ailuros's blog

So I found a koi design I think will look pretty cool embroidered, and I’m excited to do it.  Just two problems: It’s a fairly large project, and I’ve never done that kind of embroidery (cross stitch really doesn’t count here).  I tend to prefer jumping into a more complex project rather than starting with a “beginner” project (I still haven’t knitted a scarf, I started out with gloves!), but it seemed like a good idea to at least try the different stitches before committing thread to fabric.  I looked up different stitches to figure out which ones I would want to use.  Then I sketched a small drawing that included elements that could use those stitches, traced it, and transferred it to a fabric similar to the one I intend to use (cotton duck). 

I love this bamboo stitch pattern.  I wanted to make something with it, and it has (sort of) been mitt weather here in Florida, so I thought a bamboo mitt would be fun.  Usually when I think of something I try to find out if anyone else has made it, and when I first searched I didn’t find much (there are lots of mitts made of knit fabric containing bamboo out there, and it’s almost as tough to search for the stitch pattern for similar reason).  I did forget to look at Ravelry at first, which had a few things with the stitch pattern, including these bamboo field mitts.  I had something just a bit different in mind, and I’d found the perfect yarn.  I like knitting in the round, but I wanted to make something a bit simpler and

Here’s Namir!  He’s a plush leopard and my first attempt at sewing a stuffed animal.  (I used the Funky Friends Factory Larry the Lion pattern, but for some reason I’ve never been a huge lion fan, so I left the mane out and chose a print fabric.)

I’m not entirely happy with the result, but I’m not entirely unhappy either. 

The other day Neko was trying to get into the dogs’ dishes.  She’s always trying to sneak their food (she doesn’t care if it’s dry or wet, she just wants it), so we store the dishes under the bottom shelf of the rack near where we feed them while they’re not interested in eating or are outside.  Neko was trying to reach between the wires of the shelf to pull out food.  I always ask her what she’s doing when she does this, but this time she stopped and looked at me, said “meow!” just like she was saying “nothing!” and then went right back to it.  I can’t believe she thought I would believe that.

Something else Neko really goes for is catnip, and I’ve learned a few things about keeping catnip toys interesting:

I’ve been hoarding this scrap for a while.  Even though I’d used all the bits with the tiger (one of my favorite animals), I still did not want to do anything with it.  It’s also on the small side for the things I’ve been making.  But then I was able to get another huge piece and I’ve started learning to piece scraps together, so it seemed to finally be the right time to do something with that scrap!

I’ve been making notepad covers lately (from this notepad cover pattern), and this was about the right size.  I sketched out how my ideas would fit with the measurements so I could use a (relatively) solid piece of fabric for the lining and figure out what sizes to cut the other pieces.