Paddy's got company!

It didn't take long for pincushion entries to start pouring in from all over the world! (OK, a bit of an overstatement.)  It looks as though Paddy's going to have some stiff competition. Régina sent in this entry this morning:

Pretty, eh? And beautifully stitched, Régina. She says she got the idea from Quiltmaker and that it's a free design. She also said she didn't mind if I posted it ahead of the April 1st deadline, since the pattern's already available online anyway.

If you're curious about the contest, the rules (such as they are) can be found here.

Cupcakes

Paddy's been busy. He must have been up very late last night making his pincushion for the contest. He's made a little cupcake. He says he based it on my Cupcake Egg Cosy pattern. (What a good little guy he is to give me credit.) I know I said I wouldn't post any entries until April 1st, but honestly, he was so insistent, I couldn't wait. I'm always surprised by how expressive this little monkey is. He has real personality, don't you think?

And here's what I'm workin' on today. Choosing colours for a new pair of mittens. The wool is Knitpicks Wool of the Andes Worsted weight, and the colour is Brass Heather. It was dirt cheap. and I rather liked the colour when I bought it.  However, it's an odd shade. That's for sure. Here are all the candidates for the appliqué and embroidery. I think I found enough to work with.

Max Mittens

Max is an all-black miniature schnauzer. To say he's loved would be an understatement. He is adored. And he's adorable. I hope his mistress will like these.

Grumble, grumble. Booooooo!

I was more than a little excited this week to receive notice of a contest over on the Interweave Piecework site. Make a little pincushion and submit it. Sounds like fun. They've had the contest other years, but this is the first year I'm fully able to take part. Yes! A pincushion! Sign me up. I even had a couple of pretty good ideas.

And then, I decided to look at the entry form. It all looked pretty good. The prizes are smaller this year, but that's OK. We don't do this for the prizes. I read the page all the way to the end, and in the fine print, I noticed that the contest, this year, is only open to residents of the US. Well, OK. It's their contest. They can set the rules. BUT man, oh, man, does this annoy me. I'm only happy I read the fine print BEFORE I went to all the trouble.

And then, I thought......Hang on a minute! I really don't do stuff for the prizes. I'm still gonna make my entry. And Grandma Coco's going to have her own contest! And this contest will be exclusively for residents of the Kingdom of Coco. And there will be prizes! Not exactly sure yet what those prizes might be, but they'll be good ones.

So, if you'd like to have honorary citizenship in the Kingdom of Coco, and enter a pincushion, please just email the immigration department at   covillewood [at] gmail [dot] com  The deadline will be April 1, 2015. Make it from whatever you like....knitting, crocheting, quilting, embroidery. Anything at all. Just be original. No kits. No thievery. You know. Just play nice. If you're influenced by something you've seen, just give credit where credit is due. And you won't have to ship anything. Just send me a jpg (same email address). You can send as many photos of your entry as necessary to really show it off. And you can send as many entries as you like. On April 2nd, I'll display the results, and if we get more than one entrant....me!....I'll find some independent person to be the judge. Sound like fun?

Mittens in progress

I'm not sure how exciting mittens in progress can be, but here's what I'm working on.

I decided I had the perfect colour of yarn for these mittens in my stash, and when I weighed it, I was certain I had enough. Of course, 'enough' is not the same as 'more than enough', so as I got closer to finishing the thumb on the 2nd mitten, it was kinda touch and go. I had a couple of Plan B's in mind.....including raveling the thumbs on a different pair of mittens from last year.....but fortunately, that wasn't necessary. I had all this left:

At least several yards of wool left over. Lots.

The funny thing is that as stupid as I know it sounds, I found myself knitting faster and faster toward the end, as if I could finish before I ran out. I know this is not a personal quirk, nor is it a new knitting phenomenon, because my friend Kate reports doing it, too.

Anybody guess what the theme is for these mittens?

Polly mittens

If you've been following along, you've noticed a bit of a trend. I'm having a whole lot of fun putting pets on mittens. I was chugging along quite nicely until it came to my friend Karen's cat, Polly.

Polly

She's a bit of a character, is Polly. Mostly black from the photos I've seen. My pet portraits seem to work best when the pet has fairly distinct markings like patches of colour, or lines. Polly is a black blur (mostly because she's always in motion), with lovely amber eyes. I made 2 distinct attempts. I ripped them both out (thank goodness wool is very forgiving), and put the mittens in a time out. Meanwhile, Karen released her newest quilt pattern, Under the Big Top. She sent me this photo of the impish Polly peeking out from behind the quilt.

Yes! Polly's most distinguishing feature is her eyes!! And the quilt is so colourful. And such a nice contrast to her Pollyship. I had it! And the Polly mittens just fell into place.

Be sure to check out Karen's Under the Big Top Nursery Set. It's a quilt with a canopy that goes over the crib. It's ingenious.

I am not a production knitter

I'm currently trying very hard to fill an order.....an actual commission .... for 5 pairs of mittens. Five pairs of identical mittens. And I've already done 1 pair (that got me the commission). So that is SIX pairs of all-the-same mittens. It's for a very good cause, and part of me really, really, REALLY! wants to do it. Unfortunately, the creative part of me is digging in her heels. There is no alternative but to bring in reinforcements. If only.

Cassie Mittens

Is there anything cuter than a sleeping cat?

My muse is back

My muse is a fickle spirit who runs off at the first sign of trouble. Any sadness, any loss, and she heads for the hills. A fair weather friend, at best. When she's gone, the days are very long indeed. Endless days of scarf-knitting. Don't get me wrong. Any kind of knitting is good knitting, but the best knitting happens when she's with us.

Today is a grey day in the Kingdom, but there is much under way. Here's what it looks like (since my friend Kate says people like to see what's happening, and not just what's finished):

And here's proof how little respect I get:

Happy New Year

I've always been a fan of recycling. :) 

I drew this one in 2011, but it`s still one of my favourites. 

If you hang around long enough, and look closely enough, 

you`ll see the cat is trying to grab some mouse-y treats from the tray. 

When we celebrate in the Kingdom, we ALL celebrate. 

Holey Smokes! I just realized this might be one of the few drawings 

I didn`t work my signature into.

If I have a resolution for the new year, it is to draw more.

What`s yours?