Phineas The Dragon!

I have always liked dragons. My dad was always into fantasy and sci fi and he got me into it as well. It started with fairy-tales and children’s books about dragons and unicorns, he even made up wonderful stories for me about fairies and far away lands.

I still have a major fascination with all these fantasy elements and dragons are no exception! So it stands to reason that I had to try knitting a dragon!

This little bugger caused me a great deal of annoyance. There are some patterns out there but most were either crochet or utilized techniques I have yet to master. I am far too stubborn to let lack of a pattern or ability stop me from making whatever the heck I want to so I soldiered on.

I drew inspiration from the knit and crochet patterns I couldn’t follow and also from plush dragons made of cloth trying to find a body and head shape I could adapt.

I would get an idea, get really excited and then have it not quite come together and have to put the project down for a few days. All told I think he took about 3 weeks because I kept putting him down and having to undo what I’d started.

For a first attempt though, I’m really very happy with him.

I am proud to present Phineas the Dragon!

 

 

 

Hello Dolly!

I had been thinking about how to make a doll for a while when I came across a good reason to try it out. The goth nightclub I go to from time to time had a Goths in Pajamas themed party. Originally I figured I would make a cute goth costume for one of my stuffed animals and in the process ended up making a goth doll!

This is Alice Malice. She comes complete with goth dress, red tights, black shoes, red and black hair and laced up gauntlets!

 

She even has lingerie!

 

 

Piece of Cake

Well they say necessity is the mother of invention, usually my knitting invention necessities are gift giving occasions.

This one was for my dad’s birthday. He asked me to make something interesting for him so after several attempts at a knit birthday card I finally realized it would be a lot smarter to make a cake!

Then I realized I didn’t know how to make a circle thus making it harder to make a whole cake. Luckily I’m not a complete dork and I realized I could make triangles and rectangles which were enough to make a piece of cake!

I absolutely love how this project came out and so did my dad! He took it to work and left it on his desk to show it off and people kept walking in and thinking it was real cake!

The candle kinda confounded me for a while, I couldn’t figure out how to do the flame or get it to stand up and then I stumbled across some sparkly pipe cleaners in our craft stuff. BINGO!

Also, in case you’re wondering, the first picture is of how I wrapped the cake to give it to my dad…you know, because when you send someone home with a piece of cake you put it on a paper plate and cover it in tinfoil!

 

 

 

Mother's Day Knitting

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, I’m way late with this one, just like with the Father’s Day post. I had originally planned to post most of my projects in the more or less the order I did them and then post as I finished things but its turning out more random than that.

Lol, I was also going to post at regular intervals… the best laid plans, eh?

Anywho, since I posted my Father’s Day Projects I decided tonight I should post my Mother’s Day projects as well.

For dad I chose some classic gifts to make, for mom I had some trouble deciding what to do. I ended up with a pillow and a flower. I found a nifty pattern for a heart though I learned that the heart needed to be knitted in a different color. The hearts are very hard to see in person and don’t really show up in the photos but there is a heart knitted into the center of each pink square and a big heart on the black side. The word “Mom” sewn into the heart…lol it was supposed to be kinda like a tattoo!

The flower design needs some work but I was actually pretty happy with it for a first try!

 

 

 

Flower Girl Dress

Flower Girl Dress

So last August one of my best friends in the world got married to a knitter. His wife is a much better knitter than I am and knit the ring bearer’s pillow.

I told you that story to tell you this one:

When I got back from the wedding another friend announced her engagement and began planning her wedding. I immediately offered to knit a ring pillow for her little girl to carry. They were planning a small wedding so the idea was a pillow with the rings and some flowers pinned to it for their three year old to carry.

In planning out the pillow I decided I should knit her a flower girl dress as well! At some point the pillow fell by the wayside. We went through several different ideas for the dress. Since I didn’t really know what I was doing, the first dress didn’t work out so well and I ended up improvising a finished product on the morning before the wedding!

 

After taking apart the first dress I i sewed this piece together to create a tube dress and then used to the ribbon to make some straps.

  

The ribbon also came in handy for a list minute embellishment at the hem!

 

This is not, unfortunately, a great shot of the dress but you can't deny my model looks very cute in it. For the record I had no hand in the long sleeve shirt and leggings she was wearing underneath.

I also did the flower arranging for the flower girl basket she is holding!

You Can Leave Your Hat On

Since I am mostly self taught as a knitter, there are some definite holes in my knowledge. I very much enjoy challenging myself to learn knew knitting techniques but I also enjoy figuring out how to make what I want to make with the skills I have.

Several months ago, while searching different scarves for ideas, I stumbled across someone who had made sort of neck cuff that could be cinched at the top and turned into a hate. This design was perfect for me because I only needed to be able to make a wide rectangle and cinch it at the top to make a hat with a poof at the top.

So I set to work making my first hat. It was completely unintentional, but a very happy accident that I ended up with a flower shape on top of the hat!

The first is all white because, well, I was experimenting and I had a lot of white on hand. Lately I’m having fun experimenting with more colors!

Father's Day Knitting

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’m late in blogging about Father’s Day, I was not however, late in making presents for my daddy!

Times are tough these days and my dad knows I don’t make a lot of money so he has started asking for knit projects. So for Father’s Day I wanted to do something cute and traditional. I almost went with a bowling ball and bowling pin but then it hit me!

What is more traditional than a tie and a watch for dad?