Video: Why I Love Fuzzy Mitten Patterns

 

This week, we are gettng cuteness overload as I talk about why I love Fuzzy Mitten patterns :) I show you the patterns I've made and tell you all about the experience. PSA - You'll want to knit all of Barbara Prime's patterns after this one. Click below to watch this video on You Tube.

FO: Beulah Bee

Sometimes you just need to make a cute toy, right? That's my thought at least. I haven't been having a really great time lately, yet whenever I saw this adorable bee pattern on Barbara Prime's Ravelry page, it made me smile. It's just so adorable. Since I had finished the knitting on my Mohn Cardigan, I bought the pattern magazine just for this pattern and cast on the next day. 

This is the Bunblebee and Flower pattern by Barbara Prime and it's in the December 2023 issue of Knit Now magazine (issue 163). This is a British knitting magazine, but thanks to the wonders of the internet I was able to download a digital copy for myself online for just $7.99. Gotta love it. The issue does have some other lovely patterns too, so I will be exploring that further in the future for sure. This is a "bun"blebee because it is bun shaped. She has a series of animals called bunimals that are all based off this idea and I just love it. This is the first one I've knit, and I have to say I think a bumblebee is the perfect animal to make bun shaped. It just adds to the chubby cuteness.

As always with toy projects, I grabbed yarn from my stash for this baby. The black, yellow, and white are all I Love This Yarn from Hobby Lobby and the blue is a mystery acrylic I got at a thrift store way back when. I just picked the blue to match the color of the eyes :) I made my bee in the round instead of seamed. I've made a lot of Barbara's patterns in the past and she is definitely pro-seaming, but having just seamed my entire Mohn cardigan the night before, I just wasn't feeling up to it. This bee is shaped like a ball, so what better shape to knit in the round, right? Very easy to change and I had no issues.

I will admit that since my bee was knitted in the round that my rear end doesn't have quite as tight of stitches as the rest of the bee from before I added stuffing, but it's still fine. It's a toy and there are no holes, lol. It's fine. The one complaint I get from everyone is that this bee doesn't have a stinger. The pattern didn't include one and I just didn't feel like adding one. This is a kindly bee. No stinging.

The bottom does show my jogs from knitting in the round, but it's the bottom so it doesn't bother me. I just learned a cool trick to avoid this in the future, so that's nice. The feet were actually the last part I knit - after I had already done the flower. The pattern gives nice details about how to space out the feet when sewing them on, so I just went by the photos and referenced the distances to make sure I was getting somewhat close.

The flower construction is pretty cool, but it honestly took as long to make the flower as it did to make the bee. I don't know why this surprised me because it had to be big enough to fit the bee, but you know, lol. I love all the details of Barbara's patterns, but mentally it feels like the accessories take so much longer since in my mind when the animal is done the project is done. Does that make sense? I still finished this in just 2 days, so I don't know what I'm complaining about.

So that's my bee :) This project did exactly what I needed it to do and it cheers me up every time I see it. My kid love it, I think it's adorable. All around a very adorable palette cleansing project. Now I just have to decide where this little baby should live in my sewing room so I can see her all the time.

WIP Wednesday: Blocking, Decisions, and New Projects

Friends, I have finished the Mohn Cardigan! I managed to finish this in less than a month, which is still pretty shocking to me. I got it completely knit and seamed Sunday night and it is currently blocking. Now I just have to make my ribbon button bands and she is totally done. I finished the knitting on Saturday night, which left me with only a sock project to knit and I just didn't feel like it - so I cast on a toy!

Between Sunday and last night, I knit up this adorable bee project. Every time I look at this pattern, I smile, so I just bit the bullet and knit it up. Now I smile when I see it in person too, lol. This project definitely served its purpose of cheering me up in a hard time. I'll post all the details about it soon, but I definitely love this one :)

After my deliberations in the last post about all the projects I want to cast on, I have finally decided to go with my original plan for my Rose Street Cardigan. It's really a toss up between the two yarns I was contemplating (Knit Picks Stroll in Duchess Heather or Knit Picks Felici in Dragonfruit). I tried looking through my collection of sweaters that still fit me to see where I had a gap, but that didn't help. In the end I really go for more cool toned clothes, so I decided to go with the purple for that reason. The Dragonfruit color would go as well, but I just need to start this project, lol. Purple it is! I still need to knit a new swatch last night and get the calculations going, so this will be my main sweater project now.

With finishing my bee, I also grabbed my Jaywalker socks I cast on in December of 2022. I'm just mentally determined to get these done so they can stop plaguing me. I'm honestly not sure what it is about this project that has me never reaching for it. Is it that I've knit this pattern before? But I've knit the same vanilla sock pattern several times and that has never been a problem before. Is it that I'm not thrilled by the yarn? I just really can't say. Either way, I want this project to be done, so I think this is going to be my main focus for a short while. That's the thing with socks - when you actually hunker down and focus on getting them done, they really do go fast. I'm also knitting this with a heel flap and gusset as the pattern is written - last time I changed for an after-thought heel to avoid disrupting the striping pattern. Since then I've discovered that I really prefer the feel of a heel flap and gusset when wearing the socks, so this time I'm just letting the chips fall where they may on the striping. I'm thinking it will work out fine in this sock because the speckled sections are so wide.

My New England dress is still hanging out on my dress form thinking about what it's done. I need to finish that one too so I can move on with my life, lol. But knitting is going very well!

How are things with you this first month of the new year? Getting anything made up?

FO: Fuzzy Mitten 2016 Mystery Knit Along

Yes, you read that title right - 2016. This little guy was started with everyone else last April while this pattern was still a mystery. I was a little underwhelmed with what the mystery turned out to be (not that it's not cute, I was just hoping for an animal), and I set this aside in a sad state of slightly-but-not finished. I pulled him out for my Year in Yarn post and took a picture of him like this:

Headless, hairless, naked, and with only one ear sewn on - he was a sad sight every time I happened upon his project basket. Taking this photo and taking stock of just how many unfinished wips I had from last year really seems to have done the trick though, because I had an immediate desire to start finishing things up. This project being the closest to completion, I grabbed him first. I sat down with my yarn and a personal Harry Potter movie marathon and finished him up :)

The pattern itself is Wood Elf by Barbara Prime (Fuzzy Mitten Designs) and it is now available as just a regular pattern (it hasn't been a mystery since last April, lol). The actual pattern gives options for the elf's hair and the clothes include a romper, cape, and boots with leaf motifs. It's all cute, but being that I'm not much for actual dolls, and I don't have any kids, it felt a little silly to be making an elf. Also, Barbara gives you the option in the body pattern to change yarn colors for built in "undies", but since I was hoping for an animal I felt that was unnecessary. Now I slightly regret that decision, lol. The romper and cape just felt a bit "kid-ish" to me, which is one of the reasons I never finished this project. I always planned on making my own pattern to give him what I saw as more "elf-ish" clothes (more on my clothes a bit lower in the post).

All the yarns were from my stash. I used Patons Canadiana in Flax for the body, Vanna's Choice in Chocolate for the hair, I Love This Yarn Sport Weight in Green for the shorts, and Golden Sun Bamboo in Tan for the belt. I loved the Canadiana for the color, but I regret using this yarn now. The yarn is sold as a worsted weight (and is even listed as one on Ravelry), but I ended up with a very loose fabric in the body that I'm not happy with. The Vanna's Choice not only looks more dense, it also does not show holes when you put stuffing behind it. There are no gaps in the Vanna's Choice yarn sections, so I know this wasn't a case of too loose of knitting. This yarn just seems to have more stretch to it and be a little thinner, leading to more visible space between the stitches. It's a great skin color though, so it's kind of a bummer. Live and learn.

For his shorts, I used the romper pattern and changed it as I went. For anyone interested in making shorts for their elf, this was my pattern:

1. CO 40 sts and knit garter stitch for 3 rows
2. K2, yo, k2tog until last 2 stitches, K2
3. Knit in stockinette for 23 rows beginning with a purl row. 4.Follow decreases in the romper pattern and bind off, etc.
4. Pick up stitches for legs as pattern says and follow until just before bind off. Add 1 row knit all, 2 rows purl all, then bind off.
5. Knit 20” i-cord and thread through yo holes at waist to tie.

I'm really happy with how the shorts turned out. For my shorts I used sport weight yarn and used size US 2 needles and it turned out a good size. The belt was just the best earthy tone fingering weight I had in my stash and I knitted a 4 stitch i-cord until it was long enough to tie. Originally I had planned making a vest as well, but I am just happy he isn't naked anymore, lol, so I'm calling him done. Maybe someday I will decide to accessorize him further, but he's good until now. He's an elf, after all. I don't think he's very worried about his attire. 

Isn't the belly button adorable?! And the nose?! I love how Fuzzy Mitten patterns always have extra special touches like those (he also has thumbs!). She doesn't cut things out to keep it super easy, but the patterns are explained well enough that even if you haven't made anything similar before you should be good. This toy is quite a bit bigger than Barbara's usual designs. I bet this would be great for a young kid, so this one is going in that collection of "toys for future children".

So, that's my elf :) I call him Pan (which helps with the only wearing shorts thing, lol). I'm glad to finally have this one wrapped up, and I definitely plan on participating in the Mystery Knit Along again this year!

FO: Zhixin the Fuzzy Mitten Mystery Red Panda

I always love participating in the Fuzzy Mitten Mystery Knit Along. I first learned about it back in 2014 (the first one apparently), and I've been hooked ever since. The original one took place in the spring of 2014 and we made Kangaroos. This year, the previous times had been so popular that Barbara (designer of Fuzzy Mitten patterns) decided to have 2: one in spring, and one in fall. I hadn't been very active in the group the past few months, so imagine my surprise when I opened up the Ravelry page and saw that another mystery KAL was going on. I was so bummed I hadn't heard about it before! They were already 3 weeks into the clues when I began, but I was determined to catch up and participate. I finally caught up a few nights before the final clue was released, and then I devoted a little time this weekend to the final clue ... and here is the finished mystery!

It's a red panda! Isn't it so cute?! I love how Barbara managed to design the colorwork on such a complicated looking animal. I think the odd bits of color are why there aren't so many red panda patterns available actually. This pattern, as is always the case, is fantastic and yields an adorable toy that is still easily recognized.

I made my red panda out of all stashed Vanna's Choice yarn - the brown is Toffee, the orange is Rust, and then there's black and white. I used Baby Bee Sweet Delight yarn in Angel (white) for his outfit - the pattern calls for fingering weight white yarn, but Barbara said to err on the side of too big rather than too small. I don't have much fingering weight yarn, and not really any at all that is truly white (I have some wool but that always looks creamy), so I just picked what seemed like a sport weight that I had on hand. My outfit is definitely too big, but not too bad. Kimonos are supposed to be loose anyway, right? The head is the only intarsia section of the pattern, but because no one will ever see the inside I just cut and tied the yarns together to secure them. Easy peasy :) And just look at his little ear tufts! Love them!

Just like all Fuzzy Mitten toys, this guy has jointed arms and legs, so he is pose-able. I love that these toys can sit or stand, plus they all come with a cute outfit. What's not to love?! I added a little bit of "soft sculpture" to the white area of his face. This is a technique I learned from one of the other Fuzzy Mitten Knit Alongs where you just sew between the stitches to pull in certain areas. His face was looking pretty round before I did this, so now he has some facial definition. Also, how cute are those eyebrows?! They are cute and functional since that tiny patch of white makes placing the safety eyes a no-brainer.

This picture is solely to show pride - yes, people, there is a seam down the middle of the tail in this picture ... but it's completely invisible! I couldn't believe how well the seaming worked out here - even I had to feel where the thicker area was when I sewed it on so the seam would be on the bottom - I couldn't tell otherwise! Mattress stitch is amazing.

I did have a bit of a brain fart on reading the directions. The pants and top were from Clues 1-3 and I mainly focused on getting the body parts done first, working on the outfit after and in a hurry to catch up for the final clue. As I was sewing up the pats pieces I kept thinking, "where does the tail go in these pants?" but I didn't read the directions closely enough to see that I was supposed to leave a hole in the butt seam. Yeah. I totally knew it would need a hole, but didn't bother to investigate further and I sewed the butt up. Once I put the entire toy together for the final clue, I asked Barbara if the pants should have a hole and she enlightened me, lol. I was able to just unpick that half of the pants seam and redo it with a hole. No problem. 

So there you have it - another adorable mystery animal! I had to sign off this post with his, "Hi-yah" pose, lol. I always enjoy these knit alongs with Fuzzy Mitten and I'd highly recommend the next one to any toy-making fan.

FO: Fuzzy Mitten Mystery KAL - Timmy Turtle

You guys - I HAVE SOLVED A MYSTERY! Well, not really, lol, but the mystery is over. The Fuzzy Mitten Mystery Knit Along animal is...

A very cute turtle! My suspicions were correct :) I've named this little guy Timmy (original, I know), because he reminds me of a little turtle just going off to school. For those of you just tuning in, for the last 6 weeks I have been participating in the Fuzzy Mitten Mystery Knit-Along - Barbara Prime (the designer of Fuzzy Mitten) releases one clue per week and each clue contains just a piece or two of the final animal and you have no idea what you are making until the end. This is thee second year I've done this mystery and it did not disappoint. The final clue was released yesterday and it was how to make the front of his shell (which I think is my favorite part!).

His shell is actually removable - the front has little buttoned straps that remind me of overalls and they hold the shell up on his body. He also has a cute little tail :) For my little guy, I used Everyday Soft Worsted in Shamrock (the lighter green), Loops and Threads Impeccable in Kelly Green (the darker green - ugh! see my thoughts on this yarn here) and Red Heart With Lovffodil for his yellow extras.

I love all the little details in Fuzzy Mitten patterns, and they all include some kind of item of clothing. This time he not only had his shell (kind of necessary for a turtle), he also came with a rain hat and rain boots pattern :) I used faux-tortoise shell buttons (oh, the irony) mostly because my button stash is very limited on buttons this size and these looked best. I went with yellow thread just to tie into the rest of his accessories. I did do his smile a bit different than the pattern - the pattern has you follow the cleft to make a sort of W shaped mouth, but when I went to embroider it I just thought a simple half circle rounded him off well. I love the subtle patterns on each piece - the stitch design on his shell, the lighter green stripes on his front, the ribbed straps - so cute!

Hooray! Another mystery completed and I could not be happier with my finished new friend :) These are always so much fun I can hardly wait until I get to join in again next year.

FO Friday: Meet Jeffrey Duck

I officially finished my Easter animals this week :) Unfortunately, I didn't get to take pictures of my bunny, but you will definitely see him soon. In the meantime, meet Jeffrey Duck:

Look at his cute little face! I just love this guy.

Jeffrey was made from the Silly Duck pattern by Fuzzy Mitten. I used Red Heart Value Texture in a nice aqua color for the body, Caron Sayelle in baby yellow for the beak and feet, and accessorized with some light purple Red Heart Super Saver - all of these yarns were in my stash and were either given to me, cost a stupid cheap amount at a thrift store (the Sayelle was 25¢ for the full skein), or were purchased more than a decade ago (the purple has been around since I was sin high school ... yeah), so I'm pretty much counting this guy as free to make :) Hooray!

I did have a bit of trouble with the weight distribution, so he doesn't like to stand up unaided (thus the clothing shaver in the photo, lol). I love how all his colors look together and I just love his body shape! The textured yarn came out better than I had hoped. It's just fuzzy enough without being impossible to see any stitch definition. You can even see some of the ribbed design on the wings.

I love the pattern on the wings as it seems to aid in the wings holding their shape. I love posing them :) This is one of my favorite shots.

I waited until Barbara Prime put up a tutorial on how to attach the beak and feet and I am so glad I did! The tutorial for the feet is here and the beak is here. It made a huge difference in how these pieces look - I had already attached the beak, but I cut it off and did it again to make it look right. I also got to use my tiny pompom maker for the top of the hat :)

So, that's what I have to show this week :) I just love my little Easter buddies and I can't wait to show my bunny. Head over to Tami's Amis' Blog to see what other lovely things have been made this week!

FO Friday: Zombies and Turtles and Mysteries Revealed

This past week was filled with far too much knitting than is good for anyone, lol. I've had to promise my husband that I will cut back a bit just so the house doesn't get covered in funk. At least I got everything finished by the time I needed to :) I warn you - this post is very picture heavy. I look at it as the amount of pictures is in direct relation to the amount of time the items took to make. So without further ado ... I present the most complicated item I have ever knitted: Briggs' Birthday Zombie.

I used the Classic Zombie pattern from Knit Your Own Zombie by Fiona Goble. I just love that shot above, lol, I had a lot of fun with my little photo shoot.

The cool thing about the book is that the zombie pieces and parts are designed in a pick and choose fashion, so you can mix and match patterns at will. I stuck to the Classic Zombie pattern except that I added a brain and a brain pocket.

lol As you can tell - my photo shoot was a lot of fun especially when I realized that he would stand up on his own. The eye sinew will soon have an actual eye ball on it. I checked everywhere for an evil eye bead like the book uses, but in the end I had to order some online and they hadn't arrived by Sunday. I'll update with a new pic when it's on :)

And here are all the pieces I made. The brain is removable, as are the stomach and intestines. I made the hole in the torso a deep purple color (to keep with decaying body realism, lol). The pattern calls for velcro that matches the yarn color for the head and torso, but in a design decision to keep it gruesome I hunted down some red velcro instead. I love the effect of it! Much more gory. The arms have metal snaps to join them together so they come off as well. The arm and one leg have nasty wounds on them. These are made by actually knitting a red limb, then the green outer limb, sliding the red inside the green, then embroidering with a burgundy yarn around the edges of the wound to attach them. This guy also has toe nails and finger nails that are long black bugle beads. The rib cage is (again) embroidered. The pants were knitted like normal, then I embroidered around a spot I wanted to make a hole and then (gasp!) cut the knitting! It was a scary moment and it didn't really work out as easily as the pattern made it seem and I had to whip stitch around the edge to keep the knitting from unraveling, but the effect is awesome.

lol I love this picture with the nubby arm and the guts sticking out. So gross. The entire face is embroidered on - no easy feat, let me tell you. It took a lot of time, but I really do love how it came out. The teeth are more bugle beads. I decided to use the black instead of white like the pattern calls for because, duh, dead and decaying body!

And here are all the parts laid out. The body parts are all sewn as separate pieces and seamed - holy crap did that take forever. Then I had to embroider everything, sew on beads, sew on velcro, sew on snaps, and make clothes. I had knitted all the body pieces over the course of about a week and then used my day off to put it all together. I'm not kidding when I say that this is almost all I did all day! And I still had to make the clothes!

I had to include this shot ... because it's awesome.

My brother definitely loved his gift, which made it worth all the work :) We kept teasing him that he got a doll for his 15th birthday, lol, but it was all in fun because everyone had to agree that it was gross and awesome.

I am super proud of how this project turned out, I can't lie. It was a crazy amount of work and the pattern certainly doesn't help in that. I'm used to American patterns that include a certain amount of (sometimes unnecessary) hand holding. This British pattern did nothing of the kind, and I've now discovered that this is common with British patterns. For example it would just say, "Seam pieces together. Embroider rib cage.," and the like. No walking you through how to do it, just referring you to a one picture diagram at the beginning of the book. In spite of that and in spite of how sick I was of making this thing when it was done, I would not be opposed to making another. The response from everyone who sees it is really great :) And even though it's gross, it's just so cool that it 's interactive. Even my 1.5 year old nephew loved to take the brain out (in fact we had to force him to give it back, lol). So, I would say there will be other zombies in my knitting future :)

But my making didn't stop there! I was also participating in the Fuzzy Mitten Mystery Knit-Along and the final clue was released last Friday. Now that the mystery is over, I am left with a super cute ... kangaroo!

This was my first ever Fuzzy Mitten project and it did not disappoint. How cute are they?! When I finished them, my husband said that she should be named Charlene (only to be read with a heavy Aussie accent), so this is Charlene and Jake :)

This project was made over the course of a month for me (it was actually 6 weeks with 1 clue each week, but I came in late). I used Vanna's Choice yarn in Toffee and Beige for the body - both were in my stash and they seriously turned out to be the perfect colors.

The cardigan comes off and all the limbs are jointed, so I can make her sit or stand or put her hands up - so cool! I will say, she didn't really like to stand up without her tail on, but that's a non-issue now since she has a tail. The joey was part of the final clue and you want to know what is the coolest thing about him? ...

He's a finger puppet! This is pretty vital to the design because it makes it possible to shove this little guy into the mom's pocket. And the body is made all in one piece! No sewing on teeny little arms and legs - so cool! I'm now obsessed with the idea of making lots of finger puppets, lol. The joey has 6 mm safety eyes and the mom has 10 mm ones.

The obligatory back view :) I love that it's really a little play set. I imagine that I kid would love to play with these. And most of the Fuzzy Mitten animals have similar sized bodies, so you can mix and match their clothes. I would have been all about that when I was little.

The cardigan is made from Red Heart Pompadour in blue and Aunt Lydia's Iced Bamboo in Icicle for the white stripe (it has just a tiny bit of sparkle in it). The cardigan was the first item to make, but it sat unfinished because I was waiting on buttons. I had to order these from Joann's and they are 7mm size. At least now I have a bunch more for the next project. I love that the cardigan only has those two buttons at the top so it can be worn and still see the joey :)

I had loads of fun making this set! I really love the fun of a mystery knit or crochet along, and the Ravelry groups always make it 10 times more fun. I'm so glad I was able to participate, and I have already almost finished my next Fuzzy Mitten friend. I know that I will be making plenty more of Barbara Prime's designs!

And there's one more item! This wasn't really anything I had to make, but it was just too cute and I have a feeling it will be useful and fun at the same time. I've had Ana Paula Rimoli's book Amigurumi On The Go since my birthday last year and hadn't made anything from it yet! I had to remedy that :) So my nephew now gets a super cute turtle tote!

Isn't he fun?! This is made just like any other crocheted amigurumi - you just add a long bag part to the top :) The whole bag is just hdc and then you add the stripes. Originally I didn't know if I wanted to add the stripes since it looked cute without them, but I am so glad I did!

I think the stripes really take this bag to the next step and make it less homemade looking (not that 'homemade' is a bad thing!) I made my stripes in dark red, yellow, orange and gray - all yarns out of my stash. The green and blue are both Red Heart Super Saver. 

The top cinches in with the pull cord. The bag is much bigger than I thought it would be! He is 9.5" tall and  5.5" wide, but it fits a surprising amount of stuff. I hope that my nephew enjoys putting things in, and then taking them out, and then putting them back in again :) He likes to do this with other bags, so now he will have one of his very own that no one will mind when he unloads it, lol.

Phew! That's all my projects from the past week. Crazy! If you have endured this entire post, thank you! I know it was really long but hopefully the pictures were cute enough to stay interesting :) If you're still interested (lol), head over to Tami's Amis' Blog and see what others managed to finish this week!