Damn, Knit & Blast It

This was supposed to be a Valentine’s prezzie but I was a week late

Bad Susan.

For those of you who don’t know , there is a Playstation3 game called “LittleBigPlanet” whose main character is Sackboy – a cute knitted character.

I’ll show you the finished Sackboy so you know what I’m talking about…

It gets even better – the voice over is done by the scrumptious Stephen Fry -  a man I have immense affection for. (Mr Fry’s podcasts are a favourite of mine).

Ben adores this game.

I did try working out my own pattern but failed miserably. Then I saw that Simply Knitting’s Alan Dart pattern for Sackboy was available free here!!

The knitting wasn’t too hard – I had all the “bits” quite quickly…

Yes, that is a zip! Sewing the zip into the body was the most fiddly part – The pattern says to put glue over the back of the zip and then sew in but I found it easier to separate the zip, sew either side in then zip it up.

The eyes were the key – Fortunately I had some anorak type press studs in my sewing stash (yep – I have multiple stashes ) I think they worked

and he seems to be coming to life…

The sewing up took an age and was quite painstaking to get him right.

But it was worth it – Ben looks rather pleased with him!

Of course, I now have a naughty Sackboy running around my home…

Climbing…

Posing for the Camera…

Playing with Ben…

Playing himself in Little Big Planet…

And finally, when Sackboy is exhausted, pestering Thug so he can share his basket!

Oh! In case you’re wondering – Sackboy isn’t allowed on any trains with Ben….He can’t be trusted!

I’ve had a strange and scrappy week or two- in my life and my knitting. And I’ve had a knitting related loss.

The big news around here is that we’ve put our home up for sale – all those neatly painted, plain backdrops to my knitted creations could be yours -for a very large fee!!

This news means that a lot of my time has been spent on the inevitable house selling/buying admin but I’ve still had time to knit!

So what have I been up to?

Do you remember all that snow? We had 11″ of the cursed white stuff. Like any sensible adults who were prevented from getting to work by the snow, Ben and I went out to play…

…and Ben got thoroughly taunted by me for wearing a “nasty, shop bought hat”.

Like this…

“Ok! Ok! Knit me a hat then!” cried Ben (under threat of a large and menacing snowball)

“Ah Ha”, I thought, “just the response I was waiting for!”

I quickly showed him the picture of “Striped Hat” for Erika Knight’s Mens Knits book.

This hat…

from this book…

Maroon and grey were selected as the colours – Grey from stash and maroon from a lunchtime jaunt to Loop in Islington with my bewildered and very patient colleague, Christine.

It was a quick knit…two evenings of love driven labouring….

I have to admit it didn’t quite fit right – it seemed a bit “long”…there was definitely some “extra unwanted hat” at the crown.

Ben said he liked it though.

We laughed….

We took pictures….

Ben wore it to work for three days running in the cold…..

I was a happy, fulfilled knitter.

Then today he confessed…..

He’d left my lovingly crafted hat on the train and lost it. Before I even had a chance to photograph it properly to blog it!

So I must leave you , my readers, with the only evidence of my lovingly crafted hat, modelled by a very familiar feline….

By the way – if you travel on the train to Cannon Street and see someone wearing this hat – accost them for me – they found it and it belongs to Ben!

Mewsley may be a bully but she made me finish my Lacey Top.

It’s taken me a horrendous 2 months to knit! I have knit socks and a cushion cover in that time too.

Wanna see my little bit of fluff??

And the back view…

It’s very fluffy and soft – and warm!   I once said on here that Kidsilk Haze is “as soft as kitten bellies” and I stand by that description!

After looking at those pictures, I think it will look better when layered over something long sleeved – I’m not very good at short sleeved jumpers! I’ll need to experiment…

Casting off the button bands was an unexpected ordeal.

I usually cast off with a size larger needle than the one used to knit the band – nothing unusual there.  So I knit on a 3.25 and cast off with a 3.75mm – it was WAY too tight and crinkled up the front. Tinking that back was a nightmare and took a couple of hours. I had no choice – it ruined the garment.

I cast off again with 4.50mm – STILL TOO TIGHT!!

In the end, a 5.50mm needle was loose enough – I think the way the KSH sticks to itself like cheap clingfilm might have something to do with it. I’d definitely advice using a HUGE needle to cast off if you can.

Sewing on the now infamous “four sleeve” took some thought too.

The pattern said to sew the two layers of sleeve together then sew them to the body. I didn’t think I could get a neat enough finish like that so I mattress stitched the top, shorter sleeve as I would normally then over sewed the under, longer sleeve to the seam on the inside. This seemed to work.

Here’s the sleeve …

Here’s the last piccie – my chest, fluffily enrobed in Kidsilk Haze lace…

Do you remember that this was supposed to put a 4 ball dent in my Kidsilk Haze  mountain?? I’m not quite sure how it happened but this top only used 2.5 balls!

My destashing efforts, thwarted again!

I’ve not done a lot of knitting in the last week or two.

I have an excuse (this is where I need a note from my Mum)…

..I have STILL been sick with this cold/flu type virus thingy.

I’ll spare you the gory details but suffice it to say, after two months of all the nasty symptoms you can imagine,  I’m not happy. Thankfully my GP was persuaded to give me antibiotics and miraculously, I’m suddenly much better.

I’ve finished my “Happy Socks” on the train (now I can stay awake for the journey)…

They feel lovely and soft and silken but I’m not so sure about the thick colour stripes…I’d love this yarn in a solid colour – I wonder if Wendy could be convinced??

I really, really should have finished my lacy top by now but the 4th sleeve was just one sleeve too many. (I’ve not gone insane, the top has two layers of little sleeve each side – hence 4 sleeves!)  I avoided it successfully by creating my lovely Chunky Twisted Ribbon Cushion.

I forced myself to finish the 4th, final, lacey sleeve during last week.

Then I was faced with my nemesis.  Some Knitters hate the sewing up of a garment – personally, I don’t mind a bit of mattress stitch. What I dislike intensely and will put off doing for weeks, is picking up stitches. Neck bands, button bands ICK! I do them because I must to finish the garment but I always find myself in the “I’m tired, I just want to knit, not do some fiddly painstaking counting and picking up stitches” place.

Even Mewsley got fed up with me and glared at me…

…can you feel the “JUST GET ON WITH IT!” she’s silently yelling at me?

Well, Mewsley is a bully and says she is going hold my new cushion hostage until I finish the Lacey top.

I have now done the button bands and am about to press the pieces and sew her up – under the exacting, stringent glare of Mewsley …

Oh, I had better give you a Completed Knit Report on the Happy Socks first, not that I’m procrastinating…