Knitted Hello Kitty bag

I once met a Hello Kitty fanatic who had every Hello Kitty thing under the sun including a Hello Kitty laptop!



I challenged her & asked if she had any handmade Hello Kitty items - she said no & hence this bag. I tried to make it as crazy as I could with fur across the top & beads at the bottom. I didn't feel like stitching ribbon to the handles (as you have to if you don't want your handles to stretch beyond any recognition!) so I knitted holes into the handles & threaded ribbon through.

Keyring Man Knitting Pattern

I love patterns that are easy, take less than 1 ball of yarn & are cute! I designed this little man to use up a small amount of leftover yarn from a baby hat. I put the original keyring man (not pictured here) on my work keys to remind everyone at work that knitting is alive & well....


KEYRING MAN
4mm needles
Oddments DK yarn
Small amount washable toy stuffing

Little man is worked in 1 strip starting at bottom of legs.

Begin at bottom of 1st leg
C/on 4 st & gst 10 rows
Break yarn & work a second leg as above

Work across all 8 st & gst 8 rows

C/on 4 st at beginning of next 2 rows for arms (16 st)
Gst another 2 rows

C/off 5 st at beginning of next 2 rows (6 st)
Gst 2 rows

Inc 1 st (by working into front & back of st) at ea end of row (8 st)
Gst 7 rows (for head)
Dec 1 st (by working 2 st together) ea end of row (6 st)

Gst 3 rows for top of head

Inc 1 st at ea end of row (8 st)
Gst 7 rows (for back of head)
Dec 1 st ea end of row (6 st)
Gst 2 rows

Inc 1 st ea end of row (8 st)

Gst 12 rows (for back of body)

C/off

To make up
With right sides outside, fold back of body so that c/off edge meets the top of the back of the legs. Oversew row ends together & stitch back of body across backs of arms, continue sewing sides of head. Leave c/off edge open for stuffing. Stuff firmly then stitch c/off edge to tops of back of legs.

Run a gathering thread around neck & pull tightly. Embroider face & attach keyring!

Gloves with Swarovski Crystals

These gloves were made for a friend for her birthday. They are made in Sirdar 'Blur' & have Swarovski crystals knitted into them.



A close-up of the Swarovski crystals.

Baby Blankets for Colleagues

These 2 blankets were made for work colleagues expecting their 1st babies. I taught a number of colleagues to knit & we decided it would be great to use those skills to make blankets. I recruited 25 knitters who each paid £1 towards cost of yarn, a card & a box to put the blanket in. I knitted the borders. Each expectant mom was presented with a blanket, a card & a chart showing who knitted which square!

I have now had my 1st baby & colleagues have knitted me a blanket which I'm told is finished but I have not seen it yet! Watch this space......

The joy of knitting Socks

Despite knitting for 28 years I didn't attempt knitting socks till about 3 years ago! Coming from South Africa originally, there were no sumptuous sock yarns to entice me to knit with them and it was only once in the UK that I saw the wonder that is Sock Yarn! These are my 1st socks in a Regia yarn, colour Clown.



These socks in an Opal yarn followed...



This is Sirdar's discontinued 'Town & Country' 4 ply.

These socks were made for a friend in another Regia yarn with cotton. I knitted a small 'made with love' tag into the sock - see below...

I am still hooked on the colours that are so bold in sock yarn & haven't yet knitted lace socks which I would probably knit in a single colour & not in stripes.

I haven't yet fallen foul of the dreaded '2nd sock syndrome'...

Knitted Boobs!

I knitted these for a friend who had been discharged after treatment for breast cancer. I said she needed something to commemorate the important event. She loved them & says she still goes to look at them in their box & laughs again...

The pattern was from a Knitty special, I think.