WHAT I'VE BEEN KNITTING: CHINESE NEW YEAR

Hello! Its been a little while since my last post, since being featured by the Daily Mail it's been a bit of a whirlwind, with emails, interviews and orders. However at the beginning of January I started planning a dragon for Chinese New Year. Last year I went to an amazing night at the SU which had a beautiful lion and fantastic decoration and when deciding what to make this year a dragon was at the top of my list. 

To make the dragon I used some lovely yarns, such as Sidar's baby bamboo for the red, snowflake chunky for the white, and my favourite Twilleys Goldfingering for the gold. I also used white felt for the teeth and white under the body. Here are a couple of photos of him, one against the black and the other where he is now - hanging over the door frame downstairs. Underneath are some images of my test dragons, the first being the initial head I made and the second testing for the pattern for his body. I do have the pattern for him which I will post soon if people are interested in making one for themselves!

  

Anyway, I have been knitting so much lately, which I will be posting about in the forth coming days. I've had a lot of interest in my wigs, and the patterns. So keep watching this space as there may be one appearing on my blog soon.

Happy New Year!

Louise 

xox

WHAT I'VE BEEN KNITTING: ONE FOX, TWO

I've been knitting so many commissions recently, mainly foxes. I though I'd do a quick update on them. Here are two little guys with the slim face. One in a foxy orange and the other in a beautiful wine red Wendy Mode yarn. 

I've also been working on some hats, a vintage inspired ladies turban and a moss stitch beanie,on my list of things to do is another Totoro and my first commissioned wig. They have been getting a lot of interest from my press and I'm excited to send one to France. 

I also just wanted to say a big thank you to anybody reading from the daily mail link. I never expected such a positive reaction to my wigs, I just love knitting. 

Sincerely,

Louise

xox

WHAT I'VE BEEN KNITTING: MORE WILDLIFE AND GHIBLI

I recently had an order for one of my fox stoles, with the newly designed thinner face. Instead of using Rowan yarn I decided to venture out in the cold and snow to a new wool shop and found this beautiful foxy orange colour by DROPS. You can find it here! I would definitely recommend it as it feels great and is a superwash yarn. 

If you're local to Essex then you need to check out Yarn Therapy, a wonderful little shop in Great Baddow. What I loved about their shop was that you can't buy acrylic in there, and as I move away from using it, its as place I'll be visiting more and more. Also I prefer supporting these kind of shops rather than going to Hobbycraft, even though I practically live next to it.

I also sold my first soot sprite, which I made in a evening. I'm happier with the eyes on this one as I felt (craft pun) they were a little far apart on the first. All I can do is learn as I go along, and I do really like making these little things. 

Sincerely,

Louise

xox

WHAT I'VE BEEN KNITTING: SPIRITED AWAY NO-FACE PILLOW

As many of my blog reader know I've only recently discovered the magic of Studio Ghibli, down to my boyfriend asking for a Totoro for Christmas. Since then I've watched most of the films and even brought a Totoro onesie that I never seem to take off, meaning nobody wants to be near me as it's beginning to smell. 

Anyway, for his birthday the boyfriend asked for a no-face. I must say out of all of the Ghibli movies I watched over Christmas Spirited Away was my favorite. I love Totoro as a character ever so much, but I spent the whole time watching it absolutely amazed. I was so drawn into it that I didn't even think about knitting throughout it, so being asked to make the odd spirit character was rather pleasant after seeing him knitting away towards the end of the film. He'd asked for one about the same size as his Totoro, but I had different plans. I wanted to make it more of a pillow, so he could give it hugs at night (obviously). 

I had some chunky black and white yarn left over from my other projects, and had been given a lilac colour that I doubled up a few times to match the thickness of the chunky and started knitting away. I have the pattern written down, so I am hoping to share it once its perfected. I used felt for the eyes and a whole bag of stuffing went into him. I was determined to do a life-sized one, however was stopped due to lack of yarn, but maybe thats something to do in the future. 

The botton two photos were taken at his new home, and feature all the knits I've made as presents. I'm not sure whats next, I quite fancy making Calcifer, as he's kinda cute. I'll be posting a pattern really soon for Chinese New Year which I'm working on at the moment so keep your eyes pealed! 

Sincerely,

Louise

xox

WHAT I'VE BEEN KNITTING: MAN'S BEST FRIENDS

This is the final post on my Christmas knits, but as I've just started a new job where I can hand knit all day I'll try and make just as many little creatures. And once I've tested those patterns I'm planning to post more on here. A website is in the works also, so keep watching this space! 

Todays post is on a few pooches I made for clients, two small toys dogs and a scarf. I used some of my favourite yarns, including Sidar's softspun gold wool, with its lovely metallic element. My little square of black felt came in useful for the eyes and noses again as I felt it gave the golden dog quite a fun expression, and made the scarf childproof. I am more of a dog person, but sometimes I think cats are easier to knit! My no-face is just about finished so he'll be up on here soon, today I also brought My Neighbour Totoro on DVD (I rarely buy them) so maybe I'll be inspired to make some more Totoros as I'll be watching that tomorrow!

Sincerely,

Louise

xox

WHAT I'VE BEEN KNITTING: MOVIE KNITS

Today I'm blogging about some more Christmas gifts I made, all movie related. My poor wrists hurt so much during the week leading up to Christmas, and I managed to finish them just in time (Christmas Eve)! 

Looking back to the tiny 2d balloon pattern I posted this gift was the reason for its creation and documentation. My sister is a huge fan of Up, so I wanted to do something relating to it. I spent all my time on the tube knitting these balloons, brought a frame and some felt and spend a whole day sewing it together.

The second is a Batman sweater, which I was asked to knit for my sister's boyfriend. I used chunky yarn, and made the grid for the symbol. I think I could of downscaled the symbol slightly, but at least it makes it unique. I have posted a photo we received on Christmas day of Jake modelling his new Batman attire. 

Finally, this is the Captain America hat I made for my other sister, I did look at some of the designs of other hats on google to get a basic idea, as I was making it on Christmas Eve. Again I used chunky wool, and mother made the pompom, which I think brings the hat to life. 

Sincerely,

Louise

xox

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

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

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:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/118858151/custom-made-knitted-faux-badger-stole

Sincerely,

Louise

xoxo

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

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!