Tag: Felix

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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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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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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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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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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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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