Skip to main content

Secret Knitting: Toys!


In today's post, I'll be sharing the toys I made for holiday gifting this year, starting with the Fraternal Twin Monkeys I made for our friends in Portland who were expecting twins next month. However, they got an early Christmas gift this year with the early arrival of said twins on Christmas Eve!

The pattern is Rebecca Danger's Jerry the Musical Monkey, and I used some Cascade 220 that I got on closeout from Doodlebug Yarn earlier this year. It was so hard to send them away to their new home, but I know they will be well-loved.

Early last week, I decided to crochet two patterns from the book I got for my birthday, Stacey Trock's Crocheted Softies; one for my friend Ellen and one to add to Tyler's stocking. For Ellen, I thought that Milton the Slowpoke Snail would be really awesome with a Zombie BBQ shell (and I just happened to have a partial skein of Shepherd Worsted in my stash in that particular colorway!). Who doesn't need a Christmas snail?


For my husband, I thought I'd make Zork the Alien, which he seemed to like when I was paging through the book. I originally wanted to make it in aqua, but didn't have enough yarn on hand. The fates decreed I should use the very same green color as pictured, which is not something I typically do! For flair, I decided to crochet the ruffle using Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted in Envy. Tyler loved it and was most definitely surprised!


Finally, my pal Ellen made this awesome bear for me - he's felted and fuzzy, and I love this little bear toes!



Comments

  1. Love the idea of a Christmas snail. I love Stacey's patterns. I also love those monkeys!

    ReplyDelete
  2. All very cute and I'm very envious of the New Glarus. We can't get that here.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Overdyeing A Finished Knit

Even after just a few years of knitting or crocheting, you're bound to have some finished projects lying around that never get worn or used. After 10+ years of crafting, I have more than just "some" or "a few"....and with my ongoing quest to declutter my house this year, I've become obsessed with going through these forlorn projects and making some Big Decisions. Sometimes, they are perfectly fine and just need a new and loving home. Other projects may have not turned out quite right: there might have been some mistakes in the knitting that I thought I could live with, or the yarn was gorgeous but not well-matched to the pattern, or my  taste has drastically changed since I finished making the project...in any case, why on earth did I keep knitting?! Who knows, but I don't feel good about gifting anything that falls into this category to someone else. These projects have been relegated to the "frog pile" (or should I say, frog pond?), to b...

Easy DIY: Beaded Vintage Snowflake Ornament Kits from Solid Oak Inc.

I was really excited to step outside of my comfort zone and try something new as part of my "Christmas in July" theme this month. The kind folks at Solid Oak Inc offered me a chance to review one of their Nostalgic Christmas beaded crystal ornament kits I couldn't resist. My tree is already full of ornaments I've inherited or been gifted from other family members and friends,  so these pretty crystal beaded ornaments will fit right in I think! I was super impressed with  this compact little kit , which includes everything needed to create three gorgeous vintage-style ornaments - just add a pair of round nose pliers (I found mine on Amazon for less than ten bucks).  The instructions had some fabulous tips for newbies like me; for example, it recommended sorting the beads and laying them out in order on a towel or beading mat to prevent them from rolling away. That may seem obvious, but I was totally ready to start beading on my kitchen table without a...

What If I Didn't Add Heels?

Last weekend, I finished the first sock with my Waterlilies yarn , and just for yuks, I tried it on even though it was basically just a tube sock. Much to my surprise, it fit really well, even without a heel. Who knew? So, that got me thinking: what if I just didn't add the heels?  I never thought a tube sock would actually fit nicely, but I genuinely like the fit, so...why spend time to add the heels? As the saying goes, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.... Let's say I decide not to add heels once the second sock is done - there will still be placeholder yarn for the afterthought heels, as you can see above, so should I leave it in and just weave in the ends? Or should I remove it, put the live stitches back on needles and at least graft them together using more of the Waterlilies yarn? I plan on mulling all of this over as I knit the second sock, and I'd love to hear your opinions of what you think would look best (or if you think this whole "n...