ballerina pattern

The ballerina pattern is now available in both my Etsy and Lulu shops. I've read through it a bunch of times, and I'm pretty sure there are no mistakes, but if you find anything please let me know asap. Both pieces are knit in the round, which should please those of you who hate seaming. I know not everyone has this skill, but there really was no other good way to knit this outfit.

It should be a good way to use up little bits of leftover sock or lace yarn. In the pattern I give the amounts as 15g for both the leotard and tutu, but in reality they probably need less than 10g each - I just wanted to be on the safe side.

I didn't include any kind of ballet shoes with the pattern, and I'm not sure how to knit removable ones. But a compromise solution is quite simple. For the legs of the toy, cast on and knit the first 5 rows in a contrasting colour (such as pink). Later, when the legs are stuffed, add a little ribbon to make the laces.

Today I'm putting together 3 more toys for my last big order this spring. A fuzzy white bunny, a panda, and a lamb. It should be a fun day :)

hello monday

I took the weekend off from my email inbox. I really needed the break. If you emailed me and haven't heard back, I am trying to get through everything either today or tomorrow.


What do you think of the pattern for April? I am super pleased with it. The leotard is very different from anything I've designed before, and it turned out so well. You can knit the leotard in 3 different sizes, depending on how big your toy is, so make sure to read the instructions at the beginning to know which size you want. I knit the tutu from both alpaca and mohair blend yarns, and it looks so sweet in either (the one in the photo is mohair). I think it's a great way to use up any bits of fingering or lace weight you have left-over from some other project. I included instructions for the picot edge, which gives a nice finish to the tutu.

I don't think I've mentioned it for a while, so in case you don't know, in May all the feature patterns from the last 5 months will be offered together. It will be similar to the clothes bundles already in my Lulu shop. This bundle of patterns will be available permanently in both shops. At the moment I'm not sure if I will continue with the feature patterns. I want to work on some new toy patterns, and have time to knit toys for a craft fair this summer.

I hope I'm delusional right now, because if I'm not, it really is snowing outside.

march feature pattern

I did say the Gretel dress was a hint for this pattern, right? Well, I didn't end up calling it Hansel's shorts or something similar (because that was a bit too silly), but that is where the inspiration came from. The lederhosen are really very simple, and meant to be decorated with embroidery. If you're not so good at embroidery, you can add a belt made from felt with a button belt-buckle. The hat took me a while to figure out, but I really like the results. You need to block it to get the shape right, so you'll need to knit it from wool or something that will block really well. Altogether, I think it's a fun pattern, and I bet kids would get a kick out of playing dress-up with this outfit. Too bad there are none around here to try my patterns out on!

It seems that the kits I put together are popular! I sold 2 already, and hopefully the rest will go while there's still time for them to arrive before Easter. The Fuzzy Knits kits will be available at the end of March, but I'll let you know when I'm ready to list those. I forgot to mention yesterday that the pin cushions are on sale. I've decided to limit my inventory to patterns, toys and kits, since I've had trouble selling my other items. From now on any items I sew will be just for kits. It's too bad really, because the other things are fun to make. But I suppose I can still sew things for myself and my friends.

I think that's all the exciting news I have for today. I think I'll take the rest of the afternoon off and knit something for myself. I started a scarf yesterday from some pretty sock yarn I had lying around. It makes me think of Spring and flowers, and I can't wait for it to be warm enough for me to wear it with my pretty pink jacket.

delay

Sorry for the delay in getting the Gretel dress pattern into my Lulu shop. The procedure for listing new patterns there is a lot more involved that with Etsy, but I should have it done by the end of the day.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend, wherever you are! We're having a snow day, so my weekend should be pretty and wintry, at least :)

Gretel's Dress

Here is my surprise February feature pattern! I do hope you like it. I've been thinking about a dress like this for a while, and finally had all the right ideas together to make it just how I wanted. It has a fuller skirt than my other dress patterns, a scooped neck, puffed sleeves, and an apron. I really wanted appropriate photos for this pattern, with a dark forest around her, maybe a gingerbread house or a witch in the background. But I don't have props like that *sigh* I made do with some pretty flowers I have, but I think the dress still speaks for itself. The name is also a hint at what I might be designing for next month ;-)

february feature

I had a great idea yesterday, so I put off making the toy I was working on to knit up the February feature pattern. It's very sweet, but I'm going to keep it as a surprise. The only thing Valentine-ish about the outfit is that I knitted it in white, pink, and red, but you could make it in whatever colours you want.

December Feature Pattern

Okay everybody, it's up on Etsy! Happy knitting :)

sneek peek

fuzzy hats
Originally uploaded by baprime

To whet your interest for my December feature pattern :)

The one on the sheep is the same pattern as the hat on the silly duck - a very simple, buttom-up tuque (or winter hat, for the non-Canadians). The one on the kitty is knit from the bottom-up, has tiny cables and a pom-pom. The one on the rabbit (who was knit just for this photo shoot) is called the Wabbit Hat. I was asked to design a silly hat for bunnies, and this is the first idea that came to me. What can I say, except I think I watched Bugs Bunny most Saturday mornings of my childhood, and an Elmer Fudd hat seemed too perfect to not knit. It is a little tricky making the ear holes, but I hope some of you will try this.

sleepy kitty

Yesterday I found time to make four sleeping bags for the toys, and I love how they turned out - much better than the pouches I made on my first try. They are all lined with soft flannel from an old sheet, and the outsides are whatever I found in my fabric stash that I felt like using. This one is a bit of checked seersucker I found at the thrift store, one is made from an old pillow case, the other two from nice fabric I bought new. It feels so good to do a bit of successful sewing. Plus it was an incentive to give my machine a well-deserved oiling.

I think I woke him up :)

Another idea I had recently, that I forgot to mention yesterday, was a featured clothing pattern. The idea is this: each month I will have for sale a different clothing pattern, and on the sixth month, I will put them all together into a bundle of patterns. The clothing patterns I choose will be based on whatever outfit I've had the most questions about, or whatever one I really like and want to share. This way, you can get whatever one you like, or wait and buy them all together (at a lower price). I'm going to start in December with the hat and scarf pattern from the Silly Duck, maybe with a slipper/sock pattern as well. What do you think of the idea? I think there are going to be some well-dressed toys out there!

How you doin'?

I will still put out the occasional new toy. I've had some questions lately about a cow I made, so in January I will start working on that. But the number of patterns I have now is almost the maximum I can manage, so as I add new patterns, I might remove some of the older unpopular ones.

Also, thanks for your nice words yesterday :) It's so awesome to know that lovely kind people read my blog, and care about what I do.