Category: Knitted Things

Knitted Toys from Neat Designers

Posted on by Anna

It’s been my pleasure to get to know some talented knitters over the past couple of years that I’ve had my website up. Many of them design toys of their own, so I thought I’d post a few of my favorites as last-minute gifts. All of the below patterns are available online, so all you need is a trip to your yarn stash or maybe the local yarn store (because you were going there anyway) to get started.

For an inventor or anyone in need of a bright idea:

knitgifts_brightspark
Bright Spark the Light Bulb by Kate Jeffery
Available as a free download on Ravelry.

For the musician in your life:

knitgifts_guitar
Guitar by Katie Park
Available on Etsy or Ravelry.

For your hipster friends or great-aunt who still collects owls:

knitgifts_hornedowl
Horned Owl by Hansi Singh
Available on Etsy or Ravelry.

For Australo-philes or kiwi fruit fans:

knitgifts_kiwi
Crazy Kiwi Bird by Hannah Kaminski
Free on her blog.

For anyone who likes silly monsters (that’s everyone!):

knitgifts_mmmmm
mmmmm by Joan De Lurio
Available on Etsy or Ravelry.

That should just about cover everybody on your list, right? If not, you might check out the patterns in my own shop and the freebies on my blog.

Happy holiday knitting!

Santa Snail and Santa Slug

Posted on by Anna

I was happy to see that Whipup blogged about my free Snails and Slugs pattern last week as a “simple gift” for the holidays. This inspired me to make them just a bit more festive.

santasnailslug

The tiny Santa hats are very simple to make.

With white fingering-weight sock yarn, cast on 9 sts onto 3 size 1 or 2 dpns, and join in a rnd.
Purl one rnd.
Switch to red sock yarn, and knit 2 rnds.
Next rnd: [k2tog, k1] 3 times (6 sts)
Knit 2 more rnds, then break yarn and draw through sts with a tapestry needle.

For pom pom, thread white yarn through top of hat several times, crisscrossing over the six stitches that you pulled together to close the end. (I made more of these stitches on the hat on the left for a bigger pom pom.)

Weave in loose ends, and now you have a Santa topper for your Snail or Slug!

Mmmmm!

Posted on by Anna

Coincidentally, one of yesterday’s Elf makers just released a new knitted toy pattern of her own!

Meet mmmmm, aka Mr. Mighty Munchie Mouth-pouch Monster!

mmmmm

Aren’t they hilarous? This is an original pattern by Joan De Lurio available as a pdf from Ravelry or Etsy for $5.

Joan, aka Giolou, has tested tons of patterns for me over the past two years, so she really knows her stuff when it comes to pattern construction, and toys in particular.

Nice job Joan!

Elves Aplenty!

Posted on by Anna

December feels like the fastest month of the year to many of us, I’m sure. Luckily, some of us are getting a little extra help this year from a few diminutive friends.

Sparkle sparkle! No one can accuse lisamarykay1’s Elves of not getting into the holiday spirit.
elves_lisamarykay1

Giolou whipped up some fraternal twins, Winey and Limey, to help her out for the holidays. They may have stubby appendages, but they look ready to lend plenty of moral support!
elves_giolou

Hannah’s duo has “Christmas tree radar,” and set up camp under her tree while her back was turned. These guys are ready for the 25th!
elves_hannah

Something tells me that many more elves elves are on their way. Thank you very much to Giolou and Hannah for testing!

Loop of Magic

Posted on by Anna

I’ve found myself using the “magic loop” method of circular knitting for my latest project.

magicloop

The circumference of the project is probably big enough to use a small circular, but I’d never used magic loop before and I thought it was about time to give it a try. I found that after casting on and figuring out what I’m doing, it was very easy, and it seems handy for avoiding gaps in your knitting if that’s a problem for you with dpns.

I have to thank Lesley at Knit New London for getting me started with it. You can see a video on how to knit with the “loop of magic” on knittinghelp.com.

Super Boos!

Posted on by Anna

As of now, there are three more days until Halloween. It takes less than a day to make a Boo or two, so it’s not too late for spooky knitting!

As promised, here are a few more of my favorites from Ravelry:

I’m astounded by this Giant Boo and mini Boo from lisamarykay1.
boo_ lisamarykay1

(Check out her amazing toy designs too!)

Wouldn’t it be nice if real bats had the same colors as melissa85148’s Boo?
boo_melissa85148

And finally, these Boos from yarnpr0n win for most Halloween-y!
boo_yarnpr0n

New Boos are being added to Ravelry all the time (we’re now up to 111 projects), and they are all so cute. Great job, everyone!

Six Days till Halloween!

Posted on by Anna

Six days is plenty of time to knit up a bevy of Boos. Here are some of my favorites from the 99 projects on Ravelry:

A super color-combo Boo from MsEllaneous is ready to save the day!
boo_msellaneous

This hanging Boo from emoliver makes me giggle..
boo_emoliver

Is your Boo smaller than a stitch counter? This one from Intertwinement is!
boo_intertwinement

Thank you to these knitters for sharing your photos! (If you’re knitting a Boo but aren’t on Ravelry—or even if you are on Ravelry—please share your Boos in the Mochimochi Friends Flickr group!)

I’ll post a few more of my favorite Boos next week!