8 posts tagged “knitting”
Sackboy, the character from the PS3 videogame, LittleBigPlanet, has become so popular that I thought he'd make a nice gift for our nephew, Matt, who is a collector.
I finished my version of Sackboy for Matt recently (knit without a pattern, as usual), and presented him for his birthday.
Voila! Sackboy Peep:
I just barely finished in time!! Boy was it a pain to put that working zipper in! And I hate sewing things! ;o) I'm even MORE impressed with all of the amazing Sackboy's that folks have been creating after making one myself!
My Hub and I both liked him better before I added the decorative grey stitching, but for Matt, I wanted to be as accurate as I could, since he's a collector. I did leave off the two vertical lines at the back of his head. Just didn't like 'em. But I told Matt that I'd put them in if he'd like them - and guess what... he told me last night that he WOULD! Yep... a collector! heh heh So Sackboy Peep will be coming back for some cosmetic surgery! ;o)
My Hub is totally crazy about him, and REALLY wants me to make another one for him! Well.... actually, he said to make another one for Matt and he'll just keep this one!! ha ha ha! He wouldn't do that, of course, but he just fell in love with him.Sackboy Peep with photo reference:
He has a working zipper, and I made a felt inner body so he could be opened. (ugh! That was a pain! And my Hub wants me to do this AGAIN!!!) When you open his zipper, you can see his little golden heart (a stone bead that's gold with a brownish edging). :o)
Sackboy Peep with Golden Heart:
I've seen so many Sackboys that other folks have made (including the Alan Dart pattern) wearing a pom pom hat and scarf, that I figured that they must be something that Sackboy wears, so I made him a set. We recently got the game (incredibly adorable and FUN!), but I haven't seen the hat and scarf yet. So I dunno. But here's
Sackboy Peep with hat and scarf:
And since Sackboy loves to play dress-up and take on different characters, and because Matt has been very into The Green Lantern lately (new movie coming out, too!), and because GL is one of my all time favorite comic book characters... I made...
Taaa DAAAA!!!
Green Lantern Sackboy Peep!
I like him best without the mask. :o)
I finished his little vest (with very poorly made emblem) just in the nick of time, and my Hub and I are so pleased with it. It's made like a little bib! heh heh I'm really happy I managed to squeeze in making it before Matt's birthday.And here he is saying his official oath while charging his ring (hee hee) ....
The beautiful green yarn is Bamboo Soft Spell and Bamboo Charmed from www.yarncloud.com! It's a chainette yarn, and sooo nice to work with! Nice sheen, gorgeous colors, and has all those nice bamboo properties! :o)
Here's a better look at his power ring:
I would have liked to have done a better job on the ring, but just didn't have enough TIME left!!
Close-ups of the Green Lantern's Power Battery...
which I'm absolutely nuts about! If we were meanies, my Hub would keep the peep and I'd keep the Lantern Battery!! ;o) I put 4 golden dollar coins in the bottom to weight it (they were just the right size - and makes the battery even more valuable and powerful - heh heh) and a chenille stem in the handle to give it strength and body.
It was fun taking a trip down comic book memory lane! :o)
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Happy St. Patty's Day, Everyone!
Yep, I missed Valentine's Day... I'll try to post a few Valentine's things in an Easter post... (crossing fingers that I feel up to that).
Here's a Big something Green for St. Patrick's Day
Marvel Comics the Incredible Hulk! for Matt's Birthday, with his best bud, Lambie Pie... ;o)
Our nephew, Matt, had been wanting a Hulk, since I started making these peeps, but I could never bring myself to make one... But, when I ordered a variety of green yarns to get the right shade for something I was making, one of them arrived and I said... Omigosh... it's Hulk green! And I already had some bluish purple that would work for pants... so there I was, making the Hulk! :o) I intended to make him a LOT smaller, but he just happened! ... these things have a life of their own.
I actually finished him just a day before Matt's birthday (Whew!), last
September! But I could never decide which photos to post, so he's been
languishing, waiting to be seen. He's not really my cup of tea, with his angry
face. I like CUTSEY things! With sweet smiles! But he was a challenge, and I
learned a lot of things while making him that are useful in other projects, as
well. Lambie Pie says that he's much sweeter and nicer than he looks.
One of my fellow amigurumi artists said "he's not angry, just having a bad
face day, I guess". heh heh And that's how I'm looking at him from now on!
;o)
He's not cross-eyed, just a trick of the camera, and the reflectiveness of the eyes, I guess.
He's the largest peep I've made at 15" tall and nearly as wide! And
he's knitted in one piece from toes to top of head, and then each of his arms
knitted in one piece, from fingers to shoulders, and sewn onto the torso. I did
make notes while working on him, so hopefully I will be able to share the
techniques that I discovered, and developed, in the future.
You probably can't tell from my photos, but the waist of his pants is ragged
and ripped looking, with a scrap of white shirt left stuck in it, and the hems
on the pant legs are ripped. I didn't do a good job of capturing that in the
pics, unfortunately. Didn't have him for long after finishing him, and had to
take the pics in a hurry.
I'm kind of fanatical about not wanting to attach pieces, as you might have noticed, and I was pretty tickled with the method I finagled for making his torn up waist, and hems on his pants, with my trusty knitting needles, all in one piece with his body, and never having to sew any bits on! YAY! Too bad it shows up so poorly on the pics.
Also, I found a new and very simple method of making hair while working on
Miss Piggy, for my DH (she's still not finished, unfortunately, so obviously not
posted), and I used it to make the Hulk's hair. It's a really versatile
technique, and very easy to do, too. You can make short or long hair using this
method. I hope to write up a tutorial for it at some point. Or I will at least
post a simple description of the process. As long as you use an eyelash or
fuzzy yarn of some sort, appropriate to your project, it is super easy to do!
And I do like easy! :o)
Happy St. Patty's Everyone!
Lots more Peeps photos to be found at http://www.flickr.com/knittycat
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
We wish you all the very best Holiday Season!
A very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year to All!
Our gifts to you:
Muppet Patterns!
Elmo Peep:
Cookie Monster Peep:
link to pdf of Cookie's pattern
the Thing Pattern?
Well, the pattern's written and the photos are in
it, but it's not fully proof read.
But here it is anyway! :o)
the Thing: link to pdf of the Thing's pattern
link to pdf of Nellie the Elephant's pattern
Much Joy and Many Blessings to Everyone!
A pattern for the Thing?! Is it possible that she's FINALLY finished it??
Well, It is possible...
Yes! I've finally finished writing the pattern! Whew! No wonder it took me so long to MAKE him! I
had no idea how much work he was till I wrote it all down. Being quite a lazy knitter, I would never have tackled such an ambitious project if I'd known in advance how much work it would be. ;o) And writing his pattern was even HARDER than MAKING him!! Sheesh! All of you pattern designers out there, I take my hat off to you.... or I would if I were wearing one.
But don't let me put you off of making a Thing of your very own. Although the pattern is pretty long (at least for MY standards ... I like things I can make in a day or three!), each part of it is fairly simple to do. I do recommend that you are an experienced knitter, or at least a very adventuresome beginner! I knit him in the round on two circular needles, but you could use dpns if you are more comfortable with them (they always make me feel that I need two extra hands), and there are no seams to sew, but the head and arms, and brow ridge, are knit separately and sewn on. Other than knitting and purling, I use two types of increase stitches, the kfb and the kinc (video help here for increasing in the right side of the stitch where she calls it a M1R or M1B, and here for the left side of the stitch), and k2tog for decreases. Then it's just knit purl knit purl.... and so on and so on.... till you have a big orange Thing! :o)
I will be posting the pattern in pdf format very soon (I just need to add photos to it first). It's my Christmas gift to Marvel fans and the knitters who love them! :o)
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More Patterns Coming?
In other peep news - I've nearly completed a pattern for Nellie the Musical Elephant (because our niece wanted one like her - so I took notes while I made hers - Hurray!).
Also, I'll be posting a pattern for the Unbroken Heart soon as
well.
Christmas is nearly upon us and I have LOTS of tasks (as I'm sure you all do), so I don't know how much I'll be able to get to, peep-wise, for the next month, but since I've been so bad at adding posts here, you probably won't
notice. ;o)
The good news (for some folks) is that I'm planning on making an Elmo and a Cookie Monster for Christmas gifts and I'll be making notes on their
We wish all of you Very Happy Holidays! And we hope that you have lots of fun preparing for them. :o)
Why knitting Peeps is fun...
- You don't have to worry about gauge.
- You rarely have to weave in ends (they just get buried into the peep).
- You can use any yarn that pleases you, including scraps.
- They are generally very short term projects (instant gratification - something we knitters don't often get).
- Pretty much one-size-fits-all.
- They give you the opportunity to try out new techniques on a small project.
- They're cute and knitting them makes you a very cheerful knitter!
- They make the recipients happy!
Okay, they won't keep you warm like socks, a scarf or a sweater, but they will give you the warm fuzzies inside. :o)
Info about Hello Kitty Peep and Muppet Peeps...
I've been getting requests for patterns for a number of my peeps, and I want to thank you all so much for your kind interest in them! :o) I'm so pleased that you like them so much! As you probably know by now, I don't actually HAVE patterns for them. You may have already guessed that I'm not much of a pattern writer, since I like to make things up as I'm knitting them. This makes it a little difficult to reproduce them. :o) But I am making an effort to share the things I've learned, and I'm writing up instructions as best as I can for the little guys. I'll be putting up a "nearly" pattern for the Thing here soon, which has been taking up a LOT of my time, and frying my brain (at the moment, it's fairly complete except for the arms and hands), and then I'll be able to concentrate a little more on instructions for some of the other peeps. I do have some notes on a couple of the others that just need finishing, and I'll put them up as soon as I'm able.
The Hello Kitty that some of you are interested in was actually a very simple variation on the classic peeps, which are made using the double knitting technique. My recommendation is that you start out by trying out the free pattern for the double-knit bear that is linked to on the intro page (Peeps! and how to make them... Introduction). It teaches the inside-out double knitting technique really well (that's where I learned it, though I had tried the right-side out technique previously), and it is the starting point for the classic peeps.
Then if you want to make Hello Kitty after that - her legs are a bit shorter and instead of increasing in the center of the front of the face, you increase at the sides, to make her head wide and rather flat, and quite large in proportion to the rest of her body.
(TIP: I find it unwieldy to do much increasing and decreasing while the peep is inside out, so I turn them right side out after the arms are made, and place the stitches on two circular needles to do the increasing for the head, or you could use dpns. Also, I've found that turning goes a lot easier if you turn the arms first. I also stuff the legs, arms and body at this point, using the back end of a size K crochet hook to push the stuffing into the limbs.)
I used a slip stitch technique to shape her ears so I wouldn't have to knit them separately and sew them on (which I heartily dislike doing), but it would work just as well to make them separately, or pick up stitches at each side of the head for them. I will eventually provide the slip stitch technique, but I'm not sure when I'll get to it, since there are so many things to do! So I'd suggest making the ears one of the other ways, and not waiting for me! :o) When I do make the bits and pieces separately, I knit them in the round with 2 circular needles so I don't have to make a front and back and sew them together. The ears on the classic peeps are double knitted while making the heads, and require a break in the yarn for the second ear, but no other sewing. (Have you gotten the idea yet that I don't like sewing?).
As to the muppets... I don't have any patterns started yet, but since I am making an Elmo, and possibly a Cookie for Christmas gifts, I will try to make some notes as I go. Except for Kermie, They are based on the classic peeps, but are larger, and have much larger heads. Then their eyes, Elmo's nose, and Cookie's cookies were knitted separately in the round, then stuffed and and sewn on. Kermie was approached totally differently, knitting his body and head in the round in one piece, then each limb knitted in the round, then stuffed and sewn on.
I hope this has been helpful to you. If you check back
here occasionally, I hope to eventually get some patterns done and posted. But as I
keep making new peeps, and I'm as slow as a snail at writing patterns (if a snail wrote patterns) ... I think it is going to be a looong process!
:o)
A Pattern for the Thing?
It's taking me a lot longer than I had hoped to write up a pattern for the Thing. Making him was a bit more complicated than I'd realized.
and Matt's character designs of Ted and NegA-teD, amongst others).
I simply begin, usually at the bottom, and work my way
up, creating the desired shape with
increases and decreases as I go. I am not really conscious of the difficulty of the process till some time has gone by and
completion is not yet in sight. :o)
I'm sure that I wouldn't have tackled some of the projects I've made if I'd thought out the difficulty in advance! ;o) I like simple and quick projects!
With the Thing, I was knitting pretty intensively for a few weeks, so I guess he was rather difficult for me. Hard work, anyway. Though not difficult to figure out how to manage the shaping. He's pretty blocky. It's proving much more complicated and challenging for me to analyze how I did what I did, and put it in writing, step by step. I want to say "make this part as tall and wide as desired", but that's not much use to someone who wants to work from a pattern, is it.
So, the upshot is that it's taking me a lot longer than I'd hoped to put it all down in a useable form. Especially since I no longer have the fellow and have to work from the photos that I took. Happily, I took a lot of photos!
And here's a collage of some of the in-progress photos that I took during his creation:
I'm still hard at work, analyzing his structure and writing up the steps to create him, in between making other peeps, of course.
I have such admiration for all of those prolific pattern writers out there! How on earth do you do it?!
Jean Greenhowe Books...
On a happier note - speaking of prolific pattern writers - I recently received two of the absolutely marvelous Jean Greenhowe pattern books that I'd ordered from www.anniesattic.com!
Her knitted characters are just so wonderful! I especially loved the Little Dumpling Ladies! (just look at this adorable lady in the YARN SHOP!!) Besides, I'm rather a "little dumpling lady", myself. ;o)
And, although I am unlikely to ever actually make anything from one of her patterns (since they are knit in pieces and sewn together and I dislike doing that, and they have LOTS of little details that make them gorgeous, but I don't like to fiddle with), I really enjoy looking at the pics, and thought that I might pick up a tip or two, like a different way of making hair, etc. Or just more inspiration! :o) Just looking at these beautiful creations makes me very happy! :o)
Kinki Knitting...
I've recently purchased some new circular needles from www.spinblessing.com (I use circulars for all my knitting), and I'm just crazy about them! They're lovely, silky smooth bamboo, with nice flexible cables, really smooth joins, and SWIVELS inside the joins! I really love working with them! And they have sizes all the way down to US 0!
The brand is Kinki Amibari (KA), with prices starting from $7.35 for 16 inch needles (the length I use for knitting small items in the round). The sizes range from US0 up to US17 and most sizes cost under $8.00! Compare that to Addi Natura's (which are nice but don't have a very smooth join) for $13.00 to $16.00 each! The Kinki Amibari needles come in several lengths, though I didn't look at the prices of any but the 16" length.
Previously, my favorite needles, and really the only needles I liked to work with, were vintage nylon circs, which haven't been made in a lot of years. I've been collecting these needles for several years, getting them wherever I could find them, but it's becoming more and more difficult. So I'm ecstatic to find needles that I'm really enjoying using that are readily available! Hurray! Be forewarned though, there is usually a one week delay before the needles are shipped from spinblessing.com since they are ordering them from the manufacturer in Japan. But they're definitely worth the wait! :o)
Well, I just talked myself into going and ordering some more! Yay!
(A little post script: Please forgive the erratic spacing in this post. I'm having some trouble with the coding produced by Vox's compose window.)
I recently posted a new Character Peep to our flickr pages modeled after the Marvel Comics' character the Thing (link), and suddenly, it went a little mad in our e-world! :o) Apparently, there is a LOT of interest in the Thing (member of the Fantastic Four in Marvel Comics, and recently immortalized even further in a big screen movie). Folks were viewing and blogging about our humble little version, and interest in a pattern became apparent.
Making the Thing
Unfortunately, as I've mentioned, I rarely knit from a pattern, and usually knit freehand, inventing (sculpting the shape) as I go, so there is really no exact documentation of how I made the Thing. I can reconstruct a close approximation of how I made him, but the exact execution will be up to anyone who wants to duplicate my efforts.
Update: I'm hard at work, writing an actual pattern. I hope to have it finished within
the next week, and I will post a link here as soon as it is ready.
I did take a few "in progress" photos, during his construction, and hope that they will help you to visualize the process. I will include them on the page with the pattern when it is completed.
BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE THING'S CONSTRUCTION:
There is really nothing very unusual about the construction of the Thing. He's actually engineered in the same way as any basic, two-legged, standing, toy, and can be crocheted, instead of knit, if you prefer. My version is knit in seed stitch (k1p1 then knit the purls and purl the knits) except for the shorts which are stockinette.
If you've made other toys or amigurumi, he is made using the same process.
- Starting from one foot, knit the foot and leg in the round in the same way that you'd knit a simple sock or bootie.
- Put the stitches from the first leg onto a holder and make the second leg the same as the first and add the toes to both feet.
- Attach the color for the shorts and knit across both legs (front and back), picking up the stitches for the first leg from the holder.
- Knit the torso in the round up to the neck, (changing back to the body color at the waist).
- Knit the head and arms (including the fingers) and sew them onto the torso.
- Knit the brow ridge and sew it on.
- Knit the waistband and sew it on
- Pop in the eyes and embroider the mouth
VOILA! The Thing!
Since he wasn't going to a small child, I did insert pipe cleaners into the legs, arms and torso, to give a little posability and stability (because he's so top heavy).
For much more detailed instructions, please see the Pattern for the Thing linked to on the
MERRY CHRISTMAS! Our gifts to you - PATTERNS!!
post. (now finished!) :o)
My abortive attempt to blog the Peep Saga has been put on hold because it's taking me too long to get it going. Sooo... I've decided to start this little interim blog to more quickly address the requests for patterns and how-to's that are coming in, while I'm bogging along with the main blog. :o)
I make my Peeps (also known as Amigurumi) freehand, without patterns (unless I write one), and only some of them with a plan. :o) Almost all are knitted, as that is my current passion (and is much easier on my painful hands), but I reserve the right to toss in a crocheted one whenever the whim strikes. ;o)
Classic Peeps, Character Peeps,
More Elaborate Peeps,
and Inanimates (food and other items).
Plus there are always guys that don't fit any of those categories,
so they will be Special Peeps.
Classic Peeps are made using the double knitting method from the legs to the neck.
For an excellent description of this technique, please see this pattern. www.free-knitting-pattern.com/doubleknitbear.htm
Although I cannot find the author's name on her site, she does give the following credits for the inspiration for this pattern:
"I got this idea from Jacquee Gillespie of Heber, Utah. The Double Knitting technique is from Beverly Royces’ book which is edited by Meg Swanson and available from Interweave Press." The doubleknit bear pattern author also has this pattern available for purchase in a package with other patterns here or alone here.
Double knitting, using the method described above, is a really fast and easy way to knit a simple three dimensional tube-like item. You knit the item inside out so that you simply knit one stitch and slip the next, across the needle (you don't need to pass the working yarn back and forth like you do with double knitting right-side-out). This knits one side of the item, then you turn the needles and knit/slip across the other side. When you finish, you turn the item right side out, and VOILA! It's one piece of in-the-round knitting that you did straight across! Magic! :o)
The body, legs and arms of each of the classic peeps are knitted with this method, inside out, in one piece, on one circular needle (you can use two straight needles if you prefer) and then turned right side out and placed on two circs (or on dpns if you're comfortable with them), and the head is knit in the round. The pieces are all together when you finish knitting, and there are no seams to sew.
In the pattern (above) for the doubleknitbear, the author suggests that the head also be done with the doubleknitting technique, but I find it unwieldy to do much shaping while doubleknitting, so I turn the peeps right-side-out before knitting the head, and continue in the round from that point.
Character Peeps:
Character Peeps are based on existing characters and are created in a variety of ways, depending on the looks of the character, and my mood. :o) And the desires of the recipient, if they know about the gift before it's made.
Some of them (like Elmo and Cookie and Kitty and Super Bear) are started in the classic peep method, and veer off when the head is made. Some (like Kermie and Hedwig and Taz) bear no resemblance to the classic peep creation method, and are each approached on an individual basis.
More Elaborate Peeps are also created in a variety of ways, depending on the looks of the character, and my mood. :o) And the desires of the recipient, if they know about the gift before it's made. But these aren't based on an existing character. The inspiration for them can come from anywhere, and their design may begin with looking at lots of pictures of real and imaginary animals (like for Linus the Penguin, and Harmony the Hedgehog) or may just be a product of imagination (like Marietta the Flat Cat, the kitty pillows, or the video game bunnies).
Some of them (like Marietta and the kitty pillows) are made using the double knitting technique, but most are knit in the round on two circs. There are a few exceptions, of course, like MiniMe the crocheted turtle, and Harmony the Hedgehog, who was knit partially in the round but, although the fuzzy back was knit at the same time as the front, they weren't connected while knitting and had to be sewn up (ugh!) later.
So far, most of the inanimates are food, and most are created simply knitting in the round with two circular needles. There are exceptions, of course, including an "unbroken" heart which is created all in one piece, using slip stitches, with no break in the yarn to make the second lobe. Most of them, thus far, have been created as brain food for the ZomPeeps (more on that later).
