Oink oink!

I found this great pattern the other night for a pig. I thought it was only a little piggy, but nope, it was a decent hand held sized pig. I knitted him in bright pink wool, and it barely took any time at all. The ears, legs and tail were knitted separately.

It was knitted on dpns. This is my first proper try of them. I am very pleased with the result.

Here is a picture of the porker :P

I LOVE his little ears. They stood up straight whilst they were sewn on, but they have fallen forward to give adorable piggy ears! I stuffed it using stuffing from an old pillow, but I could really do with buying proper toy stuffing. I could have done with taking pictures more often throughout the process, but never mind. I would love to be able to show the pattern, but unfortunately it is in a book, and not mine. I plan on creating some of my own knitting patterns soon.

Here are some examples of what I have made from other patterns.

This is an old 1950's pattern. It is simply the same square repeated over and over again until you have enough to complete a blanket. I intend to put a piece of material on the bottom, and a white crocheted edge around it all.

This is almost my first proper attempt at using different coloured wool to follow a chart in a pattern. I am VERY pleased with it, and apart from the dodgy stitching on the right hand side, it's pretty good. The only thing I need to redo is the collar, which I sewed in too tight. But that shouldn't be too much of a problem.

I also used circular knitting needles properly for the first time.... haha, I'm doing well trying these new things!! I made some beautiful knitted hats, which were so simple to do.

I will post up some more of my stuff later :) I am watching Prison Break just now, never seen it before, and am on second last episode. It's so gripping!!!!

Empress27 :) xxx

My Pets.

This is a picture of my beautiful hamsters. Victor is at the back , with his face covered, and Jack is at the front, showing his large, bright eyes. This was taken not long after I got them both, at about 6/7 weeks old. They have a lovely Ferplast Duma Hamster Home, but this was upgraded just after Christmas.

They are lovely boys, very friendly, nippy occasionally, but gorgeous little boys nevertheless. They are the first hamsters I have ever had (at the age of 21!) but they have convinced me to continue rescuing and rehoming them for the rest of my life.

Unfortunately, my poor Jack died on the 22nd September, 2011, in the evening. My parents found him (I was away for the night) sleeping in a tube, where he just never woke up. When I came back, I gave him a cuddle and buried him next to one of my other pets. I feel sorry for poor Victor being on his own, but I try and give him as much fuss as possible, and get him out the cage into his pen, or hamster ball.

I think this one is Victor. I never knew how strong little dwarf hamsters are! They could scale up the sides of their cage, no problem. Even in their big black wire cage they would climb all the way up to the top, me being the one terrified in case they fell!

This one is Jack. No-one could ever tell them apart, but me. But that was only near the end I could tell them apart, haha. Jack was slightly lighter grey than Victor, and he had smaller eyes, as well as being a bit fatter.  Near the end he had lost quite a bit of weight, but it was still a shock when he died.

I miss him very much and so does his brother. I also have another little dwarf hamster, called Isa. (Notice the names from 'Still Game?') Check it out on Youtube.... amazing show!) She is a beautiful golden colour with a brown stripe down here back. I rescued her from a pet shop. She was on sale due to being there a long time, and I felt sorry for her. I immediatly bought her (knowing I had a cage free at home, and enough stuff and time to care for her). The bloke in the shop didn't ask me who I was, how old I was (I look very young for my age), where I lived, what size cage she would be in, etc. He opened her cage door, pushed her (poor thing was screeching, a hideous sound) terrified into a box, and handed her to me. Upsets me thinking about it. But I got a lovely hamster in Isa. She is maybe four months old, maybe a little older, and she is wonderful. She has never bitten anybody, and is so trusting. My boyfriend and I had to teach her that people were ok, and weren't going to hurt her. We had to keep picking her up when she was screeching, to show her that it was ok, and to check on her often. Hearing her screech was horrible, just a heartrending sound. Beware of what pet shops you go into, it's so unfair sometimes.

This is a picture of her.

 Oh, and her eyes really are that colour. Beautiful, bright, ruby red eyes. She adores her wheel, and whenever I wake up during the night she will be on it. When she was at the pet shop, she was in a tiny glass cage with only sawdust and a bowl of food. I dread to think how long she had been there. They sell gerbils at the pet shop too, and for a couple of times I visited there were three female gerbils together in a a glass cage. They were in there for at least a couple of months, so I made my boyfriend buy another gerbiliarium (he has four male gerbils) and I bought him the females. I will have pictures of them put up later.


Hope this successfully introduced you into my mad animal world :) Pets are everything to me, and I have many more to talk about, each one very special.

Have a nice night.

Empress27 xxx

A tiny chicken??

Whilst browsing the internet late last night I happened to come upon some knitting patterns for tiny creatures. I copied down the patterns to a teeny, tiny hamster, a chicken, and a small pink pig. As it was too late to do any knitting, I saved the patterns to do the next day when there was time.
In the afternoon, it took me less than an hour to complete, with detail, a small hen.

Although the picture isn't very good, I think you can just about make it out :) I decided to make it into a keyring because it was just the perfect size :D
The next thing I plan on making is the pig, but that can be done in an afternoon, maybe before I go to work tomorrow.

I don't make very many toys, and animals, but mainly baby clothes. I enjoy the challenge of something different, and it is just right for the amount of patience I have for one project. I recently made a beautiful hat, from a pattern from http://www.knittingpatterncentral.com/.  This is a website I highly recommend. It has some lovely patterns, from all ranges and abilities. I will put these pictures up on another blog as for some reason they don't seem to be working on this one! (Unless ofc, I can only put up one picture..... I really need to read the rules on this, haha).

Have a nice night!!

Empress27 xxx