adventurous projects

In between designing and knitting toys, sewing and knitting for myself, and doing all the other things a mother of two little boys must do, I find a little time to make some special things for my boys. The last project was linen shirts for each, but the weather is now definitely Autumnal, and it was time for something more seasonal.

For many months now, one of my boys' favourite cartoons has been Adventure Time. They both enjoy the heroics, silly songs, and memorable characters. (I also enjoy the messages of helping and friendship, and appreciate that my kids voluntarily skip the scarier episodes). Lev's favourite character from the show is Finn, and a new, plain black hoodie for school seemed like the perfect opportunity to make Lev a little something special. I made this patch from white cotton fleece and peach-coloured felt, hand-stitched together, then onto the hoodie. It helped that Finn's face is quite simple and recognizable, as my embroidery skills are not great. Anyway, we both love how it turned out, and Lev wants to wear it almost every day.

Of course, when Kyr realized I was making something for Lev, he wanted something too (in fact, he made great big puppy eyes at me and started crying when he realized the hoodie wasn't for him). He didn't have a convenient plain sweater or shirt to embellish, and for a few days I was stumped on what to make for him. Then the weather turned a bit cooler, I pulled out his Fall hat one morning, and realized it was nearly too small. My choice of project was clear. Kyr's favourite Adventure Time character, by far, is Jake the Dog (he actually calls it the "Jake-Finn" show). Luckily, I had 50 g of yarn left-over from a vest I'd knit Kyr a couple winters ago, in the perfect Jake colour. After a couple false starts, trying to sort out gauge and the brim style I wanted, I managed to knit a plain stockinette cap in just 2 evenings. Once I knew the fit was right, I added little floppy ears. However, it still wasn't recognizable as Jake, so I decided to add eyes and a nose with fleece patches. The finished hat is probably one of my most favourite projects, and Kyr loves it too!

backyard bandits

Yesterday I released my newest design, the Backyard Bandits. It's one of my favourite patterns - I feel like I got all the details right, it's fun to knit, and the finished toys have so much personality. It also feels wonderful to be able to share something with you. As much as I enjoyed the contract work I've done this year, it's been hard keeping it all secret.

I wrote about the background of the design previously. Now I'll tell you a little about the actual pattern. I would rate it intermediate level, mostly because of the intarsia you use to make the faces. While the intarsia is not really difficult, you're also making strategic decreases to shape the face, at the same time. So you need to really focus while knitting it. I've included some close-ups of each animal, so you will have a better idea of how the faces look.  However, the rest of the toy pieces are all fairly simple and quick to knit.

The toys are knit from worsted weight yarn on 4 mm needles. You can use a combination of yarns to get a scrappy rag-doll look, as I've done with the fox. Or you can use a single yarn for the main colour, as I've done with the raccoon and badger. The finished toys are 11-12" tall, not including the ears (the fox is a little taller because his legs are longer).  The toys sit well, because of how the body is shaped, and where the legs are attached. You can even put some plastic beads in the body to give it a nice weight. The fox and raccoon both have large, fat tails, which you can brush out to make even fuzzier.

The pattern comes with two little bonuses. First, I've included instructions for a cloth bandanna, which the toys are wearing. It takes about 5 minutes to make, and doesn't require sewing. Second, at the request of my husband, I designed a roasted chicken toy (we recently read Fantastic Mr. Fox to our boys, so this seemed to him like the perfect accessory). The chicken's wings and legs are made with small and large bobbles, but clear instructions for both are included in the abbreviations.

I hope you enjoy the pattern, and I look forward to seeing new projects popping up on Ravelry!

background on the bandits

I thought I would share a little of what went into my newest design, the Backyard Bandits, which will be released later this month.

During the mystery knit-along I hosted in the Spring, one of the most common guesses about the animal was a fox. As well, I've many, many requests for a fox over the years. So I decided it was about time I tried to design one. Having a little look around at what was already available, and browsing through images of foxes, I quickly decided that the Scraps Chaps body style would be better suited to a fox than my other toy style.

However, since this style of pattern had previously been done as a set of three animals, I needed two more to complete the new set. Among all the animals I've been asked to design, one of the more frequent requests was for a badger. While the American badgers are not cute (to my tastes), a European badger looked like a good addition to the pattern. The third animal took me longer to decide upon. I finally found the winning idea when we borrowed the book "Red Wagon" from the library. I love the illustration style in this book, and the raccoon was so adorable, I knew I had to design one.

The body, limbs, and tails of the animals were all quick and simple to design, since I didn't want to deviate too much from the earlier patterns. I knew the heads would be the most challenging part of the pattern, both to design and knit. There was really no getting around the fact they would have to be done with intarsia, making the pattern more challenging than most of my other toys.

I started with the fox, thinking it would be the simplest. But in the end, I think this one went through the most variations before I was happy with it (plus, the ears took about 8 tries to get right). Because I knew it would be popular, I wanted to make sure the fox would be successful for anyone who knit it, so the shaping and colours had to be just right.

The badger was next, and while it was a little easier than the fox, it still took me several versions before I liked the face. Maybe it was more difficult because I've never seen one, expect in photos. This is the most complicated one to knit, because of the number of different coloured sections, and the shaping required as you work them. But the rest of the pattern is quite easy, so hopefully it will balance out.

The raccoon I left to last, thinking it might be difficult too. But it worked out on the second try! I wish the eye patches could have been a little wider, but sometimes it's more important for the stitches counts and shaping to work out neatly. If I'd changed the eye patches, the shaping would have been far more complicated.

Now the pattern is being test-knit and edited, and I'm hoping to take the photos tomorrow, or early next week. I can't guarantee a release date yet, but soon! I've been so busy with secret projects this year, I must be as excited as you to have a new pattern to share!

knit now give-away

I finally received my copies of the Knit Now issue in which my patterns were published. It's rather fun to see my patterns in this format: the little booklet is lovely, and the perfect size to fit in a knitting bag. I'm also looking forward to browsing the magazine, to see if there's any projects I'd like to knit.

They were generous enough to give me several copies. One I will keep for myself, and a few will go to my fabulous test-knitters, who help me without much compensation (maybe because they're my cousins). And I have one copy to give away to some lucky blog reader!

Inside a plastic sleeve you'll get a copy of Knit Now issue 24, the Woodland Friends booklet, a baby blanket pattern, and a set of cable needles. If you'd like to enter, please leave a comment here with a way to contact you (you'll have to write out your email address because blogger doesn't let me contact you via comments, but disguise it a bit if it makes you more comfortable). I'll cover the shipping cost to you by regular mail, anywhere in the world.

The give-away will be open for a week, and I'll choose a winner by random number next Friday morning, August 16.

Update (August 17th): Yesterday ended up being super busy for me, and I had no time to think about the give-away. I'll do the draw later today, and announce the winner below. (Bonus, you can still leave a comment to enter up until I draw the name)

Congratulations to colindabeertje! I'll send the magazine off to you on Monday, and I hope you enjoy it. To everyone else, thank you so much for leaving your lovely comments.

woodland toys in knit now magazine

Somehow I forgot to write about this here, perhaps summer just got the better of me. Anyway, I have a bit of time this morning to tell you about one of the projects that kept me busy this past spring. 

I was asked to put together a selection of woodland animals patterns for Knit Now magazine. Having never been published in a magazine, I thought it was a great opportunity. While it was a lot of work in a short amount of time (something I haven't done in ages), I learned a lot, got to work with some lovely people, and did something I'd always wanted to try. Most of the patterns included are ones I'd already published: a selection of the Wee Wuzzies, and the Owl and Baby (slightly altered, so the Owlet would actually stand). I also designed a new toy that I'd had in mind for a long while, a River Otter! 

I haven't seen it in print yet, but I'm sure it's lovely, and I really hope knitters in the UK are enjoying the magazine. I should be getting a few copies of the issue, and will hold a give-away for one, so check back soon!

sewing for my boys

I remember, when I was quite little, wearing clothes my Mom had made for me. I'm not sure how she found the time, with four of us so close in age. (She also knit us sweaters and things. I think she didn't sleep much when I was small). Those hand-made things were always a little more special, although I think they were worn by too many cousins to last until my boys were born.

I also made things for my boys when they were babies. Rompers, sweaters, hats, mittens, and scarves. I don't remember if I shared many of those projects. I don't even know if I have photos of some of them. Anyway, at that age, you can't really tell if they prefer the things you make for them. But now, my boys are old enough to ask for things, and tell me how much they love them!

The shirts in these photos are made from  McCall's M6540. I haven't seen many sewing patterns for boys, and most are pretty basic, or overly fussy. I really liked how this pattern had a simple shirt with a yoke but no collar, and pockets (which are necessary for my kids). And the shorts are super cute (I have a pair cut out of corduroy for Lev, just waiting for some cooler weather for me to sew them up). The dress patterns in this set are nice too, and you certainly don't need to add all those ruffles. A friend of mine, just learning to sew, made one without any trouble.

I decided to make the yoke and pockets of each shirt from some quilting cotton: orange for Lev (his favourite colour), and some pirate ships for Kyr. I faced the yokes with plain white cotton. The other fabric is a nice cotton/linen blend that I used to make a shirt for their Dad. These shirts came together very quickly, maybe 4-5 hours, including cutting out (I'm not really sure, since they were both made over a few days). In the pattern, the pockets are on the chest, with flaps, which didn't seem practical. So I moved them to the lower front, and left off the flaps. As you can see, I made them a little big, so they would fit longer. I think they will also be nice over a long-sleeve t-shirt in the winter.

(I've also made them hats like the one from this pattern. It's a great sun hat, fits most head shapes, and you can make one from 2 fat quarters)

I'm not sure how much longer Lev will be happy to wear things I sew, but I'm so happy he loves this shirt. And I'll certainly get a few more years out of Kyr, before I have to go back to sewing just for myself!

multigrain granola

One of my favourite breakfasts, especially in the summer, is granola with plain yogurt and fresh fruit. However, one of the main ingredients of prepared granola is rolled oats, and sadly, oat bran and I do not get along (large-flake oats are the worst, but I can eat a small amount of quick-oats). Luckily, a local natural food store has a wide variety of rolled grains available, so I've been making my own granola for a few years now. What follows is a very general idea of what goes into my granola - every batch is different, depending on what's in my cupboard. But if you find that sort of baking fun, you should be able to make a tasty batch from my directions.

Multigrain Granola

2 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
2 cups rolled grains (I use a mix of wheat, kamut, rye, barley, or quinoa)
2 cups puffed grains (I use rice, millet, or wheat, depending on what I can find)
1 cup raw seeds or chopped nuts (sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, peanuts, walnuts, whatever you like)

1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup honey or maple syrup
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 250 F. Place oven racks at 1/3 and 2/3 of oven height. Line 2 large cooking sheets with parchment paper.
Mix the grains and seeds/nuts in a large bowl. Place the last 4 ingredients in a small pot, and warm until just bubbling. Pour over the grains, and mix to thoroughly coat everything. Divide the granola between the 2 sheets. Spread into an even layer, and place one sheet on each oven rack, but not overlapping too much (you want good airflow in the oven).
Bake the granola for about an hour, switching the sheets after 30 min. Once the granola feels dry to the touch, increase the oven temperature to 325 F, and toast the granola for another 15 min, or until golden brown (watch it carefully, because it can brown quickly).
Cool the granola on the baking sheets, then store in an airtight container. It should stay fresh for a few weeks, as long as it stays dry.