Although I’ve been crafting away, there isn’t terribly much to show for it, so let’s continue with my holiday knitting before we end up in February, shall we?

These fun fellows made up in no time. I tucked a homemade hacky-sack / footbag into each of them to weigh them down for better juggling.

The footbags are what took the time with this project! After dithering among several stuffing options (beans? rice? plastic beads?) I ended up going with little glass pellets in the hope that they’d weigh more than plastic. I didn’t want to go with dried foodstuff, as these were going straight into the hands of an adventurous child. Who knows if they’ll take a spill into the river or a bucket of water at some point.

The footbags are made from a ruined pair of chinos. By the third bag, I was getting better at sewing and filling them. I originally tried a baseball-type design, which would have worked with a larger bag. With the size I was going for, though, I had better luck with a four-panel bag. I used this tutorial from Daniel Botkin to construct the bags. I filled them with teeny 1mm glass pellets. If I ever use up all the pellets I bought, I’ll buy larger ones next time; using these is like using sand.

The toads themselves were crocheted from Wool Ease and stuffed with a little fiberfill. I have standing orders from my hubby and sons for more toads, so you may see them again someday.

Details:

Started:	14 Dec 2008
Finished:	18 Dec 2008
Pattern:	Halloween Toads from Brigitte at Roman Sock.
Yarn:	Lion Brand Wool Ease (worsted weight; 20% wool, 80% acrylic) in Avocado and Fisherman.
Hook:	3.5 mm (E)
Notes:	10mm safety eyes. Footbag instructions from Daniel Botkin’s tutorial. I altered the pattern size, but can’t find it to measure it at the moment! Footbag stuffed with 1mm glass pellets. Toads stuffed with the footbag and polyester fiberfill.

Adventure Kitty gets ready to set sail. Note the tissue holder hole that she’s over for size comparison. Adventure Kitty was made to be stuffed into pockets, loved, and easily found in the woods when dropped. For extra adventure, I crocheted a harness belt for her. The top loop has a plastic hook, so it’s nice and stable for hooking Adventure Kitty to whatever her little owner’s imagination can think up. I have it on good authority that within 48 hours she’d almost made it to the roof of the house already. Twice.

This is a quick and easy knit; great for a gift.

Details: Started: 17 Dec 2008 Finished: 21 Dec 2008 Pattern: Knitted Kitty by Lillian of angry t-rex roars Yarn: Louet Gems, sport weight, hand-dyed by me. Harness in Lion Brand Wool-Ease. Needles: US 2 / 2.75 mm Notes: Features embroidered with blue pearl cotton left over from my Temari days. Finished kitty measures around 4.5″ / 11.5 cm long. Ravelry Linky

This scarf was fun to knit, but I did have to watch what I was doing. It came out soft and snuggly.

Details:

Started: 15 Jun 2008 Finished: 15 Oct 2008 Pattern: Asherton Reversible Scarf by Smariek Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Twisted, in Thraven. Finished scarf weighs 164 g. Needles: US 8 / 5.0 mm Notes: The thraven doesn’t look as “raven-like” as I had hoped, but the recipient loves it, so it’s all good. Ravelry link