woolly snowman kits

woolly snowman kits

Summer months are usually slow for me business-wise what with everyone occupied with gardening and getting their kids finished with school for the year. Traditionally the yarn stores slow down as well. This Spring I have a son graduating from high school, thus I have been occupied with 'other' things other than creating much. But it hasn't stopped me from dreaming about future projects!

This fall I will be offering a Woolly Snowman Kit complete with pattern, beads, yarn and more! The kit will be part of the celebration of 10 years of snowman making. Where has the time flown? I seem to be asking this question a lot lately what with my son graduating.

I love the snowman pattern for its whimsey. It is one of my earliest patterns and has grown through the years with the addition of hats and accessories. I never tire of it, but I do have to follow my own instructions each and every time.

I am now buying the yarns needed for each kit, so stay tuned for further details.

Happy knitting!

A Real BIG Baby!

I just completed my over-sized Woolly Snowbaby and am very pleased. The original size of a felted snowbaby is 5-inches. The photo below shows the two sizes side-by-side.

 

two sizes of snowbabies

The little snowbaby used one strand of sport weight yarn and the large snowbaby, two strands of Cascade 220 worsted weight, #8010, and one strand of Frog Tree Alpaca cream sport weight yarn. The two yarns together created a wonderfully felted snowman! 

I used real twigs clipped from my crab-apple tree for arms. I held them in place by poking them into a small block of styrofoam placed within the snowbaby's interior. This worked slick! 
After having completed the arms this way, my first reaction is that I like him more withOUT the arms, but I wanted to have a photo to show with.

I didn't fill the snowbaby up with plastic poly-pellets like I usually do because of the size. I am planning on sticking a stone inside to give that extra weight, then sewing a circle of felt over the hole to finish off the bottom. 

For the eyes, instead of the usual french knots, I embroidered several small stitches using worsted weight black yarn. Then I added a single stitch using DMC white floss to create a highlight dot.

The nose is red wool roving needle felted into a round ball and attached to the snowbaby's face. The cheeks are small bits of pink roving again needle felted to the face.

I love this size snowbaby! so many fun possibilities for outfits, hats and accessories! let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Happy knitting!

woolly sheep pin cushion

woolly sheep

Last week I started a Woolly Sheep knit-a-long on my Ravelry group, that's woolly something, and the photo above is the end result. I like my little guy!

I used yarns from my stash, Berroco Ultra alpaca worsted weight yarns, but after felting I don't think the cream was Berroco at all, only the black yarn. It didn't brush out nicely with my nap riser brush like it should have. I am not good at marking my yarns as I should. Oh well!

one in every family

To embellish over my disappointment in how the cream felted, I created a curly-cue pattern using 3-inch strands of 2-ply yarn and needle felting them onto the sheep. It is a little putzy, but worth the effort! The occasional dots here and there are embroidered french knots using the same yarn as the curls as well as to stitch the nose. FYI, I only embellished the sheep's front!

The pins are from Just Another Button Company and they are called 'button box'. The colors match perfectly! Another set of pins that would look equally as cute on my sheep are thematically called 'one in every family'.

I am starting a KAL (knit-a-long) of my Woolly Snowman starting hopefully today!

Happy knitting!

The Year of the Woolly Snowman

Next year, 2013, will mark the 10 year anniversary of the Woolly Snowman pattern. I can't believe it has been that long!

To help celebrate the anniversary, I have created a special Facebook page. Still working on a clever name for the sight. Here I will have fun photos, ideas and quotes like this one, above, as a tribute to the snowman. In addition, I am encouraging others who have knit and felted a snowman or two to share their photos. Especially photos of their snowmen going new places, worldly travels, interesting sights. If we get enough photos, I would love to create a snowman calendar for the year 2014.

To mark the beginning of the year, I am now knitting and felting a HUGE snowman using bulky yarn and size 15 needles. Not life-size, but big enough to melt your heart. Stay tuned for photos.

Come 'like' my page to receive updates and to stay-in-touch.

https://www.facebook.com/woollysnowman

Happy knitting!

a little bit about me

marie mayhew designs

You may have noticed that my avatar is a felted snowman. I really don't look like that. But some days I can feel a bit woolly behind the ears. Knitting and felting can do that to a person after awhile, but I'm having fun playing in the meantime!

The Woolie Ewe, a knitting shop in Plano, Texas, just published their interview with me on their blog, A Woolie Tale. They are starting a series on featured designers, like me. Click on the link below to find out what my favorite food is. If you follow me on Pinterest, you already might know. Enjoy!

A Woollie Tale Interview

Happy knitting,