Tag: Mummy can make that!

Several years ago, before Felix, I made myself a crocodile scarf (the pattern was from an old let’s knit magazine) and after wearing it that winter, it got shoved into the box of spare scarves and gloves and forgotten.

One day, looking for anything that Felix might agree to wear that was warm, she spotted the crocodile scarf and has since worn it like a shawl around herself.

It was adorable, and warm, and I never thought more about it.

The other day she got a toy cat that came with a lilac sparkly scarf with fluffy white trim. After one look at it, and a testing cuddle, she demanded the offending purple fluffy thing be removed and replaced with its own crocodile scarf.

I was about to tell her not to be silly when Engel replied ‘of course mummy will make Whiskers (the toy cat) one!’

Out came the pattern and one was made in miniature. And I have to admit, the photo bombed pictures of Felix hugging that cat wearing its scarf and squealing ‘thank you mummy! Love you!’ does make it worthwhile…but they’re for my private collection, so you’ll have to make do with the cat by itself.

He is cute with it on…

Besides this scarf, I made Engel another pair of armwarmers. Same pattern, same wool, same colours. Boring!

Quiet week otherwise. Well, a slow one. Redundancies have been announced at work so I’m playing the waiting game to see if I’ll be staying or going.

I’ve begun to stress knit…wool tension is through the roof though…

Wool Count down:
Starting total – 697 balls
Wool used – 10 (1 this week)

Total – 687


 

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Completely different!

A warm cosy hat for Engel! I used the free pattern ‘Leef’s Ear Flap Hat (3-color)’ by Leef Bloomenstiel, only changes were a knitted merino lining inside the hat for extra warmth and the number of stitches. The pattern says 84, Engel has a huge head. Seriously. He wears an XXL motorcycle helmet and even that’s a little snug. I increased the number of stitches for this hat to 147.

147!

But it fits, and he likes it, and I am reminded once more why I don’t knit him hats. I’ll forget in a few years and offer to make another no doubt…

Onto my other project this week!

Remember how I blogged about my obsession for dice bags? Well, Felix has clocked on that when we’re playing our RPGs that everyone (near enough) in the group has a knitted dice bag. So, she demanded her own dice bag and dice. And it had to be a full complement of dice, not just the D6’s!

Here’s the dice bag – her pick of pattern and colours.

Not surprisingly, she wanted owls. This bag actually is a cross between her mittens and her Christmas stocking. I was impressed with how well she managed to get across what she wanted!

That’s all for this week – except the wool count, three balls used again this week!

Wool Count down:
Starting total – 697 balls
Wool used – 9 (3 this week)

Total – 688

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Slight change of pace this week – I couldn’t leave Felix out after both myself and Engel getting armwarmers, so mittens it is!

I used the free pattern ‘Owlet‘ by Odessa Reichel – though I did end up making two pairs as the first came out large enough for a 6/7 year old! Felix can have those when she outgrows the smaller pair (pictured).

For the food item this week I actually went old school and used one of my many knitting books – Amigurimi knits by Hansi Singh. Can you guess which pattern I used? Here’s a hint:

Peas! This is probably going to be the last knitted food for a while – I will be making more, but will wait till Felix asks for them! She actually seems satisfied with the influx she’s received these past three weeks…

Last but not least:

Wool Count down:
Starting total – 697 balls
Wool used – 6 (3 this week)

Total – 691

Have a good week everyone!

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Well, I couldn’t resist. After I made Engels armwarmers last week, I got jealous of their warm merino softness…and made a pair for me…

Not the exact same as his, but a billion times cuter! Based on the free ravelry pattern ‘Foxy Mittlets for Mama Foxes‘ by Mertsu. I made them longer and added a thumb so they were a little more suited to me!

Onto other knits, lots more plasy food for Felix!

Banana! Free pattern by Kimberly Chapman. Adorable too – you can ‘peel’ the banana skin!

Made using a free Cherry knitting pattern by Linda Dawkins

And lastly, after Engel commented that Felix needed more ‘interesting’ food…

A durian fruit! They smell like rotting fresh when ripe, but apparently taste like custard…this one is based on the free knitting pattern ‘Stinky‘ by SSknits. The only difference is since I can’t crochet, I did a BlackBerry stitch outer ‘shell’. Not quite as cool as the original patterns, but good enough for me.

Felix just enjoys having things she can ‘chop’ and cook…

Wool Count down:
Starting total – 697 balls
Wool used – 3

Total – 694

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New wool count!

Wool Count down:
Starting total – 697 balls
Wool used – 0

Total – 697

I managed to use 120 balls last year, let’s see if I can make as good a dent on the stash this year!

On that note, I made Engel a little present:

Made using the free pattern ‘Short Wave Mitts‘ by Sybil R. I don’t tend to go on about patterns themselves on my blog, but I have to say, the use of short rows on this, and several other patterns, is amazing!

More amazing? Felix asked to pick a few patterns for play food for her play kitchen! Being two I have questioned a few choices, but hey, I’m not one to judge her adorable requests!

Olives! I used the free pattern ‘Olive Tutorial‘ by Mary Jane Midge.

Fried eggs! Using the free Ravelry pattern ‘Happy Fried Egg’ by Ala Ela

I hope you all had a good 2015 and a better 2016!

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It’s been another busy week. Work, team building day involving playing Rambo by shooting my work colleagues and superiors with laser guns running about the woods, the conclusion to Cthuhlu: Horror on the Orient Express (it was epic, and so far off course the actual written recommended ending that no matter how much I could try and explain, no one but those who were there would understand.)…and Fallout: Shelter was just released on Android (my platform of choice).

Because of all this, mostly my new game, this not-so-little owl lay languishing in pieces for four days.

Free pattern courtesy of  Rachel Gallagher-Miller

Cute, isn’t it? It’s for Felix’s childminders birthday this week (cutting the sewing close here) and the colour choice, well, this is what happens when a not quite two year old gets let loose in my wool stash.

And that’s it for this whole week. In shame, and frustration at my own addiction, I’ve deleted Fallout:Shelter from my tablet. Productivity has quadrupled…

However!

Last week I finished this cute project.

Centre panel is a free pattern – Paw Print Cloth by by Rhonda White and I just winged the rest…

It’s a dog blanket for my dog-niece Missy (or Mishap) and I had far too much fun making it!

No wool used this week, so no wool count.

Not sure if any will be used this week either as I have lots of little projects on the go, and two blankets, but they’re going slowly…

Chat to you all next week!

 

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That describes my whole week.

It’s been a very intensive training course, Felix has decided to hit the terrible twos a few months early this week and with Engel out of action after nearly cutting his finger off with an axe…

Yeah, its just been nonstop just to keep on top of things. I have however managed some knitting!

First up, a project I actually finished over a week ago, some Marvel themed cushions!

It was a good friends birthday the other week, and she’s a huge Hawkeye fan – hence the purple arrow (his logo) and she’s also a fan of his ‘sniper bro’the Winter Soldier – hence the red star. (The star motif is from Star Pillow by Jennifer Stafford in her book DomiKNITrix, the arrow I just winged)

I actually had far too much fun making these, and have penciled designs for a whole range of other characters, but I doubt I’ll ever get time/reason to make them!

Though a Deadpool cushion would be awesome…

Anyhow! On to more knitting, and part of the reasons Felix has been difficult this week. Recently, she has become obsessed with ducks (we feed our local ones every weekend) and wanted to take one of her ‘duckies’ to bed. Her choice was a wooden one, fair enough, I thought it was solid but turned out it wasn’t. Thankfully it broke when I was handling it!

So, I cast on An Emergency Duck.

Free Pattern by Frankie Brown.

It goes with her everywhere, and usually it gets ‘fed’ not cooked! At least she knows where roast duck comes from…

On, and its ‘Mummy made duck’ not just ‘duck’. I give it week before she shortens it entirely…

Her other tantrum trigger? Clangers.

She demands a cuddle on the sofa whilst watching them, or else an episode in bed with her milk (usually on Engels phone) and if she doesn’t get her way…

It’s weird though, during the day, she’s rather watch the Octonauts, but before bed? It is relaxing mind…

Anyhow! It’s taken all week (as a certain little Felix keeps stealing the in progress body for bedtime cuddles, and tonight, wanted to dress Tiny herself so I couldn’t sew the armour…) But here’s my first ever Clanger!

(Psst, its a free pattern on the BBC website!) I’m actually rather proud, which is unusual for me, but seeing as Felix has told me she wants ‘Clangers all! Me! Mummy make all Clangers!’ I’d best get started on the next one…

Last but not least, the wool count: This week I found ten more balls of wool hiding in the conservatory (to be fair, it was hiding in some fabric) and I’ve managed to use four balls. I’ve caught up in height with the blanket, but seeing as its a third the width, I’ve not used the equivalent in wool yet. But its my zombie knitting, so it wont be too much longer!

Wool Count down:
Starting total (28Feb15) – 747 balls
Extra stash found – 20 balls (so far)
Wool used – 58
Wool given – 3
Wool bought – 3

Total – 715

 

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This May bank holiday I was at the Chestnut Centre – its an otter and owl sanctuary, and since the weather looked promising, I figured it would be a nice little family day out.

I think I should take a moment to explain. I hate water. Nearly drowned when I was 15, yadda, yadda, the stuff gives me the creeps. Especially big open expanses of it. When myself and Engel had Felix I wanted to make sure she didn’t have that same phobia, so to the pool she went when she was but a tiny thing.

Her response to water? Roll onto back, cuddle a rubber duckie/ball and kick with the back legs, grinning manically.

So we nick named her ‘Ottah’, as that’s what she made us think of.

Subsequently, I kept saying when she was old enough to not need a pram, we’d go to the otter sanctuary and she can see her namesakes in action.

She loved it. Otters go squeak. Owls go hoot. She can outrace her mum on the uphill and her dad on the downhill. Everything’s awesome.

Though she did have a tantrum at the gift shop on the way out – she ran right past all the mountains of cuddly toys, and dove into the books, demanding about six of them…she already owns five of the ones she wanted! So when we got home I read ‘The Otter that Loved to hold hands’ to her then promptly cast one on the needles.

One adorable Otter. Its one of the Patons wildlife collection. It goes to bed with her. And I had to do owls too.

The infamous Owl Puff pattern – its free on Ravelry. Oh, and because I’m sure someone must be wondering what knitted thing I photograph all the toys on:

The also infamous, ten stitch blanket. Also free on Ravelry.

Hope you all had a good bank holiday too!

Oh, wool update, three used this week! And of the two I bought last week, yep, Sods Law, only needed one in the end.

Wool Count down:
Starting total (28Feb15) – 747 balls
Extra stash found – 10 balls (so far)
Wool used – 36 (Yeah!)
Wool given – 3
Wool bought – 3

Total – 725

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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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