Eggcellent!

With the ten-stitch blanket still being worked on, I was looking for smaller, more portable projects. I picked a variety of toppers for Easter eggs and started to knit.  Firstly, Eggheads by Emily Ivey.

These are very cute, and very quick to knit.  There are three different hats to knit, and they look great topped with a tiny pompom.  These fit a Cadbury cream egg, or a medium hens egg.  Next I knitted a rabbit egg cozy by Linda Dawkins.  The ears are adorable.  The finished cozy is slightly bigger that the Eggheads pattern, and will fit a large hens egg or a Kinder egg.

They will also fit a guinea pig.  Here is Jeremy auditioning for a role as the Easter Bunny.

Finally, I knitted fuzzy Easter bunny egg warmers from Drops. These are knitted using two strands, scrap acrylic and a mohair-look yarn.

I then added felt eyes and nose.  They are very sweet!  These toppers with cover an egg completely, and they will stand up by themselves.

Are you knitting anything for Easter?

Getting colder...

It is forecast to get very chilly at the end of the week.  In preparation, I have finished my slipper socks.

I have cold feet all the time.  I wear socks to bed in the middle of summer, so big cosy socks are a necessity for winter.  These socks are rather chunky and a little silly.  They were made using two strands of double knitting yarn, rather than the worsted the pattern called for, and 5.5mm needles.

One thing to remember is that these are rather slippy-slipper socks, and should not be worn on the laminate floor!  With warnings to prepare for winter, I pulled out my granny square blanket.

This has been ongoing for 7 years, this year I am determined to get it finished!  I was pleasantly surprised by how much I had done, I have finished sewing up 200 squares, only another 50 squares to sew and then a border...  And in other news, Mark has been guinea pig shamed!

Knitting and a little snoozing...

I'd seen the one row lace scarf by Turvid and thought it looked great.  Although I couldn't quite believe the comments that it was so easy.  Can lace ever be easy?  I cast on with some squidgy drops merino extra fine, and surprise, surprise... it was easy!

The pattern calls for a one row repeat (hence the name) and once you have knitted a few rows it becomes super simple.  I managed to rattle through the ball in two days, and made the strip into a twisted cowl.  I am now ready for Autumn!

I also realised how difficult it was to take a picture of yourself wearing a cowl without a) looking like you have 4 chins or b) looking like you have really odd shaped breasts!  In other knitty news, at the weekend I went to the Knitting and Stitching Show at Ally Pally.  I was surprisingly restrained with buying goodies, although I did get some lovely self-striping Rico superba yarn which will make some very cute socks.

I also treated myself to a copy Pop knitting by Britt-Marie Christoffersson, which has some amazing knitting samples in it, that I can't wait to experiment with.  On the needles currently I have some rather silly, but very practical slipper socks.

My attempt to progress on these this morning, was halted by a rather sleepy Jeremy cozying on my lap.

Who wouldn't want to climb in to a fleece sleeping bag on an overcast October morning?  And I think we can all agree that this is good foot action!  Glasgow is home to some VERY exciting knitting events this week here, here & here.  Maybe you can catch one?

Piggie Post...

Today I had such amazing post.

 

 

 These stitch markers are from Beadmarkers and are really quite amazing!

One of the guinea pigs is now sitting in my top secret knitting... shh!

Arctic Tern

After I finished knitting my Arctic Tern (which may have involved some knitting in public & alcohol). It needed a beak and some feet.  The request was to used to recycled materials where possible, so I put on my thinking cap and got to work. 

 My beak, all the better for poking you with.

For the beak, a cotton bud wrapped in some material (from a rather holey pair of tights). For legs I cut some handles from disposable razors to size, and using embroidery thread and 2.75mm knitting needles, I knitted some red leg warmers for the bird.

I am legless.

 Here comes the hotstepper.

The feet were cut from a margarine lid, and covered in felt.

Ah ha! Great web design.

 A very, very hungry Arctic tern.

And just before migrating off to Mull my birdie said goodbye to Jeremy!

Bye Bye Birdie!

Wise socks

These socks are very wise.
Firstly, we are forecast snow this weekend, so warm hand knitted socks are a very wise choice. Secondly, because the pattern comes from Wise Hilda Knits.
Wise Hilda is very wise indeed, as she knows how to avoid holes when picking up gusset stitches after turning the heel. A very handy tip. The pattern is quite easy (K3, P1), so a great knit for when watching TV or when travelling about. The yarn is Drops Fabel, that I won from a give-away from A Playful day podcast. All this wise knitting makes me wonder if my guinea pigs would like a jumper? Somehow I suspect that it would not be very wise at all!

Feeling Festive...

The tree is up.
Complete with silver crochet stars, fabric acorns and felt guinea pigs! My knitting of late has been some cute booties and hat, using these ever reliable patterns. To top them off I used some super cute teddy bear buttons.
Currently on the needles is another Op Art baby blanket. In hindsight I had forgotten just how many stitches goes in to one of these (99,012), and decided it would be perfect from my friend expecting in the middle of January. Currently I am only just over 21,000 stitches, on the plus side, knitting a blanket is a great way to keep warm in the winter!

Perfect weaving weather...

It has been a wild week here on the weather front. We have had clear skies, snow, hail, ice and today - Hurricaine Bawbag!
Perfect conditions for staying inside weaving. I finally finished my guinea pig tapestry. He is quite a cutie!

A wheek of Guinea Pigs...

After the dizzying fame of how to make a felt Jeremy in this month's Guinea Pig Magazine, I thought I'd introduce my guinea pig story. It started with a trip to the SSPCA, and a father and son guinea pig pair. Their names soon became Norman Stanley Fletcher and Lennie Godber. After all, they were held behind bars, and Fletch slept on top bunk (well, on top of the cave).
Their story was sad, they had been found in a box in a park, along with Mrs Fletch and some female babies. Fletch was quite a character, like an overgrown big hamster.
Fletch definitely performed the alpha male role, whilst Godber being the teenage son sulked in the pigloo. Fletch had some rather odd health issues, and when he passed, it left a very lonely and needy Godber. Godber by now, had realised that humans are good for food and lying on laps sleeping. He was quite an affectionate so and so.
As a friend for Godber, we got a young boar from Lanarkshire small animal rescue. Continuing with the Porridge theme, he was Jim McLaren. It was love at first sight between Godber and McLaren.
As he was just a baby when we got him, we didn't realise that McLaren was a sheltie guinea pig, with beautiful long locks. Fortunately McLaren was a very good natured beast who didn't mind the occasional bum hair trim!
One night McLaren stopped eating, and before we could take him to the vets in the morning, he had gone. Godber was heartbroken - first his dad, then his best friend. Godber withdrew and hid in his house. A new friend was needed, again off to the SSPCA, where we found a beautiful guinea pig with a tragic back story, Oscar. He was found in a box, along with a rabbit and two female guinea pigs, along the side of the road. When he was found he was in a terrible state, underweight, with bald patches from where the animals had been barbering each other (probably due to lack of hay and stress).
Oscar came home with us, a friendly guinea pig who seemed constantly amazed by fresh food (he certainly wasn't picky at all!). Unfortunately Godber didn't take to him.
I think Oscars presence confirmed to Godber that McLaren wasn't coming back. Godber retreated even more, and eventually refusing to eat. He developed a chest infection, and sadly died. This left the newcomer Oscar, after his turbulent few months we decided he could settle in on his own and get used to the good life. A few days after this sweetcorn adventure, Oscar had a seizure and died. Now we were without guinea pigs. A break in pethood was needed, but then I found Tom and Jerry at Becklen rescue.
Two brothers needing a home. So since May, the artists formally known as Tom and Jerry (the names implied a hierarchy!) became Mark and Jeremy (of Peep Show fame). These boys are certainly the most athletic guinea pigs we have had, Jeremy especially, I suspect he thinks he is a ferret some days.
Mark is the braver of the two, although they are still suspicious of us, and any new food!
Here are all the guinea pig decorations together.
Apparently the collective noun for guinea pigs is a group, which is a little dull. I think it should be a wheek of guinea pigs or a collection of cavies. What do you think?