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Tips & Techniques for Knitting theknittycat's Peeps and Other Toys

Showing posts with label marvel comics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label marvel comics. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

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.







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.



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.



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.



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)




Happy St. Patty's Day!





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

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Springtime Peeps! And a new Flying Piggy Pattern!


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


After the last post, filled with what I haven't completed, 
I thought it would be nice to show you some of what I HAVE completed lately:

It's been a very PINK spring!  :o)

We have two very Pink Ballerinas:

Pippa Potomus for Mia's Birthday

Pippa Potamus for Mia's birthday - holding hands

Pippa Potamus for Mia's birthday - en pointe - with help


Pippa Potamus for Mia's birthday - the end
The End





and Katerina Kitty Ballerina for Kristina's Birthday

Katerina Kitty Ballerina for Kristina's Birthday in my Hand


Katerina Kitty Ballerina for Kristina's Birthday - back
Katerina Kitty Ballerina for Kristina's Birthday



Katerina rehearsing for her debut! 









Pippa and Katerina are cousins and have a lot in common 
- they both love pink and they both love to dance!
They're very good friends, too!  :o)

Katerina Kitty Ballerina with her cousin Pippa Potomus

Katerina Kitty Ballerina with her cousin Pippa Potomus



and we also introduce:

Kermie 2 for Kristina's Birthday (okay, okay, he's not pink!)

Kermit THE Frog - Kermie 2 for Kristina - with frog legs

Kermit THE Frog - Kermie 2 for Kristina - with frog legs


Kermie 2 and Katerina are very close 


Kermie 2 & Katerina for Kristina -  Arm in Arm            and they enjoy strolling and chatting


Kermie 2 & Katerina for Kristina chatting






Kermie 2 & Katerina for Kristina - Advice from her big brother











 Katerina often goes to Kermie 2 for advice from her big brother


Kermie 2 & Katerina for Kristina - Family  Portrait



















Also not pink:
a sparkly little Marisa Mousie for Jill

Marisa Le Mousie for Jill



Marisa Le Mousie in my hand

















And before that I made...
the Peep that we've fallen in love with...  I ordered some cool new yarn to try - Moda Dea Fur Sure, and when I saw this lovely yellow fuzzy stuff, it just cried out to be a...

Peepsie Peep!

We've fallen in love with a Peep!

We've fallen in love with a Peep!


We're all crazy about her and so glad that she was an experiment with the new yarn, and not a gift for anyone, so we get to KEEP her!  YAYAYAY!!!

We've fallen in love with a Peep!



Peepsie says "Peeep!"  Which means, "Hi!"


Pudgie Loves Peepsie!

Pudgie loves Peepsie Too!  :o)



And here's...

Mossalia the wee Mermaid - my first mermaid experiment. I LOOOOOVE mermaids! :o)


You can see that I caught her (carefully) barehanded. We did not keep her, of course, but had a nice chat, took some photos, said "goodbye", and watched her swim away beneath the waves.





















 And we can't forget the comic fans amongst our ranks...  (okay, I'm one of them, I admit it.)

Marvel Comics' the Human Torch.
FLAME ON!

















 
- my impressionistic interpretation - for Matt. :o)

He's quite small (prox 3 1/2" not counting flames, 4" with flames).
I think he kind of looks like a fire elemental. :o)

Knitted on size 2 needles with Senso size 3 crochet thread. Flames crocheted in strips and sewn to body.






And A NEW PATTERN!!!

if you have been saving up things to do "When Pigs Fly"....  The Time has Come!

We have a Pink Flying Piggy!


Petunia Phlying Piglet



Petunia Phlying Piglet - the flying piggy for Dorothy

Complete with an easy pattern to make her! To make Petunia, I came up with a new (as far as I can determine) idea for making the legs of a 4-legged peep, all in one, along with the rest of the body. She’s knit in the round, all in one piece (except for wings of course), including legs, ears and tail and just stitching the sides of the legs and ears together when the knitting is done. A nice easy project. I really enjoyed making her! :o)

Pattern for Petunia Phlying Piglet can be found here!




Petunia Phlying Piglet - the flying piggy for Dorothy - Ready for Take Off!


More about Petunia and the Loopy Legs Technique in the next post! (which won't be too long away, I hope, because it's nearly finished!)

Hope you are all having a lovely summer! Lots of fun in the sun (with your sunscreen of course) and playing at the beach, and BBQ's, and happy times! :o) Stay Cool! (I sooo want to put "Dudes" here! heh heh)


Wednesday, April 23, 2008

What comes between Easter and Mother's Day?

Please check out www.flickr.com/knittycat for larger photos and all of the peeps.




What comes between Easter and Mother's Day?
This post, apparently.  ;o)

This blog is becoming a holiday affair... Quite unintentionally, I assure you.   But since I make a lot of peeps as holiday gifts, it's just been happening that way.
I'm busting out of that mold today, though.  

Belated Easter for Kristina & Mia:
Last Sunday, we had a happy family gathering, celebrating 3 birthdays, and belated Easter for our two younger nieces, whom we hadn't seen since Christmas.



  Mia and Kristina got their Eggy/Bunnies, Eggletina and Eggalia:







(Made with Softee Baby "Rocking Horse" and RH Baby Teri "Baby Print")










Their fuzzy lambies, Lambie Pinkletoes and Lambie Meringue:







(made with  TLC Baby Amore and Paton's Be Mine*, respectively)





(Patterns for the Eggy/Bunnies and Wee Lambie Peeps will be coming in the next post.)

* I am not recommending knitting peeps with Paton's Be Mine though, because it's so hard to work with, even though it does make a yummy soft and fuzzy fabric. *




And we (finally) gave Kristina her Christmas Cookie Monster!  
Made after Christmas, to replace the one that Kristina didn't get at Christmas.






When we gave an Elmo to Mia and a Cookie to Kristina for Christmas, wee Mia "adopted" Cookie with such fervor that no one had the heart to take him away from her, least of all, sweet Kristina.  So I promised to make Kristina a replacement.  And finally, she has him! And she was delighted with him!  Hurray! 

(Cookie Monster Pattern is available free!  See patterns and tutorials.)






Cookie Monsters for Mia, Kristina, and D
Cookie Monsters for Mia, Kristina, and D

Here are all three Cookie Monsters, D's - the original - and Mia's and Kristina's.  You might notice that D's felt that he should have a Christmas scarf as well!  :o)


Tony's birthday goodies:
The main purpose of our gathering, was to celebrate Tony's birthday.  For the occasion I made some goodies for him.






He LOVES hot bright colors, especially orange, red, and yellow, so I made a simple cotton washcloth with a very bright colorway of Sugar and Cream.  Just a plain garter stitch. But it made a wonderful zigzag pattern, and the garter st made it nice and cushy.  :o)
Don't you love multicolor yarn? You never know what you're going to get.






Next - a money bag, stockinette st, in the round, bright yellow, lion brand soft baby, with a big red dollar sign on one side and a big red t on the other.  Filled with money of course.  :o) a teen boy's fave gift. 

An interesting feature is the closure: I felt that tying the drawstrings or using a bead would be too bulky, but it needed to close pretty securely so the money wouldn't fall out, so I knitted a strip and wrapped it around the drawstrings, snugly, and sewed it closed, making sure it still would slide.  It worked just great!

 






And last - but of course not least to a peep or amigurumi lover - a skateboarding monkey peep, Maximillion, with a backpack full of bananas! 

He prefers being called Maxie, by the way.
 


Making the teensy backpack was such fun!  I felt like Gulliver in the land of Lilliput.  :o)





We owe the skateboard to chez michelle... I'd considered making one, since Tony loves skateboarding, but I wasn't sure how a knitted skateboard would come out, so I hesitated to make it.  But then I saw this wonderful ami [here] by chez michelle and saw how feasible the skateboard was.
 
Construction  comments:
Maxie was made with Bernat Microspun Mango, and bright yellow, Lion Brand Soft Baby, using my Wee Lambie Peep Pattern (free pattern for the Lambies coming in my next post, along with the pattern for the Eggy/Bunnies).  I made him with longer legs and arms (appropriate for a monkey), and slight modifications for the ear shape.  And, of course I did some simple colorwork (which I don't like doing), for the face.  The face and head were made the same way as the lambies, but after stuffing and closing his head, I needle-sculpted his face to give him a more monkey-shaped muzzle.






His skateboard was made with two strands of size 10 crochet cotton, and size 1 needles.  Knit in the round, a simple tapered tube, then slipped a piece of cardboard in (cut to fit) and closed up.  Added seed beads for wheels and a piece of yellow beading elastic for a carrying strap.
My DH and I were really happy with him!  :o)  and so was Tony, which is what counts, of course. :o)







Marvel Comics' The Human Torch for Matthew:
I couldn't have peeps for the other nieces and nephews and not have something for Matt, of course, so we took the opportunity to give him the "Human Torch" I'd finished a few weeks ago.


Unlike the Thing, the Torch peep is much more impressionistic.  He rather reminds me of a fire elemental.  He's quite small, doubleknitted in my "classic peep" style, with sz 3 crochet cotton (Senso) and size 2 needles.  The flames were crocheted in long strips (I've forgotten the hook size), and sewn on. 

The moment I saw that yarn, I immediately thought "The Torch!"

Matt seemed quite happy with him.  :o)




I'll be posting the Lambie and Eggy/Bunny patterns with the next post, and I hope that won't be tooooo long from now.




Also.... I'm actually working on a Kermit the Frog pattern (as I've received MANY requests!).  Making a Kermie for Kristina's June birthday, but it's a challenge, trying to remember how I made the original!  :o) 

Wish me luck!








Many thanks to all of you kind folks who have been so supportive, and so willing to comment so positively on my flickr.com pages, and elsewhere.  I appreciate it more than I can say.  It gives me strength to do the arduous work of pattern writing. It's arduous for me, anyway.  I like to just grab my needles and some nice yarn and just CREATE!!  Stopping and thinking about what I'm actually doing is quite a stretch.  ;o)


Cheers!

Sunday, December 23, 2007

MERRY CHRISTMAS! Our gifts to you - PATTERNS!!


MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
 

We wish you all the very best Holiday Season! 
A very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year to All!

Our gifts to you:
Muppet Patterns!


Christmas Cookie Monster for KristinaElmo Peep:






Cookie Monster Peep:








the Thing Pattern? 





Well, the pattern's written and the photos are in it, but it's not fully proof read. 

But here it is anyway!  :o)
 




Nellie the Elephant is ready too!


Much Joy and Many Blessings to Everyone!

Please check out www.flickr.com/knittycat for larger photos and all of the peeps.