Tag Archives: toys

Always Forward

The first new stuff in the shop in ages.

Rabbit.

Rabbit.

Elephant.

Elephant.

I’m still trying to find a balance and constantly reminding myself that everything is fine if I don’t produce as much as in years past.

I also finally got pictures of the in-progress mermaid! She needs hair and the pattern needs attention, but she’s moving forward.

Always forward.

School starts the 15th. I very much badly want the Mermaid to be ready for a test knitter or two by then.

Girl Scout Camp

Ellie is off at Girl Scout Camp this week with her BFF. Just for the days – neither one of us is ready for overnight camp. It’s good to have something to look forward to anyway.

GSCporch

On the front porch of the Dining Hall.

GSCtwins

Tuesday was Twin Day.

Up until Wednesday they had a great time. Wednesday: “Boy Scouts came and all they did was talk all day it was super boring.” I said to be sure to put it in her evaluation. (They didn’t just talk all day, there was a ‘nature walk’ with disposable cameras to record stuff.)

These long long days with both hands free has finally given me the time to finish the sheep.

sheepears

Just need to decide on the ear color.

I’ve never run out of yarn on a project like this before. It makes me feel like I don’t know what I’m doing. I understand running out of chenille (it knits so much bigger than the listed gauge) but I should not be out of that dark grey. If my customer wants dark ears, I have to order more. The last scrap is in that too small example left ear.

I also mopped the whole house.

It’s been an eventful week.

Ho! Ho! Ho!

All your stuffed friends can feel Christmasy in their new Santa hats!

Insiders Notes: The white is O-Wool Balance Bulky. I held worsted acrylic doubled for the red – it was all I could find at the last minute. To scale the hat up or down, just change the yarn size. I’d love to see ornaments!

Happy Thanksgiving – and Christmas a little early!

Happenings

Last week was really something. Mom came for a visit, my sister came for a visit the day my Mom left, Michael was sick (which almost never happens). I started and tore out my next project. We got a dog.

truman

I don’t know why Ellie has a whistle around her neck.

Truman was hit by a car a few months ago – he was a Katrina rescue before that. His people couldn’t afford the surgery on his hip so they were going to put him to sleep. Our vet is getting “soft in his old age” and fixed him anyway. Truman was living at the vet with the clinic animals, Factor (the blood dog) and John Quincey (a cat that turned up in our yard a few years ago). Since he is an old man and indifferent to cats, I really can’t imagine a more perfect dog for us. So here he is. ALL of his fur is here too.

We also hosted a Guest Dog who turned up in the driveway on Saturday morning.

GuestDog

She has ears, she’s just doing something funny with them.

Guest Dog had beautiful manners and a collar but no tags. So she spent the weekend with us in the garage and the outdoor kennel. We had called everyone local to tell them we’d found her because I was sure her people would call looking for her on Monday. Sure enough, she had just hopped into the truck with our Amazing Animal Control Officer when our vet called saying that her people wanted to know where she was. I like it when our guest dogs have happy endings.

Speaking of happy endings, I’m about to sew that little calico together.

calicohead

You would not believe the amount of concentration those spots took.

That little kitty head took forever! Mostly because I needed all my brain to work on her. I don’t get to use all of my brain on any one thing very often. Just see above for why.

What I’m Up To: Bunnies and Bears

gardeniarabbita1
maltbeara1

That’s about all I have to show for the past week and a half. Whee!

I’ve got two critters to finish up (a custom calico and an orange Cat) and then I can start on my patterns for this year! I’ve got three alphabet animals planned with an option for a fourth.

The theme to this year appears to be texture.

Hydrangea Hippo

hydrangeahippoa2

I forgot that I was naming all the modern-style toys after flowers, so I went with ‘Hydrangea’ for the hippo. Now I’m working on a classic dog, an elephant and I’ve got a bear in a really luscious merino/alpaca in my To Go bag. After that, I need to do a classic monkey and a Roger cat and then I’ll feel re-stocked enough to work on something new!

Poppyseed Cat

poppyseedcat

Poppyseed Cat

It’s getting harder and harder to come up with flavor names for all the different grays. While I’m waiting on my Ravenwood Kid (arriving sometime this summer), I’m trying to knit up the other cashmere I have. Poppyseed is made from Jade Sapphire in the aran weight.