Knitting:Dickensian Party Mouse, Another Cook and Ninja Kitty

This is the second Dickensian Party Mouse Cook, by Alan Dart that I have knit. For details on yarn, additional notes, or to compare mice, go to my post on the first one I knit. I made this one for a Christmas gift.

The pictures may get scrambled in this post. I am working on it. Frustrating. WordPress does not handle several pictures without a lot of text. Argh!

This mouse came out a little different than the original. I was better at my increases, an decreases so the quality of the work was better. You cannot really tell in the pictures. Her head came out bigger this time, not due to overstuffing. I like the narrower head of my first one better as you can better see the eyes. The eyes on this one needs some adjustment. I think they squint a little bit. I may not have time to do this since at the time I am writing this, it is about time to give gifts. Maybe I can do it after. With the bigger head, the hat did fit much better and I did not have to adjust it much.

Knitting: Dickensian Party Mouse, Cook

This is a pattern by Alan Dart from the Dickensian Party Mice collection. There are 9 mice to this series and a Christmas tree. This is the cook (baker?) mouse.

I started her about 3 weeks ago. She is a fairly easy knit since she is not knit in the round. I did have to look up a few stitches. Also, the directions for putting together the parts were not the most clear. I think this is mostly due for the need of a side shot of one of the mice to get a better idea more than the text. But she came together!

Knitting Help: Where to go for that stitch you need.

Have you run across a stitch in a pattern you have yet to learn yet you just cannot seem to find good instructions on how to perform it?

I found a site that shows oodles of different stitches with video. And…gasp!…the videos are usually clear! I often would run across a video on how to do a stitch and yet due to the color of the yarn, hands in the way, speed of knitting, and so on, I would not be able to follow.

Knitting: My First Fingerless Mitts

Pattern: Berry Hill Fingerless Mittens by Liz Thompson. (Free through Ravelry.com-read my post about it if you have not heard of it).

Needle: US 4 / 3.5 mm (4 double pointed needles)

Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Silky Merino (Wool)

How much?

1 skeins = 150.0 yards (137.2m) Some left over. Plenty for longer cuffs than in the picture. (I goofed on length)

Colorway: 1102

medium/easy-to medium in difficulty.

The colors do not come out nice in the pictures.

Knitting: Blue Crayfish

I adapted a (free!) pattern for a knit lobster by Molly Lincoln at        http://dirigo.wordpress.com/2007/12/17/free-pattern-toy-lobster/ to look   a little more like my blue crayfish.

This is one of the best lobster patterns I have come across and have had it in  my queue of projects for awhile. When I recently acquired a (real) blue crayfish, I just had to knit this immediately. I decided to modify it a little bit to make it more like my crayfish, not because I thought the pattern needed any changing on its own.

Knitting: Ravelry.com – Gotta Love It

http://www.ravelry.com

I learned to knit about a year ago, maybe a little more. I had to teach myself since I did not know anyone near me who knits or cared to knit. Between the Internet and some handy books I managed to figure it out. And loved it! I was surprised. I should not have been because I love crafts but I never had an interest in learning. I even grew up around knitting and crocheting since my mom was always making blankets that way. It just hit me one day that I thought it would be really neat to do. No real reason. So I did.

I went crazy for awhile knitting scarves but that soon became tedious. I had no one to share my projects with (I could never fit my schedule with knitting groups) and no real good way to learn something other than scarves. Bleh. I stopped knitting for about 6 months.

Then someone pointed me to Ravelry…

Coffee Cozy-It’s Adjustable! (knitting)

If you are looking for a cozy to knit that can fit through the handle of a coffee mug, this one is great. It is adjustable for as many sizes as you have buttons and it can fit other beverage containers. It is a quick, easy knit for those filler projects or quick gifts.

Knitting Links

• This post is dedicated to links related to knitting. I have not tried all of the patterns posted yet but I will mark them with an ” * ” if I did. I will blog about any I did as well.

Feel free to leave input if you try them. Keep checking back for more.

Link Categories so far are General Knitting Links, Knitting Instructions, and Free Patterns (including charity knitting), and Not Free, But Worth Mentioning, Holiday Knits, Vote!

Last Update: March 07, 2009. A free Alan Dart Easter pattern. Chick and eggs. Listed under Spring Holiday Knits.

November 13, 2008. Another charity doll pattern added in charity knits and mini Christmas stockings in Holiday knits.

Oct 31: Now in the works in free patterns….Holiday Knits! I hope to represent a multitude of holidays over time as I come across patterns. It might take awhile. Please do not think I am leaving anyone out.

October 31. Link to a basic doll pattern to knit.

Illusion Knitting

Alien Illusion Scarf

 The pattern for this scarf is located in the book “Stitch ‘n Bitch” by Debbie Stoller. This is my first attempt at illusion knitting. It is neat how you can look one way and only see stripes, and from another direction you see the faces. I would like to make my own pattern next but it will be awhile before I finish this one. I am about 3/4 finished but I became bored with repeating the pattern over and over. Currently it is on hold while I get a few other projects out of the way. Hopefully I will return in time to finish it before it gets cool out. This is also one of my first knitting projects. I started this about a year ago.

You need a fairly tight knit and yarn that is not fuzzy or chunky for the illusion to work properly. Here I use worsted weight yarn. It is not great yarn and I wish I had invested in something a little softer for the time and effort involved in this scarf. For those of you who have been knitting longer, it will probably go together much faster.

Charity Knitting-Comfort Dolls

My first comfort doll.

(Most recent update: March 8, 2010: Near the end are pictures of dolls made by a reader. Hers are going to Haiti!)

I recently ran across this site asking for people to knit these simple dolls for African AIDS orphans. What they do is use these dolls in place of packing material around supplies that get shipped over there. When the supplies are unpacked, the dolls are given out to the kids. They strongly suggest using brown yarn, rather than pink btw.