Oliver Boliver

And the winner is....?

I've just plugged the number of comments into random.org and the winner is.......

*Drumroll*

Commenter No 2 - Kathryn Knight

Well done, Kathryn! And a big thank you to everyone who entered. I loved reading about your ideal pets and definitely agreed that the knitting enabling ones would be an excellent addition to any knitter's family!

The general release date for Dave is now going to be 12 August, and he'll be available on Ravelry, Etsy and on www.oliverboliver.com. If you can't wait until then he will be making an appearance (knit flat version only) in Let's Get Crafting Edition 33, (on sale about 15 July). It's a UK crafting magazine with a toy special for this edition so it will be exciting to see who he's appearing with!

For those of you who can't wait until July, I will be designing a new toy which will be available next month. More news on that later...

Hope you have a great weekend and get lots of knitting in!

Pen x

Quarantined

Hi all

Just in case you were wondering why I’d dropped off the face of the earth for a few days and haven’t announced winner of the giveaway I thought I’d drop you a quick line to say that I’ve been quarantined! Or rather my faithful laptop has been in quarantine and it’s left me feeling almost as bad as having my knitting needles taken off me. I’ve just got it back and I’m playing catch up!!

I shall announce the winner later today/tomorrow together with more news on Dave’s general release as he’s going to be a little late to the party!

Pen x

Competition for Dave the Stash Busting Dachshund Knitting Pattern

 

To celebrate my new toy pattern as well as my 2nd blogiversary I'm running a little competition to win a PDF copy of Dave the Stash Busting Dachshund.

All you need to do is:

1. Tell me what your perfect pet would be and why? Please give your imaginary pet a name too! Let your imaginations run wild - the more crazy the better!

2. Do one or more of the following:

a) "Follow me" on Twitter - see top left of blog
b) "Like me" on Facebook - see top left of blog
c) Add me to your friends on Ravelry (oliverboliver) and I will add you back!

If you don't do Twitter or Facebook - just add me on Rav; everyone does Ravelry!

3. Tell me whether you prefer to knit in the round or flat.

Entries must be logged as a single comment to this post by 1pm EDT/6pm GMT on Sunday 15th May.

The winner will be picked at random from the comments left. Remember to complete each of the 3 parts of the competition requirement. If you leave more than one comment, only your first comment will count for the draw. Any questions please just ask!

Layering Shrug

I managed to cast on Juju Vail's Layering Shrug last weekend and after a bit of false start, having misread the chart, I am nearly through the first sleeve!

 

Let me assure you that the false start was nothing to do with the pattern, which is very simply written, just my overeagerness to go as quickly as possible and misread a purl row for a knit row in the easy peasy chart. School boy error, I know and I could've gotten away with it but I know that I would've cursed it every time I wore it. So after 2 days of knitting, I ripped the whole thing back and started again.

Mr C watched me in disbelief, asking "Are you actually enjoying this project?".

Me:"Of course" (lying through gritted teeth)

The pattern is worked from side to side with no seams or grafting and the lace is fairly straightforward, even for a novice lace knitter. I love that I was quickly able to memorise the lace pattern after a few repeats which means it's very portable. The sleeves are worked in the round and it starts with a provisional cast on so you'll need to fight off any reluctance to air your crochet hook!  One size fits most, says the pattern and it looks from the gauge that the DK version will be a little looser and longer in the body than the laceweight version.

 
Image courtesy of Juju Vail

I'm knitting mine in BC Garn's Allino in a charcoal/green and beige colour. The yarn has a two coloured effect to it - which I'm sure has a technical name but it escapes me. It's a cotton/linen mix and is perfect for summer. I'm planning on teaming it with a vest and a pair of jeans or maybe even my long linen shorts (once I get back into them - ahem!).

I must confess that it's the first garment I've ever knitted for myself which isn't more than a pair of gloves or scarf so I'm a little nervous as to how it's going to look on me (especially as I'm no where near as skinny as the beautiful model in the picture). However, I'm sure it'll be perfect for chucking over my shoulders on a cool evening and the final fit shouldn't matter too much. If you fancy knitting it too or have knitted it already do please leave a comment below and together we can have a collective moan hopefully followed by a joyful ta-dah moment!

The pattern is available for free through Loop's blog. You must beware of all the beautiful yarns in Loop's online boutique yarn shop lying in wait to tempt you though! I just want to pet some of them!

Enjoy!

Pen x

Introducing..... Dave the Stash Busting Dachshund Knitting Pattern

 

I've always wanted to call a dog, Dave. It just sounds so ridiculous that it works. If I had my way, I'd have a 3 dogs named Dave, Steve and Ian. The breed doesn't matter. It's the name that counts.

So, back to Dave. He's a curious hound. Officially he's a dachshund - unofficially he's a sausage dog or a weiner dog. His long lost ancestors were bred to track down and flush out badgers and other burrow-dwelling animals and in the evenings would preventing draughts coming under the front door. Dave is different. Dave has been bred to track down and flush out your stash. He'll find stash you thought had been eaten by moths years ago. That ball of sock wool you bought on a whim, smuggled into the house and hidden in the arm of a never worn winter coat? He sniffed it out straightaway (even if your other half didn't).

Like all my toys, Dave can be made in any wool gauge; just choose needles which are a few sizes smaller than those recommended on the label. I knitted Dave in a DK/sportweight gauge with 3.25mm needles but if you want to knit a mini Dave in sock weight yarn or a humongous Dave in chunky yarn then the choice is yours. You can knit him plain or stripey, although he prefers stripey to put his stash busting skills to the ultimate test though.

In a DK weight he measures up at about 7in/18cm high and 11in/28cm in length. A thicker yarn will make him a bit bigger and a lace weight yarn, a bit smaller.

The pattern is almost ready and I'm just tweaking the In the Round version. Yes - that's right! He'll be in a knit flat and in the round version especially for all you seam haters out there!

I'll be releasing the pattern on 16 May but will be having a giveaway during next week so watch out on Monday for the competition details!

Hope you have a happy weekend and get lots of knitting in!

Pen x

 

Royal Wedding Brilliance

Ok, ok - I'm sure we've all had enough of the Wills and Kate's wedding show but you really must have a look at this clip caught after the last of congregation had left Westminster Abbey on Friday......

 

Knitting news coming soon!!

Pen x