Happy Valentine's Day!

with Love from theknittycat, mr. theknittycat, 

and Pidgey and Teddy (the Mewligans)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello Kitty in Kimono - Crafty Christmas 2010

=^..^=

Hello Kitty in Kimono for Jennea - from my Crafty Christmas 2010

I put in a sneak peek of Hello Kitty in my last post (for New Year's Eve).

A very simple animation. :o)  But this post will give you the full intro.

When I was getting my HK photos ready to upload to my photostream on flickr, I noticed that if I put a few of them together, it made her move, and even bow (just a happy accident) ... I couldn't resist! I just had to animate her. ;o)

Isn't that FUN?!  I love animated gifs!  :o)

Hello Kitty in Kimono for Jennea

(holding still for her closeup)

a better view of her sleeves, and from the back

How to Poorly Plan Christmas Crafts
HK in Kimono is one of the multitude of projects that, two months ago, I suddenly, and unexpectedly, found that I needed to make for Christmas.   Since time was very short, I very cleverly designed projects that were much larger and more involved than my usual ones!  arrrgh!  And I'm not a speedy peepmaker!

size of HK in Kimono compared to
my first HK for Nicole
 

 (from my first year of peepmaking, 2007) 

 
So after making this "brilliant" plan and working like a madwoman for weeks, nearing the deadline I realized that the peep I had been working on for a good portion of that time (several weeks) turned out to be inappropriately delicate for her intended recipient, our lively, and very young niece, Mia.   So approaching the last minute, I had to start all over with another project for her!  (you'll be introduced to her replacement, Betty the Baby Bot in another post).  It happens that I totally LOVED what I wound up making for her (and so did she), but it would have been much more fun to have made it more leisurely.

It's been very challenging, but, working night and day, I got MOST of the projects done.  (yeah. I do NOT recommend crafting this way - made me really sick)  My Dear Hub's Piglet got postponed till after, and so did the Meowth for our wonderful nephew, who sweetly offered to let me make his after Christmas, so I wouldn't be so pressured.  :o)  Wasn't that a lovely Christmas gift?  I made him a simple thing (the pokemon character, Electrode - a red and white ball with a face) to tide him over till I make Meowth, and so he'd have something to open from us on Christmas Day, and now I'm off to make a tiny Meowth!  ;o)  And finish Piglet... and make my Hub yet another Lambie!!  He LOVES those lambies!  heh heh

Peeking at Peeps
Here's a peek at the projects I made for Christmas (all made in 2 months - there were four more, but those had already been sent to Scotland when I took this photo).  Please forgive the poor quality of the photo. I was in such a hurry at that point that I'm just grateful to have any pics at all!  Their individual photos are better, and I'll be sharing those in future posts.

 a wee peek of the group on the couch, waiting to be packaged up for gift giving

- toys for the kids and ornaments and earrings for the adults.

(yes, I did a lovely job of composing.   I especially love the disordered mass of ornaments.   ick.)

The gifts consisted of

5 large peeps:
Betty Baby Bot, Lizabeth Cuddle Lambie, Rosalie Flying Piglet, HK in Kimono, and Maria Teresa, the large doll that Baby Bot was replacing (who still needs her hair sewn on before she becomes a gift).

4 medium peeps
to Scotland (not in photo)
Elmo (who was actually finished in October), Dorothy Goldfish, Goldfish "Bowl", and Mirabelle Mousie

3 small peeps:
Terence the Terrapin, a Christmas tree with Santa sack, and the Blue Guy from the HTC cell phone commercials (my Hub loved those commercials, and that little guy!)

and 13 ornaments for the adults
No, your eyes don't deceive you. There are only 9 ornaments in that photo. I made 4 more after I took that pic.  (They look a lot prettier when they're not mushed up in a mass!  heh heh)

Plus 4 pairs of crystal earrings.

Whew!


And now some background about Hello Kitty in Kimono!  Finally!  :o)

My Inspiration
I was inspired to make this peep when I saw this adorable amigurumi Kimono Kitty

made by  http://therese-guzman.blogspot.com/

from a Kimono Kitty pattern written by kandjdolls. (brilliant designers, by the way!).

http://www.kandjdolls.etsy.com  http://ravelry.com/people/kandjdolls  

http://flickr.com/kandjdolls 

The Kimono Kitty was crocheted, and of course I'd be knitting mine, but that's not a problem since I was only using the photo as inspiration.  (as most of you know, I knit everything freehand, without patterns.)

Although flawed, I'm quite pleased at how HK in Kimono turned out.  I made her in Jennea's favorite color, purple!  And Jennea, a big HK fan, loved her!  :o)  Yay!!  If I'd had more time I'd have liked to make an accessory for her. I was thinking that a parasol would be super cute!  So if I ever have some spare time for it ... Yeah. Sure. Heh heh

Eyes and How Not to Make Them
I had some trouble making HK's eyes satisfactorily, and have discovered that Lion Brand Microspun is NOT a good choice for knotted yarn eyes (see my yarn knot eyes tutorial).  Since it’s so loosely spun, the knots don’t cohere into a “fused” ball, but separate. Soooo… back to the drawing board.

Since her eyes are oval and I didn't have any glass eyes in that shape, I resorted to a new method that, recently, I’ve been utilizing on occasion - flattened knitted ball eyes. I made a pair with Red Heart Lustersheen (a very light sport or fingering weight yarn), and those worked just fine. This is the first time I’ve made oval ones instead of round ones, but it wasn’t a problem. :o)


One more thing to add before I close...

No Pattern Available but Hints on How to Make Her
Several people have already asked me for a pattern for this knit Kimono Kitty, but I made no notes at all while knitting her (I was in too much of a hurry to stop and write what I was doing), and I won't be writing anything up for her.  But she is made up of very simple shapes;

Two tubes for her legs, a tapered tube for her body and kimono, and wide flattened tubes for her sleeves (stuffing a narrow tube shape at one end of each sleeve for her arms), with white balls on the ends for paws (or you could make whole white arm tubes and tuck them into one side of each sleeve). And a rounded 3D rectangle for her head - kind of a shallow box shape.  It should really be a bit more squared than I made it - similar width to height, I was so focused on not making it round that I made it a bit wider than I should have, but I still love her.  :o)  And rounded triangles for ears.

That, of course isn't quite the way I made her since I hate to sew bits together. Except for her arms, she's all one piece, and her paws are one piece with her arms.


More Posts?
I'm really hoping to make time to post more often, and get caught up on sharing my backlog of finished peeps. They feel very neglected not to have had their day on the blog!  They will most likely be posted as the whim takes me, and not in chronological order, but that doesn't really matter anyway, does it.

We hope that you all had a lovely holiday (I hope you planned your crafty gifts better than I did!!). 

We wish you the happiest new year ever!  :o)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! and HK in Kimono in motion...

Wishing you all a wonderfully Happy New Year!  

Filled with LOTS of amigurumi and Peeps!!  :o)
with Love from theknittycat / Shar and Mr. theknittycat / anthor

Cute Sackboy for Sale! & Oscar the Grouch ...

Or ... what to make when you're feeling grouchy ... Oscar of course!

Sackboy Peep on flickr

I get quite a few emails from folks asking to purchase a knitted Sackboy like the one I made for Matt, but considering the fact that my poor Hub is still (a year later!) waiting for me to make one for him, I don't think that's feasible - even if I would ever consider selling any of my peeps (wouldn't that be slavery??). As most of you know, I only make them as gifts of love, for friends and family.

But... I have found a solution for those seeking to purchase (rather than make), a Sackboy ...

for sale at amazon.com!

Click here to go to the page where you can buy a Sackboy

Cute, huh?!  :o)

I had planned to make a Sackboy for my Hub's birthday last month, but life intervened and things have been kinda crazy for a while - so no Sackboy Peep yet. :o/   So when Matt mentioned seeing this little guy at thinkgeek.com I had to check it out. As is usually the case with thinkgeek, they were sold out by the time I got there, but I found them at amazon.com!  Yay!

And, YES!  My hub now has his very own Sackboy!  - just to tide him over till I can make one for him - he still wants my peep version.  ;o)   Don't feel too sad for him, I've made him dozens of peeps!  Just haven't gotten to Sackboy yet. Someday I'll get caught up on my peep posting and you can see some of his collection. Okay...  That may never happen, but I can TRY!

This little Sackboy from amazon.com is made out of knitted fabric but (sadly) is stuffed with something rather firm, and isn't soft and cuddly, but he's very cute for display!  We love him!

Click here to see all the other cute Sackboys (and girls) at amazon.com

So what peep did my Hub actually get for his birthday this year?

Oscar!

Oscar the Grouch

(The Muppet from Sesame Street for anyone who doesn't know him)
Or "Garbo" as I tend to call him when I can't remember his name.   ;o)




I had to restrain his enthusiasm as he was so excited to have his photos taken.  ;o)  You'd think he'd be used to it, but he says that Elmo and Kermit and Cookie usually grab all the attention. 

He goes along with my Hub's other Muppet Peeps, Elmo and Cookie and Kermie, whom you've already seen all over the place, and Grover, whom I made for his last birthday, but haven't posted yet.

Oscar has a little friend, Bitty Kitty, whom he loves very much, and he's not grouchy with her at all.  :o)

Bitty feels very comfortable and secure when she's with Oscar.




Oscar Loves wee Bitty Kitty and watches over her carefully

Bitty Kitty is very very tiny

My Hub says I should show you the large photo as well, so you can get a good look at her.  :o)

Yep, Oscar's trashcan is a bit (!) small...  Duhh... I was knitting away without looking at his can (no pun intended!  Hee hee) and got a bit carried away with his size. He's knitted all in one piece, so the trashcan was bobbing about, below my needles, and still I never noticed!  Heh heh


         "UGH!  Tight fit!"

Happily my Hub loves him, just as he is!  Yay!  And so do I.  :o)

Hope you've all had a lovely summer!   ;o)


You can find posts about the other Muppet Peeps here, and pics of lots of the peeps here: www.flickr.com/knittycat

Pudgie in Pajamas for Dorothy's Birthday

It's been ages since I've had a chance to post any amigurumi, though I've been knitting like mad, as always.  Last night I was thinking about one that I made for my mum-in-law's birthday last year, and just really had the urge to put him up, soooo....

Introducing Pudgie in Pajamas Peep
and his dear friend, Pookie Bear Peep

 Pudgie in PJ's always giggles when you tickle his tummy... but the original has a different reaction!  heh heh 
 
Pudge is our adored giant cat.  We're all a bit obsessed with him, and my Mum in law treats him like a grandchild ('cause he IS, of course!  heh heh), so I figured she'd enjoy getting her very own Pudge to cuddle with.  :o)

......pic of pudge....




 
 
Pudgie and Pookie are very best friends and love to be together.

 
 
 
 
They love to cuddle and giggle and nap, and they love a nice cozy lap to sit in.
 
 
 
  They are so happy, living with their GrandMaw, and they thought that the trip to Scotland was very exciting!   (we didn't send them till Christmas, though because of the mail strike in the UK - we didn't want to take any chances!!)

They enjoy having a nice dish of tuna and box of choco, and a nice bowl of honey, and having lovely bedtime stories read to them.




Pookie gets annoyed when you tweak his ear.  Oops!

 


I made Pudgie freehand (as usual) and didn't make any notes, so I have no pattern plans for him.  I am hoping though, that at some point I can get up the energy to share the simple slip stitch technique I used to make his head all in one piece (including ears).  I do hate sewing on all those bits and pieces!
 
 

The inspiration for Pudgie in Pajamas was this totally adorable Tabitha kitty design by Debi Birkin. 

 

Isn't she adorable?  If you want one of your very own, Debi has a pattern for Tabitha here:
www.debibirkin.com


More pics (if these weren't enough!) on my flickr pages here
www.flickr.com/knittycat

I'm hoping to post her other birthday peep, Kathleen Bunny, soon!  I fell in love with Pudgie in PJs and Kathleen Bunny, who are larger than my usual wee peeps (they were made for cuddling), and it was hard to send them so far away, but their grandmaw loves them, so it's all good!  :o)


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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

The End

and 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

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

Kermie 2 and Katerina are very close 

            and they enjoy strolling and chatting

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






















Also not pink:
a sparkly little Marisa Mousie for Jill























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'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!!!

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

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)