Dwip creation

As requested, here is the story of the creation of the Dwips.

The little Dwip named Bub was created after my niece got excited about aliens, although I wouldn't like to upset Bub by calling him an alien.

Bub was created using 3mm straight needles, Dk yarn and a little imagination. Dwips can be any size or colour, but Bub was 25 stitches wide and around 5 or 6cm high. He has a couple of stripes, three toes on each foot and a long tail.

Bub's body is simply a rectangle. By stuffing him lightly and pulling up the top corners (which should be the cast-on edge if you want ears/horns) his head had little spikes, a bit like ears. The shaping just comes from the way you stuff the body.

The feet were created by casting on two stitches and knitting one row and then increasing into both stitches and knitting another row, breaking the yarn and repeating this twice more. Then knit across all stitches and knit a couple of rows. Each toe will have threads that need weaving in, and they can be used to stitch the toes into shape.

The tail can be given vertical stripes by simply knitting a couple of long rows, or horizontal stripes by knitting a couple of stitches and increasing the number of rows.

Stitching on the toes and tail make the Dwip stand up, so don't worry about the base not being flat.

Alternatively, Dwips can have long dangly legs to sit on the edge of shelves, or they can have short tails. They can be multicoloured, they can be one colour, they can be knit in the round, they can have beads and buttons... the possibilities are endless!

There will be more Dwips, so stay tuned!

Snowman

I adapted a Jean Greenhowe pattern to create a snowman for the Moving Beyond Rectangles winter KAL but I'm not overly happy with the way he turned out.

Because it was a pattern for a baby, the head is not quite as big and round as I would probably like for a snowman. The colours I used for his hat and scarf are nice and bright though, although they were awful to knit with!

I also need to work on my sewing skills. I'm pretty confident with knitting now, but my sewing lets me down and as I'm mostly knitting toys it looks pretty messy.

I've found another Jean Greenhowe pattern for a real snowman and it looks really cute so I might see how that goes, but for now I'm knitting a christmas tree fairy as we've just bought our tree but don't have anything for the top of it. I don't know if she'll weigh the whole thing down or fall off, but I'm giving it a go!

Another kitty

I loved Katy the Kitty so much that I decided to try another. I used chunky yarn and came out with the above kitty, named Pele by Nick.

I'm going to do one for Nick's Mum for christmas, so I need to find some nice cat-coloured wool. I have a ginger in mind, but it might turn out grey.

I always wanted to knit toys, and now I have done my first two in one day!

Kitty

I have always wanted to knit toys, and although Mo and Mary will probably be played with they don't really count.

Today I did it though!

The penguins are on hold for the Winter KAL on Moving Beyond Rectangles, so I got this fantastic free pattern from http://geobabe.livejournal.com/195349.html and made a kitty today :)

This was so easy to make and I intend to make a lot more as christmas presents. They only take a couple of hours and they're so cute!

This one will probably stay with me <3

She is as yet unnamed. I don't know what suits her?

Mary the draught excluding snake

Mo's girlfriend, Mary.

I haven't started the penguins yet as I lost the pattern and needed something to keep me busy while I was feeling poorly.

So I decided to make Mo a girlfriend. I wasn't happy with how Mo turned out and wanted to see how it would look if I used decent colours and changed the size slightly. Mary has a thinner tail and a flatter head, and I think she looks better for being in nicer colours too. Losing the weird tongue was the best part!

Her eyes were not as intended and she's ended up looking a little bit evil, but I do like her. The colours are much brighter than the photos suggest.

We have a couple of draughty doors in our house, so I may try another style next time I feel low. It's an easy task that requires little concentration, making it perfect for crappy M.E. days, and it always feels better to have accomplished something on the rubbish days.