pattern and video explained. For most things I will follow the pattern for the initial project and then go my own way on further creations. This pattern is also seamless, which was great. The entire project was worked on double pointed needles or circular needles. The smaller things, like the tail and horns were a bit tricky on the double pointed needles, but as they were so short, it went quickly.

This is before the face and spots were added. You can see how BIG this one is!

And this is the finished giraffe. All that work tired her right out! 

I thought I would be a rebel and make open eyes, but once I did the trial eyes as instructed, I could not take them off as she was so cute. And so, she is a sleepy giraffe!

I had fun with this project. I used my own pompom maker invention for the needed pompoms. This is really just the straight part of a wire coat hanger, cut off and folded over into a U shape. I needed 1 inch pompoms, so I kept the arms of the U about that distance apart, and held them that way with an elastic on one end. Then I wound they yarn around about 30 times, tied the middle securely (I found a great way to do this on the video that I did not think of), slid it off of the wire and cut the loops. Viola! A pompom with no fiddling with cardboard (which I find often buckles or is hard to slide the yarn off of still in the needed position to do the securing into a pompom).

Da Zebra

When I set out on my monkey business, I found myself with patterns for a zebra, lion, giraffe and puppy as well. Now, of course that meant I would be motivated to create these little guys as well.

My first obstacle was finding eyelash yarn. I know they make this, but after scouring 3 yarn stores I have yet to find any. So, as a problem solver, I decided that any fluffy yarn would do and so purchased a skein of black boucle for the mane and tail of the zebra and some beige tone something for the lion and giraffe. The lion and giraffe are still in the project list so I am not sure what it is exactly that I bought at the moment! :D

I eagerly set out to follow the pattern for the zebra, only to find myself in yarn knot distress as the body took shape. And that, my friends, was using a variegated yarn instead of the black and white stripes called for in the pattern. I found a small skein of black, white and grey variegated sock yarn in the $1.00 bin as I was looking for the eyelash yarn and ever a resourceful shopper, I thought that might just work instead of doing it in the "real" stripes. I digress, back to the yarn mess .... The pattern called for a small ball of the eyelash (boucle for me) on each end of the row, then some of the black or white (variegated for me), then plain white for the tummy, then once you got to the head, some plain black for the face .... and all of these little balls (8 of them) being worked on fewer than 30 stitches. I was forever untangling yarn and twisting yarns together for the colour changes .... AUGGGGHHH. Husband looked at the mess as I was working it and he could not believe how I kept anything straight in it at all. In addition to that, it was not a straight stocking stitch nor a garter stitch. Sometimes the good side was supposed to be stocking stitch for the tummy but purl side showing for the body, and I was totally confused with which stitch I was supposed to be doing for the different parts ....

Shawl? Mini poncho? Reading cuddler?

I am not sure what to call this one, exactly. My shawl idea did not pan out. I started 3 different patterns and was not happy with how any of them were going, so tore them out to start fresh. Audrey brought some patterns over that she found from her learning to knit period many moons ago, and I found a few things there that tweaked my interest .... and so the new project was born! It is officially called "Pretty in Pink" from a Coats and Clark pattern (a free one if anyone is also interested in this idea) I did not make it in pink so it needs a new name for mine .... I think it is something that would be handy to wear on those days when it is not cold enough to turn the furnace on, but cool enough that you want something on your shoulders (like a shawl). I can envision it being worn while snuggled into a favourite chair to do some reading. I used 3 skeins of Bernat Softee Chunky in Terra Cotta Mist for this. I love the colours in it! I took about 380 yards with a tiny bit left, and I also made it 6 stst longer so the last pattern before the bottom border is longer than the pattern called for. I would make this again, in different colours, I believe. Husband is not sure it looks like something I would wear, and perhaps he is right, as it looks like it would make a great gift for someone who likes to read! But if it does end up in the gift basket, I will definitely be making one for myself as well. It is hard to take a picture of myself modelling the project with the tablet, but nonetheless, here I am!

I found out about a wonderful place to purchase yarn in Listowel and they have a tremendous sale on this week. I wish my schedule would allow for a day trip there so I could stock up (I know, I don't really need to stock up anymore, but the deals are so GREAT!). The flyer of the sale is here .... Alas, I don't think this week is going to make that possible but I will keep it in mind for future reference. Mary Maxim's is also having a tent or inventory sale this week so that one is close enough that I can pop out to that one afternoon to see what their sale is like!