This little piggy...

Just finished this little piggy.. he is from the Laura Long book.  We think he is cute.  I knitted the ears a little differently than she calls for in the book.  I knitted them two sided in the round so I would have a stiffer ear and not have to use fabric.  My guys prefer not to have girly fabric on their toys. :-)   I have found this technique to be useful in some of her patterns.

a front view of piggy

A side view of piggy

Laura Long has a new book

My Laura Long first book, Knitted Toy Tales, is terrific. I love the stuffed toys from it.  She just came out with another great book, Knitted Toy Travels.  This book is also fantastic.  As I rush to finish up my current stuffed toy project, a pig from Knitted Toy Tales, I can't wait to try some of the adorable items in the new book.  There is a boy explorer, I will call him a stuffed action figure, his name is ed and he is really really cute.  There is an adorable hippo, a very cute lion, a sweet zebra, a parrot, and a lot more.  You will love this book.   Here is a picture of the birds from Knitted Toy Tales:

Pictures of tiny knits and bunny

Super fun knitting.

I have been knitting lots of mini mochimochi toys lately.  So far last week I made 3 aliens, a cactus, corn on the cob, and a gnome.  These tiny guys are so much fun.   One of the problems I have is mixing yarns.  If the yarns are not very close to exactly the same weight and texture.. it can be a bit of a problem.    It seems like knitpicks has the best prices on sock yarn.. so I ordered a bunch of colors from them.. to solve my matching problems.   I have never used their yarn before.. but I have heard good things about them.  I have also been working on a fun shawl.. I am using Filati(FFF) Moira yarn.. it is a yarn with tiny ribbons tied around the main strands.   Easy to work with and a fun yarn.

Wonderful yarn-full couple of days

I have had a wonderful couple of days full of yarn and great knitting books.   I went to my first yarn store in a while, I have been looking forward to going there for a long time.  The store is Mayaluna yarns.   It is beautiful. There are wonderful yarns to touch and play with.  The staff was terrific.  She was fantastic and friendly and did not make me feel bad for being a beginner knitter.  Their web site is http://www.mayalunayarns.com and I recommend going there.   I buy most of my yarn online but it is so nice to get to touch the yarn before you buy it.  And seeing it in person gives me a real feel for the colors.
I picked up a bunch of great used knitting books at COAS used book store in Las Cruces.  This store is fantastic.. much bigger than Barnes and Nobles.  I could spend hours and hours there.  It seems when I go there is never enough time to spend there.  I also went to one of New Mexico Women's Foundation Rag Rug festivals(http://www.nmwf.org).   It was so much fun.  I loved talking to the weavers and knitters.  There were some ladies selling specialty yarns, and I picked up some.  A really great time.  If there is a festival near you.. go.. the ladies are great and full of lots of great advice.   I fell in love with the triangular loom weaving.. and who knows.

Fast moving needles

When I first started knitting I hated wooden needles.  I could not imagine why anyone would like them... until I started knitting lace.  I now I totally understand.   With all of the yarn-overs, on my metal needles, the stitches almost seem to fly off.  I need to be very careful or before I notice I lose one.  Definitely this is something that wooden knitting needles would help with.  When I knit the patterns from the knitting mochi-mochi(mini patterns) I use wooden needles.. it was all I could find at the store at the time.. I have the opposite problem.   I notice if I can use metal for these it goes faster.   I guess one of each kind would be best.  I must admit that I notice a difference between the two different types of wooden needles.  The bamboo seem to have the most grab.. I have red colored wooden needles that are kind of in between..  faster than the bamboo but not as fast as the metal needles.    Most of these needles are circulars.    Enough pontificating about knitting needles.   I finally have time to knit a few rows... so that is what I am going to do.   I got to see flowers on the trees.. spring  is coming.