Bear Cushion

I made this cushion cover as a present for someone.
I think it could have been better but it was well received.
Mistakes made, lessons learned = Success!


                             Front

                            
                              Rear

Hippo No.3

The 3rd Hippo I've knitted. Much quicker to both knit and sew up. Completed whole project in less than a week. Again in a baby wool for cuddliness.
This one also a Christmas present, for a friend's baby.


                  Hippo No. 3
 

 

Hippo 1 and Hippo 3 before they said their goodbyes

Hippo No.2

Here's the 2nd Hippo I knitted. This time in baby soft wool and it really is that extra bit cuddly.
Much more pleased with the finished product this time. Almost too hard to part with but it was a present for my niece (possibly the reason it was such a pleasure to knit).

                  Hippo No.2

Hippos 1 and 2 together

                                          

                                       

Purses

Some purses I knitted as extra Christmas presents for friends and family.

Cuddly Snowman

Started and completed December 2011

Took this pattern from book "Knitted Wild Animals" by Sarah Keen but I just used the instructions for the body, head and eyes. I had to improvise for the nose and made it out of orange felt. The sewing up could be improved upon but I'm rather pleased with the result.
The sewing up of the knitted parts was much better and a definite improvement on Hippo No.1.

This time I used an aran weight yarn but again on 3 1/4 mm needles. This resulted in a dense feel to the fabric. It was an experiment for me. I think I'll use it for the base again but probably not for the rest. Baby DK is probably best as it's so much more cuddly. A good exercise though and a learning curve too.

                      Snowman

Snowman sporting a mini top hat

Group hug (Snowman and Hippo 1)

 

Group hug (Snowman and Hippos 1 and 2)

Snowman with stripey scarf I knitted back in May.

1st attempt at cuddly toy (Hippo)

It's been a long time in the making but finally had the confidence to finish it. Took 2 weeks to do all the knitting but I've been putting off the sewing up bit until now. Started in October, finished in December.
I can see mistakes in it but I've got this as a template now so future attempts should be better.

Dk wool on 3 1/4mm needles.  Pattern taken from book "Knitting Wild Animals" by Sarah Keen.
It's been a good exercise for me as I've learned to make a stitch, k2tog tbl and P2tog tbl. As well as decreases.

                      
                            Hippo

1st purse I've completed

Made this purse in a couple of days.
Took a day to do the knitting, sewed up the sides the next morning and sewed the button on this evening.

It's knitted with Sirdar Crofter wool on 4mm needles.

Not an excellently made product but a good excercise all the same.
Tried some new stitches, 1st attempt at 1x1 Rib. Used Garter stitch at beginning of flap in effort to avoid the curl with stockinette. A little loose adjacent to buttonhole but this is something I'm practising on.
And the first time I've ever sewed a button on something (Thank you to Youtube).

Overall I have to be happy with this. And I hope future projects will only get better.

It should make it into Santa's sack as an extra for someone!

              Front (opened)

               Rear (opened)

                     
                 Front (closed)