More stabby stabby

Trying needle felting has led me to a new obsession.  Miniatures.  I had progress pics of my first attempt at a miniature on my last post but now that my tiny teddy is finished I'm keen to try lots of other types of critters.  He was finished that same day and turned out cute enough that I wanted to start another right away.  Here he is all finished.

Yesterday morning I started a new mini bear.  But as I worked on his head I discovered that this fibre didn't want to be a bear. It wanted to be a bunny.  So Neville the blue bunny was born.  I finished him today just before lunch.

He has glass bead eyes and is thread jointed.  He stands 10cm tall (not including the ears) and is able to stand by himself. I have yet to accessorise him but he wears a cute shocked expression on his sideways glancing face.  I'm really pleased with how he's turned out.  

You can see from the pictures of the mini teddy and Neville that my second attempt is about a gazillion times better than my first. I plan to buy this book at my first opportunity so I can actually find out if I'm doing this right.  Then soon after that (hopefully) I plan to start selling my OOAK miniature felted critters.  I just have to figure out what I'm going to charge for them.

Stabby stabby

Since my return to teddy making I've decided to try my hand at needle felting for the first time.  I ended up needle felting the muzzle, eyelids and paw pads of my teddy.  And funnily enough, it turns out that stabbing a small bear in the face repeatedly is remarkably therapeutic. :oP

I'm fairly happy with how its turned out, especially since its my first ever attempt.  So the teddy is coming along pretty well; I still have to sew her ears in place and work on some minor embellishments, but the actual bear is all but done

I'm currently in the process of making her a crochet lace dress and I've decided she needs a small friend so I'm needle felting her a micro bear to carry with her.  Progress photos...

Its the Loch Ness...
no wait, its just some wool with a needle in it

Micro teddy head

A whole lot to learn

In 2000 I decided I wanted to take up a new hobby. This was way back when I wasn't really into knitting that much and long before I discovered spinning. I knew I didn't have the patience to quilt but I wanted to take up something to do with sewing. So I decided to give teddy bears a try. I bought myself a couple of teddy making books and set out to discover what all the teddy fuss was about. Now, I've never really been into teddies all that much but it didn't take me long to realise where their massive appeal lay. I was soon designing my own bears and I made teddies by hand for dozens of people.  The last bear I designed and made won second place in the synthetic bears division in the Coffs Harbour Doll and Teddy Fair in 2003. That was so long ago and I gifted that bear to Charly from IxCHeL last year.

Recently, I decided to try my hand at Amigurumi and made this doll. She's essentially complete and for my first attempt I think she turned out pretty good.  I do still need to make some clothes for her but I've been distracted by something else.  

Just before I'd finished sewing the hair in place

As many of you know, I lost my beloved Moo and I miss him desperately and I think this has had something to do with my return to soft toy crafting. Once I'd made the doll, I remembered that I'd been thinking about going back to teddy making for quite some time but hadn't really gotten around to it.  So I went out and bought some inexpensive synthetic fur (hey, its been nearly 10years, we don't want to mess up mohair - its too expensive for that - LOL) and sat down to design a new teddy.

Incomplete head

Because I've been away from the craft for so long I decided to take a look around the net and see what's out there. And I have to say; OH. MY. GOD! Teddy making has come a long way since I last had a shot at it.  In fact, it makes me feel that my latest attempt (which I thought was pretty good yesterday) is a bit sad and shoddy by comparison.  Check out Bear Bottom Originals and Beckoning Bears to see what I mean.  Clearly I have some ways to go before I am creating such gorgeous babies.  But I'm keen to learn and willing to take it one step at a time. I think I'll be working in synthetic for a while before I get to the same level as some of these people though.  I'm sure it'll be fun and I fully intend to keep blogging about it :oD

Bring on the FO's

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned a lace shawl that I was knitting and posted an update pic.  

What I didn't mention was that I was knitting the shawl as a special gift for a fabulous lady who is one of the most inspirational people I've ever known.  She has struggled through the last few years; surviving cancer, dealing with infertility, working her butt off to grow her small business and of course dealing with the financial strain that we have all come to know and love in the mean time.  Despite all of this she maintains an upbeat attitude and a big generous heart, somehow finding the inner fortitude and resources to give so much to so many people, myself included.  So I decided that I would use some fibre that she gave to me to knit something really special for her.  I finished the shawl more than a week ago and sent it to her.  It finally arrived yesterday and I'm very pleased to say that she is very happy with her gift.  Here is a photo of the finished shawl.

I have also knitted a small neckerchief style shawlette for myself for winter.  It was made from a skein of my handspun and has turned out lovely and soft.  It will be a welcome neck warmer in the next few weeks.

Pattern: 198 yds. of heaven

I also finished the scarves that I'd started making for a friend.  They went in the post this morning and hopefully will keep her warm for a good long time.  Here is the third one, also a neckerchief style scarf.

That's all my FO's for this week.  I have other projects, both spun and knitted on the go but nothing else is finished so far.

RIP Moo

On Tuesday 5th of April I had to have my beloved cat put to sleep.  Moo was three years old and was the most devoted, loving pet I've ever had. 

Unfortunately he recently developed lumps in both sides of his abdomen that very quickly grew to the size of tennis balls.  He also had a tendency to be wobbly in his back end which recently became so pronounced that he was unable to take two steps without falling over.  Of course these things worried me so I took him to the vet and was informed that it was most likely that he had cancer in his spine and that the lumps were either cancer or a kidney issue caused by leukemia.  The vet said there was no way she'd be able to remove the lumps or the cancer and that it would be best to have him euthanised before he started experiencing terrible pain which in her opinion would be within days.  So, I made the decision to let him go before his illness would become so bad that it was all I remembered of him.  I cannot begin to tell you how saddened I am to lose my beloved Moo but am glad that I have fond memories of his ratbag antics.