6 posts tagged “toy”
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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First there were Pocket Lambie Peeps, and now we have Pocket Pup Peeps! :o)
I made little Frankie for our niece after watching her adorable wee poodle mix romping about, recently. He's sooo cute! Had to make an ami of him! And having been making Pocket Lambie Peeps lately, I realized that the lambie yarn would be perfect for him. With just a bit of changing, the lambie could become a Pup!! Tried out one of those cute little glass animal noses (from www.glasseyesonline.com ), and it's just perfect for a dog, with their shiny wet noses! :o) My Hub and I are just LOVING him! AND he looks even so much cuter in person! So another one that will be very hard to part with. *sigh*
and this is Daisy Pocket Pup Peep
We were so crazy about little Frankie peep that I had to make Daisy Peep for us, or our niece was never going to get Frankie! ;o) I was soooo sad at the thought of sending him away, till Daisy came to stay. Daisy is in homage to the memory of my sweet little Bichon Frise.
More about Frankie ... he has this adorable bit of apricot on his back! Isn't that CUTE?!
Here's Frankie in his little bed/pocket, which is now Daisy's because I made a slightly bigger one for Frankie...
And more of wee Daisy
here's Wee Daisy with Wee Frankie (they're in loooove... *sings... Frankiee and Daisy were looveeerrrsss....* hee hee)
See him whispering sweet nothings to her before kissing her? ;o)
Frankie is a poodle mix - and you know what those Frenchmen are like! ;o) heh heh Yes, I know that Poodles didn't originate in France, but... we're pretending. ;o)
Unfortunately, theirs will have to be a long distance relationship, because Frankie is moving to Northern California to be with his new mommy, and Daisy is staying here with US! (YAY!)
And one more of Daisy, giggling because she's in Frankie's new bed/pocket
I just couldn't stop taking pics of these two pups!! heh heh I've got dozens of them!! Yeesh! Am I obsessed?
I'm knitting away, making lots of peeps, but I never get time to post them. So someday there will be a giant post from me with a hundred peeps in it! (just kidding! I'm lucky to get a peep posted now and then).
More peeps at my flickr pages http://www.flickr.com/knittycat
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
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)
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).
