Tag: toys

Knitting

A Dearth of UFO’s

Iris Rose

They say that the road to hell is paved with good intentions, but I beg to differ. I believe that this road is paved with all of the grand schemes and unfinished projects that I have lying around in my craft space and (quietly) in other areas of our home.  And, before you assume that I have a reasonable stash, this is only the part that is allowed out in public.

I told myself: “Self, you are going to get all of this mess cleaned up before the New Year starts!” to which I replied: “Good luck with that, honey!” I did try my best, with a little procrastinating of course, to get all of the odds and ends cleaned up in the last couple of weeks but with Christmas, vacation, and any other excuse I could find, it didn’t get done. This is what I have left, and I have no illusions about getting it all done at this point.

 

My yoke sweater that I started goodness knows when is back. This has been one of those projects that stalled due to anger at my miscalculations and then lack of interest over the warm months. I have made good progress over the last week and am going to keep on going until it is done. I plan on a Latvian Braid up both front edges with a black folded stocking stitch band (buttoned) and ribbing at the neck, bottom and cuffs in black as I ran out of the grey. I think that it will work and be closer to what I imagined at the start of this than the mess that I began with.

Next, I am almost finished a little tunic, machine knit, with crocheted trim and hand knit neck ribbing, yet to be done. This one turned out just as I envisioned and is a prototype for a new pattern, another thing that I have been ignoring.

Then there is the SHAWL. DD1 gifted me with a couple of Tea Cakes in the spring. I went ahead and sketched out a shawl, started work on it and realized that two cakes would not be enough. Of course, by that time, Tea Cakes were gone from Michaels. I finally tracked some down in the Wool Warehouse online and am ready to go ahead with the rest of the shawl, combining knitting and crochet. This is another pattern that should be forthcoming in the New Year.

I still have all of the toys that I worked up on vacation, but these will definitely wait until all of the above are done to finish these up.  And, there may be a hat or two lying in wait as well!

Have a happy week with lots of crafting time!

Yarn, Knitting and Crochet

Wrap It Up For Kids

Iris Rose

Last week I wrote about handmade gifts and shamelessly suggested my own patterns for you to make in time for gift giving at Christmas. Today I will just as shamelessly suggest some of my patterns for kids! It always surprises me at how much little ones appreciate a gift made just for them.  My patterns are all priced at $4.99 or less.

If you crochet, my Toddler’s Pretty Crocheted Cardigan (paid) is an easy and fast make for your Christmas princess. Made with low cost acrylic yarn, you can probably make this with something from your stash. I used Red Heart Soft for my pattern tests, but I have also made this with other basic worsted weight yarn.

My Little Lovely Lacey Cardigan is another pretty (paid) make. Combining both knit and crochet, I have offered you size 6 months to girls 8 in this one in DK weight yarn.

Knit and Sewn Kid’s Dress, also paid, combines a knitted top with a sewn fabric skirt. Make it up in a pretty glitzy yarn on top and satin or lace on the bottom and the Christmas dress is done.

On the toy side, my Sweet Doll Bed is a very quick crochet project for a last minute gift that will make a little one smile. It will fit up to an eight inch doll and can easily be modified by increasing the rounds of the base. Using acrylic worsted weight, this one won’t break the bank either.

How about a Monster? Free in my Ravelry store, this one requires a little more knitting skill but is really fun to do.

And lastly, how about a cute hat? This is also free in my Ravelry store, a quick make and kids just love to wear a Tiger Hat on their head. You will need to know how to knit in the round and have a little more skill to make the features.

I posted a pattern for a cute rabbit that is easy to make in a blog post earlier this year, another freebie if you take the time to look back to May 3rd!

I hope that these suggestions will inspire you to create handmade gifts whether you use my patterns or not.

Thank you for reading and happy crafting this week!

Travel, Yarn, Knitting and Crochet

Kananaskis And A Crafty Week

Iris Rose

I had a great week, how about you? The weekend craft sale was great but very tiring. I don’t handle the stress of anticipating what, if anything, will sell so I am glad that I have this one under my belt.

Before I show you last weekend though, I forgot to post last week about DD1’s birthday weekend away to Kananaskis in the Rockies. It was a special birthday so we all got together at a lovely hotel and had a great time in the pools and just generally enjoying the fresh air and great beauty of the province that we live in.

I was at the Springbank Art Club craft sale last weekend and really was very gratified by all of the lovely comments on my work. Sales were good and I have a clearer mind on what I need to focus on for the future. I should know better than to say something like that. It is always a curse!

I didn’t make any of my critter hats for the sale as I was restricted from competing with other vendors that also make hats. I did have my grandkids visit wearing the hats that I featured last week and had a really strong response so I have been busy this week making more for my next sale, Etsy Foothills, in Okotoks on November 24th.

And now for a whine, just a caution for those Canadians who order yarn from Europe and the UK that is shipped through DHL. I paid for courier shipping from the Wool Warehouse (great online store and great customer service) and was dismayed to be told by DHL that before they would deliver my parcel, I had to pay $18.45 to clear customs on top of the fee I had already paid for shipping. The value of my yarn was $58.00CAD, shipping was $21.00. When I have had parcels of greater value delivered by Canada Post, there is no custom clearance fee or duty. I suspect that DHL is charging a blanket fee whether there is duty to be collected or not, holding your parcel hostage.

I won’t be ordering from Europe or the UK anytime soon if this is how shipping is handled. Regular post is an option but I waited nine weeks for an order shipped this way from England to Canada. It is too bad that one giant company can ruin the business of smaller ones in this way.  Thanks for listening and I am off the soap box.

Have a happy week with lots of pretty yarn on your needles and hooks!

Knitting

Craft Sale Critter Hats

Iris Rose

Okay, I am officially losing it. A couple of weeks ago, I thought that Wednesday was Thursday. Yesterday, I thought Thursday was Wednesday. For those of you that wait with bated breath for my weekly blog post, I apologize for being a day late but not for being a dollar short.

I have been ramping up for the big Springbank sale this weekend. It is a new one to me and I am always nervous before a new sale. I had everything ready two weeks ago, that is how worried I am. Silly I know but so totally me. I have four bins of toys and one of kid’s sweaters so I think that I will be good for products.


I have been working on some cute hats for the next sale on the 24th. I made one for DGD2; she put it on and wore it all weekend. I would say that it was a hit. I forgot to take a photo but there is no chance that I will get it back! She had asked for doll clothes a while ago and I had fun with those too.


DGD1 saw the new hat and asked very shyly if I could make her one too. Of course, if I make her one I need to make her younger brother one too which is never a hardship. I really love it when one of the kids or grandkids asks for me to make them something. I feel flattered and privileged.


Anyway, here are a couple of the hats that I made. The are based on my free Tiger Hat pattern that you can download here. DH says make some for sale so I am hard at work! They only take a couple of hours to make and I really have fun creating them so it is a win, win. Plus, I can use some of my SABLE stash so I guess that makes it a win, win, win project, my favourite kind.


Have a great week and don’t feel guilty if you start a new project or two; I know I will be starting at least that many!

Knitting

Monsters In The Making

Iris Rose

Well I scooped an extra day this week by thinking that it was Thursday last Wednesday and posting a day early, oops!

This week, I have been continuing to make stock for my craft sale. I am almost (and that is a big almost) ready. I finished all of my Sugar Cubes for now and have moved on to Monsters. I had a bunch of fun with these as you can really use your imagination to make them each unique and as colourful as possible.

This toy is a great way to use up those fancy fluffy yarns that you bought as irresistible and now wonder what the heck you are going to make with it.

 

 

My pattern for these is free on Ravelry for now and is not a difficult pattern to make. You do need to have some knitting skills though to increase and decrease. I would not rate this as a rank beginner pattern.

I am going to continue my toy making for one more week and then it is time to inventory and ticket for the first sale. I am going to try to squeeze in a couple of more kid sweaters as well, good luck on that to me!

I started making a poncho with Hobbii Twirls yarn and I am not loving the way it looks. The yarn is really nice to work with. It is soft and has a nice stitch definition, but I somehow expected it to be more gradient than it is. You can see stripes in the work where the colours have changed. It may be that this is just the nature of this style of yarn. I own a cake of Whirl but haven’t used it yet. I hope it has gentler colour transitions.

Thank you for following my blog and have a happy crafty week!