monkeys and fish

I've decided to send a small box of toys to Little Sprouts this year and I've started with some sock monkeys like these ones. I've now used up all my sock monkey making supplies so it's with sadness - but also relief - that these guys may be the last that I make.

To improve my toy making skills I borrowed Stuffed animals : from concept to construction by Abigail Patner Glassenberg from the library. You can find Abigail's website here. It's full of good advice, tutorials and some free patterns. The patterns in her book are also available to download here. I thought I'd start with the fish because it looked fairly simple but I struggled with some of the details and had to modify the design to get it finished. In the end it turned out ok. And I learnt a lot - always a good outcome.

Other things this week:
I cleaned out my supplies cupboard and have three cardboard boxes of stuff to donate,
I attended my son's graduation ceremony - a proud parenting moment,
I received a lovely handmade mothers' day card from my granddaughter who wrote under her name "2018 age 4" and
I ate my very first poke bowl.

I hope your week goes well. I'll be away next week visiting my mother-in-law who recently passed her driving test to renew her license. She'll be celebrating her 94th birthday next week.

Reading: Roseanna by Maj Sjöwall (the queen of crime) and Per Wahlöö - the first book in the Martin Beck series. First published in 1963. Swedish crime at its best.

tiny socks

Op shop find The it doesn't matter suit by Sylvia Plath written in 1959 and published posthumously in 1976. Delightfully illustrated by Rotraut Susanne Berner.

And tiny socks using this free pattern. I made a few adjustments which you can read about on Ravelry. I haven't knitted socks for years and years so I needed to refer to youtube quite a bit. I found the following tutorials helpful:

• joining in the round 

• heel flap

• turning heel

• gusset

• slip slip knit (ssk)

• kitchener stitch 

I'd recommend this pattern if you're new to sock knitting as, although they can be a bit fiddly because they are so tiny, they knit up quickly and you get to learn about and practise all your sock knitting skills. Plus you end up with a lovely gift for a newborn. I'm saving these for the grandchild.

big hat, little hat

I tripped while crossing the road on Friday and gashed my leg. My local GP stitched it up for me but I had to "take it easy" over the weekend keeping my leg elevated as much as possible. So there was much reading, knitting and binge-watching - which worked out quite well really as the weather was pretty bad.

I finished two of my in-the-round projects. A baby hat using this free pattern. I'll send it to Crafty Volunteers for the Woolen baby clothes project where the aim is to gather 8,000 handmade items of baby clothing by 31st of May. It's a small contribution but it all adds to the goal.

The grey hat is adult-size. I used this pattern by Erika Knight from her 2010 book Simple knitting. I'll send that off to Crafty Volunteers too - but not for the baby project, obviously.

Both hats are stretchy with generous fold-up brims to be worn slouchy or snug.

Reading: I'll admit to abandoning The last hours by Minette Walters. Once I heard there was going to be a sequel I just knew that I couldn't go on. So... I'm now reading Driving to Treblinka : a long search for a lost father by Diana Wichtel. When the family moved from Canada to New Zealand, her father was meant to join them later but never did. The book is about the author's search for him many years later. And so far, it's good. 😀