I’m a gonna git this pattern down on paper, this time for sure! Pattern: draft-update I’m using LaTeX knitting packages to set the pattern up. And I need to knit more prototypes!

ch 4, join loop, 9 dc into loop, 2dc into each dc, 1dc, 2dc next round, keep dc-ing till it’s a hemisphere. Then the chains, Then the lid part - bottom up or top down? Too small for toys, too floppy for ornaments, I think this one is back to the drawing board.

Kids have been asking to spend their pocket money on lego from Hong Kong ebay sellers. I try steering them away from mass-produced plastic toys, and end up with a pile of things to show them the joys of toy making. Ears - crocheted onto the head - 1 slip stitich, 3 dc(UK terminology here, sc for US) working towards the middle of the top of the head, then turn, 1 ch, 2dc, turn 1 ch 1dc, fasten off.

A bag of assorted acrylic and novelty yarn. Time to make little colourful odd things.

Having a baby at Christmas is sweet, but brings ever after the joy of keeping a birthday at a busy time. Modifications - face - made a light brown background for the eyes in duplicate stitch and used black knots for the eyes. Embroidered nostrils and mouth with two strands of two ply yarn (black cashmere). Also used 3 stitch i-cord for the tail. And swapped legs for arms to give more monkey-ish proportions.

A Sunday Morning staying home and a library book. Only hitch was the crochet instructions in the front of the book didn’t quite match up with the terminology in the patterns. The “how to crochet” part was something of a hybrid between UK and US terms. The rest standard US. Spent quite a while slip stitching the body (following instructions for sc), until I tried US sc or UK dc and then it started taking shape.

The earlier dinosaur was lost, so a new one was born.

Some years ago my boys were wreaking havoc with improvised thuribles made from those wooden roll along toys on sticks. I came up with crocheted thuribles. This year, sitting about the fire after dark, we were tossing about ideas for a name for an etsy shop. The Cuddly Thurible was embraced as a great idea. Now I just have to make the thing.

I did get most of this done in time for the May birthday. Only the arms and tail took a bit longer. White angora for the tummy. Main yarn was a great blend of all things fluffy called Cat. Ball band has gone awol and memory hopeless. Black is strongly suspected to be wool crepe. Based on the crochet Meer Cat pattern printed of the internet somewhere years ago. Improvising my own knit conversion took something like faith to keep going.

Kinda raced with the beginning. Read “4sts” and i-cord and kept going. So its sort of half the size. Also stuffed with yarn ends rather than stuffing. Colours blue, yellow, black and gold which hopefully makes a 64 ohm resistor for my Dad’s 64th birthday. Yay.

Lots of garter stitch, but the sideways knitting keeps it interesting. The head worked out too small - the instructions say to knit as tight as possible so I used needles 3 sizes smaller than the main body. Next time I’ll just go 2 sizes down.