Tag: free pattern

So, in exchange for a box of Krispy Kreme donuts, I agreed to make a number of items for Fathers Day Market at the school my little terrors go to. Problem was, I really, really struggled to come up with small, fairly easy and quick things that I could make that would fall into the generic category of ‘Fathers day gifts’.

Google was really unhelpful, unless I wanted to make 100 hats, slippers or socks, or even worse, knitted ties!

So I made up my own pattern that appealed to the father in this household at least, and that was…

A beer mat! Or coaster, or bookmark or whatever you want it to be, but something quick, easy and actually useful – all with being nice and generic!

The pattern is up on the blog, and can be found here for those wanting to also make some quick and easy last minute gifts for beer lovers with just a few scraps of yarn.

In non knitting news, its been a somewhat dull and wet week this week, which is irritating as my grass is knee high and desperately neds cut and I have fences that really need painting! At least the covid restrictions have lifted to the point that I was finally able to have Felix’s best friend round for a playdate yesterday – the sweet sounds of shrieking, laughter, banging and giggles was surprisingly welcome after so long!

Thats all for now, have another play date arranged for today and I best not run late for it!

Happy knitting and stay safe!

Wool Count

Starting total – 897

Wool used – 80 (6 this week)
Wool bought – 3
Wool given to me – 21
Wool gifted to others – 1
Wool handspun – 8

Total – 849

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Hee hee…I do love a good pun…seriously though, I finished my mystery creation!

*Drum roll*

An octopus hat!

Much like the story behind the aviator hat, Rabbie saw a crocheted octopus hat, and demanded suggested that I should make her one…that was back in March and put on the back burner until now as I couldn’t find anything pattern wise that was remotely doable.

With her birthday coming up, I resolved to just wing a pattern instead. I have to admit, I’m fairly pleased with it! Especially the tentacles!

So cute!

After much debate, I have posted the pattern up as a free pattern! You can find it in the free pattern section, or just click here. Not sure if many people would want to wear an octopus on their head mind you, Rabbie is certainly a one of a kind individual…

Speaking of Rabbie, I’ve just come back from visiting her in Scotland for a birthday bonanza! (More about that on her blog.) In short though, BBQ at other sister’s, murder mystery with this sister, a rather soggy doggy fun day, birthday cake bonanza, Walking With Dinosaurs arena show (so awesome), Kelpies, soft play, trampoline park, back home. That was crammed in between driving up Friday and driving back down Tuesday. No wonder I’m tired!

Oh, another cheer for the Hot Flash Dash on Ravelry:

Knit! Knit! Knit!
The dash will end in a bit!
Purl! Purl! Purl!
You’ve all done really well!

Wool count:

Starting total – 622

Wool used – 57 (1 since last post)
Wool bought – 8
Wool given – 6 (1 as a birthday present!)
Wool gifted – 0

Total – 579 (No change in net total)

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I’ll start with a recap: my mum works with autistic children and she finds having physical props helps with learning and development.

I’ve made The Hungry Caterpillar, The Stubborn Goat, Elmer and friends and now…

Flopsy’s bunnies!

The bunny pattern is based on the free pattern Square bunny by Annette of Lebenslustiger.com – with paws and little kerchiefs. (I’ve made these before, here and here, as always, a brilliant, quick pattern!)

The story these guys are from is ‘The tale of Flopsys bunnies‘ by Beatrix Potter. It’s a cute story, though be warned, lettuce is soporific!

I need to make a lettuce.

After searching online, I couldn’t find a lettuce pattern. Nothing. So I did the next best thing – I made up my own pattern!

If anyone else is ever possessed with the burning desire to also knit a lettuce, the pattern is available for free on my ‘Free Patterns‘ page, or you can just click this link here

Flopsy’s bunnies certainly seem to enjoy eating it!

Hmm…I think thats everything I need to make to tell “The Tale of Flopsy’s Bunnies” , unless, you know, the kids might want to put the bunnies into a sack like Mr McGregor did.

I’m just going to dig out some brown wool and my knitting needles…

As an aside: I made an extra two bunnies as my little ones both fell in love with them. Felix kept ‘relocating’ the finished bunnies to ‘bunny town’ which appears to have mystical magical properties that allows it to change size and location every time you look away…and Inkling is just crazy about bunnies. He squeals when he sees them…

These are the extra bunnies, you may have noticed that they all have scarves of different colours – this is so that each one can have its own little personality, and in the case of the extra two, can be clearly identified as ‘the one that can be chewed on, and the one to keep away from Inkling’…

I think that’s all for this week – and to be honest, that was quite a lot! Bunnies, bunnies and more bunnies, a new free knitting pattern and even a heads up on my current knitting project! What else could too that?

The wool count because…drum roll…I finally have less than 600 balls of wool!

And here’s the count to prove it!

Wool count:

Starting total – 622

Wool used – 31 (5 this week!)
Wool bought – 4
Wool given – 5
Wool gifted – 0

Total – 597

I am so ridiculously pleased with myself right now!!!!

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Just back from a week long family holiday in Wales, there were steam engines, beaches, swimming, fishing, arts and crafts, shows, feeding (and attempted catching) of ducks interspersed with eating and sleeping.  However a distinct lack of cats…

I could do with a holiday from my holiday!

But between all that, snatched in quiet moments, I managed to not just complete a project, but actually design one! So without further ado, my Pusheen the Cat Scarf pattern!

You can find the pattern in the free patterns section or click on the link above.

The reason behind this one is that my neice adores Pusheen and I wanted to make a little something for her Christmas. Also scarves are always a good choice in Scotland! Next up: A gyrados scarf for my nephew!

Busy busy!

Starting total – 650

Wool used – 115 (6 since last post!)
Wool bought – 37 (4 since last post – Felix wanted me to get a souvenir from Wales!)
Wool given – 131
Wool gifted – 59

Total – 644

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It’s the end of an era! Ok, not quite, but I have been working on the Hungry Caterpillar project since the end of June, that’s two and a half months!

For someone used to not really spending more than a week on something, that’s a very, very long time.

But without further ado:

That there, is all three sets laid out. Even I have to admit it’s pretty impressive when you see it like that. You will also notice that there are cocoons in that photo!

Like the salami, I couldn’t find a pattern in my books or online, so I made one. You can find it in the free patterns page or just click here!

And now onto something completely different.

But what? Nothing to do with the metamorphosis of a caterpillar, or any form of food item that’s for sure.

Hmm…

Cute Halloween knit, Christmas presents, a little something for me, or a little something for Felix or Inkling…?

Wool count:

Starting total – 650

Wool used – 98 (9 since last post!)
Wool bought – 33
Wool given – 131
Wool gifted – 59

Total – 657

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Apologies for the lack of updates lately, I’ve had family visiting, holiday in the Lakes (I highly recommend the ‘Wheres Peter Rabbit?’ show – the puppets are beautiful!) then more family visiting!

But, I have finally finished the next part of the Hungry Caterpillar sets! The salami!

In order to get a salami I liked, I created my own pattern, which is available here for free!

This one took a few trial and errors – colour mostly, then how I wanted to do the ‘slice’ but I got there in the end. Enjoy!

Short post today as I have a lot to do!

Wool count:

Starting total – 650

Wool used – 67 (0 since last post)
Wool bought – 33
Wool given – 49
Wool gifted – 59

Total – 606

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Something that appeared shortly after Felix was born was a very old cat hand puppet. Turns out, this puppet was given to Engel when he himself was tiny. There was three apparently, two natural coloured and a green one, but as far as anyone can determine, there’s now just the one left.

As such, I was asked to create a few more, ones that could be taken out without fear of losing the last, original puppet. After some discussion, it was decided it didn’t have to be the exact same pattern, just close to it.

Couldn’t find anything so I dug out my notepad and set to work recreating the cat hand puppet. But since I hate sewing, it was going to be knit in the round. And have the ears incorporated into the actual head. and the tail would be made from picked up stitches to cut down even more on sewing.

Took three versions, but I give you: Cat hand puppets!

The original is on the right, mine is on the left.

And a better photo of my version, which you can get as a free pattern!

I’m looking forward to seeing more cat hand puppets out there!

Interestingly, the original appears to be knit on 3.25mm needles and with three strands of embroidery cotton. Front, back and each ear (fronts and backs) are all knit separately and sewn together, with a little looped tail. It really would have been a labour of love to make. Mine is a chunkier (4mm) and simpler version, so that many can be made to replace the inevitably lost ones.

I actually really enjoyed getting to have a good look at someone elses old, old project, and recreating the pattern – if even only very loosely in this case. In future, I’d like to do it again, but produce a true recreation. We’ll have to see if time will allow and if inspiration strikes though!

Till next week, enjoy the cuteness for now!

Starting total – 650

Wool used – 39 (3 this week!)
Wool bought – 0
Wool given – 49
Wool gifted – 16

Total – 644

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Hi all,

I’m offering a free pattern as an apology for a lack of update last week – not that much happened (well, above the normal level of madness!) But just failed to actually post anything.

I do however have a few offerings this week to make up for it!

First of all, the pattern for the fox bag holder / purse I posted last time is now available in the ‘free pattern’s section – or you can skip straight to it here.

Yeah! Been a while since I published a pattern!

What else?

This!

It’s a shawl based on the pattern ‘Peruvian Cat Lace Scarf’ by Donna Druchunas from the book ‘Kitty Knits: Projects for cats and their people’ – I love this book, and have made a number of the patterns now.

So, the story behind this one:

Decided to make a shawl rather than a scarf as I felt that the recipient would use it more. (She’s mad about cats, so using this lace pattern for the shawl was ideal)

Managed to make the full sized shawl (3ft from point to top) in five days, having cast on Monday evening and finished it with 15 minutes to spare before setting off for the birthday dinner it was being handed at…

I was also juggling full time work, being a mum, and trying to keep the house tidy enough to live in! But not bad if I say so myself!

Tempted to make one for me (in black) and Felix (my two year old) is demanding one in blue. Or purple. Or blue and purple…

But that’s just one week of knitting, what about the other? Well, I have a toy in progress that’s taking quite a bit of time, but more on that when it’s done, and j finished my fluffy wool projects.

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There’s…43 sets of cat ears and matching tails there. It’s a rather messy photo, but also the best way to show the sheer quantity of them.

Worryingly, I still have a load of fluffy wool – nothing to make a set of ears and tail with, but at least it’s manageable! In time, I’ll turn the rest into fluffy mice or fish as cat toys, but right now? I’m satisfied with the dent I’ve put in my wool stash.

I just need to work out what to do with 43 sets of cat ears and tails. Should probably attend a craft fair, or maybe a mandatory wearing of cat ears birthday party for Felix in September…

Any suggestions?

Starting total – 697 balls

Wool used – 73 (5 since last post)
Wool bought – 9
Wool given – 4

Total – 637

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Anyone remember this? Was my header for the very first incarnation of the foxymitts website, when it was on blogspot nearly nine years ago!

Was beginning the painfully slow process of updating my Ravelry account, and procrastinated by browsing through the old project photos and found this one. Realised I’d never posted the pattern online before either!

So thats been rectified – you can find it in the free patterns section!

Onto other news, how did I use so much wool last week? By knitting these:

Pom Pom cuddle blanket

Its a Free Ravelry Download by Lindsay Oliver. Its super sweet and super quick! Which is good, as I made two. Then two half versions (so triangles) as impromptu gifts. Well received ones mind!

Just a short post today, Felix is trying to shove an Octonaut into my ear as I type!

Oh, wool count, 737 is now 734!

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Tunip!

Or perhaps, my life has been taken over by the Octonauts?

As you may have guessed from that line alone, Felix has taken to watching (and demanding) the Octonauts whenever we put on the TV for her – though she does this by pointing and declaring ‘Oct-Octs!’ Though she did manage ‘Octagon!’ the other day…

Anyhow! I digress. Watching her play with her little plastic Octonaut toys (blame Engel, he’s obsessed as she is) and I realized that she needed a cuddly version of them. Some pattern hunting later and I turned up no knitting patterns, so I made my own!

Well, started with Tunip, may make more if this proves popular with her. Either the rest of the Vegimals or the Octonaut crew…

Go ahead and have a look, make some yourselves and put them on Ravelry and let me watch the vegimal army grow!

I think I may need some sleep now…

Lastly, apologies for the camera phone photo, I still haven’t found that camera yet. Sigh.

Oh, and wool update! Since Feb 28 I have used 5 balls of wool. I also found 10 hiding away. So grand total is…752!

I feel cheated – all that hard knitting and its gone up by five!

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