Wolf Toy

So a friend asked if I would make a Foxy toy from Five Nights at Freddys for her son and after scouring the internet for a decent pattern I found one from Crochet gamer Foxy pattern Fantastic easy to follow pattern but in UK terms, so had to 'translate' it first haha. But it turned out really good and he really loved it.

It inspired me quite a bit to make some toys for my kids, so I decided I would make a wolf, a lion and a bird of some sort (I haven't quite worked out how to do the bird one yet). Each one has a special meaning for me and each of the kids so again I looked in the usual places for suitable patterns. Theres loads of lions! But I couldn't find a wolf that I really liked, so not to be put off I decided to write my own pattern.
I hope you like it!

 Wolf Toy Crochet pattern

Blusa de Croche by Anna Maria Braga - pattern translation

I found this wonderful pattern on ravelry blusa de croche, however it was written in portugese :( Not to be deterred I decided to have a go anyway and try to translate it for others to use. Theres a wonderful video to follow Blusa de croche video but again it is in portuguese, so I had a go at translating it. Now please note this is not my pattern. It is Anna Maria Braga's pattern, all I have done is attempted to use both google translate (which proved interesting haha) and watched along with the video whilst writing out instructions as best as I could! SO they maybe don't make sense or they are a bit jumbled up or weird, so appologies in advance for that, here they are anyway for anyone who is interested!

I have used US terms as I leanred from youtube and most of the crochet videos were using US terms

this is the photo from Anna's ravelry page, I haven't taken a photo of mine yet :(

Start

Central flower

Step 1: ch 6 and join with slip stitch to close circle

Step 2:12 sc into centre, join with slip stitch

Step 3:* ch3 (counts as first dc), ch5, skip 1, 1dc, repeat from * (using dc instead of first ch3). Join to 3^rd chain with slip stitch

Step 4:* ch3 (counts as first dc), 2dc in ch5 space from previous row, ch2, 3dc, ch1, repeat using dc instead of ch3 at start of row. Join with sl st into 3^rd chain

Step 5: ch4, ch6, 1tc in ch2 space from previous row, *ch6, skip 2, 2tc in next 2 stitches, ch6, 1tc in ch2 space.  Repeat from *. Join to ch4 with sl st

Step 6: ch4, ch6, *1tc into top of tc from previous row, skip 2, 1 tc, ch6. Repeat from *. Join to ch4

Step 7: ch3, 7dc over chain from previous row,* 8dc over chain from previous row, repeat. Join to 3^rd chain

Step 8: ch2, 3sc, ch20, skip 1, join with sc, 3sc repeat. Join to top of ch2

Step 9: ch2, 2sc, 30dc over petal loop, sl stitch to join, 3sc

Step 10: slip stitch into 21 dc, ch6, join to 9^th dc on next petal, sl st into 13 dc, ch6, join to 9^th dc

Step 11: slip stitch into 4 dcs, ch6, skip 3, connect with sc, ch6,( 1dc, ch2, dc) over chain, ch6, skip 3, join with sc. Slip stitch to join

(approx 20mins on video)

Outline

Slip stitch 2, ch3, (dc, ch2, dc, ch2 into space after sc on previous row), (dc, ch2, dc into space between dcs on previous row), ch2. [37 v stitches for first row]

Ch3, turn, skip 2 spaces, (dc, ch2, dc skip 1) repeat, dc into top of ch3 to join

Repeat the last row

Ch3, 6dc, skip space, repeat

Divide for neck and shoulder

Step 1: ch3, turn, skip 3, dc, ch2, dc, ch 4, repeat. dc into chain between 6dc from previous row.

Leave 9 sets of dc from previous round un worked – 6 for collar and 3 for shoulder.

Step 2: ch 3, turn, repeat last row a further 2 times (V stitches will be on top of previous row V stitches)

Step 3: Ch3, turn, 7 dc, skip a space, 8 dc, repeat to end. (dc’s will be in top of v stitches from previous row)

2^nd Layer petals

Step 1: 2sc, ch 20, skip 2, 13 sc, repeat. (loops will centre on 8 dc’s from previous row) ch 20 centre of last 8dcs from previous row to finish

Step 2: 35 dc into chain loop. Skip 2, join with slip stitch, 7 slip stitch, 10 dcs, dc into 10^th dc on previous petal to join petals together. Continue until 35 dcs in petal. Repeat in each loop.

34:05 on video

Join yarn onto 9 sets of dcs left for shoulder and collar

Ch3, skip 3, (dc, ch2, dc into same space), *ch4, (dc, ch2, dc into 3^rd stitch of 6 dcs from previous row) repeat over stitches for shoulder [4 sets of 9 dcs], sk3, dc, ch3, turn

Repeat previous row until you have 7 v stitch rows.

Bind off

38mins

*make 2*

Joining shoulders with petals

1.       Join yarn on 2^nd player petals, 7 dc from bottom. Sl st 1, ch20, sk2, join with sl st, sl st 2, ch20, sk2, join with sl st, sl st 2, ch20, sk2, join with sl st, sl st 2, turn [3 petals]

2.        First ch20: 10dc over ch, dc into 7^th dc from join on previous row of petals (its hard to explain watch the video), 20dc over chain, sk1, sl st to join at bottom

2^nd ch20: 10dc over ch, join to 10^th dc on previous petal with dc, cont until there are 30dcs over ch in total, sk1, sl st to join at bottom

3^rd ch20: as for 2^nd ch20

45 mins on video

3.       Rejoin yarn on other piece and repeat step 1

4.       1^st ch20: 10dc over ch, dc into 7^th dc from previous row of petals to join as in step 2, 5dc, join to matching dc on other piece  to join both pieces together with sc, continue until there are 30dcs over the ch, sk1, sl st to join at bottom

2^nd ch20: 10 dc, dc into 10^th ch on previous petal to join, 5dc, join to matching dc on other piece to join both pieces together with sc, continue until there are 30dcs in total, sk 1 sl st to join at bottom

3^rd ch20: as for 2^nd ch 20

Sew V stitch shoulders together.

Neck

1.       Rejoin yarn at 1^st dc on 6dcs sets.

2.       Ch5, sk2, dc, ch2, repeat around. Join to 3^rd ch of ch5 with sl st

3.       Sl 1, ch3, *[sc, ch3, dc] into same space, repeat from * around. Sl st into 1^st ch of ch3 to join and bind off

59 mins on video

Join Petal Side

Rejoin yarn on 7^th petal. 1^st dc after join

Ch5, sk2, dc, sk2, dc repeat all the way up to middle of 1^st shoulder petal, ch5, turn

Repeat last row with dc into top of dc from previous row

Bind off leaving long tail

Repeat on other piece

Sew pieces together leaving 20cm for armhole (2 2^nd layer petals)

1:06 on video

Join V stitch side

Measure 20cm and leave open for armhole. Sew together rfom bottom starting at 8dc sets

1:14 on video

Sleeves

Join yarn at underarm seam

Ch5, *sk1, {2dc, ch2, dc] into same space, ch2, sk1, dc, ch2

You should have 8 double v’s

Ch5, double v into space between double v from pervious row, dc in space before single dc

Repeat to desired length

Cuff

Ch5, [3dc, ch2, 3dc] into double v space, ch2, dc into top of dc from previous row

Ch5, [4dc, ch2, 4dc] into double v space, ch2, dc in top of dc from previous row, ch2

Ch5, [5dc, ch2, 5dc] into double v space, ch2, dc in top of dc from previous row, ch2

I used a 4mm hook (or 3 1/4mm can't remember which) and dk acrylic yarn but i think it would've looked better with cotton and thinner yarn. 

Apologies

Well guys, this is my apology post...
I'm sorry I havent been keeping up with my blogs,  have been knitting and crocheting but its been a slow process over the last week or so, plus Ive been busy with allotment and gardening stuff and the usual family stuff with my eldest starting school tomorrow.
As well as that I have had quite a diffcult time health wise over the last week or so. I'm not wiritng this to have anyone feeling sorry for me, but if any of you have or know or anyone who has been diagnosed with the same condition I'm reaching out to you for your experiences and how you control the disease.

6 years ago i was diagnosed with menieres disease. For those of you that don't know its an inner ear condition that causes dizziness, ringing in your ears and hearing loss amongst other things. I have been relatively ok for quite some time with just the odd slight dizzy spell, however over the last week or so its been terrible! I ended up on the floor unable to get up on Monday night and had to phone my dad to come and 'rescue ' me. Since then I've had to take things alot easier. Even walking the short distance to the shop or even down the stairs of our flat has been a challenge. Ive been prescribed some anti dizziness tablets ( Prochlorperazine) [how on earth do the doctors even know how to both pronounce this stuff and spell it!!?!]
I haven't tried them yet (i only got the prescription yesterday and am waiting to pick it up).
In the pasty Ive had Betahistine and some kind of water tablet (i can't remember its name) both of which made me feel worse. I recently googled it and found a guy who also suffered from meneieres who had been taking anti fungal medication with quite some success, however my doctor was unamused with this idea.

So, anyone out there that has any tips or tricks or useful info, please please let me know!
thanks for reading and hopefully back to yarn related posts soon :)
Hayley

Lost in translation

I haven't been keeping up very well with the blig, but I have been doing at least some knitting! I made a couple of sleeveless sweaters for the boys and a sun hat for my youngest, but with the decent weather finally appearing i decided it was time to make myself a summer top!!
After scrolling through pages of patterns on ravelry I finally came across this one blusa de croche, only problem is it's in portuguese and I don't speak a word of it :( Not one to shy away from a challange Ive set about translating it both for my own use and for others as i think this is an awesome pattern!!
Ive never written a pattern before. Ive made plenty of modifications to knitting patterns but never actually made an item of clothing (other than hats or baby booties) with crochet, so this is a first for many different reasons!
Anyway I take absolutely no credit whatsoever for the wonderful pattern and I have probably written the instructions really weird but they are working for me so far and the wonderful lady who designed the pattern has a video which (although i can't understand a word of what she's saying) is super helpful!
so this is what i have so far:

I used a dk yarn and a 3.5mm hook instead of the suggested hook size and yarn weight (i did start one using the reccommended stuff but it looked way too small)
It's a bit wobbly at the moment, I can only imagine its because the pattern uses cotton yarn and I'm using acrylic and once its finished and blocked it will look better. I will of course post a 'tutorial' of sorts with the pattern translated as best as i can undertsand it.

scarf update and chart making method

so heres what i have so far on the Ghibli scarf

 For anyone thats wondering, heres what i have;
From bottom to top
Totoro and mini totoros from My Neighbour Totoro
A soot sprite from both spirited away and my neighbour totoro
the symbol on Nausicaa's dress from Nausicaa and the valley of the wind
no face from spirited away
some small fish for ponyo
the flags from up on poppyhill
jiji from kiki's delivery service
and (not that you'd tell) the start of the mask from princess mononoke

I got the charts for totoro and no face from ravelry, when i post the completed scarf I'll add all the charts i made and links to charts i used.

I discovered an easy way to make knitting charts (i bet someone else has already discovered this but thought i'd share it anyway)
find a image you want to make a chart from (i found most online chart makers either rubbish giving you a blurred image or make the chart the wrong size) copy and paste the image into microsoft publisher.
Resize it if it's too small (also picking an image that is a sillhouette or at least very simple is much easier)
then insert a table. My scarf is 41 sts wide (of course for the double knitting technique there is actually 82sts on my needle to knit the front and back at the same time but you only need one sides amount of sticthes if that makes sense)
the important bit with the table is that you select the entire table and unselect the grow to fit text option. this means you can resize the table to the shape of your chart

once you've done this just move the table over the image, resize making sure the cells on the table are square and not rectangular and then start to fill the cells with the fill tool. It can take a while but its a much easier way than trying to draw it out by hand (in my opinion)
the last thing to remember is make sure you put borders on the table so you can see the squares. I forgot to do this for 2 of mine and had to go back in and add them (which was a pain in the backside and took ages!)

so here are some of the results using the method above!

Robot from castle in the Sky

Marco (or Porco) from Porco Rosso

Turnip head from Howls Moving Castle

I can't wait to get them done on the scarf! I still have quite a list of characters to add and am almost at the end of the first lime green ball of wool (which will be the point at which i turn the characters so they are not upside down when wearing the scarf (i hope). I am guessing that if I do have one way and half the other then it'll work out! But no matter what happens I will share it on here. I am already madly in love with this scarf! I will definitly be knitting another one! Its been hard work and I'm not even half way there yet but every second has been worth it!
Hope you guys enjoyed my little update and feel free to use my charts, just post a photo of your work in the comments for me :)

Scarf #2

Ok so the last post I told you guys about my scarf (my first ever double knitting project) which was full of mistakes, but I loved it! I was going to use the wool from a jumper, but unfortunately I couldn't get the jumper to unravel so I had a (not even half finished) scarf with no wool left :(
Not to be discouraged I started a new one. I used the left over wool I had from a previous project and some I had bought to knit a school jumper for my eldest son.
So here's what I've got so far:

Again please excuse my rubbish photography. It's actually lime green and bottle green.
The last one I half knitted I was unsure of what I was going to do next, but this one I know where I'm going with it, the only problem is it's going to be very very long!
So its no longer a Totoro scarf, it's a Ghibli scarf!
So far I have Totoro, a soot sprite, the symbol from Nausicaa and the valley of the wind and No face from Spirited Away. (although no face is a little creepy I honestly don't think it would have been right not to include him, after all he does end up knitting so had to play a big part in this scarf!)
I have already made up charts for the mask from Princess Mononoke, Jiji from Kikis Delivery service, the catbus from My neighbour totoro and turnip head from Howls moving castle, but I have much more planned. I'm hoping to incorporoate something from all the movies (or at least the ones I've seen) so i still have a fair few to include;

• Ponyo
• Pom Pokko
• Porco Rosso
• Castle in the sky
• the Wind Rises
• Grave of Fireflies (even though I don't really like this film or Ponyo they have to be included I think)
• the cat returns
• Tales from Earthsea
• My neighbours the yamamdas
• from up on poppy hill
• Only yesterday (I haven't got round to watching this uyet but have it in the house)
• whisper of the heart 

so I still have loads to inlcude! How long will this scarf be? I may even have to make up a chart for a fairisle style jumper with all this in just so I can fit it in!
I already figure I need to add some aeroplanes for both porco rosso and the wind rises, I'm thinking a racoon for pom pokko, a small fish for ponyo and some flies (hopefully that look like fireflies) for grave of fireflies and a cat for the cat returns. Maybe even a robot for Castle in the sky but some of the others I'm really struggling with. but hopefully by the time I've caught up with the charts I've already got and made some of the ones that I know I want to make then I'll have thought of somethng for the rest! Who knows!
If you have any suggestions leave me a comment! I'd really appreciate it! And if anyone wants any of the charts I've made or found I'll happily share them!

thanks for reading :)

Double Knitting Totoro Scarf

So I always wondered how you knitted a scarf. (I know that may sound really silly, I thought they were the easiest things to knit) By that I mean how both sides are stockinette stitch. I assumed that you knitted 2 sides and stitched them together, which seemed like too much hard work (and like it would take ages) and I guess that is one way you can do it... but, I discovered double knitting!
First impressions were that it looked so amazing with a negative image on the 'back'. As usual I searched ravelry until I found a suitably difficult pattern to attempt to follow (instead of doing something easy becuase it's the first time Ive tried this technique).

So this is what I've got so far (and again I'll apologise for my crappy photography skills - who would believe I actually studied photography at college?!)

The colours Ive used (are actually from what my mum and I refer to as the 10 year jumper, which is a jumper my mum started knitting for me a good few years ago, actually more than 10 years now, and gave up on! She gave it to me to finish but with no idea what size she was knitting I'd pretty much have to start it again so decided it would be much better to use the wool for my awesome scarf) are beige and denim (not at all like the photos *sigh*)
As you can probably tell Ive struggled a bit with the chart. Having 3 boys under 5 years old running around causing mayhem whilst trying to follow a chart which is complicated enough without the fact that every time you turn your work to the 'wrong side' you have a negative image. So please forgive the obvious mistakes Ive made.

I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do next, with the middle part I mean, all I know is that it will have another similar (hopefully mistake free) image on the other end.
I'm toying with the idea of doing more clouds and rain in the middle section, adding some soot sprites and nordic stars, attempting to make the word 'Totoro' readable on both sides or just leaving it plain.

Any suggestions of idea would be greatly appreciated!


I've completely fallen in love with this technique so have another (at least) 3 projects planned, with a dr who, a game of thrones and a hobbit/ lord of the rings inspired scarf. I'm also hoping to try at least one with a self striping yarn and black as the colour combination as Ive seen some done with this and they look amazing!
I also have a dr who jumper in the planning stages. I'm going take some inspiration from charts Ive seen and make my own chart the same as I did with the star wars one. Hopefully my husband will like it and will actually wear this one! And of course he is still requesting I knit a Herbalife jumper for him as he's a distributer so many more porjects on my to do list then I really have the time for and I will insist on googling things (like double knitting scarves) that keep that project list ever increasingly long!

My favorite patterns!

I have 2 favorite patterns which I use over and over!
The first is the vintage pattern I got from my mum which I hope one day to find the number for so i can share it with you guys and hopefully you too will fall in love with this awesome pattern!

The second is King Cole 3404 Boys sweater and hooded slipover (although I've yet to make the slipover!)

so here are some of the jumpers I've made with these patterns;

Firstly the vintage hayfield pattern:
My first ever jumper that I knitted for myself and actually enjoy wearing! (Ive knitted quite a few but hate most of them)

I googled star knitting chart and used that for a while until i made a mistake and then just went with whatever i felt like and ended up with this! The idea was to use up some left over wool I had lying around! I will admit though after washing and tumble drying (I know I shouldn't but I do tumble dry pretty much everything!) its got a bit big! But I love it and it's my favorite jumper!

I also made a star wars inspired one for my husband for Christmas one year, but he never wears it becuase he says its too small! Husbands can be picky and irritating sometimes haha

I used Excel and made the cells in the spreadsheet into small squares and pretty much drew out the whole design on the computer before I knitted it. The front took ages but it was worth it. Guess I'll have to make another one for him, better get planning...

I also made the smallest version of this pattern and a cardigan for my eldest Eli who is starting school in August

All i can say is button bands are a nightmare!


And finally my latest (possibly less exciting one) is the one I converted to an in the round pattern

Now onto the boys jumpers. Having 3 little boys I try to make things for them whenever I can and as they are all under 5 I can still dress them how I want without too many arguments (I don't think that will last long tho haha).


This is the first one I made using the king cole pattern

this one has been worn by my eldest Eli and now passed down to Conan. I'm hoping my youngest, Solomon will get some wear out of it too (eventually)

Then I made a mini star wars jumper, but the neck shaping went a little wrong so they dont wear this one often

Eli asked for a rainbow jumper (which I couldn't find to take a photo of - it's probably in amongst the mountain fo washing I always seem to have)
And he also asked for a dinosaur jumper because he's obsessed with anything to do with dinosaurs.

Again I just googled dinosaur chart and found this one. Eli did complain though that there was "only a triceratops" and he "needed a t-rex aswell" so watch this space for another dinosaur jumper!

And finally a jumper for Conan (no sure why my phone has made it look bright red - its maroon)
I increased a stitch in the centre of the sleeves for an even number of stitches and added a 6 stitch cable up each sleeve.

I really like this effect and have some lovely green wool waiting to be used so may well make myself a jumper or cardigan with the same cable sleeves!








And thats it. My 2 favorite patterns used in some (i think) very different ways. Its amazing to think what you can do with a knitting pattern to customise your project. For example, I found that the king cole pattern used a 2x2 rib for the cuffs which made the neck sit a little strange, but using a 1x1 rib seemed to solve this. Also it had a rib on the raglan which I didn't like so I changed that to a garter stitch in Conans jumper and knitted the decrease right at the ends on Eli's dinosaur jumper and both work really well!

**Update** If anyone is interested in making a star wars jumper you can find the chart that I made on ravelry star wars chart. If you use it please post your photos in the comments!

In the round jumper update

Well, I finally finished the jumper!!! It took a little longer than I thought it would but I have been ill whilst knitting it so I guess I am allowed to take my time haha.

I'm really pleased with how it turned out and it was soooo easy just sewing the ends in instead of having to sew all the bits together!

So....
Here's my attempt at a tutorial without posting my pattern (which I still haven't tracked down the number for)

My pattern was for a raglan sweater knitted back and forth (bottom up) on straight needles, making a fonrt, back and sleeves then sewing them together at the raglan (leaving one open) then knit the neck and sew up the rest of the seams. I've used it many times before but this was my first go at a in the round project, so I converted my pattern from knitted flat to in the round.

Homemade stitch markers made with beads and elastic

I started at the bottom as my pattern said but I cast on both the front and back stitches and then joined to make a round. So on my pattern it said 97sts for the back and the same for the front, so i cast on 97sts, placed a stitch marker, cast on the other 97sts and placed another stitch marker so I would know where my round started and where the front and back were (if that makes sense)

I knitted to the length I wanted the body to be to the underarm, then set it aside and worked on the sleeves. (I normally work both sleeves at the same time so if I make a mistake at least they will both match, but I had to knit one then the other which was a little weird for me, but I got there in the end) I cast on the number of stitches in my pattern but joined to make a round and placed a marker at the start. When I got to the increases I K1, inc 1 st, knit to last 2 stitches before the marker, inc 1 st, k1. I think I would have got a neater finish if I had used a m1 instead but I knitted twice into the same stitch (which is how I would've done it if I was knitting flat). Once I got the the underarm length I added it onto the needle that had the body and knitted the second sleeve.
I did have some problems trying to cast on and rib the cuffs with the circular needle so I ended up cheating and knitting them flat then transferring them onto my circular needle and sewing them up.

Instead of casting off the underarm stitches I left them on a stitch holder. (I had 6 stitches to cast off on my pattern, 3 from each end of the front, back and sleeves - so I put 3 sts from each side of the markers onto sticth holders)

I continued with the pattern decreasing the raglan exactly as it said in the pattern. I then got to the neck shaping on the front (which really confused me and I ended up having to unpick 6 rows :( and starting again)
This is the bit I got quite confused at so i would suggest reading your pattern for the front neck shaping a few times and then writing it down just so it's clear.

My pattern said:
K2, K2tog, K16sts turn, leaving remaining stitches on a spare needle

So from that  I am working 20sts from each side of the front and leaving 15sts in the middle for the front of the neck.
I slipped the first 35sts onto the right side of the needle and rejoined the yarn to start working on the left side of the neck (which is the second side you would work on according to my pattern) <---complicated haha
Once I'd stopped messing around and being silly and actually paid attention to the pattern it was quite easy though. All I needed to do was k2tog on the neck edge every alternative row for 7 rows, whilst remembering to dec on the raglan aswell.
I was then working back and forth and leaving the centre 15sts unworked.
Once I had got to the rib on the neck, I picked up the stitches down each side of the neck and worked in rib.

I then sewed in the ends and worked the underarm stitches together in a cast off.

The best bits of advice I have if you want to convert a flat pattern to a round pattern is write it down first, it may seem easy at first but it can get a little complicated if you're not organised. And also pay attention to your stitch markers and dont end up knitting them into your jumper.

Guess who wasn't paying attention?

The other thing I'll quickly mention is that you don't really need tonnes of different lengths of circular needle. I had a really long one (sorry not sure how long I will check later though) and a 40cm one. The long one was too long for the neck but if you pull some of the cable out in between stitches you can use a longer one with no problems!

in the round sweater update and disaster!

So I got to the underarm part of the body of the jumper whipped out my new short circular needles and cast on for the sleeve, but in the process broke the needle! So Now I have to glue my 3.25mm needle before I can use it *sigh*
Determined to do something I decided to use some left over wool to make a hat for my neighbour (he asked for a grey one, I had grey wool left so thought it was a great way to use it up) So I got almost finished and ran out of wool *sigh* In the process I used the 4mm circular needle which is now out of action until I get out for some more wool. So its still a no go on the sleeves for the jumper. Not sure if Ive posted the link for the hat before but here it is anyway. KOGO Beanie. I used a 4mm needle instead of a 4.5mm and I added extra rows to the straight bit. I made one before and foudn it wasn't long enough and the 2x2 rib was too loose, so this time i used a 1x1 rib and made it longer. the first one I knitted straight, this one was in the round so its a nice pattern to convert between the two.
I must admit knitting in the round scared me quite a bit but I'm absolutely loving it! I would reccoemmend it to anyone and everyone!
So in an attempt to fill my crafting time with something (anything!) I started to crochet a blanket!

So this is as far as Ive got with it. It looks a bit wobbly around the edge but I'm hoping it'll turn out ok. I'm planning to get to about single bed size but my last attempt lasted about cot sized, so we'll see how it goes. Its about big enough to fit on a car seat at the moment.
So far the few people that have seen it have all asked if I'm pregnant and expecting a girl. I am not amused at all! I am not!!! I'm just using up left over wool and I like the way its turning out. There's not much I can do with half a ball of pink wool in this house (having 3 boys) so anyway I can use it up is a blessing. Its actually peach in the middle, lemon, then a speckled mint (purple and blue speckles through the wool) then pink on the outside. I'm running out of pastel colours though so once the pink wool is used up i might have to buy some more for this.
Oh, I better tell you what pattern I used. You can find it here. I chained 10 as the pattern says.
I also saw this pattern and wondered about adding the little flowers, but not sure the boys or husband would appreciate anything quite so girly!
I like granny blankets because you start so small and work until you get fed up (or at least thats what I do) I did see other designs but it meant working back and forth and starting with a rediculous number of chains to start (something like 230+) Knowing me I'd get to about the third row and be fed up already!

Hopefully I will get superglue for the needle, get wool for the hat and also get more wool for the blanket before I run out of everything and have to start something else!

On a completely unrelated note I came across this one facebook and Ive now added it to my to-do list (at least the captain america jumper if nothing else)
Fun Patterns Perfect for Avengers Fans
I will probably end up using the same jumper pattern (raglan hayfield pattern) and knit in the round.
I'm looking for ideas on knitting a hulk jumper too. I though about doing a torso pattern on the jumper but dont think I'll be able to get the range of shades I'll need. Any ideas are more than welcome!

In the round Jumper update

 

Here is my prgress update on my first in the round jumper. As said in my previous post I am using Stylecraft special DK yarn in Greengauge (which is like a green and yellow twist yarn although on the website I bought it from it looks more like green and beige) I used my favorite pattern (which is a simple raglan pattern that i got from my mum - I will attempt to find the pattern number next time I go round to see her - but the pattern is a back and forth pieced pattern so I'm converting it to in the round)
I started at the bottom and worked about 16 rows in 1x1 rib (i lost count as I was working so guessed a bit) and I'm now up to where I need to add the sleeves. I was comtemplating working 4 less stitches (I assme they would have added 4 - 1 at either end of the front piece and the same for the back) but I just cast on the amount of the front and back to save confusion later!
I made my own sitich markers. The ones I biought are great but I thought they made my knitting a little looser, so I made some out of spare beads i had lying around and some elastic cording

I added 2 beads to the first one so i could easily identify the start of the round... but i got caught up in whatever was on the tv and accidentally knitted the other one into the jumper! :0

Oh well, at least its cheap elastic so will be easy to cut and re-thread. So the first tip I have is pay attention to your stitch markers haha.
Now comes the difficult part where I have to do some research into how to increase on the sleeves. I recently knitted a cardigan (which incidentally once I'd finished I hated it *sigh*) I got the body finished and was left with ony 1 ball of wool so had to try to work out the best way to add the sleeves at a 3/4 length without ending up with one shorter than the other. I searched high and low to find another ball of wool, but it was discontinued so I picked up stitches and knitted the sleeve down from the armhole (this totally didin't work as it was shaped at the top) but it did look a bit weird with the increases over about 6 stitches at the start and end of the round. I ended up knitting them flat from where I guessed elbow length would be and they worked out ok.
I'll post another update when I've figured out what to do next!

Finished Projects

I finally got round to finishing off the ear warmers I knitted for my neighbour. All I had to do was sew in the ends and sew a button on. but it seems to have taken me weeks to get round to it. With my first in the round jumper project taking up most of my time I wonder if I'll ever get round to making one for myself? They look like they would be really handy for the random Peterhead weather thats bright sunshine one minute and snowing the next! My neighbour wanted one to go for walks across the beach, so hopefully she'll like them

This is a double knit one (with a random button I had lying around that totally doesn't match) using this pattern Ripple Shell Ear Warmer. I really like this pattern and if I ever do get round to making some for myself I'll use it for sure!

this one was I used chunky wool that was  left over from a jumper I knitted but I have to admit I don't like it as much, but with using chunky wool it will be much warmer than the DK one. I used this pattern How to Crochet a Ear warmer.
The Dk one is also much more stretchy (i think this is to do with the stitch)

The other thing I finally got round to finishing was a school cardigan! My eldest is starting school in August so I'm starting early (for once) and trying to be organised. I used an old pattern I got from my mum which I absolutely love. Ive knitted quite a few jumpers with it already - a star wars inspired nordic jumper for PJ, a dinosaur jumper for Eli, a 'leftover' jumper for me and a jumper for Conan. I will add another post on this pattern later with all the projects Ive used it for.
This is the first time Ive knitted the cardigan from this pattern. The button band seemed to take ages and was quite frustrating to knit (mostly because I'm impatient). But here is the finished item!

I did wonder about adding a pattern to it to make it a little more interesting but I wasn't sure the school would appreciate it too much, especially as Eli was asking for yet more dinosaurs!

In the Round Sweater

My least favorite parts of knitting are actually the sewing up parts. I really dont like it. I guess that's because that's when you get to see if your project actually works. I've had many failures during my years of knitting (and crocheting) and after about 10 years I've only just made my first successful sweater that I actualy like to wear.
With that in mind I have set myself the task of transforming my favorite sweater pattern (A very old Hayfield DK pattern I got from my mum) into an in the round pattern. I figure it should be simple enough to convert being a raglan sleeve sweater.
So last night I cast on the relevant amount of stitches for both the front and back onto my circular needle and started.
My first impressions of knitting in the round are that each round takes what seems like forever, but after only 6 or so rows I can actually see the beginnings of a jumper!
I chose Stylecraft Special DK in Greengauge which is a lovely mottled green. I've only ever used this yarn once before and it seems less fluffy than the Robin DK I usually use, so hopefully it will last longer before bobbling and looking untidy.
It's slow going but wont be too long I hope before I can post an update on a decent sized knitted piece and I won't have much sewing up to do.
Although I am wondering if I should've tested this on a smaller jumper for the kids first!