We work in a library and we like to craft...
I found this Japanese amigurumi kit in a secondhand store in Northcote today. The lady in the shop warned me that all the instructions are in Japanese but I’m tempted to have a go anyway.
(Actually, there were three other kits and I’m tempted to go back and buy them too.)
The label says りんご帽のくま which means something like “apple cap bear”.
kawaii ne? (cute, huh?)
You may have heard about guerrilla knitters, people who leave knitted graffiti around the streets of cities. What could be more harmless than this? (Except of course, when it rains …)
'Guerrilla Knitting Pink & Blue', by scratchflickr
There’s a bunch of people knitting a giant pink tea cosy for the historic Stockbridge in Footscray as part of the Big West Festival. Read all about it. When it’s done, there’ll by a big dance-a-thon to celebrate so everyone can go down to the river in legwarmers and do their best Flashdance impersonation.
If anyone manages to see it (or the legwarmers), please take a photo to post to this blog!
I’m afraid I’ve been very slack lately, both with my knitting and keeping you up to date with my progress. So here’s a little gem my mother (my chief knitting instructor) found that I’d like to share with you.
Jean Greenhowe is most famous for her beautiful doll and toy patterns, especially knitted animals based on nursery rhymes. However, on her website, you can now download a gorgeous pattern for making mini Christmas stockings. Perfect if you don’t have the patience to knit a whole sock!
'lola opens her stocking', by wolfsavard
She also kindly provides some more cute free patterns, including octopuses and cupcakes, here.
Happy knitting!
I started to make a Rose Tyler to accompany Doctor Who number ten but then I though I would be a better companion (sad but true). Then I decided to make Kim and Ben dolls.
My boyfriend is overseas and I thought he would think these were funny (he did) so my secret project is revealed.
I finally got the hair/wig right on the Kim doll. For some reason the pattern didn’t really make sense too me before then it suddenly clicked.
I decided not to use stem stitch over the wig for hair strands but attach hair like tassels (time consuming) but I like the look better. Next time I will try Nys’s technique of using a sewing machine.
I have developed a bit of a love/hate relationship with Rowan summer tweed. It’s very very beautiful, but tricky to knit with – well, for a beginner anyway.
Being cotton/silk it doesn’t have much stretch so all my beginnerly knitter imperfections get amplified. I got as far as knitting one skein of it, then decided to start over.
Spending a couple of days at my mum’s place I had another go from scratch and this time it turned out better. Mum said it looked fine, except… “wasn’t it a bit small?”
Uh oh, I forgot to switch to the larger size needles after doing the ribbing for the waist. Bum.
So then I got some motherly tips on frogging and rethreading my needles and now I’m all set to restart the main part tomorrow! The pattern is from Erika Knight’s book Men’s knits.
Jus finished this baby jacket last week for my friends baby, who is arrving any day now. It was fun to make as you knit it sideways. Just need a couple of cute buttons now. The pattern was from a book – Shepherd: 26 fabulous quick easy baby knits.
Mauve variegated wool baby kacket
From: Crobots: 20 Amigurumi Robots to Make
My latest project (he just needs legs) is a little crobot (zombie bot). Very simple to make. I bought myself the book:Crobots: 20 Amigurumi Robots to Make
It is a lovely book with lots of great ideas.
I tried out Nyssa’s pattern for the tardis and this is the result:
K-9 looks for the Doctor
I added felt windows and police box sign and a bead for the light. The pattern is ace. Thanks!
I also finished the baby adipose:
If only fat fell off and looked this cute - awhhhh!
Pattern: Midnight Creations: baby adipose | Pixelatedmushroom - Tardis
I am itching to make my first Doctor!
It’s a wintry day so I’m aiming to finish the scarf this weekend. It’s been a good learning experience with simple rib and stocking stitch, and along the way I’ve learned how to fix up quite a few mistakes! Already, sometimes my fingers tell me something has gone a bit wrong, so I must be getting the feel for it. (But I still can’t knit and watch TV at the same time.)
I used Debbie Stoller’s tip to get neat edges. After inserting the needle for the second stitch, before knitting it, give it a tug to tighten things up. I think early on I was tugging a little too much – if it was a jumper I’d never be able to sew up those edges – so I’ve loosened things up a bit towards the end and it’s looking a bit better.
For the next project… I’ve got some simple kelly green wool, enough I hope to knit a basic jumper from the Paton’s men’s classic knits pattern book. And I’ve got an eBay bid in for 6 skeins of Rowan Summer Tweed to do the vest in Erika Knight’s Men’s Knits book.
If anyone is interested you can get the scarf pattern here.
The 10th Doctor (I haven't blogged about him yet, but you saw him at the meeting so I'll put him up here)
Hello,
I was just wondering if a crochet person would be interested in testing my pattern for the Doctor Who bodies – I haven’t finished them yet, but I hope to put in some more work this weekend.
Because they are all made in one piece (the arms being the tricky bit), I want to make sure that my pattern is readable before I put it on my etsy shop.
Anyway, I could provide materials and give you a copy of the pattern and then see if it is understandable.
It might be a little while until I am done, but let me know if you might be interested. The main body piece should take less than an hour I think, and the hair is the main time consuming element, but that doesn’t really need testing unless you get enthused 
