Mysterious Purple-Grey Thing...s

My niece's bitrthay was two days ago so I can safely reveal what I kept in secret since March.
Two chubby, striped kittens!

Some of you may remember my first kitty made from  The Parlor Cat Pattern by Sara Elizabeth Kellner. It was for my youngest niece's first birthday.
Word travels fast, so soon I had an order for "two big cats, four small ones and a set of mice".
Since I really enjoy going to work, and in having a life in general, I had to cut this order short. First one was a good and tried Parlor Cat:

But as I finished and still had a lot of yarn left (Nako Rekor, really nice, soft, a bit fuzzy acrylic) I decided to make a second cat. This time using different pattern from the same collection: 

The Window Cat by Sara Elizabeth Kellner.

At first I was afraid making two row stripes will show the jog on round beginning, but frankly, it turned out better than the first one!
I skipped making legs. I just like it better that way, and I saw many Ravelers do it :)

Yesterday I gave them to my niece. She loved them! Her real cats however... not so much. I hope they won't decide to murder their new flatmates! :)

Now that that's done I can get back to Banana Leaf Shawl. It's going really great, but I'm still not halfway through the skein! I'll take some pics for the next post!


Have a nice afternoon!
Gosia.

Creamy Cardi Returns!

In my last post I mentioned my Creamy Cardi as my biggest failure of 2015. I can't see a better way to start a new year, than correcting that mistake, and restarting the whole project.

Here I go (again)!

Since I'm a lazy person, and lately I don't have much time to spare I decided to knit straight from my unfinished sweater.

I know, I know, I should frogg it and let the yarn straighten. But that exceeds my patience!

This time I picked a pattern from Ravelry, one of several I got from Christmas giveaways. 

It's Chance of Snow by Elena Nodel. I love how detailed instructions are! It also covers a wide range of sizes. I chose S2 and am hoping for a comfy, snugly cardi. 

Also, I went down one size using 4mm instead of 5mm needles. My first cardi's fabric felt too loose and therefore uneven. 

Now just look at those cables!

This is how far I got in ten days:

It's really hard to show how it fits around my arms while taking a selfie... Believe me when I say - that's a nice fit!

There's not much going on in my crafter's life right now. Maybe except a funky Twiddlemuff I made for my grandma. You can read more about it in pattern from Warrington Hospital:

In last week temperatures returned to more friendly -2 to +3°C, but before that we had -15°C at night! This of course attracts dozens of birds to our feeder... and one very persistent, but luckily lousy, hunter:

He's been visiting for last three years, but haven't caught a single bird. But just look at this determined face!

I feel a need to add few rows to my cardi. Can't waste that!

Have a nice evening! 

Gosia. 

PS.: Hasiok&Friends is celebrating it's first birthday! I'd like to thank all visitors, especially those who managed to read my post this far. You're the best!

Mysterious Pink Thing is...

... no longer mysterious!

<drum roll>

Ladies & Gentleman... The Huge Pink Cat:

It's a birthday present for my little niece. She turned one this week! :)

Some basic info:

• I used free pattern: The Parlor Cat by Sara Elisabeth Kellner

• It took me a little more than 2 weeks to finish.

• Yarn is a 40% wool and 60% acryl mix "Czterdziestka" by Arelan. It's a Polish yarn I purchased in my favourite local yarn shop in Katowice. Very pleasant to work with although you can feel the acrylic fiber very clearly. I think it's suitable for decorative items rather than sweaters, but I am planing to make something wearable from leftovers.

• Made with 4mm circular needles with Magic Loop Technique.

• I used approx 100g of the yarn - 300 meters (328 yards). That's 1/2 of each of two skeins I bought.

• It's filled with fiberfill from nearly one pillow.

• Before embroidering and filling I gently steam blocked it.

• Eves, snout and mouth are embroidered. I just don't trust safety eyes when it comes to toys for small kids. Also, for some reason safety eyes are hard to come by in Poland. 

• I found many suggestions from other ravelers who made this cat, that's probably best to start with provisional cast on. I did. And that's definitely a good idea! 

• I also tried to make my stripes jogless, that was a partial success as you can see:

I had a hard time with the neck shaping, but fellow ravelers were helpful as always. If you ever make this cat just follow the instructions step by step. It seems for a while that it's asymmetrical but the outcome is perfect! 

It's shape is very realistic. My brave cocker spaniel was so frightened, that he wouldn't want to be anywhere near it. Oh yes. he chases real cats around our garden. But he is never close to catching one.

Sewing on paws was tricky and they still are floppy when I pick up the cat, but I didn't want to ruin the chest shape by attaching them too far from the base.

Paws are also shaped a little differently than in original pattern.

And here's paw close-up:

High five!

I never had my own cat but it's my twelfth knitted/crocheted one! (One Jiji the Cat, 3 Retro Kittens, 2 Butt Cats, 4 Micro Kitties, 1 Garrus the Cat and this Huge Pink Cat). Does this make me a crazy cat lady?

Have a nice evening!

Gosia.

Micron the Kitty - big journeys begin with small steps.

Let's start with something small.

I designed Micron in April 2013. I made four of them, gave one to my friend... and lost the others. Maybe I'm not meant to make microamigurumi. 

First version of Micron Kitty

Micron the Kitty

Gauge: is not important.
Size: using 1,1mm hook gave me about 1,5cm tall cat.
Abbreviations (in US crochet terms):
sc - single crochet
hdc - half-double crochet
dc - double crochet
sl st - slip stitch
ch - chain
blo - back loop only
sc2tog - 2 single crochets crocheted together (if you find it hard to make it the
proper way.. just skip one sc, no one has to know, right?)
Materials: I used three strands of 6-strand embroidery floss, you'll also
need mustard seeds or other filling and some acrylic paint or mad embroidery skills :)

DO NOT JOIN ROUNDS!

BODY&HEAD:
Rnd1: sc6 into Magic Ring
Rnd2: 2sc into each sc across (12)
Rnd3: sc in blo of each sc
Rnd4-7: sc in each sc (12)
Star stuffing, I used mustard seeds, because it gives this tiny creature a nice
weight :)
Rnd8: [sc in next sc, sc2tog] 4 times (8)
Rnd9 sc in each sc (8)
Rnd10: 2sc into each sc across (16)
Rnd11: sc in each sc (16)
Rnd12: [sc in next 2sc, sc2tog] 4 times (12)
Rnd13: sc in each sc (12)
Rnd14: TRICKY one!: sl st in next sc, ch1 [sc, hdc, ch2, sl st into 1st ch, ch2,
sl st] into next sc, sc in next 2sc, ch3, sl st into 2nd ch, [hdc, sc] into next sc,
sl st into next sc, [sc, sc2tog] 2 times
By this point you should have 4 scs in front of head, and two ears with 2scs
between them.
Rnd16: sc into each of 2sc between ears, sc into each of 4 other scs (6)
Rnd17: sc in each sc (6)
Bind off sew the hole, and holes that are near ears.

TAIL:
ch11, sl st into each ch, starting with 2nd one from hook. Attach:)
I painted eyes and face with acrylic paint and a pin. Also added a collar.

© Copyright remains with the
designer. All rights reserved. Intended for personal use only. Not for commercial use. Selling items
made
from this pattern is not permitted.
© Copyright M. Machowska - Escherichia, April 2013

You can find pattern on Ravelry:
Micron the Kitty (there was supposed to be a ball of yarn gif here, but I cannot make it happen :/)

Have a nice afternoon!

Gosia