Nellie the Elephant

This Nellie did not exactly pack her trunk but she has now moved home, I just hope her new owned loves her as much as I do.

This little elephant is another from Julie Williams 'Little Cotton Rabbits' family, which are available from Ravalry.  There are ten different animals in this series and there is a different pattern for both boys and girls - making 20 patterns in all.  I am a fairly inexperienced knitter but these patterns are full of tips and I have picked up a lot of new stitches from following the instructions provided.

All of the little girl patterns come wearing tights and shoes.  The top half of Nellie is made from Double Knit alpaca wool and the bottom half is 4 ply cotton.

From this rear view you can see her lovely tail and her ears, I just love the way they are designed to fit.

The dress is one of Kirsty's  designs called Sailboat Dress, I deliberately used the colours from her tights and shoes in the dress so she is nicely colour coordinated.  I left a small slot in the back seam for her tail.

I hope you enjoyed this introduction to this elephant design.


Dionne

Say Cheese

I have another of my House-Mouse images to share with you.  I think this one would work just as well on a birthday card, but this time I went with a Christmas card design.

I coloured the image with my polychromos pencils, I find them really therapeutic to work with and they take up far less space on my desk then my Promarker pens.  However, I have never mastered the knack of getting a really dark colour.

The backing papers are from a paper stack called 'Me to You' and the snowflake die is by Cheery Lynn.  The poinsettia flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts and everything else is from my stash.

I shall be back tomorrow with this last of my cards from this Christmas.

Dionne

Off to the Seaside

Little Daisy is back today to model another dress.  This one is another of SuzyMarie's patterns, called the Seaside Dress.  The pattern is available from Ravelry free of charge.

All of these SuzyMarie dresses are designed to fit Julie Williams Little Cotton Rabbits range.  It is made of 4 ply cotton and I have opted to make the fuller skirt dress as I think it is easier for little fingers to dress their bunny without having to pull the tail through the hole in the back of the dress.

It is a lovely summery design and spreads a little warmth on a cold wintry day.

Dionne

Putting the Icing on the Gingerbread Man

Another of my House-Mouse stamps today, this one is called 'Finishing Touches'.  I used my polychromos pencils to colour the image and then I mounted it on gold card.

The backing paper comes from a Dovecraft paper stack called 'Winter Blooms'.  The sentiment came from a 'Me to You' stack.

The flowers are all from Wild Orchid Crafts and the snowflake die is by Cheery Lynn.

Dionne

Lucy's Bunny

Thank you so much for visiting my blog and a big thank you for sticking with me thought my spell of blogging madness.

Yesterday I told you about my attempts to find the right size knitted toy to fit my niece's elf clothes.  This bunny is one of my failed attempts.  By failed I only mean that she was too large to fit the clothes but I really adored her, she is so sweet.

I followed the 'Little Cotton Rabbits' pattern, the only difference was that I used chunky yarn and size 3mm needles.  It was very tight on the needle and I do not think I would be tempted to make this size again.

Her dress is Kirsty's Sailboat Dress, such a fun design, especially in those nautical colours.

A quick snap of her back to show you her fabulously fluffy tail popping through her dress.  The dress is made from Double Knit yarn.

Oww, and one of her without her dress.

Finally, I have photographed her with a couple of the bunnies made in Double Knit so you can see the difference in size.

Dionne

All Wrapped Up

It seems that I spoke too soon yesterday when I said that we were not suffering the storms the rest of the country were experiencing.  Last night Storm Eleanor hit us, bringing high winds and even more rain.

I am afraid that I still posting my Christmas cards, but I am almost done ...... I promise!

Oops, another card with bad lighting, I am so sorry but the backing paper should be a glorious Christmas red.  It is from a Dovecraft paper stack called 'Winter Blooms'.  All of these fabulous flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts.

I cannot recall where I got this stamp from, I have had it some time and my memory is not what it was!  I coloured it with my polychromos pencils and mounted it first on gold card and them bronze glitter card.  The sentiment is from Craftwork Cards.

Dionne

Cuddly Teddy Bear

It is the start of a New Year and the weather here is so utterly miserable.  I know I should not complain, we may be have endless heavy rain, but least it is not snowing or blowing a hurricane - as it is in other parts of the country.  How is the weather where you are?

Today I wish to share with you a little teddy bear I made for my niece.  Those of you who follow my blog will remember my niece and her Christmas elves.  Last July, when I gave her her all of the dresses and jumpers I had knitted for her and her elves she said that she thought it would be a great shame if, when her children grew out of the fun they have with their 'Elf on the Shelf' antics, the clothes I had made were simply forgotten about.  She wondered whether she could find a doll they would fit.

This gave me an idea, I wondered if I could adjust my Little Cotton Rabbit pattern to fit these slightly larger clothes (you will recall that I made the clothes in Double Knit instead of 4 ply so they would fit te elves).  I gave you a brief glimpse of my labours to find the correct size yesterday.  Sadly none of those bunnies were the size I was looking for.  I thought I had been defeated, but a search of the internet told me that there is a thickness of yarn I had not heard of before - Aran, I had always thought this was a pattern not a yarn.  So, I ordered some Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran, which is a fabulously soft Marino Wool and Cashmere mix.  The size was perfect and it knitted up a real treat.

Here are a few photographs of this sweet teddy wearing one of the new dresses I made for her. This dress pattern is called 'Tiny Buds', it was designed by the talented SuzieMarie.  All of her designs are available free from Ravelry.

In the rear view you can see the tiny button fastening.  If you look closely you will see that it is a tiny heart shape.

Her other new dress is taken from Julie Williams 'Little Cotton Rabbits - Girl Fox' pattern. This dress design is called 'A Flowery Frock'.  As before, I made both dresses with Double Knit yarn.

A closer look at the new dresses.  I think the tiny buds are so sweet and the tulip design is very pretty, don't you agree?

I took this next photograph so you can see how much larger this bear is compared to the normal 'Little Cotton Rabbit' size, the only thing I did differently from the pattern was to use the Aran wool instead of Double Knit.

And finally, because I never made any shorts for the elves, I knitted several pairs of shorts for teddy to wear with all of the elf jumpers.

I really enjoyed knitting with the aran wool and think it will not be the last time I use it.

Dionne