Oliver Boliver

Jasmine the Giraffe - New Knitting Pattern and Giveaway

"Better late than never", my mother used to say. In fact she used to say it a lot as she was always, always late. This is very apt for my latest toy pattern, Jasmine the Giraffe, as she was very nearly in the "never" pile. I do not know why she has taken so long but can only put it down to being easily distracted lately due to "baby brain" - a condition frequently claimed by pregnant ladies when their usual "go get-em" seems to dissipate together with an inability to say no to anything baked and covered in frostings! Did you know that someone somewhere has actually proved that a pregnant woman's brain actually shrinks? That explains a lot. My worry is that together with my hips and bum that my brain won't return to its normal size once the little bundle actually arrives.... Hmmm - food for thought....(did someone mention food?......)

Anyway - I digress! Here is Jasmine is her full camo glory (obviously optional and it's up to you how creative you get with the felt!)...

 

Here she is looking sorry for herself after being caught hiding Oliver's favourite car on top of the wardrobe...

 
She's taller than my previous toys and stands at about 12 inches/30cm. She's mostly knitted flat although the horns and tail start off as an icord. As usual, I'm on hand if you need anything clarifying or explaining. I did pop a few beans in her front hooves but in all honestly I don't think they actually acheive anything as she sits fine without them. 

She's available for download through Ravelry and Etsy but for one lucky winner I shall be giving away a free pattern (selected at random using randon number generator). All you need to do is to leave a comment below telling me what your mother used to say (proverbs/sayings - that kind of thing) that have stuck with you.  I'll do a draw on Monday 1st November. 

Good luck!

PS If you've already bought Jasmine and you're the lucky winner then I can either refund you or offer an alternative pattern - whichever you prefer!

(27/10/10 - PPS - Please ignore my darling husband's comment below - he definitely won't be winning the pattern!)

 

Busy little fingers and new knitted toy spoiler...

I've recently been designing some toys for some UK and US publications which has been keeping me a bit quiet and more than a bit busy! One had a very speedy deadline which meant turning both the finished toy and pattern round in about a week and the other a more leisurely 6 weeks.  Hopefully both will be commissioned and I'll tell you more about that once I know what's happening.

It's been great having a deadline to work towards as I've always been a bit of a deadline junkie and it means putting my ass into gear a bit quicker than normal. Something Mr C wishes I could apply wholeheartedly to everything I do. I must admit that I'm more of a tortoise to Mr C's hare and definitely believe that everything has a natural order of time to it. This neatly brings me to my backburner project which I've been promising you for months...

This toy really has had a tortoise-like speed to its creation and I really can't explain why. It was one of my first design projects which I eventually shelved as it was looking more sock like than anything else. I dug out my ideas early on this summer and changed the design completely but instead of knitting away, summer hols got in the way along with a lot of pregnancy morning sickness (replace "morning" with "all day" and you get the picture as to why nothing's really been going on!). Oh well!

Well you could say I've had a bit of resolution this month to get this one going again, especially as I've nearly finished her (I think it's going to be a "her") and if I'm not careful all my knitting notes are going to end up as something Lewis Carroll would find in his wastepaper basket ie complete illegible nonsense!

So, as a wee taster .... here is a bit of a clue as to her being....

 
Please excuse the random untidy yarn tails and practically voodoo pinned head but I like to play with different poses until I'm happy with the finished result. She clearly is in desparate need of a very swishy tail plus some giraffe camo so she is less day-glo; both of which are in my head and will be soon on the needles. Her expression will be added last once I get to grips with her personality! She's much taller than my previous toys and stands proudly at almost 12 inches!

Well I think this show and tell session has been quite cathartic and I'm motivated now to getting on and finishing her off!

Once I get her finished I'll run a little competition for a free pattern so watch this space....

Pen x

Quarantined

Things have been a little quiet recently both here in blogland and also at home as I've been cast down with a nasty infection - so stand well back! What started as an innocuous and completely under the radar sniffly cold has turned into a full blown chest infection complete with antibiotics and tea and sympathy from Mr C.

Since Mr C is self employed and doesn't understand the concept of sick pay (or even holiday pay for that matter!) there is no room for man flu. So I know when he is hiding under a duvet looking like the proverbial death warmed up that he is properly poorly. This duvet sympathy lasts one day max - so there really is no room or sympathy for colds in this house for anyone else! You get one day to be ill and that's your lot, you have to get up and get over it! 

Today is my 3rd duvet and sympathy day (a house record beating that created when we were struck with swine flu!) and I don't want to feel poorly anymore. Frankly I'm bored with daytime tv - although it's been nice to catch up with some CSI re-runs - enough is enough!

Fingers crossed the antibiotics kick in and my breathing no longer sounds like a rasping death rattle....