Handknit Teddy Bear - Granny W's Special Friend

This handknitted teddy bear was Granny W's first foray into the world of knitted toys. He's special because he's a bit wonky. His face is squint, one arm is chubbier than the other, but like real life, the odder you are the more special.

Granny W is a "slack" knitter, which means in knitted toy world, the stuffing can show through. The remedy is to use smaller needles or chunkier wool, but hindsight is always better as the saying goes.

Handknit Pig - fresh in from Granny W's farm

There are a lot of down right rubbish knitted toy patterns out there. Who wants a knitted scarecrow? Not me for sure!

Being a touch on the controlling side, whilst still in utero, baby number 1 managed to buy Granny W a knitted toy pattern book. Luckily this was written in the 21st century and there were no scary scarecrows, only funkier and much more lovable creatures such as piggy.

The local charity shop has a bin of scary scarecrows and other old school knitted monstrosities. Okay, I admit some jealousy clouds my comments. These unsightly creatures are normally beautifully knitted and sewn up by a hardcore Women's Rural Institute lady. If only they would share their purls (gettit?) of wisdom with me! And then I found our local Knit and Knatter group and my prayers were answered. Now I know 4 different ways to cast on - one of which was entirely new to Granny W!

Handknit Dove from Above

The handknit dove from above was created was a journey into the unknown world of knitting patterns with no instructions. When ambition outweigh skill, you aren't necessarily the best judge of what is quick/easy to knit. Given this little fellow was in good old stocking stitch (knit one row, purl one row etc), I figured it would be easy peasy, just a few nights' effort. Not so.

This pattern was simply a bunch of coloured squares on a grid, which you are meant to follow increasing or decreasing as you go. Well, I missed the critical step which is to read the grid from right to left for the first row. Hence I was increasing at the end of a row and not the beginning, which I rapidly discovered was quite tricky and looked in short, wrong.

Luckily Granny W stepped in and pointed out my error. So I started again, reading the first row from right to left, but this time as I progressed, got so cross eyed reading the grid that I kept losing count on which row I was on and which direction it went in. Argh.

A quick trip to the local wool store later, and I was in possession of a row counter (very handy as long as you remember to notch up your rows as you go!) By this time I'd ripped out and started again so many times, the wool was in a right state, so I spent an hour labouriously writing out the pattern by hand, so I could ignore the grid completely.

It took a long time getting there, but the end result was sweet. Thankfully like most things, you forget the blood, sweat and tears and only remember the good bits, which in this case was moving onto to the next project and vowing never to use a knitting grid pattern again.

Note to self; I vow not to vow never to do stuff as I will seriously restrict my crafting activities. List so far, moss stitch and knitting grid patterns. Fingers crossed I can keep this list short.

Handknit Toddler Hat in a Teletubby Stylee

This handknit toddler hat was made from the same wool as Nelly the Elephant, but in the ever so slow moss stitch (that's knit one purl one etc). I vowed* never to moss stitch anything ever again after this little offering as it seemed to take about 10 minutes to do each row.

I added the extra long pointy bit as I felt the pattern needed a tweak, and the buttons and felt on the flaps were off piste too. The buttons worked surprisingly well as they weigh the earflaps down enough to keep toddler ears' toasty in the wicked winter winds on the west coast of Scotland.

It pains me to say that the moss stitch works well as a hat as it moulds to the head shape well and being a dense stitch, it packs a lot of wool, so it's higher up on the tog rating. Gluten free food freak aka the husband also vowed I should never attempt moss stitch again as he became thoroughly fed up with my huffing and puffing every time the knitting needles came out.

Handknitted Elephant - That's Nelly to You

This handknitted elephant was a triumph of perseverance. My ever expanding pregnant belly kept getting in the way of the knitting needles (I say knitting needles, you say knitting pins, it's all good) but I finally managed to get the 8 pieces done before number 2 was born.

Some extreme focus is required following this type of knitting pattern as there are so many increases and decreases which are critical in the formation of the shape. I obviously watched an interesting program the night the undercarriage pieces were made because they are not identical..... But as the intended recipient was only 18 months old, I figured they'd not critique me too harshly so I didn't rip it up and start again.

I was knitting this when our local Knit and Knatter (the polite chapter of Stitch and Bitch) was photographed for a Scottish national newspaper the Sunday Post.

(A little aside... apparently this paper sends more copies overseas to home sick expats than it sells in Scotland!).

Most of the group were frenziedly knitting Hogwart's scarves in the 4 house colours for a launch date do at the local bookshop, for the latest installment of the Harry Potter series. We were photographed knitting the scarves (with me hiding my non scarf shaped elephant), and a jolly little story appeared just before the launch date.

As these things happen in the small world, this picture saved a life..... A young teacher with a passion for knitting, was moving out from the big city to the tiny outpost of Oban and was sad to leave her local knitting posse. Her mum saw the article and her so her knitting career could continue, and to this day she is a stalwart of the Oban chapter of the knitting sisters.

The First Handknit Toy - A Bit of Monkey Business

The first "handcrafted in Oban" toy was born just after my first daughter, was back in the summer of 2005.Granny W created brown monkey (so imaginatively named) and he was such a forlorn fellow, he just needed a friend. So, with trembling knitting fingers, a pot of tea and some rubbish telly, pink monkey was started.

21 (!) pieces later, pink money was ready to be sewn up. And then I discovered that sewing up takes almost as long as the knitting bit. Knitting really isn't for those who want quick results (unless they have super fast knitting skills or a time distortion machine).

The dress was an afterthought a few months later. I figured she was a bit chilly in winter with all her bits on show, so modesty and toastiness prevailed and the dress was created. Again, another learning experience. I used different wool and needle size to the pattern and discovered gauge really does matter. Hey ho, it's all part of the learning process.

Nonetheless, pink and brown monkey are both happy ever after and there is word of the pitter patter of tiny monkey feet in the new year.....