Smaller Knitted Minions

I've made these minions for my niece and nephew for Christmas, Anyway I've pretty much got my minion pattern down but I decided to make these slightly smaller just to say time, I also decided to do more of the details in wool rather than felt.

I did one with one eye and one with two eyes, because experience told me that sibling need something to tell their toys apart other wise riots happen...... and then the police are called....... 

Anyway i decided the best way to be fair would be to give the first child the one with one eye and the second child one with two eyes! You can't say fairer than that!

I also embroidered their initials in the pockets so now there can be no fighting whatsoever.!!!

I think they'll be happy with them, they both love the one that's in their room at my mums house, although they have to share that one and these ones are their very own! I think they'll also go nicely with the cushions I've already made them.

And as a bonus if these break all they have to do is send them back to aunty Frankie for repairs!!!

In other news I'm thinking about changing the look of my blog after Christmas and making things a bit cleaner, I also toyed with the idea of changing my name but now I'm not sure because it might be confusing for people who read it. 

Much Love

Frankie

xxx

Thanks a minion!

Okay so it's kind of a vague title!

Basically I was asked to make a minion for a friends niece! Now I've seen the movie despicable me and I've got to say it's not my favourite films in the world! In fact I would say it falls short of most of the films from my childhood, toy story, monsters inc etc. But saying that the minions are darn cute! 

Here's what I came up with! There was a lot if consultation regarding the amount of eyes etc! (Hey it's a tough call!) but I like the little guy! I also opted to put a "c" on the chest as opposed to a "g" as the recipients name starts with a "C". I love being able to do personal touches like that! 

As usual I used no pattern and just knitted from my head, but I can't remember if this ended up as a doorstop or a plushie! 

Anyways back to the title! After it was finished I sent to lady a picture and she said "thanks a million" and I said "don't you mean thanks a minion?!!"

Hahaha! 

Just me? 

Well I thought it was funny! 

Much love 

Frankie

Xxx

Memories

For those of you that don't know me, when I turned 18 I worked in one of my home towns local pubs. I didn't really get the job so much as fall into it, I had no experience, no c.v and no interview. In fact the only reason I did my first shift was because one of the regular barmaids had called in sick, and the reason I kept the job? She ended up quitting and they needed someone to fill in her Monday night shift. And so my barmaid career started! As it goes I was a fairly awful barmaid , my boss once told me I needed to smile more or wear lower cut tops. I'm not proud of my decision.

Anyone who's worked at a popular bar on the weekends will tell you it's like a workout, there's beer, fights, police, tears aswell as barrels that need changing. The Monday nights however were quiet and pretty awesome.

Aside from the few walkers and tourists I had pop in I had my regulars, some if the best people I knew. They were all friends and took me right under their wings , I thought they'd forgotten all about me, until one if them contacted me and asked for an owl! 

Something brown and fluffy! 

It turned out adorable , and as it goes it's going to be called "little Frankie" 

Really makes me miss my regulars if I worked it out I probably spent about 220 hours with those fun and kind people! 

This incidentally was brought by Mr Guinness, (whiskey on weekends).

Much love

And nostalgia

Frankie

Xxx

Whats New Pussy Cat?

Just to let you all know I've added another item to my Etsy shop!!! I'm

actually starting to enjoy Etsy a bit more now, I've joined some teams and I'm learning how to use it slowly but surely! I'm a bit slow when it come to technology but I'm getting there!

 

But here's my kitty cat doorstop!

 

  

Its got an Alley cat sort of vibe! and has some really cute details like , button eyes a felt collar and pipe cleaner whiskers!

 

 

As usual I've filled it with rice for weight! The rest if toy stuffing!

 

 

I've listed it for £13.50 so pop on over and have a looksy!

 

Much Love

 

Frankie

 

xxx

Too Late . . .

Do you ever make some thing and just wish you had finished it a little tiny bit sooner? I knitted this owl ages ago and only finished it yesterday, four days to late. When I picked out the colours I didn't think it would look like this in the end, I'm really glad he does but if I'd have known I'd have worked faster, Much faster.

 

Without further ado I'd like the introduce you to..... "Mr I would have been perfect for a 4th of July post, owl"

 

 

Here he is Mr Red White and Blue!

 

 

Isn't he sweet? He's going to be up in my Etsy shop very soon! If you haven't been over for a visit in my Etsy shop please do pop over and take a peek (you can find a link on the right hand side of this page). there's lots of lovely handmade completely unique owls in there, all looking for new homes!

 

 

I sign all my owls with my initials, I think it gives them a personal touch. Reminds people that this object was made by an actual human person not just a machine! (Although sometimes I do feel like a machine, not the cool Terminator kind. More the plodding along Wall-E kind)

 

 

I had to add a bow tie to make him look festive!

 

 

And multi coloured pompoms!

 

And as its WIP (Work in Progress) Wednesday, I better tell you what else is being stitched together in my house at the moment.

• I'm finishing off another owl this one is larger much like my black, white and red one.
• I've started a dress in a really nice linen, I'm using a old pattern I worked with a few times and that I love (more on that later) so I can take part in the OWOP (One Week One Pattern) That Handmade Jane is hosting! I'm so excited!
• But right this second, my work in progress is my scatter cushions, lovely future mother in law was getting rid of some dark brown fabric, so I'm using it to cover 8 cushions! I know right 8 but trust me they all need doing my old cover were so grotty!

What have you been up to this week?

 

Frankie

 

xxx

Woo's A Pretty Owl Then?

This owl was slow going, probably because I've been doing a little bit of everything at the moment! But its finally finished! I love making owls , I have so much fun deciding on their little personalities and was accessories they should have.

I feel like I should call this owl "Molly Ringwald" Because it reminds me of the movie Pretty in Pink! If you haven't seen Pretty in Pink buy it and watch it immediately! this is the film my mum showed me when I realised I didn't dress the same as the other kids.

 

 

Here she is! I decided to do block stripes this time in a nice set of pastels, and then used pops of colour as accents.

 

 

So in love with her lil dinky feet/flippers?

 

 

She is filled with toy stuffing and rice to add weight!

 

 

Don't you just love the bow! Couldn't resist a girly touch!

 

 

This little lady with be winging her way over to Esty shortly (depending on how long Little Knitwit decided to nap for!)

 

Other than trying to get this finished lots has been going on! Little Knitwit has been testing how much he can get away with and testing mummy with it!

 

I've been trying to find a time to shoot my vintage inspired pyjama set , which I still haven't worn in an effort to keep it nice! I did however recommend the elastic I used to a lady at Tesco and managed to slip in that I'd made my own jimmies', she was less than impressed, but how can you expect someone who made their own wedding dress to be impressed by pjs! I know a wedding dress! Amazing!

 

And this week I also had the opportunity to go to my very good friends 21st birthday! And I used my up cycled moustache bag! Hopefully pictures of what I wore it with will be up soon!

 

How you've had a good weekend!

 

Much Love

 

Frankie

 

xxx

 

   

And loses herself in her dreaming and sleep
And her lovers walk through in their coaches

Pretty in pink, isn't she?
Pretty in pink, isn't she?

Its Amazing What You Find

For some reason, I seem to have been having a massive tidy up at the minute. There's been a lot of sorting and a lot of chucking.

I'm not really one for tidying, if I'm knitting or sewing I don't really see mess. And if I'm painting I'm usually making it! There seems to be a lot of cleaning inspiration on my Pinterest feed at the moment, maybe the universe is trying to tell me something? most of them are fairly optimistic to be honest they seem to think that I only need to clean my living room once a week? Do they not realise what one week of Little Knitwit mess looks like? It looks like a bombsite that's what.

But anyway,  during my cleaning I found this, it was hidden at the back of a drawer gathering dust. I vaguely remember starting this about 3 years ago, at about 3 in the morning? Actually that works out because I'd have been pregnant and I don't remember doing at lot of sleeping at night when I was pregnant! Crying, eating, screaming and being unreasonable. Yes, but sleep? No.

So apparently whilst pregnant, sleep deprived, and most probably crying/eating (or in some very stressful occasions both at the same time) I decided to stich the Virgin Mary. Well they do say pregnant women do strange things.

Another piece that could do with a good iron. Yet another hint from the universe that I should be doing more housework.

 There's some great stitches on it though. This might be the neatest chain stitch I have ever done.

Now I just need to decide whether or not to finish it. I'm in two minds at the moment.

 

In other news I've added a few more rows to my t-shirt yarn doormat. Its looking super duper.

 

 

I feel like there's going to be a lot of blue, considering Little Knitwit is the only one that's growing out of his clothes at the moment.

 

 

I've got so much more to do on it though, I guess for the moment I'll just have to keep going till I run out of t-shirt yarn. At least the knitting will give me plenty of time to mull over the Virgin Mary embroidery.

 

Much Love

 

Frankie

 

xxx

Horrible Weather

The weather is horrible, really darn horrible. I've got slippers on and I've turned the heating on. It's suppose to be summer!!!! Where did all the lovely sunshine go? And to make it even worse, it made these scarves really hard to photograph. So you'll have to take my word for it when I say they are really lovely! But the photographs might not show their beauty very much!

 

 

An absolute brute to photograph I was nearly screaming at the end.

 

 

It's a basic scarf with a buckle fastening detail , and the wool is one of the ones kindly given to me by Mr.Knitwits nanny.

 

 

This particular wool has a gradual colour change so within this scarf I had shades of green, blue, orange, red, brown and violet.

 

 

It has a beautiful drape, really stunning, and can be worn done up or undone!

 

 

It was such a lovely wool to knit it, I found making this project very relaxing! I just wish I'd found taking the pictures as easy!

 

 

After I made this one, I immediately cast on another one, using the same wool and needle size.

 

 

Because of the colour change in the wool this scarf is completely different, this one is a more muted colour palette with lots of autumn tones!

 

 

I added a buckle to this one to incidentally , both of the buckles were given to me by my nan. One is a faux tortoiseshell and the other is faux mother of pearl. At a guess I'd say there fairly old? But I'm not sure if they'd be classed as vintage just yet!

 

 

Secretly I think this one might be my favourite! the colour palette is a little bit more my style!

 

 

I love these scarves, and I'm going to cast on a shawl to use up the rest of the wool very soon!

 

Perfect wardrobe additions to the horrible weather were having today.

 

Much Love

 

Frankie

 

xxx

 

Finishes and Fabric

It's definitely been a good couple of days I finished my Bird Embroidery all I had to do was sew the branch in, I went for more of a free form style, because when I try and draw branches and trees they always look a little fake, so I free styled and it ended up looking more natural!

 

 

Definitely pleased with how it turned out! It's pretty girly for me, but I've been trying to change things up a little bit.

 

 

It was nice to do a mixture of different stitches and to alternate between complete blocks of colour and more liner areas.

 

 

 It's already sat in a pile waiting with my other embroidery projects to be turned into a cushions.

 

 

And a package has been delivered to a customer, Via the official Knitwits Delivery person ( AKA my momma!)

 

 

It was a custom order for a friend who's daughter loves ORANGE! It's a doorstop and it's the package that I blogged about here! 

 

I also received a very special delivery today from Mr. Postman! My Dragonfly Fabrics arrived from the competition I won on Handmade Jane's blog!

 

It was beautifully wrapped in tissue paper but I might of ahem, ripped it off as soon as a realised what it was before I had chance to take a picture!

 

 

But it was wrapped up in a ribbon which made me swoon even more! And as an added bonus FREE ribbon! Ooft!

 

 

I chose Field Study- Sinister Swarm Vivacious By

 

 

I got 60cm so its the perfect amount to make myself a cute little summer skirt!

 

 

And then I also chose a white cotton embroidered flower fabric in white, which I can't find on the website now! Hope I didn't steal it all!

 

 

I got 2.5m in this because I already have a pattern in mind for it! from my sew your own wardrobe book! It will need a lining underneath though, so that will be a bit of a challenge.

 

 

But I really hope I've got enough left to make some other treats!

 

 

I'd like to thank Jane and Dragonfly fabrics again for an AWESOME giveaway!

 

Today has been an awesome day so far! Hope you guys have a lovely day as well!

 

Much Love

 

Frankie

 

xxx