Sleepy Bat

I used a worsted weight tweed yarn for the bodies of the bats and I washed and felted an old black wool sweater for the wings.  You will need this or some black felt.   Size 5 knitting needles.  Also, buttons for eyes and a hook and eye fastener.

Body:  Cast on 20 stitches.  Work in Stockinette stitch for 2 1/2 inches.  Then begin decrease rows:

Row 1:  Knit 1, knit 2 together.  Repeat till the end of the row. 

Row 2:  Purl

Row 3:  Knit 2 together. Repeat till the end of the row

Row 4:  Purl

Row 5:  Knit 2 together.  Repeat till the end of the row.

Row 6:  Purl

You should only have about 6 or 7 stiches left.  Cut the yarn, leaving a 10 inch tail.  Thread through a yarn needle and pull through all the stitches.  pull tight and secure.  You can, at this point, go ahead and sew the back seam.  Do not sew the bottom.

Ears (make two)

Cast on 6 stitches.

Rows 1-4:  Stockinette Stich

Row 5:  Knit two together, knit two, knit two together

Row 6:  Purl

Row 7:  Knit two together, Knit two together

Row 8:  Purl

Row 9:  Knitting, increase one in the first and last stitches

Row 10:  Purl

Row 11:  knitting, increase one in the first and last stitches

Row 12:  Purl

Row 13 - 16:  Stockinette Stitch

Bind off

Feet (make two)

Cast on 5 stitches

Work in Stockinette stitch for 2 inches.

Bind off.

***

Finishing:

Lightly stuff the body of the bat and sew across the bottom.  Put the two sides of the ear together and sew.  Sew ears to body (see photo).  Sew the feet to the bottom of the bat as loops so it can hang from a branch.  Cut wings out of black felt.  You might want to try cutting some out of paper first so you can get the size and shape that you want.  Sew on button eyes.  Attach a hook and eye fastener to the wings so that your bat can hang upside down and sleep!

Knitted Owl

I used worsted weight yarn with a bit of texture to it. I’m not sure what kind it is but it was a small ball of leftover yarn from another project. I tend to knit like I cook. I don’t often follow patterns and this is a good example. I was trying to knit a bat and ended up with an owl. As they say in school, if you make a mistake, turn it into something beautiful. Like an owl.

 

#3 or #4 needles

Body:

Cast on 14 stitches. Knit in Stockinette Stitch until the rectangle measures approximately 7 – 8 inches. Fold it over lengthwise and see if it looks proportionately like a little owl should. Don’t use a ruler unless you just can’t resist. Bind off.

Wings: (make two)

Cast on 6 stitches. Work in Garter stitch.

Row 1: Knit

Row 2: Knit 1, increase 1 in next stitch, knit till the end

Row 3: Knit

Row 4: Knit 1, increase 1 in next stitch, knit till the end

Rows 5 – 7: Knit

Row 8: Knit 1, knit 2 together, knit till end

Row 9: Knit

Repeat these two rows until there is only one stitch left. Cut yarn, leaving a 3” tail, pull yarn through last stitch.

Feet: (make two)

With contrasting color, cast on 5 stitches. Work in stockinette stitch for approximately 10 rows. End with a purl row.

(As with the measurement for the body, use your own judgment here. Some yarns knit up larger than others. Those owls might need longer feet.)

Picot row: Knit 1, yarn over, knit two together, yarn over, knit two together

Next row: Purl, making sure you purl the yarn over stitches, too. You still have 5 stitches on the needle.

Continue with stockinette stitch until you can fold it over lengthwise (see the lovely TOES that the picot stitch makes?) and it is meets the other edge. Bind off.

Beak:

Cast on 4 stitches. Work in Stockinette stitch for 4 rows.

Next row: Knit 2 together, knit 2 together.

Next row: Purl

Cut yarn, leaving a 3” tail, pull yarn through the two remaining stitches.

Fold body lengthwise in half and sew together, stuffing with wool. Pull out the top corners just a bit with your fingers to make the ears show. Sew wings on either side. Fold over feet and sew each one together and then sew them onto the bottom of the owl. I sewed the top of the beak onto the face of the owl then sewed the “point” down as well, making it stick out just a little. I used two buttons for eyes, but if this is for a younger child (younger than age 3), you should embroider the eyes on with black yarn.

Resources for discount wool yarn

When I find a good deal, I like to share it with you all.  As often as possible, I do like to patronize the small knit shops and keep them in business.  However, there are times when I just can't afford good yarn from these shops.  Especially if I have a large project or I am doing something crazy like knitting felted slippers for the entire family.  Then I look at these sites:

www.knitpicks.com  - lots of good wools, sock yarns, and a good assortment of colors.  They also offer free shipping on orders of $50.00 and over.

http://www.thesheepshedstudio.com/ - this site has Brown Sheep yarn and mill ends of wool roving from Brown Sheep, among other things.  I am impressed with their prices!  For those of you who know Brown Sheep yarn, their "Lamb's Pride" yarn, both worsted weight and bulky weight, are only $3.00/skein. 

http://www.paradisefibers.net/Discount-Yarn-mill-ends-s/125.htm - I'm just beginning to look through this one, but it does look promising!

When I find more, I'll keep you posted!!

Things to knit that you would never imagine knitting

I figured that I should add these websites to this page. There are patterns out there for knitted items that are unusual, to say the least.  I doubt that you would use any of these in a Waldorf Kindergarten.  I just enjoy the creativity!  There are some patterns that are too "out there" for me!

But here are a few to enjoy:

http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2008/08/how_to_knit_a_dissected_rat.html

http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2008/01/dissected_fiber_frog.html

http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2008/10/strange-knits-and-yarn-monsters.html

http://knitty.com/ISSUEfall02/PATTveganfox.html

http://www.craftycrafty.tv/2007/05/scary_knitted_animals.html

http://api.flickr.com/services/feeds/photos_public.gne?id=91821907@N00&format=rss_200

I just showed these pictures to a couple of eighth grade boys and received their approval.  Unfortunately, with just a few exceptions, the patterns are not online, but have to be purchased.  I suspect, however, that with just a little trial and error, most of these could be figured out by other knitters.  The Vegan Fox pattern is online and I am hoping to make one of these soon. 

How to make a book binder's awl

When I began teaching bookbinding, I needed to provide my students with proper tools, including a book binder's awl for piercing holes in each section of pages.  I couldn't afford to purchase enough for a class, so I decided to make my own.  It's ridiculously easy.  Basically, I just glue a needle in a cork. 

For each awl, you will need:  one cork - champaigne corks and corks from cream sherry work especially well, one needle - size 2 crewel needles, one pair of pliers, and tacky glue.

Using the pliers, make the hole in the cork for the needle by pushing the needle in point first.  Then take the needle out of the cork, put a bit of glue at the "eye" end of the needle and push that end in the cork, using the pliers.

What was so lovely is that I found these awls to be much, much better than the professional book binder's awl that I purchased! 

One more note:  I use the size 2 crewel needles to sew the books together, too.  By the time I've sewn two or three books, the needle is slightly curved.  This is what I want!