Tag: toys
Neatly Nested
Adorable and cheerful as they are, handmade softies tend to accumulate in mass amounts around here if left unchecked. Multiplying mysteriously throughout the course of a month, it seems as though they spring forth out of the ether, entirely of their own accord. There’s no stopping this home invasion, but there are certainly worse problems to worry about. When space is at a premium and not another square inch can be spared, at least this particular close-knit family of featherless fowl is happy to accommodate.
Nesting within each other like plush matryoshka dolls, no actual nest is required for them to call any place home. Luckily for them and their hosts, even the smallest spaces can comfortably contain all four, right down to the tiny eggling still waiting to hatch. No matter what, you can rest assured that it will be kept very warm!
[The Nesting Birds knitting pattern can be found on page 45 of Huge & Huggable Mochimochi: 20 Supersized Patterns for Big Knitted Friends by Anna Hrachovec.]
Pitter Patter of Little Feet
[Before launching into my latest rant, I just wanted to send out a HUGE thank you to everyone who replied to my frantic post the other day. You guys were such a great help, I was so bewildered and panicked, every time I thought about it I just felt sick to my stomach. After being vegan for a solid 2-3 years now, you would think you have the whole reading-every-single-label routine down by now, but this one managed to slide past me for far too long. Anyway, your suggestions all mean more than words to me, and I plan on searching for the VegLife Vegan One supplement today if there’s enough time. I’m hoping they’ll have it at Wild Oats…? Anyway, once more, thank you SO much for all your support, I knew that if anyone out there could help me, it was my fellow veggies.]
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How out of the loop am I! Only recently, I learned that a friend of mine was expecting some big changes to her household hierarchy in the form of an addition; A very small, and possibly demanding addition at that! She will soon become an aunt, as her sister is now almost 8 months pregnant! Although my dear friend isn’t exactly thrilled about this news, I haven’t heard anything so exciting in a long time. You know what a new baby means – Tons of tiny knit lovies to create!
Getting straight to work, I dove right into the One Hour Baby Booties in Stitch and Bitch Nation. I must say, the title doesn’t lie – This was one of the fastest projects I’ve been able to whip up in quite some time! Instant gratification, huh? It makes me want to knit other sweet baby things, just because they’re so cute and easy. I have no doubt that they will be appreciated by the mother, so who knows… If I can get my hands on some soft and inspiring baby yarn, there might be a sudden surge in the number of miniature finished objects…
Cupcakes Take Over the World!
A couple of weeks ago now, I found an adorable pattern to make a stuffed cupcake on Blah, Blah, Blahhhg, and completely fell in love with it. It seemed like the perfect thing to make for my nutritionist – She seems to really get a kick out of the knit sweets I bring her in particular.
And so it began innocently enough. A cute little chocolate cupcake with vanilla frosting, sprinkles, and a cherry. I was so pleased with it, I began to think it might be nice to have another little guy on hand, you know, in case of birthday present emergencies? Yeah, that’s it…
Almost as soon as the thought had formed in my head, my first cupcake seemed to almost morph over night. All of a sudden I now I had two, the second one with mint frosting no less. It all happened so fast, I wasn’t sure if I had even knit them. That’s when I knew I was in trouble, and that was only the beginning…
I woke up early one morning to the sounds of a struggle coming from the kitchen, and was horrified to discover… Not another cupcake, but something much worse. Something that threatened the very existence of cupcakes, something so evil, so maniacal, it could only be…
The Blueberry Muffin of DOOM!!!!
I was horrified; What was I to do? The muffin was insane, he didn’t even know what he was saying. Preaching some gibberish that muffins were just unfrosted cupcakes, and that soon regular cupcakes would be obsolete. After all, muffins are more acceptable as breakfast food anyway! As I watched in terror, things only became worse by the minute.
With a hostile look in his… er.. blueberries, he swooped down upon my helpless little cupcakes, intending to destroy each offender of his plan for world domination. Luckily I was there, and I held him off, his potential victims trembling in his wake. Still struggling, I had a long chat with the muffin, explaining that we needed both types of baked goods in our world to be whole, that there’s no need to be sore over their gorgeous frosting because you have so much to offer on your own.
It took a while for my words to get through to him, but after a few hours of soul search in the quiet of the oven, the he emerged a changed muffin.
Now that they each accepted each other as their own, special and unique pastries, they all became the closest of friends and lived happily ever after.
Aww.
Erm, anyway. I added an extra increase row at the beginning of the frosting so that they would puff out a little bit more, and (obviously) added little beads for sprinkles. With the muffin, I just supersized the pattern – Which came out a LOT bigger than I had intended – And added random bits of chunky blue yarn for the blueberries.
Just remember… Friends don’t eat friends!
Clowning Around
Another attempt out of The World of Knit Toys. I like this one a bit better, as it was much less frustrating to shape. It was just knit flat and then stuffed and sewn together, very simple and fairly rewarding.
I didn’t like how they gave it that ugly embroidered mouth, so I left it out, but under-stuffed it a little to give it a little kisser. Oh, and I decided to omit the bottom fin, since it would just get in the way / look funny, or you would just never even see it.
My little cousin absolutely adores the movie Finding Nemo, so I’m thinking that I’ll save it as a birthday or holiday gift for her.
Mr. Beaky
Why, hello there sir.
For what seems like ages, I had been lusting over the adorable little creatures created from patterns contained within The World of Knit Toys by Kath Dalmeny. Everywhere I looked, however, not a single bookstore could help me. The employee trying to help me would always give me a look as if I had suddenly started speaking gibberish, informing me that this book wasn’t even in their computer. Was it out of print? Simply out of stock? Who knows!
After months of frustration, my mom became tired of my griping and did a little research for me, and discovered it on Amazon.com, and not only was it under $10, but she offered to order another book she was interested in and cover the shipping and handling. What could be more perfect! So naturally… I had to consider it for another couple of weeks, because I’m a horribly and almost irrationally indecisive like that. Then I realized how stupid I was being, and became panicked at the thought that they may run out.
Now, after all that… I have to say, I’m a little bit disappointed thus far. This duck that I knit is a little… misshapen, to say the least. I don’t really understand how Ms. Dalmeny expects something knit flat like this to become a nicely proportioned stuffed animal, with a defined body, neck, and head. To get mine as it currently stands took more than just a little poking and prodding, to say the least. Another issue I have is that gigantic beak it’s sporting. It looks like it would better suit a crane or something; certainly not a duck.
Despite his flaws, I guess he’s growing on me a little bit, and I decided to name him Mr. Beaky. I’m not saying that this book was a complete let-down, but it was a bit less than I had anticipated. I’ll reserve further judgment until I try out some of the other patterns.