Bagpuss exposed.

 

Putting these pictures on to help a fellow Raveller with her Bagpuss. He was a bit of a problem to sew up and stuff to get the right look but if he's not quite right, I don't think it matters. he looks OK to me!

A smooth grafted seam with chunky wool.

Instead of casting off the stitches in steps as you shape the shoulders, leave them on the needle unknitted. Then, instead of knitting the next stitch in each step, just slip it onto the right hand needle. This makes the shoulder slope smoother. (I always do this with shoulder seams anyway to get a smoother slope.) Leave the unfinished stitches on holders while you shape the second shoulder.

Now take a third needle of the same size and with right sides together, and the needles parallel as shown in the photo, knit one stitch from the front needle and one from the back together to leave just one stitch on the right hand needle. Now knit the next two stitches on the two left needles together in the same way, then cast off the first stitch on the right hand needle over the second as in the normal cast off method.

Continue knitting one from the front and one from the back and casting off as you go, to the end. Finish off the last stitch as normal.

The wrong side looks like this!

And the right side like this.

You could do this cast off the other way round so that the cast off edge is on the outside if you want to make a different look.

The guernseys made here on the island are finished like this with the shoulder seam on the outside and with a knitted row at first as the stitches are grafted together. Then the cast off is done on the next row. There is a picture of this in an earlier blog.

I hope my instructions are clear. It's quite hard, turning knitting into words!

Squirrel Nutkin

I adapted the Timmy Tiptoes pattern to make him because he's my favourite Beatrix Potter character and I couldn't find a pattern anywhere. I think he turned out OK..... for a first effort.

I don't know if there might be copyright issues here. I'll post this and wait and see!

If there are no problems, I'll have a go at writing the whole pattern down......somewhere!!

TWENTY MINUTE MOUSE

20 Minute Mouse

DK oddments….. approx. 13metres should be enough
3mm needles
Small amount of stuffing.
Sachet of catnip if desired.

Cast on 8 stitches (back edge) leaving a long end approx 1.5mtrs (for tail).
Ss 2 rows
Next Row, Inc in every stitch [16sts]
P 1 row
Next row,(Inc 1, K1) to end [24sts]
Ss 13 rows
Next row K1 (K2 tog K2) to last 3 st, k2tog K1[18sts]
Ss 5 rows
Break wool here leaving end of 2 mtrs approx. and thread onto darning needle
Next row K1, K2 tog, K1, K2tog, cast on 7 sts.
Thread needle (carefully to avoid tangles) through these 7 sts, & draw up tightly to form ear on right side of work Fasten off firmly with a stitch or two through work.
Continue with remaining sts on left hand needle. K1, K2tog, K1, K2tog, cast on 7 sts.
Thread needle through these 7 sts, & draw up tightly on outside of work as before to form 2nd ear.
Continue with remaining 6 sts on left hand needle, K1, K2tog, K1, K2tog. [12sts]
Ss 5 rows
Next row, K2 tog to end [6sts]
Thread needle through these stitches and pull up tightly to finish off for nose, then use remaining yarn to join body seam, stopping about 2 cm from the tail end.
Stuff nose end, then place small bag of catnip inside body cavity if desired, and stuff remainder firmly.
Take 1.5metre length from cast on edge, double it and twist up tightly until it doubles up on itself to form a tail of whatever length you prefer.
Fasten the twists off near to the mouse body with a double knot.
Tuck this knot into the stuffed body of the mouse and sew up remainder of body seam, then gather the cast on body end by threading needle through every stitch, pull up tightly and fasten off taking one or two stitches through the tail knot for extra security.
Sew on a couple of eyes in black, if desired, with a French knot.