Hi All 🙂

I just thought I would drop a line or two from Shedquarters, to see how you all are and grab a quick cuppa with you.  This week, I have been largely finishing off Little Nim….

 

She is the reason I ended up wandering around the village with a film of bright ginger hair in the lap region of my dress!  The lady in the post office drew my attention to it, but not before I had promenaded along the high street.

Little Nim is a redhead, with rosy cheeks and freckles.  There is something marvellous about ginger hair and I can’t stop taking her beret off and seeing the shocking fluffy mess of it all.

That said, I really quite like the tidier little pigtails too!

Nim’s tights and scarf, were made using some beautifully hand dyed wool and alpaca yarn from Moo & Elf Yarns  The soft greens, mauves and lemons, remind me somewhat of an english country garden in summer.  Anyway, it was a lovely yarn to use….a real treat, and I found some lovely cashmerino in my stash, to pick out the colours.

Nim has already left us for her new home,  so I am busily working on Olivia, the next little Fuzzpotling 🙂

I have a couple of arms to finish this afternoon, and then to start on Olivia’s wig…..I am thinking pink at the moment, but until their little bald selves sit and look at me, I really can never tell !!

Will pop back again soon…..hope you are all having a good week.

L xx

 

Hello my Lovelies…

While I have a few minutes in ‘Shedquarters’, I thought I would drop back in and have a little catch up with you all.  Grab a cuppa and pull up a chair 🙂  Hope you have all been keeping well.

It’s been a busy month…….we’ve celebrated our 18 year wedding anniversary (Hubby claims he is extremely tolerant…but I know it’s because I’m a treasure!)  I have enjoyed another birthday (though I’m not too keen on the number, so won’t be saying that out loud), Thing 2 went back to school and Thing 1 started Sixth Form.  So it’s all a little rush, rush, rush, but in a good way.

Now you may have spotted a new little friend, sat on my workbench…..it’s Joseph….and he is not only a rabbit…but a lamp!

I have wanted one of these for ages….don’t really know why…..not even sure that they were designed with my ‘age group’ in mind, to be honest…..but my lovely Hubby, heeded my endless, and not too subtle hints and he formed part of a wonderful birthday package.  I spotted him on the Rose in April Instagram page initially….and fell in love, and now I have a little helper in my Shed.  I was a very lucky girl, and had some beautiful presents from truly wonderful family and friends. Thank you to them xx

I have managed to grab a few happy moments in the Shed, and this month, I have concentrated on some Cloth Dolls.  These are a little deviation from my Waldorf inspired dolls, but still have the same qualities, in as much as they are made from ‘natural’ products ( a heavy weight cotton), and have wild and wacky wigs, which I have crocheted using those marvellous hand dyed Teeswater Locks. Dressed in hand knitted dresses, scarves and hats, they are a funny little group.

Milly, Marley and Mabel, are simple yet fun….I’d like to think I’m a little like that myself!!

Their little berets are the same ones that fit onto the Waldorf Inspired dolls, and are a firm favourite of mine. I have been promising for a while now, but haven’t quite got around to writing it down….so here are the instructions, should you fancy it 🙂                                      

                                **** Knitted Dolly Beret Instructions ****

You will need :

2.75mm & 3.25mm Double Pointed Needles

Small amount of 4ply yarn ( I also like Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino)

Stitch Marker, Scissors, Needle for Sewing in the ends

Each hat is knitted in the round on DPN’s

Cast on 64 stitches using 2.75mm needles ( I usually use 5 DPN’s , putting 16 stitches across 4 needles and one needle to work) and join to work in the round.

Rounds 1 – 10   K1, P1 Rib      (64sts)

Round 11   ( K1, K1 M1) repeat to end   (96 sts)

Change to 3.25mm Needles

Round 12 – 27 Knit every stitch  (96 sts)

Round 28 ( K14, SSK) repeat to end of round     (90 sts)

Round 29 (K13, SSK) Repeat to end of round     ( 84 sts)

Round 30 ( K12, SSK ) Repeat to end of round ( 78 sts)

Continue in this way, decreasing the number of knitted stitches in each round, as set by the last 3 rounds.  Round 31 will therefore be ( K11, SSK) repeat to the end of the round, Round 32 will be (K10, SSK) etc….

Once you have completed Round 41 you should have 12 sts remaining, and your beret will almost be formed.

Round 42 & 43  (SSK) repeat to the end of round (3 sts)

I like a little ‘nobble’ on my berets, so I simply do 4 rows of i-cord using these remaining 3 stitches, before binding off by cutting the yarn, threading it onto a sewing up needle and drawing it through the remaining stitches.  Sew in all of the ends 🙂

Little stacks of berets will soon begin to form….I find them quite addictive !!

I have also managed to squeeze in a little crochet time, and made Albert the Baby Elephant this month…….I’m doing better than I thought !!!

I love Elephants and made this one using my own Peaches & Walter Pattern   I really enjoy seeing how they work in different colours, so it is fun to revisit the designs every now and then.

The focus for me now, is more of a festive one.  I have just finished a new Christmas crochet design for a Tomte…..which I will be able to explain a little more about fairly soon.  I am also working on some new Waldorf Inspired Suitcase Dolls.   For now, I will say ‘bye bye’, but will promise to be back soon….with more updates.

 

TTFN XX