A RANDOM SLANT ON MINECRAFT

Minecraft is the name of the game in our household at the moment.
I find it quite baffling that a game with graphics that remind me very clearly of the first computer games that came out in the 70's and 80's, should be so popular with the kids of today.

That being said, I have noticed in the past that the most popular - and fought over - toy in our house is a 40 year old Fisher Price cash register.  No super duper electrical motor, no batteries, no nothing except imagination, and I suppose that's where Minecraft comes into its own.

So...... as it's getting more than a little nippy out there and I have one young lad who is currently obsessed with the game, out came the trusty knitting needles and a Minecraft Creeper Hat and Sweater emerged.

I needed wool that looked pixelly in multiple greens and Stylecraft Wondersoft Merry Go Round in peacock was the best I could manage, but it does seem to have done the trick.

The pattern, as my knitting friend pointed out isn't exactly rocket science, but knitting the sweater was my worst nightmare - I can't do random.  I start off with good intentions but after an inch or two it's like nails on a blackboard.  It's the one thing I'm really OCD about.  I just like my patterns nice and uniform and even. Sad isn't it. ;0)

So now it's back to nice non random, sit and watch telly, maximum effect with minimum effort Arans for me!

Please be kind - particularly if you download a freebie - and 'like' me on Facebook, Pinterest or Google+ or 'Stumble' upon me. The buttons are floating over there on the left - no excuses ;0)

THE WORLD'S CUTEST, STASH BUSTING BEANIE HAT!

Well, winter has arrived with a bang and we're all huddling down around cosy fires and hoping not to have to brave the icy blasts outside.

Bearing this in mind, my trusty friend of long standing, Aunty Sue got out her knitting needles and designed this fabulously cute beanie to keep us all snug and warm *bless*

It's fun to knit and fulfills one of our most pressing requirements - it's a stash buster!
Both Sue and I are avid knitters and both have an embarrassment of wool. There's no other way to describe it.  No ball of wool can get past us and we are very reluctant to part with even the meanest bit of leftover yarn in case it should come in handy at a later date.

Well that day has arrived!

The hat is super easy to knit, comes in 4 sizes from newborn (Occy size as illustrated - Beth snaffled that one right away) to adult and takes approximately 50gms of double knitting or worsted weight yarn for the main body of the hat and oddments for the ridges and 'worms'.  It's knitted on size 3.25 and 4mm needles, using a pair of double ended size 4mm needles for the i-cord tassel.

We are selling the pattern as an instant download in my Etsy shop for £2-50, so if you want to have a go and reduce your 'embarrassment' click on the link below.

Enjoy!

Please be kind and 'like' me on Pinterest or Google+ or Stumble Upon me, particularly if you have downloaded a freebie. The links are over there hovering on the left so no excuses.
It would be much appreciated :0)

ALL AT SEA

 

For the past year the Tiddlers have been OBSESSED by sealife. As you will probably have noticed in previous posts their rooms are little underwater havens, populated by a million fluffy sea creatures, and it would appear that their mission in life is to keep me occupied making all manner of amigurumi fishes etc. to add to the collection.

This is my summer's list of achievements, which the Tiddlers till now were very happy with, but having seen a post by disorderly-twinings, they have discovered I have haven't finished the whole set - shock horror!!!
So guess who's been commissioned to make lobsters.  I just hope they don't spot a pattern for a whale!

WHAT WAS I MAKING WITH THIS???

I'm a bit of a butterfly when it comes to making things.  I start them and then get sidetracked and the project gets popped into a carrier bag and forgotten, until sometime in the future I remember it and fish it out only to find that I haven't a clue what it was eventually meant to be.

My other problem is that I tend to get very inventive and use bits of maybe two or three patterns when making say, a sweater or cardigan.  Now at the time this seems a really good idea, but when I pick it up again - doh! - I haven't a clue what I had in mind when I stashed it away a couple of months ago.

So.....
I designed these labels to stick on or in the bag with the (for the moment boring) project giving all the details of what it was all about and all the bright ideas I had for it - and it works!

 Phew... sanity saved.

So if your sanity also could do with a bit of saving the file is here for you to download and print off.  There are eight labels on an A4 piece of card, so they are quite economical as well. ;0)

                                     Click here to download Project Labels

Please, as usual, be kind.  It's for personal use only so don't sell them or pass it off as your own work in any way.

FREEBIE EDITABLE AND PRINTABLE GIFT AND CARE INSTRUCTION LABELS FOR CRAFTS, CROCHET AND KNITTING

 

It's so nice, after you have lovingly laboured over your hand crafted gift, to be able to present it with smart printed labels, one for the recipient and one giving care instructions for your gift.

I've been looking for something suitable for ages and as I can't find just what I need I knuckled down and made my own.

                                       Click here to download label file

These labels are in pdf format and can be easily edited, by highlighting and typing in, to show the names and care instructions for your gift.

Feel free to download the file for your personal use, but you may not sell on the file or pass it off as your own in any way.

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!

ONE, TWO, KNIT A FEW.......

Five and a half years ago, I started what can only be called a knitting marathon. Our first grandchild, Bethany, made her entrance into the world and so I started on the shawls.  Beth had a yellow and a pink one.

They turned out a little bigger than I expected, the yellow one being over five feet in diameter, but they really did look spectacular and have a 'secret' sewn into the middle of them (A little butterfly and a snail) 

Two years later, Ben arrived and I started all over again. He has white and blue, both of the five foot variety, with a 'secret' truck and plane.

The Tiddlers love their 'blankets' and take them everywhere ( a bit of a struggle for an overburdened mum, but Michelle rises to the occasion, bless her.) All of the shawls  have been used, loved and washed for at least 3 and a half years now, and as you can see have stood up very well to the test of time.

I've been so pleased with them, as I thought they would end up looking like rags after a few months hard labour, but they are still bright and springy and loved.  Isn't knitting wonderful!

KNITTING NANNA

I've been a fanatical knitter since my Great Aunty Rosa took me in hand and introduced me to the gentle art when I was about 6.  Since then my knitting needles and crochet hooks have never left my side - much to my families amusement and sometimes embarrassment.  I went through a spell of picture jumpers, which turned out really well, but the girls weren't altogether happy about me wearing them - sigh!






What's wrong with a fifty year old with a Winnie the Pooh jumper, that's what I want to know?

I just love the little bees on this jumper and so did the little girl who was being held by her Dad behind me in a queue.  She spent an interesting 5 minutes trying to pull them off.  Poor Dad ;0)

Teddies are a favourite of mine and this one made from one of Jean Greenhowes pattern turns out so well, that I end up making them by the dozen.  As soon as one child gets one, I can guarantee that there will be a spate of  'please can I have one's.  They are soooo cute.



The nice thing about them is that they have proper, cute little faces, they can be made to sit or stand and if you make them out of a boucle wool they actually look furry.

My daughter's friend, Remo is an avid Naples football team supporter, so when his brother came over with his family and they decided to go to see Liverpool V. Naples, I thought I would make his new little nephew a Naples strip.  The boots were a particular success as they look like little shoes and socks and they actually stay on!  (Something we found with the last few newbies is that they are amazingly adept at removing footwear). So these boots are now being turned out in all colours to go with various outfits.  They look lovely knitted in pink with little white socks for the girls.  Good all round pattern with maximum effect for minimum effort.  Perfect!!!