I’ll fetch the suitcase from the van…

Yep, this week’s car is the iconic Reliant Robin, best known as that strange three wheel monstrosity driven in  ‘Only Fools and Horses.

It makes me laugh though that both Felix and Inkling insist that the cars are broken as they don’t have enough wheels! Felix even told me to knit another wheel for it…

On to non knitted car, but still knitting news, I am one wedge away from finishing my other project that I have on the needles – it’s been my out and about and at work project, hence the slow progress…but more will be revealed next week!

As for non knitting news entirely, works been busy, like always, with changes in management which always makes things interesting. Too interesting. But enough about that.

We did DiggerLand in Yorkshire today, which was surprisingly fun, though Inkling wanted to go on everything but was too small for most of it, and Felix was the right size but put off by the sheer size of the machinery.

The digger and it’s construction cousins, are not small.

Alright, time for the wool count!

Wool Count

Starting total – 576

Wool used – 26 (1 this week! And a few so very close to finishing!)
Wool bought – 13
Wool given – 155
Wool gifted – 31

Total – 687

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Its not quite a Jaguar…

Its actually a Bumblebee!

Ok, very loosely based on the classic Transformers cartoon Bumblebee, when he was a Bug, not a fancy sports car, but it’s good enough for the terrors!

Next on the car list is something you’re more likely to find owned by a fast talking salesman in South London…

But more about that next week.

Short post as it’s been all go for the past month really and it’s seriously catching up on me!

No wool count either this week – it hasn’t changed at all, but next week, fingers crossed, it will go down a few!

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I feel safest of all
I can lock all my doors
It’s the only way to live
In cars

Got to love classic 80s synth…and funnily enough, Inkling appears to be a big Gary Numan fan, or maybe it’s just because he sings about cars…

And speaking (or singing) about cars…

Two green cars, as Felix insisted there had to be green ones…

And two orange cars, because it gave me the opportunity to use a partial ball of wool up…

So that’s four cars in a week with me not really devoting all that much knitting time to making them. I’ve been pretty worn out, so my other knit has been getting worked on a lot more as it’s pretty mindless!

Well, that’s all the knitting news, Happy Easter everyone!

Ok, my good conscience demands I come clean about the wool count. One of the guys at Engels works grandmother passed away, so in clearing out the house they came across some wool and passed it to Engel to pass onto me in exchange for my, at some point, knitting up a first gen Pokémon.

No problem!

Yeah…major wool miscount. The small bag of wool I was expecting turned out to be 151, yes, one hundred and fifty one, balls of wool. It turned out that 31 of those balls had mohair in it, so they were quickly rehomed, but that’s still 120 extra…

So. New wool count!

Wool Count

Starting total – 576

Wool used – 25 (1 this week!)
Wool bought – 13
Wool given – 155
Wool gifted – 31

Total – 688

If I see below 600 this year I will be amazed…part of me is upset about the stash increase, but the majority is rolling around in the new wool going ‘pretties!’

Till next week!

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Cars! They’re really neat!

I’ve been watching way too much Storybots (even if you don’t have a little one, I highly recommend it!)

Anyhow, on to the knitting!

Cars! I bet none of you guessed by the title…

Sarcasm aside, these are knit following the pattern ‘Car’ by Sarah Keen from her book ‘100 little knitted projects’. They’re super cute and relatively quick to make, which is good, as Felix has informed me they’re to go in the party bags for Inklings second birthday…

Which is just over a month away, but there’s so much to do, I figured I’d best start early. For those curious, Felix has chosen a ‘transport’ theme for his birthday, decided how his cake should look and which games should be at the party…

I’ve tried explaining that she can get away with doing these things this year, but next year will be a different story as he’ll be calling the shots!

Aside from cars (expect to see a lot, lot more of these) I have a shawlette on the needles, which I’ve ripped out three times and changed the pattern twice…hopefully it’ll be finished one day!

Wool Count

Starting total – 576

Wool used – 24 (1 this week!)
Wool bought – 13
Wool given – 4
Wool gifted – 0

Total – 569

The total is going to go up, a lot, as I’m being gifted someone’s from Engels works recently deceased grandmother’s stash…when I work out how much I’ll add it to the total.

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I’ve been playing Fallout76 lately (I know, I know, it will never compare to the glory of Fallout 3, but it’s been a nice, bumbling play, and with the daily quests it provides a nice goal to complete each night when I don’t have time to push on with serious plot)

Anyhow, for those not in the know, it’s a computer game based in a post apocalyptic future where you have to wander and kill and collect to survive. It’s also filled with silly little things to lighten up a rather dark and unpleasant setting.

One such thing is Mr Fuzzy. A rather creepy looking mascot to a now abandoned and rotting theme park. The little toys (and so many varieties) are everywhere!

And of course, after scrapping so many for material and leather in game, Engel decided he wanted one to keep…

I think it’s creepy.

It’s supposed to be creepy.

Definitely one of the ugliest creepiest things I’ve made. Maybe about equal only to the naked molerat…another Fallout knit…

For those curious, I heavily modified the free pattern Basic Body by Sara Lee and until I did the face, it was actually looking really cute!

No change from last week’s wool count so won’t include it this week.

Till next week!

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We survived!

What did we survive?

Many things.

My dad got married this week, and he lives in Ireland, for a variety of reasons we only found out at fairly short notice (8 weeks) so when it came to working out all the fine details…yeah…

After a lot of debate, we decided to fly. I haven’t flown for 13 years, Engel 10 and both Felix and Inkling have never flown. The thought of having two small children (5 and nearly 2) on a flight petrified me. But we did it. There and back. Though airport security did wake-up Inkling from his nap to search him on the way back. He was not amused. Neither was I as he only had 20 minutes of his usual 1-1.5 hours nap…

We also survived all four of us staying in one hotel room with just two beds for the duration of the trip (three nights, four days). Never again. Never. Same room, fine, but Inkling is really like an octopus when trying to share a bed with him!

We also survived the wedding ceremony, meal and after party with no tears, tantrums, or any issues. A miracle really seeing as we were all tired and cranky!

The trip was actually really fun, and I got to catch up with a lot of family, just when it comes to doing it again, I know what to do different next time.

But what about the knitting? This is a knitting blog after all…

A whiskey bottle cozy (ok, it’s actually a wine bottle cozy but my dad likes his whiskey!) Based on the free pattern Winecozy by Jennifer Carter, and the pawprints are from Pawprint Blankie by Oscarsauce! another free pattern)

And there’s more!

And a pair of bows, one a bowtie, the other a hairbow, to go with Felix and Inklings matching outfits. They were so cute!!!! I’ve knit a bowtie before, and this is the same free pattern: Erika’s Knit Bow by loareknits

All for now, I’m tired and have so many chores to catch up on still!

Wool Count

Starting total – 576

Wool used – 23 (0 this week – I’ve been busy!)
Wool bought – 13
Wool given – 4
Wool gifted – 0

Total – 570

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To be fair, all mens socks feel like that, endless, especially when your knitting the foot, however this pair in particular felt never ending!

That said, at least they were mostly knit on 6.5mm needles! I’d have died if I had to knit them on 3mm… (Pattern is a free Ravelry download Quick Kilt Hose by Jessica Correa)

So, long story short, we picked up some Welly socks for Felix in the Christmas sales, despite being bright pink, both she and Engel love them due to the foldover cuff having kitty ears and cute cat faces…so much so it was insisted that I make Engel his own pair.

Now, after merino-gate (several pairs of merino socks washed on a 60C wash, they came out so small not even a 6 month old Felix could wear them) I had swore never to knit Engel socks again. Or let him wash hand knit socks. However after three months of pestering I broke to make this pair. But I refused to go and but nice new wool, hence the rather crazy blue/yellow/green sock wool used! Also, it’s superwash, so less likely to die in the washing machine. And the pattern is chunky, so a “quick” knit.

Let’s see how long these last, I’ll give it a year and if all’s well, I may just make him another, slightly nicer, pair. We shall wait and see…

Short post this week, have a lot to get in with and a busy week scheduled next week, more revealed next post! And there will be at least two knits to show off then as well!

Have a good weekend all!

Wool Count

Starting total – 576

Wool used – 23 (5 this week! Those socks just ate wool!)
Wool bought – 13
Wool given – 4
Wool gifted – 0

Total – 570 (Hooray!)

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So, after knitting the Cthulhu mittens for 3D printed Nerf parts, I was inspired to knit myself a “sensible” hat!

Its sensible in that this is possibly the only hat I have made for me without cat ears…and with it being fair isle, it’s so warm and cosy! A must for the recent cold snap we’ve had. The pattern is free and can be found on Ravelry, Lovecraft’s Bane – Cthulhu Hat by Lisa Wilt

Engel decided to share a photo of it with the Nerf 3D printing guy and…

Not one, but two more Cthulhu Hats were requested! One is in the colours of the Cthulhu mittens just made, and the other in khaki green and dark grey for a more muted version.

Want to see them all together?

So much Cthulhu!

On the downside, as I was casting off the rib portion on the final hat, I snapped one of my favourite dpns…such things happen, especially when working on 3mm needles, but I was not impressed!

Ah well, invoking the elder god’s do call for sacrifices to be made…

Wool Count

Starting total – 576

Wool used – 18 (2 this week!)
Wool bought – 13
Wool given – 4
Wool gifted – 0

Total – 575 (Woohoo! Finally getting the stash numbers back down!)

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Thankfully, no, it’s no where near Christmas time. However, having left Christmas knits until December…never fun…

Also, this particular item needs to be done before December!

They are Inklings very own advent calendar! (He was rather jealous christmas just gone that he didn’t have one and Felix did…) Pattern is my go to free pattern for advent calenders – Christmas Stockings by Amanda Berry. So cute, easy and versatile!

Going to have to say though, knitting Christmas things when we were having unseasonably warm weather is just wrong!

In other knitting news, my tribble infestation has resurfaced, and mutated into a rather interesting form…

They’re bath tribbles! (Or scrubbies, or puffs or puffles, no one seems to quite agree on what they’re actually called…)

As you can see, the very large mummy tribble has given birth to eleven sturdy baby tribbles, and a little runt…Felix has claimed the runt for her toy kitchen and Engel has claimed the mummy as it’s so big he can actually scrub his own back…

I’ve based these on the free pattern Tribble by Abigail – 1870pearl, but worked in stockinette and using ruffle wool.

Been a busy week at work and today was at Foamfest, Britain’s first Nerf convention – it was good, lots of ideas of what can be done to the Nerf blasters to make them more awesome, be it internal modifications or paint jobs!

That’s all for now, have a good weekend everyone!

Wool Count

Starting total – 576

Wool used – 16 (1 this week!)
Wool bought – 13
Wool given – 4
Wool gifted – 0

Total – 577 (Just one more ball to go before I break even!)

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Roar!

Last of the washcloths (for now) and Felix chose a dragon for hers! It’s based on the free pattern Dragon by Louise Sarrazin.

There’s actually a bit of a back log of knits to show at the moment, but I’m going to space them out as I know there will be weeks soon when I’m working on bigger projects and will have nothing to show you all!

That said, I’ll share this one with you:

Yep. It’s a photo of a triceratops wearing a nose warmer. The reason behind the nose warmer? It’s a long story involving my mum having a bit of an ongoing saga with her electric company, and she was lamenting that the only part of her that she can’t stand being cold was her nose…

And yes, nose warmers are a thing. Here’s the free pattern I used: Nose Warmer by Kristi Kittelson – though I used glittery wool because, well, because my mum likes a bit of sparkle in her life!

Wool Count

Starting total – 576

Wool used – 15 (4 this week!)
Wool bought – 13
Wool given – 4
Wool gifted – 0

Total – 578 (Only up 2 balls of wool…)

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