Bears and monkeys, monkeys and bears

Here are some of my new toys. All are 5-way cotter pin jointed, completely hand sewn out of mohair fabric. The monkey has antique boot button eyes too, I love those! She wearing a vintage doll play suit in banana yellow! The monkey is 30 cm/12", the pink bear is 9" and the two tone bear is 8".
These are a lot of fun to design and make. I'm working on another monkey and elephants - but right now my husband is on a paternity vacation and I get to go to my studio too and paint!
Surprisingly it was easy to start again after a break. I have planned to go 2-3 days a week, I can't bear to be away from Indiana every day!!!

My first bear

So I have been wanting to make soft toys for a long time. Now I finally found the time (barely) and took the plunge! This bear I made according to an existing pattern I bought, to get the basics of bear making. He is five-way traditionally cotterpin jointed. I used left over fabric from my rococo sofa and chairs that were upholstered last winter. The resulting bear, apple green and gold pattern with his huge eyes, is a bit psychedelic! He is lopsided and odd but I learned a ton! I being what I am, already drew up my own pattern to make bears, monkeys, elephants, cats, bunnies... with slight variations. I will use real mohair fabrics and hopefully antique boot button eyes. I am excited to see how they will turn out, how much tweaking the pattern needs. I have fairly good grasp of how things will look 3D, but these are small creatures and every tiny bit affects the overall look and shape so much!!
As I love vintage and antique things and old toys, I envision my creatures looking a bit shabby, pre-loved, worn with lots of hugs and kisses. I take inspiration from vintage toys, and will try to get that feeling into my animals.
I don't have a lot of time, only when Indiana is napping (and today it was 2 x 45 minutes only), and I also have a couple knits in progress... I did just finish a loop scarf and will blog it later.

Ten Button Noro Cardigan

The Japanese Noro yarns are handdyed and handspun (which explains the relatively high cost) though they are sold widely in yarn shops worldwide. They are my favorite shop-bought yarns because there is still a lot of character in them! Rather than spun and then dyed, they seem to be dyed as fibers, then carded, then spun. This results in a different kind of yarn, and it's how I make my own yarns.
I knit this cardigan recently with Noro Cashmere Island and Debbie Bliss pure cashmere on 5,5 mm needles from bottom up. I adore these buttons (I still have more of them), they look like candy.. I guess that's why I put 10 of them in this cardi! :)
The result is very soft and warm and this has already become a favorite. The sleeves are a snug fit and the body is quite long and a bit baggy -very comfortable! One of these days I want to knit a bigger project with my own handspun.. But I haven't been able to spin lately because my nearly 11-month old would totally get in the way! And a cardigan or a sweater would take several skeins.

Decadent days dress

Another of my dresses with mostly mohair, but also other yarns, knit loosely with lots of dripped stitches and intentional runs. I love mohair :)

Seafoam knit dress

Knit loose with lots of dropped stitches and intentional runs. Several different yarns were used.

Tunic vest or a sleeveless cardigan

When I was pregnant, and after Indiana was born, knitting has been one of the few things I can do. I knit when she naps, sitting next to her on the bed, and sitting on the floor when she is playing. I come up with my own designs, so unfortunately I can't give a pattern for my knits. I just make them up as I go!
This vest was knit with both handspun and commercial yarns.

Over the next week I'll try to post pictures of my projects, as well as pictures of my handspun yarns, and some new artwork. Stay tuned!

Life With Indiana

It's busy! Way busyer than I'd imagined!
In these 10 1/2 months after she was born I have managed to watch two movies (and that was when she was really tiny), paint six paintings, and knit a reasonable amount. I have learned to spin yarn, I actually attended a course on my due date. The next day I couldn't attend because I went into labor :)
Here is a hat I knit from Finn lamb's wool that I washed, dyed, carded and spun myself: