Our Week

Thank you so much for all your lovely comments and messages about Beans the Cat Pattern, I am so happy you like him and a few Beans patterns have already been knitted up and shared on Ravelry. I really love seeing your knitted projects so thanks for sharing them:) I will be adding a few more free patterns soon over the next few days.

It has been a cold week here in Johannesburg. The fires are lit early in the mornings so we can keep warm. Our homes here in South Africa aren't built for really cold weather so when the temperature drops below -1C  it's usually colder inside our home than outside!

We've had a scare with Jen this week, she hasn't been feeling too well, she has been for blood tests and we have discovered that her insulin levels are four times higher than they should be! We have a wonderful doctor who is guiding us through this. We are changing our diet to low GI, cutting out all refined sugar, white pasta and flour etc... and we will move forward from here. Please would you keep her in your thoughts...

Do you remember this wool blanket that I made on my knitting machine? It's finally finished, Jen and I crocheted a border around the edge and it's so lovely and soft...

This morning we cooked our feathered girls some oats for breakfast to keep them warm.

Early morning frost on out roof.

We have been pruning and cutting back some of our trees, all the wood is dried out in bags and will be used for next winter's fires.

 
I love finding little drawings on the walls outside, so sweet:)

I'm really not sure what's been eating my spinach and lettuce, it isn't birds, our veggie garden is enclosed with shade cloth, perhaps it's rats or insects?? So this is what I have decided to do to try and combat the problem. I am going to recycle my milk bottles into little cloches to try and give these plants a chance. I really would like my veggies to grow so I can use them in salads and green juices. I'll let you know how it goes. Any advice here would be appreciated.

The frost also took three of our potato plants. We pulled them out today and I was so happy to find a few potatoes still looking amazing underground.

Have a lovely weekend!
Linda

Creative Friday

Branch Weaving

 

To add this button to your blog, right click on it and 'save picture as' to your photos. Then add it as a gadget / picture to your blog on your blog's design page with a link to my blog address:)

Welcome to Creative Friday!

Thank you so much to everyone who shares the love and posts their links to their amazing work:) Please feel free to post your links to anything you have created and would like to share, it can be a recipe, sewing tutorial, knitting tutorial, felting, crochet, crafts, art, spinning, weaving, working with fibre, photography, poetry...etc...

I also love to hear from you, so if you have a moment, please leave a comment:) Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful talent with us! Just add the name of your blog to the widget and then add your blog link with the http:// at the beginning of your link address:) I have added a Creative Friday button on the sidebar of my blog, please feel free to add it to your blog for Creative Friday and link it to http://www.naturalsuburbia.blogspot.com/ so others can find this space and share their creativity too:)

1. I have started a Creative Friday Flickr Group where you can post your beautiful photos that you link to each Creative Friday, to join the group, please go here.

2. If you would be so kind as to link back to Natural Suburbia in your blog post that would be lovely:)

Have a wonderful day,
xo
Linda

Cat Knitting Pattern and Tutorial

Hello friends, as promised, I have a sweet little cat pattern to share with you today.
His name is Beans and he is a friendly little fellow:)

I have knitted him in the round in the Magic Loop but you can also knit him on dpns in the round or knit him flat and simply sew him up at the back, if you prefer to knit on 2 needles. If this is what you would like to do then just knit the pattern in stocking stitch, flat with 2 needles.

He could also be a cute owl, just give him bigger eyes, a beak and don't add a tail:)

Materials:
Oddments of variegated dk wool
4mm circular needle or dpns or 4mm straight needles
Sewing up needle
Fleece for stuffing



Abbreviations:
kfb: knit into the front and back of the stitch to increase
dpns: double pointed needles
knit 2 tog: knit 2 stitches together

Pattern:
Cast on 10 stitches and join for knitting in the round with the magic loop or on dpns
Round 1: Knit
Round 2: kfb into each stitch (20 stitches)
Round 3: kfb into each stitch (40 stitches)
Rounds 4-15: Knit
Round 16: (Knit 1, knit 2 tog) across the round knit 2 stitches on the end (26 stitches)
Rounds 17-26: Knit
Cast off


Finishing Off:
Hold the top of the cast off edge together flat and sew in and out, closing the top of your cat's head.

Stuff Beans and make him plump!
Once you are happy with the firmness, sew around the open base of his body and pull tight to close.

Take a needle and wool, sew into the base of Beans, secure the wool and push the needle up through his body and pull it out the top of his head, sew back down again and pull. This is going to make a nice big concave depression that will form his two ears.

Once you have sewn back down, pull the needle and wool out the base of the body, pull tight and sew the wool securely onto the knitting, ensuring the depression remains at the top of the head.

With a felting needle and some black and pink fleece, needle felt on 2 eyes and a nose.

Tail:
With 2 dpns (double pointed needles) cast on 5 stitches and knit an i-cord for the tail, I knit mine about 5 inches long and cast off.
Sew on the tail at the back of Beans to the side so that it can wrap around his body.

If you would like to add whiskers, just sew some on with a needle and wool in a rug stitch.

You are finished
Happy knitting!
Linda

This is a copywritten pattern, please do not sell this pattern, you may sell items knitted from this pattern providing that I, Linda Dawkins am credited as the designer and you link to my Etsy shop www.mamma4earth.etsy.com
Thank you so much.

Joining in with Ginny for the Yarn Along

Our Start to the Week

Our beautiful Buff Orpingtons were sunning themselves this morning. It was -1C, pretty cold, even though the sun was shining, it was freezing out there.

I love to sit and crochet by this fireplace in the mornings, I have found an old wip, a knitted blanket that needs a crochet border. It's amazing how you put knitting down for months (ahem) years and then, one day you see it lying over there on a shelf, out of the way and you just pick it up and finish it off.

Erin with her favourite chicken, Willa. Willa has become so tame, if Erin sits on the grass, she will rush over and sit on her lap, too precious. Erin is wearing her knitted ear warmer, pattern to follow soon:)

A winter morning sky...

Calendula flowers growing in the veggie garden, hopefully attracting all sorts of insects.

Our potatoes are growing so beautifully next to this flowering Rosemary plant.

I had fun knitting up this little kitty today. If you like I can share the pattern here with you, Meow! :)

How has your Monday been so far? 
Do have a lovely week.

Spirit the White Wolf Pattern and Giveaway

Today I have been designing and knitting Spirit, he is a white wolf. I have always wanted to add a wolf to my menagerie of animal knitting patterns and now here he is!

He is knitted both flat and in the round, if you prefer knitting flat, there are additional instructions added in the pattern for flat knitting. I have knitted him in a brushed Mohair yarn which is pliable and gives him a furry wolf appearance.

His pattern is available in my Etsy shop Mamma4earth.

Giveaway:
I am giving away 1 wolf pattern to 1 blog reader, if you would like to win just leave a comment below in this post. If you are reading this from an email in Google reader, please click on the post to leave a comment in the comment section so the random generator can count your comment. I will announce a winner on Tuesday here in this post:)

Congratulations to:

stephJune 24, 2012 1:40 AM

He's wonderful!!!! as are all your patterns!!! Thanks for the chance to win.

If you could send your email address to me at lindadawkins@mweb.co.za I will email the pattern off to you:)

Have a wonderful weekend.
Linda