Daisy the Bear

I hope you are enjoying the heatwave currently covering the UK.  I do not really enjoy this kind of heat but I stay in the shade and make sure I take water with me when I go out.

It's time to share another of my knitting projects from last year, this little bear was a gift for a very dear friend.

This is another pattern from Susan Hickson and Mary Jane's Tearoom, which you can buy on-line from Ravelry.  The pattern is called 'Candy' and this is the second time I have made it - so if it looks familiar that would be because you probably saw it a few weeks ago.  As you can see, I went for a different colour scheme this time.

The stripy jumper is made in salmon pink and white 4 ply cotton yarn  ........

whilst the dungarees are an aubergine with a lazy daisy motif made with the same salmon pink and white.  It also has sweet heart shaped buttons.

The slippers and socks are made in one piece of DK yarn and they have aubergine and white striped cotton bows.

I made a third stripped bow, which I converted into a 'hairslide' using a small brooch pin.

The bear is made of a dusky pink DK alpaca wool.  The features are stitched on  with black alpaca wool.

You have to stitch the features before you attach the head to the body.  Unfortunately, once I stitched the head in place, her ears seem a little too far back.  However, I did such a good job of attaching the ears that, despite several attempts, I was unable to unpick them.

Here is a photo of some of the Mary Jane Tearoom animals I have made, I just adore these patterns, they are so cute.  You can probably spot the two 'Candy's' sitting side by side at the back, with Anaka, Bo and Romeo from left to right in the front row.

My little family has grown again recently but I have not had time to photograph the new members yet.

Have a great week and make the most of the good weather whilst it lasts.

Dionne

Jumbo Comes to Town

Hi

I have been laid up for a while, nothing serious but a stupid accident has kept me off my feet for a few weeks.  As a result of this inactivity my knitting needles have been in overtime.  Before I start boring you with the huge pile of cardigans I have been making for my little nieces, I thought I would show you the elephant I made last Christmas for one of them.

Do you renumber 'Big Bunny'?  He was the extra large bunny I made using one of Julie Williams 'Little Cotton Rabbits' patterns with large needles and chunky yarn.  Well, I have done the same with her Boy Elephant pattern, I really love the result.

Here are a couple of shots to show you how he looks under his clothes, as you can see these patterns are soundly designed and should stand up to all the tugging and dragging around a toddler will inflict on him.  The yarn is wonderfully soft and he is really cuddly.  

His eyes are several French knots stitched one on top of the other.  Just look at that cute tail.

There are only 9 pieces to any of these toys, making them quick and easy to make and it is stunning how quickly chunky yarn knits up.  

Unfortunately, these oversized toys are too big for my stands, so I have had to use an old dictionary to give the stand more height (and even that was not really enough).

I could not make the Boy Elephant clothes using chunky yarn, so instead  I used one of Susan Hickson's Mary Jane's Tearoom patterns.  Although, I had to improvise the neckline of the jumper because the head of this elephant is very large.

The trousers have a drawstring around the waist to ensure they stay in place, they also have a slit in the back to accommodate his tail.

I have photographed him next to a normal sized elephant so you can see how much larger he is .....

oh, and I could not resist showing you both of my big boys side by side.

Meet Candy the White Bear

Hands up who remembers Romeo Bear?  My post was quite some time ago , over a year in fact, so you are forgiven if you do not remember him.  Well, I have at last got around to posting his girlfriend, 'Candy'.  To be honest, I thought I had posted ages ago, but it seems I was mistaken.

Candy is another pattern from Susan Hickson and Mary Jane's Tearoom. You can buy the pattern on-line from Ravelry.  When I made Romeo I managed to match the colours he was originally made in but I could not find those colours for Candy, so I gave her a violet/lavender theme.

As with Romeo, I made the body with from 100% alpaca wool, it is so warm and soft and so very hugable. Candy stands around 14 inches high.

Her clothes are made with 4 ply cotton.  The lilac and white striped jumper has a rolled neck.

Her Violet dungarees have a sweet lazy daisy embroidered on the bib and the buttons are tiny lavender hearts. 

Both the legs of the dungarees and the legs of the bloomers have a pretty Picot edging.

Candy's lavender slippers come with socks attached, these are made with more of the alpaca wool.  I think that the little bows are so sweet.

Candy has a striped hair slide to match the bows on her slippers, it can be removed or moved around.

Under the bow Candy has a sweet lazy daisy embroidered in her ear (to match the heart in Romeo's ear.)

All of her features are embroidered on using black alpaca wool, the eyes are French knots.

I took these photos before I purchased my doll stand and it was hard to keep Candy propped up for her mug shots.

As ever, I have to apologise for the poor lighting in these photos, a lot of the colours are washed out, sorry.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Dionne

Big Easter Bunny

Happy Easter Sunday and, especially for Mrs Beez, 'a pinch and a punch for the first of the month'.

Today I should like to share my cuddly big bunny with you.  He may look a little familiar to you, that is because I included a couple of photo of this bunny in my post entitled 'Mendel's Bunnies', where I tried to show you the different sizes I could get from knitting one of Julie Williams 'Little Cotton Rabbits' patterns in different thicknesses of yarn  but I saved blogging about him for today - it seemed appropriate being Easter and all that.

This adorable little boy is made in Chunky Knit.  The patches on his head are all part of the pattern and I love knitting the nose instead of stitching it on afterwards - I am not very good at stitched noses.

His eyes are made with French Knots and the mouth is stitched on at the same time as you make the eyes.

From the tips of his ears to the ends of his toes he measures approximately 20 inches (that is roughly 50 cm.)  

Here is the naked shot, I know how much you enjoy the 'Full Monty' view.  He is very photogenic and I think he knows it all too well!  Te he.

Oh, not forgetting the back view and his fabulous fluffy tail.

I just adore how his tail pops through his trousers (I suppose it would be very uncomfortable to have a great big powder puff in your underpants).

Because this bunny is so much larger than the normal Little Cotton Rabbit, the clothes designed for those rabbits would not fit him.  Instead I made him a set of clothes using a Mary Jane's Tearoom pattern.

The picot edged dungarees are made of 4 ply cotton, it has very small car shaped wooden buttons.

I added a decorative stripe to the fawn coloured jumper.  It is fastened with small buttons on the back shoulder seam.

I hope you enjoy the rest of your Easter Holiday.

Dionne

Lavender Bunny

In my attempt to make a knitted toy for every under 5 I know, I was knitting right up to Christmas and I still have a few last minute knitted toys to show you.

It really was a last minute push, just time snap a photograph before wrapping them.  As usual, my photographic skills are all over the place.

As suggested in the title of this post, this bunny really is a lavender colour, shame you cannot see how pretty she is.  This bunny is made from a alpaca/wool mix double knit yarn, using one of Julie Williams 'Little Cotton Rabbits' patterns.  The 'bunny girl' pattern has tights and shoes but as I was in a bit of a hurry I used the Boy Bunny pattern, which has plain legs and feet.

This bunny has a really big fluffy white tail hidden under her dress.

The dress is one of SuzyMarie's variations of Julie Williams Seasonal Dresses patterns, this one is called 'Tiny Buds Dress' (it is free from Ravelry) and it is made from 4 ply cotton.

Dionne

The White Rabbit

Now I know this little rabbit looks like the Tiny Rabbit, there is a good reason for this.  After I made Tiny Rabbit the granddaughter of a friend saw her and fell in love with her.  However, Tiny Rabbit was promised to another so I quickly made this little sweetie for my friend's granddaughter.

This is one of Julie Williams 'Little Cotton Rabbits' patterns, she is based on the pattern 'Bunny Girl in a Dotty Dress', however, for speed I missed out her tights and shoes.

This rabbit is made from Baby Double Knit yarn and she had a gorgeous fluffy tail.

Her dress is one of Pam Clydd designs, called 'Red Tulips Dress', which I got from Ravelry.  It is made from 4 ply cotton.

Dionne

Little Boy Blue

I have the last of my pre-Christmas bears to share with you today.  I made three little bears and two rabbits as presents for some of my young friends, but my timing was very tight and I only had time to grab a quick photograph before wrapping them and sending them off to their new homes.

This little bear is one of Julie Williams patterns, this one is called 'Boy Bear' and it is available from Ravelry.

He is made of a powder blue baby double knit and his clothes are made of cotton 4 ply.

Dionne