GRUFFALOOOOOOO!!!!

Ravelympics

Anyone reading this who is on Ravelry will know about the 'lympics already. For those who don't, it's a challenge to start and finish a project within the timeframe of the Winter Olympics. Last time I looked there were over 5000 participants worldwide!

So, last week I was challenged to knit a Gruffalo and I though it would be a suitable Ravelympics entry. I may live to regret that.

This is what a Gruffalo looks like, and what I have made so far:



Wish me luck!

hearts and bunnies

I'm beginning to realise I have no natural ability to make cute things. Without a massive effort, or an exceptionally good pattern, my knitted objects end up being a bit, well, odd... sinister even.

Check out my bunny, even surrounded by love hearts he looks like the bunny from Donnie Darko.



or my vampire spaniel



or my evil Cheshire Cat



Maybe I should just give in to it and knit Dark Stuff.

cats

It's been a mildly eventful week. First Nuno (the kitty in the picture on the right) fell into some water- we're not sure where as we live next to a canal and there are several ponds nearby. Whichever it was, it was covered in ice at the time. We don't think it was the canal, as he didn't smell all that bad, but poor kitty hasn't been quite the same since. Then I caught something a bit like flu - it only lasted 3 days then turned into a normal cold though, so it may just have been man-flu crossing the gender divide.

Not much knitting got done as even wielding two pointy sticks and some string was exhausting. Still, I managed to finish this cat for a work colleague whose baby is due in about 3 weeks




I've knitted a few cats over the last year or so, and thought it was time to post the most challenging one- I was asked to knit a version of a friend's pet for Christmas. This is Binford:



The cat itself only took a couple of weeks, but the markings were a bit of a chore... I learned how to do Swiss darning, but it really did my head in. Still it turned out OK



And on the subject of cats, I'm typing this left-handed as my non-pond-soaked kitty is sitting on my arm with her little fuzzy butt in my face. I'm not cat-obsessed, in fact I've only been a cat owner just over a year- but six months in I just had to go and get a second one.

Now I'm off to mess about on Ravelry some more.

I am much better at knitting now

I've been reviewing all my knitted objects to submit one to Harry Hill's TV Burp- they have asked for photos of knitted objects to feature on the show so it would be rude not to send SOMETHING. It made me realise how much better I am at knitting than when i started just over a year ago...

Here are a few of the ones I love even though they're a bit ropey.



This kitty was meant to look like my real kitty (sigh). Still, it's kind of cute, and ended up living with a friend I met on Ravelry.




The scary monkey from Family Guy



Stewie from Family Guy




and my sister's boxer, Eddie

Princess Tiana is here!

So I got some yarn which is close enough to the right colour- sadly the only yarn in the right colour was cashmere, fortunately half price at John Lewis. This does mean I now have a hankering for lovely soft yarn instead of the usual acrylic. (sigh). I think she turned out OK, although her booty is a bit bigger than I really expected- she has a little Beyonce or Tyra Banks about her...



Her tiara is a white pipe-cleaner, which I couldn't quite get to look neat. Still, I'm sure the little girl who's getting her for Valentine's day will like her. She took about 6 hours all in, and the only fiddly bit was fitting her with a pipe-cleaner skeleton so she wouldn't be all floppy.

panda!

Here's my latest project- a lovely panda from Sarah Keen's Knitted Wild Animals.

For my next trick I'm supposed to be knitting Princess Tiana from the new Disney film The Princess and the Frog- so a trip to the yarn shop to find something like the right skin colour.