Color Me Kitty

My good friend and craft buddy came with her family for the day yesterday. When you invite a crafty family to your home you need crafty things to do! I made the plain kitty for Charlene knowing that she'd be able to illustrate a beautiful coat for it. The owls where for the boys.

Here's what the family came up with. Kitties are a favorite of her younger son so he colored Kitty. Charlene, her husband and eldest son colored the owls. Beautiful!

The kitty is a pure wool fabric and the owls are plush fleece. I got out all my permanent markers both Sharpies and Design. Afterwards we needle felted beaks and a nose. Oh what fun!

Technical Difficulties

I thought I was gonna have this guy done today but I had a problem. I put his eyes in and was sewing his nose according to directions.  The more I handled him the more the black cotton seemed to smear into the white. I looked at my fingers and they were turning black. Oops!

Thank goodness the safety eyes were backed with metal washers because I could use my pliers to get them off and fix them again. I've tried taking several pictures but the smearing isn't showing up well. Trust me I see it!

I'm not the only person who has had this problem. This type of cotton, which comes from a good company, is often used for dish clothes. With certain colors people have had my problem. When you want to set colors you usually use vinegar. I found a recipe online that recommended 8 cups hot water, 1/2 cup table salt and 1 cup vinegar.

My biggest concern was ending up with a spaghetti mess. I let out the yarn in big circles around the bowl because the solution wouldn't penetrate otherwise. I let it soak for a while and then rinsed it carefully under the tap for a while without agitating it. You'll notice I marked the end of the skein so I could find it again. I took my time winding after it soaked. With the winding hand I used my fingers to squeegee the yarn as I wound.

As you can see from my fingers and the remaining water I need to redo this process.

That's what I'm doing now. I'm going to make sure my rinse water is very cold this time and that I rinse longer than 30 seconds. Stay tuned!

Cotton Pug

If you make a cotton pug do you then stuff him with cotton or is poly-fiber ok? I'm back at my Fuzzy Mittens pattern and I have 95% of him done.

The concern is eyes, obviously he's not part frog!

I liked the blue.

But I think I'll go with the yellow.

I'll do his ears tonight but I still have to figure out whether to do all cotton or not. It means a trip to the store but that's alright. Let me know what you think!

Huggable Lamb

He's the newest item in my Etsy shop.

Cute as a button...

...and 18" tall.

If you are planning on making a fellow like this for yourself but you are just a beginner knitter, then the above picture may be helpful. This is an easy way to add or make a stitch that didn't already exist.

Big Lamb Softie

Obviously the pug wasn't enough. Fuzzy Mitten has a free Fuzzy Lamb pattern on her website. I guess I ought to give you her address.

Ok, it's free on Ravelry, not on her website. Thought she does have great things on her site including freebies.

http://blog.fuzzymitten.com/

Ravelry is a place for knitters, crocheters, designers, spinners, weavers and dyers to keep track of their yarn, tools, project and pattern information, and look to others for ideas and inspiration. The content here is all user- driven; we as a community make the site what it is. Ravelry is a great place for you to keep notes about your projects, see what other people are making, find the perfect pattern and connect with people who love to play with yarn from all over the world in our forums.

I think it was worth telling you about them because it's a nice community of sharing. I enjoy it very much.

Anyway, I almost forgot about the lamb. I'm knitting him in super bulky instead of worsted or chunky, he's huge!

Pug Softie

I purchased this pattern from Fuzzy Mitten on Etsy, her blog is on my blog list under Fuzzy Thoughts.

He's been knitted up in acrylic, Wool Ease worsted weight.

I'd like to do him in cotton next if I can find the right colors.

I wanted to do something completely different since I'm in between stuff.

And my mom had encouraged me to try my hand at softies the last time she was here.

I had been working on his terrific hooded coat but got bungled on the hood. Try, try again!