The Joy of Creating....

 

After a long time of not really knitting, I have been picking up the knitting needles more frequently and actually working on some knitting projects. First, it was my contracted work that needed to be finished and then it's the knitted toys for this year classroom. But over the past weekend, when I was stuck home being sick and not able to do much, I picked up the strange glow in the dark yarn by Lions Brand and decided to knit something utterly joyful. Few years back, when I created the knitting pattern for a dog's cowl, human infinity scarf and a hat for I Like Knitting Magazine, I wanted to make a cowl for my dog. He already owns a pillow with his name, so why not to create a cowl with his name.

There was a snowstorm over the weekend, and being sick as well, I had plenty of time to knit for fun. First, I needed to calculate the number of stitches I had to cast on, so I could knit his name, and the paw prints as well. Once I have figured that out, I started. It took me about six hours of knitting, but here is the finished cowl. My dog is fine with wearing the cowl on his daily walks.  It even glows in the dark, once you use a flashlight and charge the glow in the dark yarn. 

I have a one more skein of the glow in the dark yarn, and I will create something else with it. Stay tuned for the next adventure, visit my website Stanascrittersetc website or follow me on Instagram Stanascrittersetc. 

Thank you for visiting.

Happy Crafting to All!

 

As another year comes to end, we tend to reflect on the past year and make plans for the upcoming year. I hope that yours was a good one. Mine was filled with work and reading, and some crafting as well. I didn't publish too many new patterns over the past year, but I hope that there will be more to come in the upcoming year. I did manage to knit frog in a sweater for each child in the last year class. It was a fun project, and I have used up a whole lot of scrap yarn. I am hoping to knit another group of toys for each child in this year class. I do not want to knit frogs, and I have spent quite some time thinking about what I should make for the kids. Over the winter break I started on my parliament of owls. We shall see how successful I will be in this project as I am still working on a sample for a pattern that will be published later next year by a third party.   

Thank you for all the visits to my blog and sticking out with me on my crafting adventures. 

May the next year be a good one!

Fall 2024

 

This is my favorite time of the year. The months are filled with wonderfully warm sunny days, yet the mornings can get a bit chilly. I slowly take out my knitted pieces and wear them each and every day. The colors of leaves are just spectacular, and I enjoy the precious moments of being present. I think about different knitted items that I would like to add to my wardrobe, and what I already have. I also start to think about knitted gifts and what should I create next. 

I have totally missed the toy mystery KAL that I wanted to create for the last days of summer entering into the first days of fall. Life outside of my knitting bubble happened and I just didn't have enough time. At the moment I am working on a design for a third party to be published next year. Once this project is off my knitting needles, I hope to revisit my toy mystery KAL. In the meantime, there are plenty of knitting patterns that you can choose from. For example, this cute broomstick, a perfect half hour project for some leftover yarn. The pattern is available here on my blog, or anywhere my patterns are available.

Thank you for visiting.

Summer 2024

 

My summer project is to knit another rattlesnake. I was asked to make one, and I looked through my yarn stash and picked up the yarn in the colors I wanted to use. I have not started to knit the snake, yet and now I have a bit of deadline to finish this project, simply because I was procrastinating. 

After a year of missing, I am again participating in the Ami-a-long, an event for knitters and crocheters to create toys using the patterns from participating designers. Post about it on Ravelry, and be eligible to win a pattern from the participating designers. Ami-a-long group on Ravelry has more information in regard to who is participating designer and all the details.

As soon as I finish the rattlesnake, I should be able to concentrate on the next toy mystery KAL. I will post more details when I have everything ready. 

In the meantime, I hope that you have a fun filled summer. 

Thank you for visiting.

Stana

Knitted Frogs in a Sweater Project

 

I have been busy with a really fun project over the last few months. Here is a full class photo of 21 frogs in sweaters with a larger frog as a teacher. Last year when I started to work full time in the education field, I was thinking about knitting a little toy for every child in the classroom. Somehow things didn't work out as by the end of the school year I had five frogs finished. So, last year the children each got a new book and a bookmark with their picture holding their favorite book. I thought of trying to knit the toys for each child this year, and I made a frog here and there, using up scrap yarn from previous projects. Somewhere around the beginning of January I realized that I only needed to knit 3 frogs each month for the next five months in order to have a whole classroom. I challenged myself and in early January I started to really work on this fun knitting project. I have finished ahead of schedule and the frogs are ready to be given away at the end of this school year.  I am not sure if I will do another knitting project like this next year, perhaps completely different toys or maybe something else. 

At the moment I have returned to my sketches for the next toy mystery Knit-a -long. Stay tuned for the next fun toy mystery KAL. These knitted frogs were actually our last year toy mystery KAL. 

The pattern is Fran and you can find it in all places that my knitting patterns are available.

Thank you for visiting.

Paw Print Heart Patch

 

My original Paw Print Heart was written for working in the round. I have to admit that I prefer to create 3D toys and objects by working in the round and avoid the sewing pieces together part. But some people prefer to knit on two needles instead of using the magic loop method or working on the double pointed needles. Last fall I received a message on Etsy if I can create a flat knit version of the paw print heart. 

I was home sick in the early November and had some time to play with yarn. I managed to create a flat version and the pattern is now available on Ravelry, Payhip, Lovecraft and in my Etsy store. I love the idea of knitting a small paw print heart patch and apply it on clothes, cushions, or blankets. 

Paw Print Heart Patch on Ravelry

Paw Print Heart Patch on Payhip

Paw Print heart Patch on Etsy

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The Journey Ahead....

 

It snowed here. It is something that usually happens during the winter months with regularity. Last winter was a rather strange as we didn't have any significant snowstorms until March. The kids at school were super excited for the snowstorm, as our winter break has been rather wet and gloomy, without any sunny days. The snow blanketed nature looks gorgeous, and everything seems to slow down. I really love those days, when we can enjoy the snow, and then have a cup of hot cocoa and freshly baked cookies. The days like these also call for a new knitting project to start. I started on a snuggly pillow for a friend. What are you going to make? Something warm for yourself or something fun, like a flat squirrel bookmark or a bunch of snowballs? 

Pictured in this blog post are, Snowballs, my first ever published pattern by a third party in 2012, the Bramble Cowl, a one skein of yarn cowl with simple yet gorgeous pattern, and Squirt, the squirrel bookmark. All patterns are available on Ravelry, Lovecraft, and some on Payhip. Links on the side bar or in the List of my published patterns.

I am making plans for this year new knitting patterns and I already have started to make sketches for my new fun mystery knit-a-long. Stay connected on the various social media, or sign up for my newsletter:

Stanascrittersetc

Thank you for visiting and reading.