Knitting Challenge: Week 4: O.E.S I did!

Rosco the Old English sheepdog cushion / pillow/ toy



















Ok so this week was a double whammy.

Not only did I design and make a cute Old English Sheepdog Cushion /pillow/toy,

but I wrote out the pattern for it too!


If you love him and want to make one the link to my pattern is here.

Rosco the sheepdog

You can download it for free as a PDF or a word document. I put in loads of photos to help you put him together. There is only some simple increase and decreasing so it makes a great "first big project" for someone quite new to knitting.


If you haven't the patience or time to make him, he is for sale in my Artfire shop at Eddy's Pressies


I'm feeling very proud of myself so...tickle my belly!

How does this Ebay thing work anyway?

Just to give it all a go,

I have put my very fun and famous Spot the huge puppet onto Ebay.

Those who know my Zazzle gallery will already know Spot. He has many cards and shirts with him on.

Well, now it's time for him to find a new home. He loves kids and adults alike and really holds the attention of his audience.

Keep an eye on his ebay progress via this link;

Spot the dog - full-bodied puppet with working mouth.

maybe you would even like to bid on him? I will deliver to other countries apart from the UK. It'll be fun to see how far he goes.

He's also going to be benefiting The Save The Children Fund.

10% of his sale price will go to help kids in need all over the world.

So give him a click and see what you think

A free knitting pattern for you

I'm not counting this in the challenge as I made it last year...

I used to have a hat-scarf (hooded scarf) like this when I was a kid (showing my age now).

So I made one last Autumn for my daughter Rhiannon to wear to school. The only problem was that I ended up having to make about 8 of them for all her friends in different colours.

I've been searching the web for a pattern like this but the only ones I can find are for those who can use the dreaded double pointed needles! Ooh scary.

So just for those of us who are only really comfortable with two needles and not four I've written out the pattern just for you.

You can get the pattern free here http://www.scribd.com/doc/9684141/Rhiannons-Hat-Scarf

I love the hairdressers best of all

Yup, i really love going in and having my hair washed by someone else. (that has to be the height of luxury right?) They talk to you on any subject and bring you lots of coffee. They really are the greatest. Is that why I love them so?

No. What really makes me laugh is the names hairdressers choose for their shops.

I've decided to make a list of my absolute favorites.
It's bound to make you giggle too.

• Curl up and Dye - it has to be a clear winner
• The Hairport - who says we drop h's?
• The Cutting Crew - 1980 pop band I believe
• Fringe Benefits - oh yes, made me laugh
• Headmasters - Great name
• The Snip - scary name for men
• Head junkie - crazy people
• The Lunatic Fringe - Not a local one but still funny

But it's not just hairdressers we have

• Curtains for you - yes it's a fabric shop not the headquarters of the mafia.
• Junk and disorderly - a House clearance and antiques shop
• Wok this way - a wonderful chinese takeaway
• lazy daisy - not terribly clever name for a flower shop, but I love it.

Take a wee walk down your highstreet and see what names you can find - it may surprise you.

Knitting Challenge: Week 3: DPNs mastered!

OK so I told you last week that I was having a go at the long procrastinated DPNs. Wicked needles that are pointed at both ends and are used four at a time to produce a tube shape thereby making hats without seams.

Well, i did it! It took an awfully long time as I found all those needles very cumbersome. I'm rather proud of the resulting hat.

Here I show my hat on one of my daughter's dolls; her head is a bit smaller than a real baby so it is a good fit even though it might not look it.

I also made a few of these this week. I gave one as a present to my local

Chinese Takeaway as a new years gift and so I have been making more of them for all her relatives.

I can't complain, she's giving me £3.50 each for them.

I even made an extra one for my dear friend Tricia. She's an artist friend of mine from Nevada, USA. She's awfully clever. she has her own blog full of printables and sweet piccys at http://triciarennea.blogspot.com/

But she's not getting it for free. Oh no! She has to work for him.

I've told her when I sent him off. Monday, 19th at 11am my time.

She then has to tell me when he gets there and in what condition, so I can work out whether I need to upgrade my packaging or postal rate on my artfire site

Next week I'm hoping to make a doggy cushion/pillow. We'll see how that turns out! or not as the case may be!

Happy knitting

knitting Challenge; week two; oh no!

Week Two; Ladybug Mittens.

What a disaster this week's knitting has been.

I made a doll, but she was too small so I unravelled her and started again. The second doll I made, well, the head looks too small to me; so I will be re-making her again!

I got a lovely free pattern for a fluffy heart-shaped cushion with wings. Perfect for Valentines. I have got a ball of fun fur yarn in my stash so I thought I'd give it a go. Guess what? I ran out of yarn so very near the end! Do you think I can find a local shop that still sells that kind of yarn? No. They sold it last Summer but it has gone out of fashion now. Eek!

The one kind of knitting that I've never tried (because I was afraid of failing) is knitting on four double pointed needles. It looks great when it's made because there is no seam; the item is knitted as a tube. So I decided to give it a go. I picked a really simple pattern and got into alsorts of knots! As with anything new, it's slow going, but it is coming. I might have a baby hat knitted by next week. I know, I know, most people can knit up one of those in an evening but remember this is a new skill I'm learning; It's like learning to knit all over again!

Well, I did get something knitted this week, so I'm still in the challenge - hurrah! A pair of child's mittens. Even they did not go to plan, however, they are big enough for me! So much for kid's mittens.

Oh well next week will hopefully be more productive. It was just one of those weeks when you can't get the time to sit and knit. (and when I did, it went wrong)

But on a positive note, my son started a new school this week. It's a school for children with special needs (he has high-functioning Asberger's Syndrome) We have always kept him in mainstream education because he has no problems with the work, in fact, he is further along the curicullum than most as he loves to research for himself History, maths, and science. But his behaviour issues and his lack of self-control when it comes to his feelings have finally become too much for regular school. He is LOVING IT at his new school. And as I result I love it too. He hasn't been this happy in school for years. This new school has it's own swimming pool and lots of support staff so now he can do all the things he couldn't before. Like gym and playing with others at recess. (his last school kept him indoors at recess as they "couldn't guarentee his safety out with the other children" in other words, he got bullied alot and got into trouble whenever he hit back.) I can't wait to see him come home every day with a big grin on his face. He doesn't stop talking when he is happy, so I have a bit of a headache when he comes in but I'm happy to have it.

Knitting Challenge. Week 1; Any hay?

Any hay?
Originally uploaded by Eddy_G

Okay I only just managed this in time. Old Neddy here was started on the 1st January and finished yesterday.
So that's week 1 = success.
I'm hoping to make 52 projects in 52 weeks but they won't all be this big or complicated.
I made him entirely from yarn I had left over from last year's projects. He took 100 grams of cream DK and 50 grams of denim. I actually ran out of denim and had to make his mane and tail shorter than I would have liked)
He was actually a free pattern. So if you would like to make one yourself you can find the pattern at Lion Bran Yarn. They have lots of free patterns it's well worth joining just for that (free to join and you get deals on the yarn - if you want to buy it from them)

If I make another (which I probably will 'cos it's cute as a button) I will put it on my Artfire page to sell. But his one has been claimed by my daughter as a steed for her TY beanie baby doll. As you see they look quite good together.

February is one big celebration!

Ok, so I know we are not done with January yet but all the celebrations for Jan are done with now. Except for Chinese New Year; which is the year of the Ox, cow or water Buffalo depending on what area you're from. Coming on January 26th I believe
You can upload your family picture into this card...

2009 - year of the Ox by Eddy_G

But in February we have a whole host of my very favorite holidays.

Groundhog Day Feb 2nd

Will the groundhog see his shadow? 6 more weeks of winter if he does!

Groundhog day (no shadow) by Eddy_G

Yippee! No shadow! Spring is on the way. I love Spring don't you?

Valentines Day Feb 14th

When guys go to any lengths (including stilts) to make their lady's day special. Show the guys you appreciate them with this cute card

Life with you is a joyride by Eddy_G

Then lots of fun at Mardi gras on February 24th

What a great excuse to wear all those bright and crazy colours!

Mardi Gras by Eddy_G

New year's resoloution?

Well, I've always been a knitter. I love to knit. But I have a terrible habit of starting several projects then leaving them half done to begin new ones!

Some even get thrown away as I get fed-up of looking at them lying there unfinnished. Poor little UFOs (UnFinnished Objects)

So I've made myself a promise

This year I'm going to knit an item per week for all 52 weeks of the year. Yes, 52 out of 52! I've also promised that I will buy no new yarn for these projects whenever possible.

You see I have so many leftover balls of yarn; I could sink a ship! They just sort of mount up. So I'll only buy yarn if I need a certain type or colour otherwise I may have to move into a different bedroom as the yarn stash mounts up!

I'll let you know how I get on. If the patterns are free ones I'll link to where you can get them too. But I must warn you. I'm not so good at keeping resoloutions. Fingers Crossed for me.