Yeah…I’m not 100% sure how it happened, but I ended up trading a pair of these:

For a lot of custom 3D printed Nerf parts. I suspect it’s Engels way to get round the £10 a month budget I set him…

The mittens were handed over today whilst we were meeting people for a small Nerf event, (just a bunch of loons running around a field shooting each other with Nerf blasters that’s also family friendly, so Felix and Inkling could join in) and Engel received a box of parts.

Definitely think Engel got the better end of this deal, but hey, I got to knit awesome mittens again! (These are based on the free pattern Cthulhu Mittens by Lyle Stafford, however, this pattern is for basic mittens, hence mods to make them convertible!)

In other news, we went to Chester zoo to check out the Big Cats Lego exhibit (and of course the animals) and it was awesome!!!!

But subsequently, exhausted!

Till next week!

Wool Count

Starting total – 576

Wool used – 11 (Two this week! Yes!)
Wool bought – 13
Wool given – 4
Wool gifted – 0

Total – 582 (Still up 6 balls of wool…)

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A quick post of a quick project!

It’s a washcloth, made following the free pattern Kitty Prints Dishcloth by Louise Sarrazin. I’m in the process of updating a few of our washcloths that have been worn thin from sheer use!

This one will be for Inkling, who is currently going through a ‘cat, cat, meow’ stage with his babbling, Felix has chosen something more interesting though for hers!

But more on that when I’ve made it. Which is after a much larger project that’s nearly off the needles, but there’s a story to that! Which I’ll tell you about she they’re done.

I do have one story to tell, though it’s more of a confession… You see, last week I mentioned in the wool count that I had to buy a ball of wool for a commission. Which is true. Except…it wasn’t quite the shade I wanted. It looks good, and works, but it wasn’t what I wanted in my head. I checked three shops for this wool with no luck. Then I was in town on Sunday and there it was.

The exact colour I had been looking for.

The exact weight I had been looking for.

And on clearance.

But only sold in packs of 10.

So now my wool count is higher than I had initially started with at the beginning of the year. Oh well!

Oh, and I was given four balls of wool as well for fixing a jumper for someone else.

So yeah, wool count is truly screwed…

Wool Count

Starting total – 576

Wool used – 9
Wool bought – 13 (it was on clearance!)
Wool given – 4
Wool gifted – 0

Total – 584 (I’m actually up 8 balls of wool…)

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I’m not a huge D&D can, much prefer Cthulhu, but in Cthulhu you don’t really get items that boost your stats, just corrode what little sanity the players have remaining…

Anyhow! A friend of mine emailed me a photo of a cat wearing a crocheted Wizards hat with the comment that I should make one. I was tempted, but my kitties have access to lots of props to play with in the course of my various creations.

However, his cute little kitty has none…

The pattern used is just the hat from Little Witch by Jean Greenhowe. The stars were added afterwards using the free pattern Stacking Stars by Frankie Brown. For an extra bit of magic, I used a dark blue wool with a strand of sparkly thread in it…

Witch hat? That sounds more my style mummy!

I hope he likes it! And his kitty!

Wool Count

Starting total – 576

Wool used – 9 (Another one bites the dust!)
Wool bought – 3 (Bought one to use as part of a commission, that’s totally allowed!)
Wool given – 0
Wool gifted – 0

Total – 570

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Rabbie asked me to do a Mary Poppins/Mrs Tiggy-Winkle mash-up and like any crazy knitter up for a challenge…

The main body of the pattern is based on the Alan Dart Mrs Tiggy-Winkle pattern I made last time, with some colour changes, a few tweaks and some extras. Such as…

The hat comes from the pattern Emily by Jean Greenhowe, it’s one of her knitted dolls, but the hat was perfect! And I couldn’t resist putting it on Crumble, she looks so cute in hats! Even if she gives me death glares for it…

Carpet bag! Not an exact replica by any means, but it’s still cute!

Winged the carpet bag, a must for Mary Poppins and probably one of my favourite parts of the whole movie, but I used the free chart from Headband ‘Roses’ by Ann Linderhjelm

And who could forget the umbrella?!

For this one, I used the free pattern Quick Mini Yarn Parasols by Amanda Williams, but added extra stitches and worked it on larger needles.

It was a big project, and took a fair bit of time, but I’m really pleased with it. I hope Rabbie likes it as much as I do!

Especially the hat.

I may have to make one for Crumble…

Wool Count

Starting total – 576

Wool used – 8 (Three more down!)
Wool bought – 2
Wool given – 0
Wool gifted – 0

Total – 570

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In preparation for a trip to Disneyland Paris we’ve been working through classic Disney movies with the little terrors, and Engel, as he hasn’t actually seen most of them, but anyway!

One of the first ones we’ve watched was the classic 1951 Alice in Wonderland and immediately Felix fell in love with the Cheshire cat. Inkling seemed particularly fond of the dodo and the walrus, but to each their own. During the movie, Felix reminded me that I had promised to knit her a new hat this year, and she knew just what she wanted…

Made this based on the free pattern: Matilda’s Eary Hat by Thelma Egberts. And to go with it…

Cheshire cat arm warmers of adorableness!

Made these following the free pattern mini mitts by jessi koontz. Inkling fell in love with them so…

Aviator arm warmers of adorableness!

These are made in the smaller size and with a length of icord to go between them so he doesn’t lose them…

Well, it’s been a busy week with work and family visiting, so I shall leave it at that!

Wool Count

Starting total – 576

Wool used – 5 (Another one bites the dust!)
Wool bought – 2
Wool given – 0
Wool gifted – 0

Total – 573

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After making the last Nerf Dart bag for Engel, Felix demanded her own! And being a sucker for her little puppy eyes…

The Flipfury is Felix’s birthday present and the catalyst that led to the current Nerf craze still sweeping through the house, the Slingfire is mine, I have a thing for big guns blasters!

Not much else to report at the moment, still trying to get in the swing of things at work and home again whilst shaking off one of the many plagues the terrors keep bringing into the house…

I should have called them Bubonic and Typhoid…

Wool Count

Starting total – 576

Wool used – 4 (2 more! Hooray!)
Wool bought – 2
Wool given – 0
Wool gifted – 0

Total – 574

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The title made me giggle…

Anyhow! Let’s start with Biggles. Ages ago, I knit Inkling an Aviator hat, which, from the moment I first put it on him, has been referred to as the Biggles Hat. This hat has been excellent with the cold weather, and it’s super cute.

So, moving on, we have a but of a tradition in my little household where everyone gets a gift on Christmas Eve which is of the warm and wooly variety so that they don’t get eaten by the Yule Cat.

Seriously, it’s a real thing!

(We find it helps ease the super excitement of presents on Christmas Day when the kids are at the point they can’t wait any longer and must open something!)

So, we all got socks and/or jumpers and/or gloves, and I couldn’t leave out Missy, especially as we were all staying at my sister’s! So she got…

Isn’t she adorable in it? More of that on her blog!

And now onto…Mrs Tiggly-Winks! Whom I found tidying up my loganberry in the front garden…

And possibly the only knit that I’m more proud of the back than I am of the front!

Out of all the Alan Dart Beatrix Potter knits that I’ve done so far, she is definitely the most complex! Especially those FIFTY quills individually sewn onto her bonnet, back and bustle!

Now onto the next project – one I definitely need sunglasses for!

Wool Count

Starting total – 576

Wool used – 2 (Hooray!)
Wool bought – 2 (it was necessary for a planned project!)
Wool given – 0
Wool gifted – 0

Total – 576 (no change…)

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Or at least, time to have something suitable made to help with the clean up after said Nerf Battles…

A bag just right for storing all those rogue Nerf darts that I keep finding! In bright orange and dark blue via Engels request (I had started this entirely in bright orange, but it was eye wateringly neon!)

The pattern is very loosely based on the free pattern Pignoli by Berroco Design Team ‘ the pattern calls for knitting a large panel then felting it, seeing as my neon orange was acrylic, I reduced the number of stitches and skipped the felting. I also added a flap and handle to keep the darts secure inside and to make it easy to carry.

I like the rib effect as the more full the bag gets, the more you see the orange!

Felix has already informed me just what colours she wants her Nerf dart bag to be so she has somewhere to store her darts…she’s as bad as her daddy!

Wool Count

Starting total – 576

Wool used – 0 (though I’m close to using up a few balls!)
Wool bought – 0
Wool given – 0
Wool gifted – 0

Total – 576

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May the stars align and great Cthulhu rise! Oh, wait, no, that’s only what I want to happen in game…

Playing Arkham Horror with friends and eating far too much to bring in the new year, but putting up a quick post in a quiet moment as I don’t know when I’ll see the next one!

As mentioned in my last post, I’ve been visiting the family and staying with Rabbie, there’s been dog walks, Nerf Battles, Christmas, Butterfly World, and the drive back and all the cleaning and tidying to do as well! It’s been constant.

Worth it mind! As such, not managed much knitting (I have one finished project which Missy got, but due to an ear infection hasn’t had a chance to wear it)

Oh, wait, I do have one tiny finished knit! This year’s Christmas decoration (I make one every year)

Its a Nerf dart, to commemorate the Nerf craze that has hit our house, and subsequently my family, pretty hard!

That aside, it’s been a very busy year and I have a few resolutions to try and make next year better. The wool count will continue (this week I’ve used two balls but gained four at Christmas) and I’m going to try and slowly declutter the house. I’m also going to try and take a moment every day to think about something positive, and hopefully this will improve my currently rather pessimistic outlook on life!

I’m aiming to be a realist, optimistic is a bit too high an aim, for now.

May you all have a good new year and an excellent start to 2019!

Cheers!

(And now time to start playing ‘Auld Lang Syne!’)

Wool Count

Starting total – 622

Wool used – 89 (2 down!)
Wool bought – 27
Wool given – 16 (4 up!)
Wool gifted – 0

Total – 576 (net gain 2!)

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Ducks?

I went out to the cat mint the other day, in the rain (it’s done nothing but rain for weeks now it feels!) and to my surprise, I found…

Jemima Puddleduck! I brought her in, dried her off, and we got gabbing over some nettle tea and discussed the weather in true British fashion…

(We also spoke fondly of that handsome fellow, dear Mr Todd…)

Joking aside, I’ve picked up in my Beatrix Potter knits again and decided to start with Jemima so I would have the full cast for when Felix and I are acting The Tale of Tom Kitten…this pattern, like the others I’ve made, are the ones created by Alan Dart and after a request the other day by someone trying to find the patterns, it appears that they are completely out of print, you can’t even get them from the Alan Dart website…so if anyone does want them, eBay or Amazon are my only suggestions.

In other news, I’m up North for Christmas and have already had a ball – you can read more on the adventures over at Rabbies/Missy’s blog. (Exact link to be posted when she finishes typing her blog post, we are totally not racing, though I am definitely winning!)

Edit: she finishes her blogpost about today!

I’ll see you after Christmas! Have a good holiday no matter what you celebrate!

Wool Count

Starting total – 622

Wool used – 87 (1 more down! Not going to reach my goal of 100 though, oh well, there’s always next year!)
Wool bought – 27
Wool given – 12
Wool gifted – 0

Total – 574

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