If you use your imagination perhaps you can see the eyes and limbs already attached? Currently, I’m at the point where I need to stuff the head and perhaps add the eyes and embroider the face before I finish decreasing the head. As you see the head is much bigger than the body. It reminds me of those bobble heads. If I work on it a bit today, after my work is complete, I should be finished this tomorrow… which of course gives me ample time to sew a cute outfit for this amigurumi doll.
I started knitting this yesterday evening. What’s hilarious is that I was knitting this in front of my daughter. She has no clue that I’m making it for her. Yesterday she asked, “What are you knitting mommy?” I replied, “Oh I’m just playing with stitches…” 😉 She saw me knitting a few rows this morning so she knows it’s a doll, but she still doesn’t know I’m making it for her. She most likely thinks I’m making something to add to the items I’ve knitted for those in need. Now that this project is actually starting to look like amigurumi, I’ll have to stop knitting in front of her. The rest of the knitting will be complete while she’s at school or sleeping.
I love my daughter. We spend a lot of time together. Sometimes it’s hard to believe we’ve been hanging out for over ten years (I’m counting pregnancy time.) But it’s true..
And while I’d like to say I’ve knitted tons of those knitted slippers since that time, I’ll be honest and say that hasn’t happened. I love the pattern though and will use it whenever I feel the urge to knit some quick slippers. This time around I modified the pattern (OK, I did that that the first time too) and added an extra “cushiony” knitted sole. I’ve felted (aka fullcloth) the knitted slippers once and will have to felt them a few more times before they shrink to her size. But this just means that the finished product will be super soft knitted slippers. Which will be perfect for her to slip on her feet when the weather is cool! We have hardwood floors and slate tile throughout the house. Which works perfectly with my Hoover twin tank steam mop.
Knitted Voodoo doll; Susan Claudino design
Also I’m knitting the above voodoo doll. Isn’t it precious? The above picture is not something I’ve knitted. That picture is one of Susan Claudino’s. She’s also the awesome designer of this pattern. Oh by the way, her user name on Ravelry is NoKnitSherlock. I discovered this via Ravelry. I tell you, lots of enablers there! Anyway this knitted voodoo pattern made me think of the embroidered zombie doll and zombie bunny I made for my daughter. Since she loves those shirt so much I figured she might like a doll too.
Minecraft: Enderman
I’m also thinking about sewing my daughter something from Minecraft. Perhaps an Enderman? She loves that game but I’ve never played it, although I’ll occasionally look over her shoulder to see what she’s doing. It looks easy enough to make, doesn’t it? If all else fails, I can always do an online search and see what I find. Next week is just around the corner! Once the items are finished, I’ll be sure to post pictures.
Originally, I was going to make this entire hat seed stitch…
Row one: *Knit 1, purl 1. Repeat from * across.
Row two: *Purl 1, knit 1. Repeat from * across.
But I thought stockinette showed off the colors in this lovely Malabrigo yarn so much better. Therefore, you only see knitted seed stitch on the hat brim.
This past weekend, I started knitting this hat while my daughter’s choir was practicing for their musical. My fingers flew as I knitted and watched her (and the rest of her choir mates perform) and before I knew it the rehearsal was over. Today, during my daughter’s weekly choir practice, I finished knitting a hat with some of that incredibly soft Malabrigo yarn.
If you’ve followed my site for some time, you know I rarely make items for myself. The usually end up going to some loved one or a charity where I volunteer.
This Malabrigo yarn was incredibly soft
Well guess what? I made this knitted hat for me! Which explains why it’s so large. It fits my head perfectly. My hats need to be big to fit my thick locks. And… I made this hat long, I can easily tuck my locks inside this hat. Perfect!
So as you see, even though my recent posts have focused on and beekeeping and sewing I’m still enjoying knitting! These days, I’m knitting exclusively with my Hiya Hiya Stainless Steel Sharp knitting needles. Eventually, I’ll get around to posting some of the items (knitting and sewing) I’ve been making and perhaps I’ll even get around to posting a picture of me modeling this hat…
This past week has been extremely busy and unfortunately I didn’t even get to sew the Easter dress for my daughter. We had a slight change in plans since my six year old nephew was visiting us and so my free time was spent including him on the activities that my daughter and I do. He had so much fun during his week long visit, and so did we.
Urban Threads – Mustang Sally UT1283. I didn’t embroider this one, just want to show how it looked before I switched the colors.
My nephew loves cars, so yesterday I purchased this embroidered design, “Mustang Sally” from Urban Threads. Just to clarify, the above Mustang, isn’t what I embroidered, it’s the sample that is featured on the Urban Threads website. They had a few car designs on their site, but he liked this one the most. He wanted his car to be red and since I have plenty of embroidery thread, my “toughest decision” was deciding which colors to use.
Brother SE400 – Embroidering a car
Yesterday morning, I pulled out my Brother SE400, uploaded the design to my embroidery machine and let it start sewing. My nephew and daughter hovered around while it was sewing. My nephew is fascinated with my sewing embroidery machine (Brother SE400) and was excited to see the design come to life.
Eventually, I’ll write a review about the Brother SE-400. I’m really impressed with the embroidery function. In fact, that’s all I use the machine for, embroidery. The few issues I’ve ran into while using the machine have all been my fault and were easily fixed. With the above design I used two pieces of stabilizer (top and bottom of the t-shirt). When I embroidered the doll design on one of my daughter’s t-shirts, I’d only used it on the bottom of the t-shirt and thought it might actually look nicer if I added it to the top of the t-shirt also… I was right.
My Brother SE400 did an amazing job with this embroidered car.
It took over an hour to complete, but he was thrilled with his embroidered car t-shirt! Embroidery or embellishments are simple ways to dress up a plain t-shirt. The embroidered design isn’t the only item created yesterday.
Yesterday, when we took my nephew back to New Jersey, I was able to complete another small project. This time it involved knitting!
Knitting: Simple ribbed beanie hat for a NICU baby
Since I didn’t drive there, I kept my hands occupied knitting this simple ribbed beanie hat. I’m thinking I’ll crochet some type of embellishment to the hat or perhaps crochet a fancy border onto the hat? Who knows…
My nephew liked the hat and promptly put it on his head. Red just happens to be his color. I must say he looked a bit silly with the tiny hat on his head. I let him wear it for a bit but eventually took it away with the promise I’d make him an appropriate hat. I already gifted him with a knitted hat while he was here, the funny thing is when I made that hat I had no idea who I was making it for. I tucked it away knowing that eventually it’d find a home. My nephew is thrilled since it looks similar to the knitted hat I made for my father (his grandfather.)
I started another knitted hat, but wasn’t able to finish it since I drove back to Maryland from New Jersey.
It’ll make a nice blanket to snuggle in, when it’s chilly outside. Initially I had planned the exact colors I wanted for this blanket, but recently I abandoned that idea (even though the end result would have been beautiful) and decided this knitted blanket would be my surprise blanket. I’m really not going to think about the colors I choose. I’ll just pick up a skein of yarn and start knitting. The only requirements is that it has to be worsted weight.
Hmm… how can I claim this itty bitty blanket?
Well look who’s making an appearance! Mr. B! If I let him, he’d be curled under this itty bitty blanket. Sorry buddy, you’ll just have to wait until it’s finished.
Mr. B, begging won’t work! But the yarn is so soft!
As you can see I still have a long ways to go, but I’m not discouraged and thinking there’s no end in sight! When I have a few moments, I pick up this blanket and start knitting.
A little over a month ago, I stopped by the Ravelry forums and read, and commented, on the post about Hiya Hiya end caps. Instantly I thought about the panda, which is their logo… and I was hoping it would make an appearance on Hiya Hiya’s point protectors!
I still do not know the answer to your question yet. The stoppers are a bit complex (and really cute) and the design is intended to be used for multiple purposes.
This was my response…
Ok, since you said they’re really cute, I’m now hoping the stoppers are little pandas. 😉
And it looks like my wish has come true…
Hi All,
Here is a picture of the new HiyaHiya Interchangeable stoppers and point protectors. I think they are really cute! We named him Li.
I’m looking forward to seeing them available for sale. I usually don’t choose cute items for myself, but I do like these a lot… then again I’ve always loved pandas.
Hiya Hiya cable connectors do the same thing as end caps – secure your work so you can use the needles for another project. They also can be used to extend your cable length.
Since end caps aren’t available (yet) I’ve been using Hiya Hiya cable connectors as a replacement. Just make sure you order the right size for your needle set since there are small cable connectors and a large cable connectors. You also have the added bonus of using the cable connectors to extend your cables — if that’s needed.
I cannot say enough good things about my Hiya Hiya Sharps, I love them and haven’t touched my Knit Picks (except to wrap up a few and give away) since using my Hiya Hiya needles.
These mittens are quite deceptive although they are just one layer of worsted weight yarn, they are indeed quite toasty. My daughter loves them!
Toasty mittens to keep little hands covered from the cold.
To make them super duper toasty I could have doubled the yarn or knitted a liner for these mitts, but it seems my daughter is plenty warm with these. Gauge was a big help, I used my Hiya Hiya size 3/3.25mm knitting needles which made for densely knitted wool fabric.
If you read my earlier post you know that I started knitting these mittens in yellow, but I’ve decided to use that yarn to knit a super squishy blanket.
Knitting a super soft blanket with washable (merino) wool.
I’m making this blanket with an incredibly soft and washable wool (merino) yarn and it will gradually transition into other colors. If you know how to knit (k) and Slip 1 (s1) you too can make this blanket.
I’m calling this blanket ‘Shades of Autumn‘ since it will gradually merge into other colors. I love Autumn for many reasons, but one thing I regularly look for are the rich and vivid colors that can be displayed on leaves, simply beautiful! My daughter and I collect those leaves. I’m still hunting for the colors I want to include. If you look closely, you’ll see that I’ve finally got around to using my Hiya Hiya Steel Sharps (large) set. The needle name and size are printed on each needle/cable. The needles I’m using are US size 11/8mm.
Once I finish the thumb gussets, the knitting part will be complete.
But back to those knitted mittens…
The good news is, I’m almost finished the mittens. The only thing left to do is to finish knitting the thumb gussets and the knitting part will be over. Then I’ll add some embroidery to the top of the mittens. I really loved knitting these mittens two at a time.
And then there’s the bad news…
I really disliked the yarn I used… Knit Picks Wool of the Andes. While some people don’t have problems with it, it really rubbed my poor hands raw. I would have been finished these gloves on Saturday, but I have to take breaks before knitting with this yarn. So you could call these mittens a true labor of love. I hated working with the yarn, but kept with it since my daughter loves the color (she picked it out herself during Cyber Monday at Knit Picks) and now she finally has her very own knitted mittens. She’s been asking me for a pair for a few months.
Once these gloves are complete I highly doubt I’ll be using this yarn again. It’s a shame really, It’s a lovely color and I have several skeins of Wool of the Andes left… most likely I’ll gift them to someone who will adore them. 😉
