It's Finished!

 This has taken months and months of knitting, swearing and tearing of hair, but so worth it!  Can't wait to wear it, although the weather is not cold enough yet.

Birds, Babies & Blimey, That's A Big'un!

Throughout the summer I have been sporadically working on this jumper.  I saw this pattern through a post on Twitter I think and looked it up on Ravelry and promptly bought it.  I could not resist those wonderful birds!  

 

However, making it has not been easy.  Firstly, the yarn I ordered arrived and was not the same colour as it appeared on the photograph on the yarn store's website and they did not have another similar so I had to change my colour choice.  Then it took me three attempts to get the increases right before starting on the birds.

The chart for the birds involved being repeated 4 times in the round (did I mention this whole jumper is knitted in the round from the neck down?) and to make it a bit easier, I went through each line counting the number of light stitches and writing them down before knitting the round.  So I was getting through a maximum of three rounds in an evening.  Incredibly, I think I only made a couple of minor errors which hopefully will not notice and I did end up with the right number of stitches needed to carry on once the birds were complete.  Now it is straight knitting, which is a whole lot easier and much quicker, although this is being knitted in baby yarn so not that quick!  I might have this done by Christmas...

I also made some summer dresses for my grandaughter, one with farm animals on, one with dogs on, and the one previously posted with wild animals on.  Apparently they went down a storm and were ideal for the heatwave.
 

The garden has been struggling with the heat and lack of rainfall - it has meant a lot of plants dying off prematurely and my runner beans have been a disaster.  But I have managed to grow several of these enormous things!  It is a Tromboncino squash,and this one is over 2ft long.  You can cook them like a courgette but they are much tastier and not as watery.  I shall definitely be growing these again next year.

I am currently finishing off a couple of painted trinket boxes - painting the bases black and varnishing.  Not hard work but time consuming as it means literally watching paint dry.

And I might have quite an interesting little job coming up involving knitting and bears...

Tiny Knitting...

Hard to believe it has been almost a year since my granddaughter was born, but her birthday is next week.  So to help mark the occasion, I have made her this to wear on the day as requested by her mum. It is knitted in gold flecked yarn with a hand sewn felt badge on the front.  I'm just praying it fits - I did take measurements, but you never know...

I also knitted a couple more of these cute little finger puppets - I can't give them to the baby as they have beads for eyes.  None of my safety eyes would fit intheir tiny heads!  Ah well, the can keep!

On the easel...another bear!
 

Good News...

 Within the next couple of weeks or so, I am going to become a grandma!  Shame I have not had the time to knit more for my first grandchild, but this tiny jumper I made is the cutest thing ever!

Rounding Up The Week...

I've been after navy & white self-striping sock yarn for a while - it doesn't appear to exist other than on Etsy, and there it is too expensive to buy just to play with.  I did find some yarn in a wider stripe but found when it arrived that it was quite chunky & definitely not suitable for socks.  So I knitted a triangular scarf with it, working out that if I turned the bottom corner when one ball finished, the next ball should take it nicely to the end....no such luck!  I was left with about five inches left to knit when the yarn ran out.  Luckily I found some alpaca in navy that just about matches - you can see the join if you look closely but it should pass muster.  Consequently, this one stays with me and just needs some pretty dolphin beads sewn to the three corners once the scarf is completely dry.

I found some lovely fuzzy yarn called Eskimo Kisses that is ideal for shaggy dogs - so I started knitting a little lurcher with it.  Looks good so far!

I quite often get asked for free knitting patterns.  Now, while I am always more than happy to pass on a reference to a pattern book I have used or to give advice, I am not quite so happy to just give away something I have worked hard on.  Let's put it in perspective here - if you spent several days making a fancy cake, mixing, baking, decorating, and then someone you don't know came along and said 'That's nice, I like that - can I have it?'  What would your reply be?  I think that's all I need to say on that!  Also, a lot of the time there is no pattern - with the dogs I make, there is a start-up pattern I use as a basis, but then I go into free-styling, extending legs, changing ears, sculpting with sewing after the body has been stuffed, embroidering faces, brushing yarn to get a hairy effect, the list of alterations goes on, so each little pooch is individual.  I hate to say no, but sometimes I just have to.  Plus, I'm trying to make a living here!

I had another brilliant lesson with one of my students yesterday - the boy has really got the hang of watercolours and is so happy to paint little still lifes each week.  This week it was a simple tomato & courgette from the garden - not that simple when you come down to painting them though!  This is my quick painting - I had to keep one step ahead of him in order to be able to advise which colours & techniques to use.  I really enjoy these lessons, they keep me on my toes!

I had a bit of a whinge at Waitrose about their 'My Picks' scheme the other day - long story but I missed out on a discount due to them not having the item I was after.  They kindly sent me a voucher by recompense so I spent it on this little greenhouse, which was half price as well, so I got it for a measly £2.50.  Who doesn't love a bargain!

Fresh Start...

 I finally completed this baby blanket last night and now it is drying outside inthe sunshine after having a bit of a wash.  That was a very hot job with the summer temperatures we had last week!  That was the last of the commissions from June - new things to make this week, some characters to design for prospective animations and a Clanger to knit.  I think I also managed to get a pet portrait commission yesterday while strolling around the local dog show!

This bloomed in our living room over the weekend - the hibiscus is cerainly enjoying the hot temperatures we have had!

This Week I Have Been Mostly...

...knitting this waistcoat in a gorgeous yarn made from recycled jeans.  It may take a while as it is very compicated and that's before I attempt the lace back! 

I'm also still crocheting the mini dress from cut up tights and massaging Volterol into my thumbs and wrists every night before bed whichseems to keep the aches and pains at bay. 

I am also making some very interesting things for the next animation - a spider was the last item.

We went to see Seasick Steve in concert on Tuesday.  I began to feel my age during the warm-up act when I found myself thinking it was 'too loud' and wishing it was over.  However, as soon as Seasick Steve came on stage, all that was forgotten and the next couple of hours were simply brilliant.  Unfortunately we had to leave during the second encore (!) otherwise we'd miss our train.  Turns out we might as well have stayed as one of our tube links was delayed by ten minutes and we missed our train anyway, which resulted in having to take a train to the nearest town and then pay for a taxi home - ouch!  But we'd had so much fun, it really didn't matter.

With the warm weather we've been experiencing, everything has burst into bloom within a few days.  This is the cherry tree just outside out kitchen window - I'm hoping we get to eat some of the fruit this year instead of feeding all the local birds.  Time to get the plastic hawk on duty once again!

 Walking the dog has been fun too - the sloes are fully in bloom, looking like snow from a distance.

 Hoping to see some fruit here too - the trees were bare last year.

 Wild violets are in abundance, first time I have seen so many in the lanes.

 There are so many butterflies - making more butterflies half the time it seems!

Fluffy!

In amongst everything else I've beenmaking, I have been knitting this rather lovely shawl.  It's a pattern I have used on many occasion with various different yarns and it has come up a treat each and every time.

This has been knitted in a mohair blend with a thin strip of irridescent sparkle running through it.  Very pretty indeed.

It is also a dream to knit this pattern as it is so easy to memorise with no fear of forgetting where you are if you put it down overnight.  Currently for sale in my Etsy shop.

Also for sale in my Etsy shop is this handsome fellow.  I'm still working through my portfolio and listing all these hidden paintings for sale - I can't keep hoarding them!

Bunny!

 Now Easter is behind us, I can show you the bunny I knitted for Nudinits.  This has to be one of the cutest things I ever made. He's only just under three inches from nose to tail and knitted in softest angora.

I want to make more...if and when I have the time!

Playing With Sticks & String...

 It's been a busy week, but most of my projects have been quite large and I've not had anything to show unless you are interested in half-knitted wadges of yarn.  I've been knitting some small Easter themed objects, which I am sure you will be seeing soon on Twitter and Facebook.  The daffs are the only ones I can really show for now.

I have finally completed this rather splendid men's cardigan, which is a commissioned piece using a very old pattern - I can't find a date on it but looking at the style of aeroplanes, I'm putting it in the 1940's.  The yarn is chunky so it was a relatively quick knit, but the patterns involved a fair bit of concentration.  It also has integral pockets, a fitted zipper and a sizeable roll collar.

I don't normally knit clothing for other people (rarely for myself any more) but I could not resist this lovely design. 

In any spare minutes, I've been knitting this lace shawl - I'm hoping this photograph shows the little sparkles in the yarn.  It's a nice simple repeating pattern that I have knitted several times before in various different yarns and it is always effective.  The good part is that although you start with over 300 stitches, it decreases as you go, so psychologically seems to get quicker along the way....that's my story anyway!

This came in the post today - first copies of the latest Adventure Time comic with a cover painted by....my son!

Nice big credit on the inside cover.  I'm a proud mum again - especially as he has done the cover for next month's issue as well!

And finally, now that the builders are just a (bad) memory, it's time to get the garden sorted with no fear of anything getting wrecked.  We have gained a long length of space between us and the new houses since they put a gate on the front end.  I noticed last week that it gets quite a bit of sunshine along our wall in the middle of the day, so I am going to try and grow some potatoes and beans in there - it's worth a try!

Pretty Polly

Currently on the needles, a green parrot scarf!  Now that the fun part of making the head is over, it's a long boring haul knitting the scarf in 2 x 2 rib.  It will be worth it when it's done though.

Spending my days mostly sewing at the moment - tiny fiddly little things for a new animation.  Certainly makes a change from dealing with recalcitrant five year olds - I feel a whole lot calmer these days!

I'm looking forward to Unravel at Farnham Maltings next week - as part of the Nudinits team, we're showing the film and giving a Q&A afterwards on the 21st February, 1.30 p.m.  If you are in the area, come along and say hello! (There will be yarn too, oh yes, there will be yarn...)

The Week Gone By...

It's been a busy week - Sunday I got out the Dremel and drilled some holes in all the scallop shells I have been accumulating.  Stacie and I like to eat scallops!  I wanted a length of shell bunting in my new work room, so after drilling them, I just strung them up on some hairy twine.  By the way, drilling scallops absolutely stinks!

We've had a fair bit of this throughout the week.  This was Tuesday, when it settled but only stayed until lunchtime.

Some of us were happier about it than others!

The new work room has been put to good use.  Not only is it fantastic to have everything I need to hand, it's also the warmest room in the house!  I just love that I can leave things out, mid-project, and come back to work on them the next day without losing my train of thought.  It's been a week of sewing ridiculously small things for a new animation. 

Being able to work on the paid jobs throughout the day leaves me free to knit my own stuff in the evenings if I want to.  I knitted this super soft cowl in two days - it's gorgeous and for sale in my Etsy shop now.

We've also had a lot of noise from the builders next door - it's been nearly a year with no let up.  If you see in the papers a story about some woman beating the operator of an angle grinder round the head with a baseball bat, it might well be me...

Frills & Stuff!

I've wanted to try knitting with the yarn that makes things frilly for a long time and finally bought myself some last week.  It's very clever, it comes as a kind of tape that you have to stretch as you knit through the top edge of it.  It's very pretty too - I love the colours on this one.  However, knitting with it is so DULL!  After the first couple of days of wonderment at how it turns into a frothy delight, then it gets very tedious indeed as it is a slow process.  Luckily, this is now within a whisker of being finished.

Something that is not dull is sewing small felt brussels sprouts.  I was asked to come up with the design, and once that was approved, I now have to make a bunch of them.  Yesterday afternoon was spent very enjoyably with a cup of tea, Danish pastry, Jurassic Park on the telly and quietly cutting out all the pieces I will need.  Much better than trying to make each one individually as I go along, now I am sure that they will be identical.


I also had time at the weekend to back up my work photos (which hasn't been done for a shamefully long time) and revisited some of the work I've done over the years that was stored on the hard drive.

Am I the only person who has knitted poop on their resume?

It is half term  for British schools, which means a blessed break from the day job - it's been very tough lately, working with a little chap who I am positive has 666 tattooed somewhere on his body... So a peaceful week ahead and a chance to get on with the next dog portrait, some clearing up round the house, and at the end of the week, the first screening of Nudinits. I'm getting quite excited now, especially at the prospect of seeing all our work on a big screen and finding out what people think if it!

My Brain Hurts...

After not having any commissions for quite some time, it seems only fitting the the first one for a while is a real doozy!  The dog on the left is no longer with us and the family who want this portrait done were not very good at taking photos of their pets.  This and one other photo with a totally different pose of the dog are all I have to work with.  Initially I thought that both dogs were black - good job I didn't go down that route!

However, with a little help from Google images (thank goodness other people with chocolate labs take better photographs!) and a lot of concentration, I think I might be able to pull this off.  It is exhausting though, especially when you are very aware that this is to be a memento of a beloved pet.  A word to you pet owners - take lots of photos while your pets are still with you, you'll cherish them in days to come.

This is a little shawl I've been knitting over the past ten days or so - I really like the design of it.  However, I discovered about half way through it that knitting clothing no longer has the same appeal it used to.  I miss the challenge of designing something weird and wonderful, despite the fact that I moan and complain constntly while I'm doing it.  So I'm knitting a jellyfish...as you do...

I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside...

...so as I can't be there, I'll just paint and knit sea-related things!  This is a bit of an experimental piece, new paper, new paint, so I am not sure where it is going to be honest.  The paper is Japanese synthetic Yupo paper - very different, very thin and almost shiny and you don't feel it would take watercolours but it does. The amazing thing is that you can scrub off anything you don't want and leave the pristine white once again. The paints I am using are Derwent Graphiks paint pens - quite vibrant colours, but I am loving them.  I don;t think this will replace traditional methods for me, but I will definitely use both paper and paints inthe future but perhaps not together.

With no animation work to do, it's a chance to catch up on patterns I've been wanting to try out.  This octopus is on the current Knitty issue.  It's going to look vey cool, but after knitting one leg I've already had enough!  But I will persevere, because he keeps looking at me reproachfully...

We picked the last of the grapes yesterday - more jelly to be made today.  The birds are welcome to the remainder, but I do wish they wouldn't make such a purple mess on our patio!

Lethargy...

The end of the school year always brings on terrible lethargy - you know it's ending, the routine is gone, the weather is nice, the temptation is to laze about in the garden.  I'm having that problem right now! However, I am working on a couple of things - this is a simple rectangular top in pink cotton yarn, based on a favourite jumper of mine.  I love to layer clothing and wanted a summer 'throwover' - it's a simple knit, I just hope the yarn I bought in a sale lasts the distance.

Another project which depends on the yarn holding out is this one, a bear.  Stylecraft Gypsy yarn is fantastic for this type of thing but is sadly discontinued - keep your fingers crossed for me!

I've been enjoying some lovely walks with the dog - the bean fields behind our house are not just full of beans (unlike me!) but a sea of white and yellow daisies.  I pick a bunch every few days - at least ones I can reach without trampling over any crops.

The garden is another distraction at the moment - things are reaching their peak and looking pretty...

..the tomato plants have yet to fruit but are now very high considering the bad start they had.  There are flowers at least.

And it looks like work will be starting on the building next door very soon - obviously the builders have some objection to us ever leaving our garden because they've barricaded us in yet again.  Are they terminally stupid?

While checking out the new Derwent website, I found the page with two of my illustrated tins on it - yay!  It never ceases to give me a little frisson of excitement to see my work out there!