GRRRR Beware of the Lions!

Another test project from Nerdy Knitter Designs. This is Kon, inspired by a cartoon I have no clue about. But, I am totally in like with this little guy. It is a fast project and does not require much in the way of yarn. I should have taken a close up of his mouth as it is so cute. The jaw is a separate piece as is his little tongue hanging out. If you enjoy making toys, this is one to consider! The mane is constructed of triangles, rather than a yarn fringe, which would make it much better for younger children since they are more secure and less prone to being pulled out over time. The tail tuft was secured by individual yarn lengths being knotted rather than as a pom pom, but a small pom pom would work just as easily.

The pride of young lions lurking in the iris, pretending to prowl the depths of the jungle looking for adventures.

Relaxing in the lounge chair after the stress of the photo shoot

The first lion to take shape, introducing Kon!

Intarsia Blanket ... so colourful and toasty warm!

The last month has found me busy creating a very good sized blanket, using intarsia. This is another test knit from the Ravelry group. It is made of 20 squares, half of which are done with a nature themed intarsia design, and the other half are colourful solid colours. It was a lot of work, but well worth it. I really like the finished blanket. It took about 11 skeins of yarn and close to (or over) 100 hours of work to complete.

Each of the squares has its own design chart, so it will also be easy to add the designs to sweaters or other things. I think it would also make a lovely baby blanket is only 9 squares were used. So many ideas have run through my mind while working on it! If only there were more hours in the day for knitting! LOL Or, perhaps if I knit faster it would accomplish the same thing!

Finished blanket on a twin size bed

Some of the squares early in the process of creation

Until next time then. Working on a few small toys for a few weeks now, so will post about them as they get finished.

Everybody Needs a Minion or Two!

Here they are, the first of my Minion army!

I used mainly this pattern http://wolfdreamer-oth.blogspot.ca/2010/07/despicable-minion.html but I also used parts of 3 other patterns that I found. Of course I changed things from one minion to the next, trying to tweak the look and the process. More shall be forthcoming!

Hubby prefers the shorter minions with BIG eyes, and the black mouth rather than the yellow lips. I will continue to tweak!

Unicorn, Blanket and Cowl

Finished the entrelac baby blanket, and I am quite pleased with it. I put an I cord edging along it to control all the colour changes and yarn ends. It will keep some little baby very toasty!

I finished a few test projects as well:

A unicorn in crochet. She has sequins all over but the photos don't really show them sparkling. This is the unicorn as given in the test pattern. After the pictures were taken and I reported the project to the designer, I redid the horn so it is finer and a little pointier. I crocheted a rectangle, and then sewed the long edges together around a piece of plastic straw that I cut to size. I am much happier with my version of the horn.

A cowl for myself. This is not a large one, so would be suitable for cool spring and fall days, as well as under a coat in winter time. It was a nice pattern to work with. I might try to make one a little wider at a later time. It did not need much yarn at all, perhaps half of a skein as it is now.

At present I am working on making a small army of Despicable Minions .... they are so darn cute! They need their own entry I think! :D

I Have Been Going Through an Orange Week

Silly title, but it reflects the little projects I have been working on this week! At the Mary Maxim tent sale in the summer (I can hardly wait for it to come again!), I bought a huge skein of orange Bernat Baby Sport yarn for a ridiculously low price. I just like to have many colours to pick from for my toys, as you know. So, this monster ball has been sitting on the bottom of one of the storage boxes for a while now, just waiting. Along came a tiger that needed a test crochet ...... he is quite a nice size and I will make some buddies for him soon!

Then, a little sleepy fox needed to have her pattern tested. Might try this one with a different eye, more of a semi circle like the other sleeping animals I have made. She is quite small in size.

And then came this Charmander (must check the spelling of that, it is a Pokemon and I was never into those characters). And he also needed orange! Overcast day here so the pictures are not the best of him. And, I believe the flash was turned off ... oh wait, the Playbook does not have a flash. Maybe I need to get my actual camera out for a better picture.

All of these are from the same pattern designer who is working to get her pattern shop up and running. The patterns are very well written and although some of them call for intermediate skills, I find them quite easy to make and follow. I don't really think I would class myself as anything but a beginner crocheter as I stick to pretty basic things. But perhaps I have gained more confidence in following those confusing crochet directions somewhere in the last year! Her patterns are for sale on Ravelry, under the design name Nerdy Knitter. She has started her own test group which I am obviously enjoying being a part of! Thank you Ashley for your great designs!

An Experiment with Entrelac

I have seen a few pictures of finished projects that were created with entrelac, and became intrigued enough with the changes in stitch direction to do a little research into how this is achieved. It did not look nor sound overly complicated, and so I took the plunge. I imagine the normal thing to do would have been to find a simple entrelac pattern and start with that ... but I just made my own pattern up to create (not quite finished yet) a colourful baby blanket, or perhaps a small throw.

I do like the appearance of the right side of the fabric. The little squares are quite three dimensional, and I think this extra puff will make for a thermal effect when it is being used. I have to work on meeting the corners a little more sharply, perhaps, but that will come with more practice. I am not overly awed by the reverse side of this kind of work so far. It is not a neat appearance. I think it will need a lining layer to be made for it. I am considering a flannelette lining as I think it will be warm enough as is.

To make this, I cast on 64 stitches. Each of the squares is 8 stitches long. There are many tutorials that explain how to do entrelac, if you are interested in trying it. I will not attempt to explain it as I am certainly a rookie at this myself. I used 6 mm needles, and Bernat Softee Chunky yarn. Another great use of some of the yarn I got at the Zeller's liquidation sale! The main colour is blue heather, and the other pattern rows alternate with taupe, baby blue and a soft green. I have 3 skeins of the main colour and 1 of each of the contrasting colours. I don't think I will need to use any of the 3rd skein but I imagine that depends on the edging I put on it. I think I will make an attached I cord edge.

Suggestions or comments are most welcome if you are familiar with this style of knitting and can give me some tips. I am eager to learn new knitting techniques!

More pictures once it is finished, washed, and blocked!

Spring Flowers Baby Blanket

I created a new pattern for a baby blanket! I think I am so looking forward to the spring flowers that it inspired me. It is basically a huge granny square built around a square of dbl crochet in the centre.

I started with some rose/white boucle for the centre, which is just rows of double crochet. Boucle is a real pain to corchet with, by the way! But, I like the look of it because it looks just like the petals of hyacinth flowers!

I then changed to yellow because that reminded me of daffodils. 9 rows of dbl crochet shells, then 1 row of boucle. I used only 2 sets fo dbl cr for the shells in the boucle because it is so bulky and so hard to crochet. I switched back to yellow for another 9 rows. Another row of boucle, then 3 rows of yellow. I changed to green for the border "leaves", 1 row of sc, 1 row of dbl cr then a scalloped edging. Finished size is 32 inches square, not blocked. I will wash it and lay it flat to dry, but will not aggressively block it. It could actually be machine washed and laid flat to dry or dried on gentle in the machine as it is all acrylic. Best to have east care things for babies.