Ewok Test : Teeny Tinny Little Bear

I finally got around to try out the yarn I purchased for the star wars character knitting project I am going to embark on. Since I did not just want to make a felted blob I decided to knit up a tinny little bear. He was very easy and fast to put together. I think overall it took me about 3 hours (embroidery, felting and all).

The felting process was great. I am very happy with what I got and with how much control I had over it. I soaked him in hot water and then just rubbed parts I wanted to felt between my fingers. Worked out great. I got the result I wanted and I am ready to start the Ewoks now.... Well almost at least. First I need to finish the socks I started on my US#3 Double Pointed needles. For now here is a picture of my tinny 2inch Bear. That has already been adopted by my husband and is sitting on the X-Box to fully dry off...

For those interested in making their own tinny bear here is how to:

Material: left over brown worsted weight yarn, feltable (I used Knit Picks "Wool of the Andes" in Chestnut), scraps of black for embroidered features, scraps of white, and some pink felt for the inside of the ears. A pair of Straight US size 3 (3.25 mm) needles. Tapestry needle.

Body: Cast on 5st, (kfb) 5 times, purl all, (Kfb K1) 5 times, purl all, (Kfb K2) 5 times, purl all, (kfb K3) 5 times, purl all, (kfb K4) 5 times, Stocking net for 9 rows, (ssk k4) 5 times, purl all, (ssk k3) 5 times, purl all, (ssk K2) 5 times, purl all, (ssk K1) 5 times, purl all, (ssk) 5 times, pull yarn through all stitches. --> sew together and stuff.

Arms: Cast on 6 stitches, knit stocking net for 5 rows, ssk 3 times, pull yarn through all stitches --> sew together

Legs: cast on 10 stitches, Knit stocking net for 3 rows, ssk 5 times, pull yarn through all stitches --> sew together

Ears: cast on 5 stitches, purl all, ssk k1 k2tog, pull yarn through all stitches, cut little felt insert that will fit and sew to the wrong side.

Finish: Sew arms and legs to body. Pull yarn ends from arms and feet to back where you want the tail and make a tight big knot (this is going to be the tail), felt in hot water, let dry, sew on ears, embroider face.

I am sure you can also knit him in the round (which would save you a lot of seaming).

Lots of Bordeaux and Wonky Turtles...

Keeping myself busy this weekend was a really easy task. I knitted two projects and finished them. Project on is what I call my Bordeaux Spring Thaw. It is a small shawlette that fits perfectly around my neck and locks great with my leather jacket... And this time I am definitely going to keep the shawl.

I also knitted a pair of fingerless gloves in the same yarn a few weeks ago which I gave away... (as most of my knitted items)

And then there is of course the Turtle. This was a request and it had to be green and pink. So I made the top part of the shell pink and purple which turned into a beautiful flower. The rest of it is knit in two different shades of green and two different yarn weights (dark green is a worsted, light green is a DK which I doubled). The reason I call her wonky is because of all the seed stitch used for her shell.

The pattern for the turtle can be found in Fiona McTague's Book "Knitted Toys". The shawl pattern is available on Ravelry by Cheri McEwen "Spring Thaw Shawl" and the Fingerless Gloves a worked after a pattern by Laura Peveler called "Leafy Fingerless Gloves".

A note on Franny...

A while back I brought all of the monster and animals I knitted into my German 2 class. My students were supposed to give their monster a name, describe the way it looks and talk about what it likes to do in its free time. The exercise was a huge success. My college (!!!) class had a blast with it, they were super creative and spoke German. Mission accomplished!

On Wednesday, I was talking to my students before class and one of them told me that she dreamed about me leaving to go to Switzerland. They got a new teacher and that teacher was super mean and would not belief her that I had an owl that I brought to class and that that owl was super colorful and that her name was Franny.... The student said she was super upset about the dream and was glad it was only a dream.

I guess teaching with my knitted creations had some kind of a lasting impact ;) That lesson also had an impact on me since I liked the name my student gave the owl so much I decided to keep it. So my rainbow owl has been called Franny ever since ...

It feels like spring

Today for the first time this year it really felt like spring outside. How fitting than that I got around to blocking my Echo Flower shawl. It is knit in Knit Picks Gloss lace yarn in a wonderful bright yellow called Dandeline. The shawl sure looks like spring. And I cannot wait to wear it. But see for yourself:

Birthday Yarn

So my birthday was a couple of weeks ago... and just last week I finally decided on what to order from KnitPicks with the wonderful gift card I got for them. Well, I did not so much decide as just finally click on the send-order-button. Otherwise I probably would have changed my mind a million more times. Anyway, the result of my shopping spree came in the mail and here is a picture of what I got!

So as you can see one of the things I got is a ball winder... which is great for all those hanks of lace yarn you see on the top... Winding 440 yards of super thin flimsy lace yarn by hand is definitely not fun so I am hopping the ball winder will make the process less painful. Ok, so the top row, except for the one ball of gray, is all lace yarn ranging from 100% baby alpaca "Alpaca Cloud" in Tide Pool Heather and Raspberry Heather to Shimmer in Eucalyptus which is 70% Baby Alpaca and 30% Silk to 2 Hanks of Oregon Coast Heather and Forest Heather Shadow Lace Yarn (100% Merino Wool). My birthday also brought me 4 more hanks of Bordeaux Gloss Fingering Yarn (70% Merino Wool and 30% Silk)of which I already had 2 hanks. One half of a Bordeaux hank has already transformed into a beautiful fingerless glove. I also designed my own Butterfly Fingerless glove with the rest of the Kenai from my Haruni. Pictures soon to follow. The rest of the lace weight yarns are probably going to transform into lace shawls of various different styles to test-knit some patterns for a wedding shawl. The first hank I knit into something will probably be one of the baby alpaca blends... I keep taking them out to touch them. They are sooooooooooo wonderfully soft!

The bottom row of this picture is for a big special late birthday/possibly Christmas birthday present that had been on hold due to a lack of feltable yarn and time to go to the Local Yarn store to pick some up. So now there are plenty of browns and great ball of Onyx Heather (super dark gray) plus a nice light green called Green Tea Heather and tiny 50 grams ball of Shine Worsted Yarn called Robot. I can already envision Yoda in the Green Tea Heather and Maple Syrup Brown...

I also got 5 balls of City Tweed in Tahitian Pearl.... that are going to be a cardigan....

So I will be busy. Stay tuned

The Magic of Blocking

Finally, I took the time and blocked the Haruni Shawl. And I could not be more pleased with the end-result of all the work. The shawl is absolutely beautiful. Well, of course, I am a little biased ;) So see for yourself. The first picture is the unfinished, unblocked shawl in progress. The rest shows the wet but pinned into shape end-result. Enjoy!

Big Triangle and Little Triangle

For the past few days I have been working on two triangular shawls. The first one I started is knitted in a color called Kenai. It is fingering weight and knitpicks.com brand Gloss . I absolutely love the color... Which is probably why it looks almost completely like the blue I choose for the cardigan. I bought them both on different occasions without even being aware of the fact that they are so close in tone.

The pattern for this shawl is called Haruni and you can find it on knitpicks as well as ravelery. I really like how it came out. I can't wait to see the finished shawl. Unfortunately that is going to be delayed just a little longer since I am almost out of yarn (as you can see by the tiny yarn ball in the picture) and I had to order another skein for the last 6 rows... oh well. Hopefully the yarn is shipped soon and I can finish this project.

I also started knitting this beautiful pattern. I am knitting it in Gloss, lace weight. The color very fittingly is called Dandelion. Since the pattern is calling for a fingering weight yarn I am right now adjusting the amount of stitches. I think I will knit 9x15 instead of the suggested 5x15, which is almost double and should be sufficient to obtain a good size. This one I am actually making for myself. I always wear scarfs or shawls for teaching and in general so I actually own quite a collection by now. And I am always looking for a new addition. This one will be perfect. Again I can't wait to see the finished product. And I may just cast on another ginko shawl in the canopy Tonal Shadow I have in my yarn stash waiting to be used.