Sunday 30 December 2012

WHAT I'VE BEEN KNITTING: SOOT SPRITES

As I had fallen head over heels with My Neighbour Totoro I finally decided to watch Spirited Away, which was exactly what I needed, an incredible breath of fresh air. Seeing all those little soot sprites and knowing how easily I could make one I quickly ran to my wool box, knowing I had some fluffy black yarn. I used my favourite knitting pattern for making balls, The Golden Snitch from the Knitted Toy Box blog. I then cut the two eyes out of felt, and used a chunky yarn for his arms and legs. I've already made another body, so soon I'll have my own work force!

For the boyfriend's birthday he's asked me for a knitted no-face, which I've started knitting today. I've seen a couple of patterns online, but nothing very special, so I will be putting mine online once perfected. He'll be more of a pillow than a toy, so I'm excited to get him finished. 



Sincerely,

Louise

xox

Friday 28 December 2012

WHAT I'VE BEEN KNITTING: FOX STOLE

Todays knit follows on from yesterdays post on the children scarves I'd been making. As I was making for a younger client I wanted to redesign him a little, using felt for the eyes and nose and having a shorter tail and legs. I used beautiful Rowan Creative Focus Worsted yarn, made up of wool and alpaca so he had a lovely texture to him. I think tweaking the design gives me more options when making these foxes, however I'm still not ready to finalise a pattern for them!




Sincerely,

Louise

xox

Thursday 27 December 2012

WHAT I'VE BEEN KNITTING: BADGER SCARF

Just as I was about to finish all my Christmas knits I accepted a last minute order to knit three children's scarves; a badger, a fox and a dog. I started them a week before Christmas and shipped them two days later. I worked non stop, having to travel to three different craft shops to source the yarn, as they had to be done in real wool, rather than acrylic. Here is the first of the scarves, a badger, as my client had seen some photos of my other knits, including the toy badger. I used my machine to knit the body, then transferred it to my needles to do the face by hand. I used felt on the eyes and nose as I knew it was a safer option for a child. I also used felt on the bottom of his little feet which I thought added a cute touch. The yarn is Rowan Cocoon; Mountain, a beautiful blend of merino and kid mohair.

Custom made badger scarves are now available on my etsy:





Sincerely,

Louise

xoxo

Wednesday 26 December 2012

WHAT I'VE BEEN KNITTING: MY NEIGHBOUR TOTORO

Now Christmas is over I can finally post about the knits I made my family and friends. Today is Totoro, from Studio Ghibli's My Neighbour Totoro. 


My boyfriend asked me for a knitted Totoro for Christmas, and after a trip to hobbycraft (excuse my Frech) where he chose the yarn, I started knitting away. I'd never seen the fim before so whilst making I watched away. It was lovely, and I couldn't believe I hadn't been introduced to it before. Talking about it to a friend she then mentioned the conspiracy that went along with it, and it then became a film that changed my life twice. However you perceive the film, Totoro is still super cute and I'm glad I knitted him. I used felt on the face, like I had with my knitted Jake, so I could adjust the face to any of his wonderful expressions. Custom Totoros will be available on my etsy shop in the new year!

I hope everybody had a lovely Christmas and got all their knitting done in time!

Sincerely,

Louise

xox

Saturday 22 December 2012

FEATURED: JUNIOR MAGAZINE JANUARY 2013


In November I had a call from a stylist inquiring about borrowing some of my knits for a shoot and I was fortunate enough to have a piece featured in the January 2013 issue of Junior Magazine. The editorial Dream Weaver was shot by Mark Shearwood and styled by Rachel Caulfield. It was really great to have one of my little foxes included, an does inspire me to make a mini collection. I'm looking forward to 2013, I'll be knitting like crazy!





Saturday 15 December 2012

WHAT YOU'VE BEEN KNITTING: UP AND AWAY

After posting my photo of my small unpoppable balloon on instagram, followed by the pattern on here, my friend 'sleepytime21' said they wanted to knit one. To my delight I was tagged in a post on IG with this adorable photo taken!
 
Soyoko Wakatsuchi started knitting only a while ago, but already has a lovely blog full of cute knits, yarns and other charming photos. I love how knitting can be translated across any language and how patterns bring people together. I think their photo is adorable, and puts the balloon into context. It makes me want to take better photos of my knits (with my degree in photography and all).
 
You can view Soyoko's blog here:
 
 
 

Monday 10 December 2012

KNITTING PATTERN: UNPOPPABLE BALLOONS

This is a super simple way to create cute little 2d balloons that will last forever! When casting on just leave a long tail for the balloons string and up and away we go.

Materials:
4mm Needles
A small amount of DK yarn per balloon.

CO - Cast On
K - Knit
P - Purl
KFB - Increase by knitting into the front and back of the stitch
K2TOG - Knit two stitches together to decrease
P2TOG - Purl two stitches together to decrease
BO - Bind Off
 
CO 3 st
1. P
2. K
3. P
4. KFB, K, KFB (5 st)
5. P
6. K1, KFB, K1, KFB, K1 (7 st)
7. P
8. K1, KFB, K3, KFB, K1 (9 st)
9. P
10. K1, KFB, K5, KFB, K1 (11 st)
11. P
12. K1, KFB, K7, KFB, K1 (13 st)
13. P
14. K1, KFB, K9, KFB, K1 (15 st)
15. P
16. K
17. P
18. K
19. P
20. K1, K2TOG, K9, K2TOG, K1 (13 st)
21. P1, P2TOG, P7, P2TOG, P1 (11 st)
22. K1, K2TOG, K5, K2TOG, K1 (9 st)
23. P1, P2TOG, P3, P2TOG, P1 (7 st)

BO the first stitch, keep the 2nd stitch on the right hand needle ready to BO, K3TOG the third stitch and then BO the 2nd. BO remaining the 3rd stitch and remaining 2.


 
 
Any questions please feel free to write to me!
 
xox


Friday 7 December 2012

WHAT I'VE BEEN KNITTING: PAST KNITS MANNEQUINS, FLOWERS & BADGERS

As Christmas is approaching I have so many knits on the go, but am unable to post about them because that'll ruin the surprise, and the best kind of prize is a surprise. Hello boxing day blog post!

So today I thought I'd blog about some of my past knits that I haven't posted on here. The first is a mini dress makers mannequin I made for my boyfriend's mother after she treated me to some lovely pastel yarns. I brought some black wire for the legs and attached it all together. I think I'd like to make a bigger one with patterns on and play around with the shaping a little more.

The second is a flower I made for a dear friend as a parting present when she moved back to India. It took a week on the train after I made two sets of petals. The first where with an odd yarn, so I simplified them with a lighter acrylic dk.

The third is a badger I made a while ago when I had finished uni and wanted to surprise a friend with him. I had my scribbled down pattern to upload which I then lost. I'm thinking about putting many of my prototype knits on etsy to remake so I can finally get these patterns online!

I'm looking forward to my weekend as I'm almost finished my Jack Russells, I have one sitting on the sofa currently headless and can't wait to see him come to life.

xox





Monday 3 December 2012

WHAT I'VE BEEN KNITTING: CEDRIC THE BULLDOG

For a while my friend had mentioned about making a knitted version of her bulldog Cedric. And after saying I was taking Christmas orders she quickly contacted me asking for him and a beard for her mother.
I began researching different knitted bulldogs seeing how they had been made as I wanted him to incorporate that much needed droopy texture. I found a horizontal pleat technique and worked that into my pattern on the face and his back.
From posting his photo on instagram I have been asked to knit other custom dogs. He will be on my etsy shop soon and once I have made a couple more I will be putting the pattern online.

xox

 



 
 




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