THE WORLD'S OLDEST MOSHI MONSTER

THAT'S ME!

I've been cleverly maneuvered into becoming a Moshi Monster by the Tiddlers.  I wasn't overly happy about them becoming obsessed with a video game, but when I actually got to have a look at it, it ticks so many educational boxes that I've been converted. 

1.  You have to adopt a little monster and look after it.
2.  You have to shop for it and get the best value for money with its food, clothing and home
3.  You have to earn Rox (currency) by going on missions and completing puzzles
4.  As the little monsters don't speak english but the program is subtitled in speech bubbles, it encourages you to read.
5. During the missions you find little Moshlings (little monsters) which you keep and look after in your zoo.

So as you can see there is plenty of brainwork required for a Tiddler.  It's also well monitored for security and when you write messages to other 'monsters' the content and spelling of the messages is checked and approved before being able to be sent.

So here I am, as I said the world's oldest Moshi, trying to keep up with my Tiddlers who have a bulging zoo and a superb palace and tree house for their little charges.

They are both in love with Iggy, the little monster who runs round trying to eat your pointer when you log in, and of course their own little monsters, so I have eventually found hama bead patterns for him and Furi here on  http://kandipatterns.com/tag/view?tag=moshi%20monsters 
Unfortunately the Poppet one didn't look very much like the character so I made up my own.

I'm hoping this doesn't step on any copyright toes. If there is a problem please let me know and I will remove the picture.  I'm not a very experienced blogger and I'd hate to get into trouble. 


Anyway I'm off now to feed my little monster and keep her happy so I don't get outclassed by my Tiddlers. Because although they are tiny they are red hot when it comes to using a computer!

A BLUE BELT IN BALLET

 
Ballet lessons are just so popular with young ladies of 6 or 7 and for some reason seem to be held in the coldest, draughiest halls that can be found.

My grandaughter is one such young lady, who has recently attained a blue belt and now just can't wait for Tuesday's to come round, regardless of the sub-zero temperatures.  However her pretty, but thin, ballet wrap round cardigan is just not up to chilly halls, so I thought I would run her up a thicker version.

Now this is where it gets tricky, as there are only a few patterns that fit the bill and they all seem to have ties round the back.  Not a good idea when you have only just mastered bows at the front!  So armed with graph paper and a calculator I devised a pattern with a cross over that buttons and that can be adjusted for size - tada!!

All the boxes ticked -  warm, easy to get on and off and make a little larger when our 28aaa bust arrives and pink!  What more could a budding Darcy Bussle want?

 

The pattern I decided upon has a garterstitch button band and I have always found them to have a rather bobbly and unappealing edge, so I googled and found this edge which looks firm and smooth. 

 It really is so easy to do, you just purl the last stitch of the row at the edge of the border and then slip the first stitch through the back of the stitch on the way back and the result as you can see from the picture above is very pleasing.

This pattern is in double knitting wool, using size 4mm needles and fits a 26in chest.  If you would like a copy of the pattern, please e-mail me and I will see what I can do.  At the moment I only have the instructions for this one size, but if there is much interest I will try to adjust it to more sizes and put it on the blog.

But for now I shall be getting ready to whizz off and take my little prima ballerina to practice for her next belt. (do they have black belts in ballet?)

RUN, RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN - YOU CAN'T CATCH ME I'M A GINGERBREAD MAN!

Following the phenomenal success with my knitted jelly babies for the Tiddlers, I thought I would have a go at some of the other toys in Jean Greenhowe's collection.  The obvious choice for Beth was a pink ballet dancer and I thought Ben would like Superman.  Well, the ballet dance was a definate hit, but although I made Superman with blue hair, as requested, Ben's first comment was "Is there a jelly baby for me?". 

 

So back to the drawing board and I thought for a change I would make Gingerbread men - jelly babies with a difference.

First I had to find the right colour wool.  Not as easy as I thought.  My first choice turned out to be more dough boy than gingerbread, according to my daughter.  So with the help of our very obliging local wool shop - "Is your gingerbread usually brown or more burnt?" - We found exactly the right colour and I cracked on.  After making brown jelly babies, I 'piped' round them in white using double crochet and added little buttons for sweeties, down the front.

 

With a certain amount of trepidation, I handed them to the Tiddlers together with my family of little 'egg cups' (so cute) for Easter and ......tada! 

  

 

Success! They have joined the ranks of the much loved - sorry Superman!

TURNING THE TABLES

For ages we have been looking for a circular 4ft extendable table to go in our dining room, but unless you are willing to pay a small fortune for one, it's like trying to find hens teeth.  So imagine my delight when I found one for £40 at the St. Michaels Hospice Furniture Shop. True it was in a rather sad state, but as it was G-plan it was restorable.

So it was out with the sandpaper and wire wool and off to work. 

A week later, my table is gorgeous and my bank balance still in good shape as are my abs - all that sanding saved me a fortune at the gym!

After this little triumph I decided to have a go at the G-plan coffee table I had picked up for a fiver ( another bargain).  This was also in a rather sad state, but as I had been so successful with the table I thought "nothing ventured....." and got stuck in, and Oh! didn't it come out well.  There will be nothing stopping me now - look out furniture I'm on a roll!!