Sue's Knitting Projects

I don't remember when I started knitting this mouse. I made several of the toys from Jean Greenhowe's excellent 'Knitted Animals' booklet back in the early 1990s when my sons were young, and liked an ever-expanding selection of soft toys. I made a frog, an owl; I think I even made the Puss in Boots. However the four mice, one for each season, didn't really appeal to them. I thought they were rather cute, and probably began making it about ten years ago. I didn't have a great selection of yarns, and used some rather knobbly curly wool for the apron. But for some reason, although I stuffed both the head and the body, I never finished it. After completing other projects, I decided I'd finish the mouse.  I was pleased to note that, rather than using cardboard for the base, I'd used some stiff fabric, making it suitable for a child's toy. I don't know how well the shape would hold if it had to be washed, but at least it wouldn't disintegra...

I wanted to try something different. I had thought about the Jean Greenhowe Cinderalla doll, with two bodies and two entirely different outfits, but decided to start with something slightly easier. So I opted for the 'hush-a-bye-baby' doll, which has two faces, one on each side of the head, depending on whether the doll is supposed to be awake or asleep. This doll is in the Jean Greenhowe 'Christmas Treasures' booklet, which is not currently in print but reasonably easy to find second-hand. I bought mine originally because I wanted the donkey for my Nativity scene. I had some bright yellow yarn, and some turquoise, and - as so often - decided to make the skin town a pale olive rather than pink.  I used the author's excellent method of creating eyes by making a knot in the middle of a piece of black yarn, then sewing each end so that it comes out in a place that isn't going to show, and knotting them together. One of the techniques I particularly like i...

I knew I was going to knit a specific toy for my nearly-three-year-old grandson, so wanted to make something small for my four-month-old granddaughter.  She has some teddies and other soft toys, so I decided to try the girl elephant from Jean Greenhowe's 'Knitted Animals' booklet, something I've had for many years, and used extensively about twenty-five years ago. The finished elephant is only about 15cm (6 inches) high, so it was fairly quick to make. The pattern shows four elephants: a girl in a pink stripy dress, a boy with a stripy top, a sailor with a blue outfit and cap, and a bedtime elephant with a nightcap. The girl elephant was the obvious one to choose, and I decided immediately that I would not include the twisted yarn bow that's by the toy's ear (I was going to say 'hair' but elephants don't have hair!) The instructions, as always with Jean Greenhowe's patterns, were straightforward and everything worked as expected. The body...