I’m a big fan of Kristen Rengren’s Vintage Baby Knits.  These slippers are my second project from the book, and I loved making them just as much as the first.  The pattern is also available as a free download from Melanie Falick Books, along with others from STC Craft books that would make great holiday projects.

I’m particularly aware of my unwieldy stash at the moment, so I resolved not to buy any new yarn for this project. I decided on Mirasol’s Cotanani – the one ball I had ended up being just enough. It’s a nice yarn to work with – the merino blended in makes for a much softer cotton yarn!

I made a couple of modifications to the pattern: I made I-cords for the ankle straps, instead of garter stitch bands; and I made the ears a little bit smaller (CO 5 sts rather than 9), since I used a heavier weight yarn than called for.

How about you, any stash-busting projects to recommend?

[Ravelled]

Designer Ysolda Teague has come out with a second self-published book of patterns – Whimsical Little Knits 2. New patterns are being released weekly and the printed version is coming out in November. I’m a big fan of Ysolda’s patterns – I couldn’t wait to make Smith the hedgehog. Her toy patterns are always so fun to make. Seamless and sweet!

This is my first project using my own handspun. A friend gave me a huge bag of miscellaneous fibre from a farm in Durham. Most of it is the rich, natural brown that I used for the spikes on Smith. It was some of the first fibre I spun with my wheel and the variations actually work well for this type of project. I love the warmth of the natural brown, and it knit up really well. So soft, despite the bits of grass that were in the fibre! I think I’ll spin up the rest for a blanket.

[Ravelled]

Photo courtesy of Melissa Hames Duarte

First off, how cute is Petra? Here she is, at six weeks old, modelling Cisco.  You may not recognize the hat – it was originally modelled by a ball of yarn and a vase!

Seeing how much cuter the hat looked on a real little person made me think about a more appropriate model for my latest baby knit, the Stella Pixie Hat by Kristen Rengren (available in Vintage Baby Knits and as a free download from STC Craft). I don’t have any baby-sized softies around – my knit animals are too small and Huggy Jesus’ head is too flat.

Chris suggested a small-scale sculpture by Florence Wyle – The Harvester. The perfect size, it turns out. It’s one of the four sculptures in the Loring/Wyle Parkette in Toronto.

You can see the Young Girl, also by Wyle, in the background of this photo. There are busts of Loring and Wyle, each sculpted by the other, at the far end of the parkette. I would have liked to get some photos of them as well but a man was recovering from a hard night on a nearby bench. I thought it best to keep the visit short.

[Ravelled]

My dear friend Phil sent me the book Softies for my birthday. It includes designs for many, many cute toys to sew, knit or crochet. The book came with a request to please make one for him, whichever one I think suits him best. I settled on the Arno Cat by Suzie Fry almost immediately. The Arno screams “Phil!” with its playful expression and kind, shiny eyes. I’m also pretty sure it can make a mean potato gnocchi, just like the real Phil.

I picked up the fabric at last year’s Not Just a Yardage Sale at the Textile Museum of Canada. Jane might have been just a wee bit troubled when I fell head over heels for two Brunschwig & Fils Forefathers fat quarters. I had no idea what to do with them, until now – John Adams on the frontside, J. Madison on the back.

Another sweet, seamless pattern by Tora Frøseth! My first Tora knit was the Magda Tunic and I fell in love with the top-down construction. I used the same yarn in this Sweetheart Dress for Anaya – Cadenza by Estelle. Merino and tussah silk! Not too warm for an L.A. baby I hope.

The heart detail around the yoke is too cute. The body of the dress is worked in stockinette stitch, with rows of garter stitch at the bottom to stop it from curling. This project had me thinking about a me-sized knit dress, and then I remembered this lace dress from Védis Jónsdottir’s book Einband. Hmmm.

You can just make out this handsome Pottageville horse in the background of the top photo. As you can see, we were more interested in him than he was in us!

This is Churchill. She’s named after Churchill, Manitoba, which is famous for its polar bears. I knit her from Ysolda Teague’s Otto pattern. I thought she’d turn out smaller, a lot smaller actually. We’ll see if she still makes it to Peterborough in this box!

I intended to finish her two weeks ago, so she’ll make a belated 90th birthday present for Helen. I think it’s a fairly new thing, but Helen finds comfort in teddy bears. I hope Churchill provides good company.

Spring has finally come to Toronto (we did have a dusting of snow last week but I’m optimistic)! The tulips at the flower shop down the street were calling to me on Good Friday. The warmth and colour seemed too good to be true after a very grey winter.

This is Jack. A merino wool albino rabbit with really long legs. She was knit from Ysolda Teague’s pattern Sophie. I think she and Peanut make quite a nice couple.

I don’t know who she’ll go to yet, but I’m sure she’ll make a nice plaything for some little person. In the meantime, I like having her around to help celebrate Easter!

I used up the last of my Misti Alpaca handpainted suri and silk for this lovely knit from Ysolda Teague’s Whimsical Little Knits collection. The Tiny Shoes are tiny indeed. I think this Mary Jane style will be very cute on. There is something so satisfying about making such small, sweet shoes.

I finished them off with mother of pearl buttons from Etsy. Every time I knit with this yarn I love it more. Baby alpaca suri and silk!!! It’s absolutely beautiful.

My original intention was to give this elephant away. I don’t think I can do it. It’s just too cute. It’s knit from Ysolda’s Elijah pattern and is worked in one piece by picking up stitches for his (or her) appendages. I think this elephant is definitely a Peanut. It has been suggested before, for Big Teddy Bear, but it’s sticking this time!

Peanut’s eyes are embroidered French knots. This video tutorial was really helpful – I haven’t done much embroidery so I needed the guidance. As it turns out, French knots are easy!

These are some of my more bizarre projects, I admit it. But I was perusing other knit blogs shortly after the New Year, admiring mosaics of 2008 projects, and these puppy knits came to mind. So, for your enjoyment and perhaps, bewilderment, my puppy knits of 2008! Above is Trump, looking very handsome in an alpaca kerchief.

And Donna rather reluctantly posing in a camouflage jacket. Just the thing for a standard poodle living on Vancouver Island! This was my first puppy project – and I think I might be cheating with this one – it was finished in December 2007. The pattern is the howl of the Cowl and Howl set in Stitch ‘N Bitch.

Photo courtesy of K. Mossop

I still have mixed feelings when I look at this one. It was my first attempt at fulling. For a long time I suspected the wool was mislabelled, and that it wasn’t 100% wool but a wily synthetic. It’s taken a long time, but I am now willing to admit that I may have not taken the fulling process far enough. I ended up having to do a bit of a tailoring job when I was too tired to scour any longer. But Mr. Baggins is doing me proud. He looks quite dapper actually.

My first attempt at amigurumi is finished, well almost. I still have to pick up some ribbon for around his neck. I used some mystery yarn for his head and paws and Fibra Natura’s Mermaid from The Purple Purl for his body. Mermaid is an interesting yarn – a mix of cotton, superwash merino wool, silk and seacell. Seacell is a cellulose fibre made with seaweed – I’ve never worked with it before but definitely will again. It’s really fine and not too slippery.

I have to say this project has me thinking a lot more about crochet. After a 10-year break from it I think I may be back on. It’s definitely fun and faster than knitting for projects like this. Oh, and I have to recommend the Etsy seller I bought the eyes from. They’re hand-painted, non-toxic and all that good stuff.