MERRY CHRISTMAS 2009!! Christmas Peeps!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!



We Wish you All the Very Best
for the Holidays
and throughout the New Year!

Peeps for Christmas!




  

Christmas Peeps!

We made it home in time for Christmas, Hurray! (In case you don't know, we were forced to move out for a month because the homeowner's assoc. was replacing roofs!), I've been frantically working on getting our delayed Christmas tasks completed

I haven't uploaded any amigurumi photos to flickr in quite a while, so haven't posted them, but I really have been making lots of things!  Honest!  Someday I'll get caught up.  ;o)

Here are the little peeps I made for the youngest members of our family for their little Christmas treats.

Peeps for Christmas...

We have Rudolph the Red Nosed Pocket Reindeer Peep, White Chocolate Pocket ChrisMoose, Chubby Rudolph, and Chocolate Pocket ChrisMoose, and their grassy snowbank pockets.  :o)

                

  

And this is my knit version of a totally adorable Lion Brand Rudolph crochet pattern

I made him like my Petunia Phlying Piglet, all in one piece, with the Loopy Legs technique.

I also made a Frosty Snowman Peep for our older niece - he was a failed experiment for a snowman that converted into a snowball (it worked, but not well) so I made him into a traditional snowman.  The yarn is Moda Dea Cheerio, which is sparkly, and makes him look like he's made of snow!  :o)  Great yarn!  Such a shame they discontinued it.  I used that for the grassy snowbank pockets that the pocket Rudolph and ChrisMeese are in, too.  :o)

And last but not least - yet another Christmas Elmo!  This time for a young disabled friend of our nephews.

 

I've changed the method that I use to make this guy, and he came out much neater.  I'll share a pattern when I can write up the changes.  (And don't hold your breath, because I'm glacially slow!)

We hope that you are all enjoying your holidays and wish you all a Very Merry Christmas, a (belated) Very Happy Channukah, and a very Merry Kwaanza!  Enjoy whatever you celebrate!  :o)

Now I have to go give away all my cute little ami's! 

More pics on flickr http://www.flickr.com/knittycat

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Sackboy / Green Lantern for Matt's Birthday!

Sackboy, the character from the PS3 videogame, LittleBigPlanet, has become so popular that I thought he'd make a nice gift for our nephew, Matt, who is a collector.

I finished my version of Sackboy for Matt recently (knit without a pattern, as usual), and presented him for his birthday.

Voila!  Sackboy Peep:

Sackboy Front View

I just barely finished in time!!   Boy was it a pain to put that working zipper in!  And I hate sewing things!  ;o)   I'm even MORE impressed with all of the amazing Sackboy's that folks have been creating after making one myself!

I used my loopy legs (flap) technique to make the mouth so I wouldn't have to sew it on.  And it worked great!  :o)

My Hub and I both liked him better before I added the decorative grey stitching, but for Matt, I wanted to be as accurate as I could, since he's a collector.  I did leave off the two vertical lines at the back of his head.  Just didn't like 'em.  But I told Matt that I'd put them in if he'd like them - and guess what... he told me last night that he WOULD!  Yep... a collector!  heh heh  So Sackboy Peep will be coming back for some cosmetic surgery!  ;o)

My Hub  is totally crazy about him, and REALLY wants me to make another one for him!  Well.... actually, he said to make another one for Matt and he'll just keep this one!!  ha ha ha!  He wouldn't do that, of course, but he just fell in love with him.

Sackboy Peep with photo reference:


Sackboy Peep for Matt's Birthday

He has a working zipper, and I made a felt inner body so he could be opened. (ugh!  That was a pain! And my Hub wants me to do this AGAIN!!!)  When you open his zipper, you can see his little golden heart (a stone bead that's gold with a brownish edging).  :o)





Sackboy Peep with Golden Heart:

Sackboy Peep with heart of gold for Matt's Birthday



I've seen so many Sackboys that other folks have made (including the Alan Dart pattern) wearing a pom pom hat and scarf, that I figured that they must be something that Sackboy wears, so I made him a set.  We recently got the game (incredibly adorable and FUN!), but I haven't seen the hat and scarf yet.  So I dunno.  But here's




Sackboy Peep with hat and scarf:


Sackboy Peep with hat & scarf for Matt's Birthday

And since Sackboy loves to play dress-up and take on different characters, and because Matt has been very into The Green Lantern lately (new movie coming out, too!), and because GL is one of my all time favorite comic book characters... I made...

Taaa DAAAA!!!



Green Lantern Sackboy Peep!

Sackboy GL Peep recharging his ring

I like him best without the mask.  :o)

I finished his little vest (with very poorly made emblem) just in the nick of time, and my Hub and I are so pleased with it.   It's made like a little bib!  heh heh   I'm really happy I managed to squeeze in making it before Matt's birthday.

And here he is saying his official oath while charging his ring (hee hee) ....

Green Lantern Sackboy Peep for Matt's Birthday

The beautiful green yarn is Bamboo Soft Spell and Bamboo Charmed from www.yarncloud.com! It's a chainette yarn, and sooo nice to work with!  Nice sheen, gorgeous colors, and has all those nice bamboo properties!  :o)

Here's a better look at his power ring:

Sackboy Peep from Side



Sackboy GL Peep ring close

I would have liked to have done a better job on the ring, but just didn't have enough TIME left!!




Green Lantern Battery for Sackboy Peep for Matt's Birthday 3/4 view



Green Lantern Battery for Sackboy Peep for Matt's Birthday front

Close-ups of the Green Lantern's Power Battery...











which I'm absolutely nuts about!  If we were meanies, my Hub would keep the peep and I'd keep the Lantern Battery!!  ;o)  I put 4 golden dollar coins in the bottom to weight it (they were just the right size - and makes the battery even more valuable and powerful -  heh heh) and a chenille stem in the handle to give it strength and body.



It was fun taking a trip down comic book memory lane!  :o)

.

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Pocket Pup Peeps! :o)

First there were Pocket Lambie Peeps, and now we have Pocket Pup Peeps!  :o) 

this is Frankie Pocket Pup Peep


I made little Frankie for our niece after watching her adorable wee poodle mix romping about, recently.  He's sooo cute!  Had to make an ami of him!  And having been making Pocket Lambie Peeps lately, I realized that the lambie yarn would be perfect for him.  With just a bit of changing, the lambie could become a Pup!!   Tried out one of those cute little glass animal noses (from www.glasseyesonline.com ), and it's just perfect for a dog, with their shiny wet noses!  :o)   My Hub and I are just LOVING him!  AND he looks even so much cuter in person!  So another one that will be very hard to part with.  *sigh* 


and this is Daisy Pocket Pup Peep
 

We were so crazy about little Frankie peep that I had to make Daisy Peep for us, or our niece was never going to get Frankie!  ;o)  I was soooo sad at the thought of sending him away, till Daisy came to stay.  Daisy is in homage to the memory of my sweet little Bichon Frise.

More about Frankie ... he has this adorable bit of apricot on his back!  Isn't that CUTE?!


Here's Frankie in his little bed/pocket, which is now Daisy's because I made a slightly bigger one for Frankie...



And more of wee Daisy


here's Wee Daisy with Wee Frankie (they're in loooove... *sings... Frankiee and Daisy were looveeerrrsss....*  hee hee)


See him whispering sweet nothings to her before kissing her?  ;o)

Frankie is a poodle mix - and you know what those Frenchmen are like!  ;o)  heh heh  Yes, I know that Poodles didn't originate in France, but... we're pretending.  ;o)

Unfortunately, theirs will have to be a long distance relationship, because Frankie is moving to Northern California to be with his new mommy, and Daisy is staying here with US!  (YAY!)


And one more of Daisy, giggling because she's in Frankie's new bed/pocket


I just couldn't stop taking pics of these two pups!!  heh heh  I've got dozens of them!!  Yeesh!  Am I obsessed?

I'm knitting away, making lots of peeps, but I never get time to post them. So someday there will be a giant post from me with a hundred peeps in it!  (just kidding! I'm lucky to get a peep posted now and then).

More peeps at my flickr pages http://www.flickr.com/knittycat

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Little Limbless Pocket Lambies Part One...

A Lambie Thank You to Snuffykin...

For all the very hard work she did on the weloveamigurumi swap, and for being the sweetie that she is,
I sent snuffykin this wee limbless Pocket Lambie named Laddie  (see snuffykin's awesome creations here)

Laddie atop his grassy hillock (pocket) and wearing his flowery garland

Laddie - Pocket Lambie for snuffykin

 


Laddie inside of his grassy hillock (pocket) 

Laddie - Pocket Lambie for snuffykin

 
Laddie in my hand (he's a wee fellow)

Laddie - Pocket Lambie for snuffykin - in my hand

 
The back of Laddie's flowery garland

Laddie - Pocket Lambie for snuffykin

 


The page I sent with wee Laddie

Laddie - Pocket Lambie for snuffykin

You can see that he is wearing the original "grassy" garland that I made for him in this group of photos,
I made the "flowery" one after and sent them both.  :o)



and here's Laddie with his two cousins, inside and atop their grassy hillock pockets

3 little pocket lambies

Apologies for the crummy group photos... I didn't have all of them together for long enough to take decent photos.
The first one on the left is Mitzy, who went to my Mum-in-law in Scotland for UK Mother's Day,
the middle one is Laddie,
and the one on the right is Mitzie, who stayed home with us as my dear Hub's Easter Peep

Yes, it's Mitzie and Mitzy... I liked the name!  ;o)

I'll post more pics of Mitzy and Mitzie when I put up more of the Easter Peeps.  :o)

More peeps pics (but no new ones other than these) on my flickr pages http://www.flickr.com/knittycat

HAPPY SPRING!!  :o)

Don't you just LOVE springtime?!  :o)   

Flowers and Birdies and Baby Animals!!  :o)  Amigurumi Heaven! 

      

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Valentine's after Easter AGAIN? :o)

Here are the Valentine's pressies I made for my Darling Hub...  (yep, I'm mixing Easter and Valentine's Day again, but I'll be back to Easter next time... Lots more Easter Peeps and Baskets to post, soon) 

For Valentine's Day and for Easter, I made limbless wee ami's and baskets for them.  Here's Peter Pickle Peep, the limbless chick that I made for my Hub for Valentine's Day (yes, I'm very slow to post.... I still don't have the rest of the Easter ones uploaded yet!)   I apologize for the quality of the photos... I'll try to take some better ones of these guys at some point.  I forgot them when I took the Easter pics.  :o/  Oops!

Heart Basket & Peter Pickle Peep & 2 Peas in a Pod

And Next to the basket is....
   
Two Peas in a Pod 

Two Peas in a Pod

We always say that we’re like two peas in a pod, and I’ve wanted to make a set for my dear Hub for ages! Finally remembered to do it. Simple simple… two little green balls with eyes and mouths, and for the pod, I simply knitted a leaf shape in stockinette and it obligingly curled all by itself. :o)


And a bigger pic of Peter Pickle (so named for obvious reasons... he looks like a PICKLE!  heh heh) out of the basket

Heart Basket & Peter Pickle Peep

Making limbless wee peeps for my DH’s Valentine’s gift, and for Easter gifts has been such fun! (except for the exhaustion of making so MANY at one time) And it was a nice break from some of the more complicated one’s I’ve been making! :o)  (two new "more complicated" ones to see soon)  These little limbless guys have a special charm that my Hub and I love!  :o)

I made lots of baskets for the wee limbless peeps for Easter, with lots of different yarns, mostly from www.yarncloud.com. Lots of different colors and textures! And this one for my Hub’s Valentine’s peep as well. It was lovely to work with all of this variety! Really fed my addiction! :o) The Heart is made the same way as my “Unbroken Heart” (made all in one piece with no break in yarn), in red mystery yarn, and tied onto the basket.  The basket is meant to have a suggestion of a heart shape at the top, which is not apparent in these photos.... I'll see if I can get better photos that show it.

      

I'll post more of the Easter peeps and baskets soon.  :o)

As always, you can see more of my creations at http://www.flickr.com/knittycat or on Ravelry (I'm theknittycat on Ravelry), and an index with links to my patterns and tutorials are at http://www.theknittycat.com. 

Happy Spring to Everyone!  Hope you're all enjoying the (crazy) weather, and all of the beautiful flowers!!  :o)



 

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HAPPY EASTER! HAPPY SPRING!

HAPPY EASTER!  HAPPY SPRING!

 

Here's a preview of the peeps I made for Easter ...  I'll put up more shots of them soon.  I had such fun making these limbless peeps!  And I had some wonderful yarn to play with, sent to me by my friend, Romana, of YarnCloud Yarns (www.yarncloud.com)!  The textures and colors were exciting and fun!  I loved putting together the various color schemes for each of the basket/peep sets.

 

More about this soon... (well, we can hope, can't we?)

Happy Easter! group shot

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! group shot - left side

Happy Easter! group shot - right side

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Happy St. Patty's Day - Something Green - the Hulk!

Happy St. Patty's Day Everyone!  

Yep, I missed Valentine's Day... I'll try to post a few Valentine's things in an Easter post...
(crossing fingers that I feel up to that).

Here's a Big something Green for St. Patrick's Day

Marvel Comic's The Incredible Hulk for Matt's Birthday with Lambie Pie







Marvel Comics the Incredible Hulk! for Matt's Birthday, with his best bud, Lambie Pie... ;o)

Our nephew, Matt, had been wanting a Hulk, since I started making these peeps, but I could never bring myself to make one... But, when I ordered a variety of green yarns to get the right shade for something I was making, one of them arrived and I said... Omigosh... it's Hulk green! And I already had some bluish purple that would work for pants... so there I was, making the Hulk! :o) I intended to make him a LOT smaller, but he just happened! ... these things have a life of their own.

Marvel Comics the Incredible Hulk for Matt's Birthday - back

I actually finished him just a day before Matt's birthday (Whew!), last September! But I could never decide which photos to post, so he's been languishing, waiting to be seen. He's not really my cup of tea, with his angry face. I like CUTSEY things! With sweet smiles! But he was a challenge, and I learned a lot of things while making him that are useful in other projects, as well. Lambie Pie says that he's much sweeter and nicer than he looks.

Hulk Dares you to knock this peep off of his shoulder!

One of my fellow amigurumi artists said "he's not angry, just having a bad face day, I guess". heh heh
And that's how I'm looking at him from now on! ;o)

He's not cross-eyed, by the way, just a trick of the camera, and the reflectiveness of the eyes, I guess.

He's the largest peep I've made at 15" tall and nearly as wide! And he's knitted in one piece from toes to top of head, and then each of his arms knitted in one piece, from fingers to shoulders, and sewn onto the torso. I did make notes while working on him, so hopefully I will be able to share the techniques that I discovered, and developed, in the future.

Marvel Comics the Incredible Hulk for Matt's Birthday - hands and feet detail

You probably can't tell from my photos, but the waist of his pants is ragged and ripped looking, with a scrap of white shirt left stuck in it, and the hems on the pant legs are ripped. I didn't do a good job of capturing that in the pics, unfortunately. Didn't have him for long after finishing him, and had to take the pics in a hurry.

Marvel Comics the Incredible Hulk for Matt's Birthday with reference photos

I'm kind of fanatical about not wanting to attach pieces, as you might have noticed, and I was pretty tickled with the method I finagled for making his torn up waist, and hems on his pants, with my trusty knitting needles, all in one piece with his body, and never having to sew any bits on! YAY! Too bad it shows up so poorly on the pics.

Also, I found a new and very simple method of making hair while working on Miss Piggy, for my DH (she's still not finished, unfortunately, so obviously not posted), and I used it to make the Hulk's hair. It's a really versatile technique, and very easy to do, too. You can make short or long hair using this method. I hope to write up a tutorial for it at some point. Or I will at least post a simple description of the process. As long as you use an eyelash or fuzzy yarn of some sort, appropriate to your project, it is super easy to do! And I do like easy! :o)

Marvel Comics the Incredible Hulk for Matt's Birthday - in my hand and head close-up

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Index of my Patterns and Tutorials

Lots more Peeps photos to be found at http://www.flickr.com/knittycat

and Pudge photos at http://www.flickr.com/anthor