Mini Knitting Showcase
Lately, I've been trying to have more hobbies that don't involve staring at a screen for hours on end. Last year, I got really into making kandi bracelets. This year, I've decided to take up knitting.
I want to start working on more actual knitting projects with practical uses, and I want to get in the habit of using this blog more often. So, I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone and show you all what I've made recently.
Catnip Bunnies
Catnip bunnies are cat toys that are shaped like cute little bunnies! The pattern is very easy to remember and doesn't take that long to make.
Basically, you knit a drawstring bag and then fill it with toy stuffing and catnip. Then, you add its ears and optional embroidered face to give it its rabbit features. The instructions also suggest giving it a tail, but I opted to skip that part.
My first batch of catnip bunnies.
From left to right: A coral pink bunny with a winking expression, a smaller red bunny with X's for eyes, and an even smaller white bunny with both of its eyes closed.
My first batch of catnip bunnies were under-stuffed. That's one of the first things I learned about knitting plush toys: There's basically no such thing as over-stuffing them. Not to mention plush filling deteriorates a lot and quickly, so it's best to fill them up as much as you can.
I went with some Squishmallow-inspired faces for this batch. For some reason I got into my head that Squishmallow's don't have mouths, which is wrong, but what's done is done I guess. It was also my first time embroidering with yarn, which is why it looks so sloppy.
My second batch of catnip bunnies.
From top to bottom, left to right: A coral pink bunny with both of its eyes closed, a dark purple bunny with white eyes and mouth, a camouflage patterned bunny with an annoyed/angry expression, a smiling light green bunny, and a calm medium green bunny. They're all about the same size.
I ended up making a bunny for almost every color of yarn I had. I tried experimenting with different faces. There are a lot of failed attempts not pictured here. I decided actually giving them mouths made them look cuter and made the expressions easier to tell apart.
Left: A catnip bunny before it's stuffed. The drawstring hasn't been pulled yet and it's missing its ears.
Center: "Rejects" from my second batch. A red bunny and a bunny with a blue to green hue shift. Their faces look a bit wonky.
Right: A bonus rainbow "catnip" bunny with a winking expression. The yarn I used for this one was too delicate, so I decided to make it a normal plush instead of a cat toy, and not put catnip in it.
I don't have any photos of this unfortunately, but I did eventually gift some of these to a family friend who has a cat. The bunnies work exactly as intended, both the cat and the owner love them! I was worried that hand-made toys might not be able to withstand too much roughhousing, but they seem pretty durable so far.
Mug Cozy
This mug cozy pattern is more complicated, but after making all those cat toys, I was looking for a bit of a challenge. I had to restart this one a few times, the whole thing took me forever, and there are still visible errors in the final product, but it was still very rewarding.
I already knew how to cable knit but this was my first time actually using it for a project. This was also my first time adding buttons and binding off/casting on in the middle of a project (for the button hole). A lot of firsts for this one!
The red mug cozy laid out flat on the table. The edges use a wavy/bumpy garter stitch and the middle uses a flatter purl stitch with a braided pattern in the center. The cozy has a button stitched on at one end and a button hole on the other, to let it fasten around a cup or mug.
The edges of the cozy curve up a little bit when you try to lay it flat. This isn't really a problem when it's actually wrapped around something, though. I've never blocked any of my yarn pieces before, maybe I should do that sometime.
The mug cozy wrapped around a glass.
The mug cozy wrapped around a mug. The ends can fit through the handle.
Not as much to say about this one as I did about the bunnies. I only made one of them and it (supposedly) keeps your drink warm. Not much else to explain, really.
Misc Thoughts
Random opinions and observations that I wanted to share but couldn't fit anywhere else.
- Don't worry about splurging on fancy/expensive yarn. You can get a lot of decent crafting supplies at the dollar store.
- I had no idea how cheap toy stuffing was until now. I ended up buying way more than I needed and have a ton left over.
- I've come to really like the ease and portability of knitting. It doesn't make much of a mess, it's light and easy to carry around, and it's not too distracting to others. I can work on a small project while on public transportation or in a waiting room.
- Yarn is a lot easier to store than plastic beads. Figuring out storage for crafting supplies in general is a huge pain in the ass for me. Maybe I'll write about that some time.