A child's "innocent" Hobbit question

Sproglet2 "why has he got no shoes on?" while watching LOTR and looking at Billy "Pippin" Boyd 

cos he's a hobbit, they have big hairy feet and dont wear shoes ... how else do you think they are different (thinking he'll see the height)

"big hairy hands?"

nope not that

" a big hairy winkie???"

I died

Hallowe'en 2011

Here we have 2 Knights...One of the Camelot-esque variety, and one Jedi 

knitted chailmail shirt and coif, sewn undershirt

as for the Jedi...he looks like a mini Luke in the middle pic :D... sewing again for underrobes and main teracotta one (had to dye it as i didnt have anything big enough that was darker than the cream) and a twisted cord for the belt.

My First Nursery Made Mothers Day Card

Toddler Pirate Beanie

I say Toddler size, but altho it's a little big for a smaller kid add on an extra couple of rounds and it's stretchy enough to do a smaller adult head. An extra round of increases should fit most adults. For the motif I ended up making my own up as i went along...I did try to find one online but none of them looked quite what i wanted. I'll write down what I did as best as I can and edit in a better guide with some pictures when i make another. If you try it and can think of a better way to explain it, or if it makes no sense at all please feel free to comment :)

 On to the instructions.

Materials

 Double Knitting (US worsted/Aus 8ply) wool in black and oddments of white. (the whole hat weighs 36grams so about 35g of black would be enough)

4mm(G-6)  and 2.5mm (C-2) crochet hooks

Large eyed tapestry needle

Abbreviations

hdc - Half Double Crochet ( I tend to use US terms so this is the one I mean Art of Crochet by Teresa HDC)

sc - single crochet Art of Crochet by Teresa SC

st - stitch/es

Directions in brackets ( ) repeated as written and [ ] shows stitch count

Gauge 4.5hdc x 4 rounds per inch approx

Hat

round 1 Using 4mm hook and Black yarn make 2 chain, work 6hdc into 2nd chain from hook, do not join,continue in spiral place stitch/row marker for round end

round 2 Work 2 hdc in each hdc working under all 3 loops of previous row [12hdc]

round 3 Work (2 hdc in next hdc, 1hdc in next) to end of round [18hdc]

round 4 Work (2 hdc in next hdc, 1hdc in next 2 hdcs) to end of round [24hdc]

round 5 Work (2 hdc in next hdc, 1hdc in next 3 hdcs) to end of round [30hdc]
round 6 Work (2 hdc in next hdc, 1hdc in next 4 hdcs) to end of round [36hdc]
round 7 Work (2 hdc in next hdc, 1hdc in next 5 hdcs) to end of round [42hdc]
round 8 Work (2 hdc in next hdc, 1hdc in next 6 hdcs) to end of round [48hdc]

round 9 Work (2 hdc in next hdc, 1hdc in next 7 hdcs) to end of round [54hdc]

round 10 Work (2 hdc in next hdc, 1hdc in next 8 hdcs) to end of round [60hdc]

round 11 Work (2 hdc in next hdc, 1hdc in next 9 hdcs) to end of round [66hdc]
round 12 Work (2 hdc in next hdc, 1hdc in next 10 hdcs) to end of round [72hdc]

To make an adult or larger kids hat add in one or two more increase rounds here, following pattern will give 78 stitches and 84 stitches respectively, then continue as below with those stitch counts

rounds 13 to 26 work 1 hdc in each hdc (14 rounds total)
round 27 work 1 single crochet changing to white to complete the stitch, then work to complete 1 full round of single crochet and slip stitch to close.

Sew in all ends neatly


Skull and Crossbones motif

Worked in 3 parts, 1 skull and 2 bones, do not make turning chains after the first foundation chain, in my opinion this gives a neater edge in this case
Skull

Using 2.5mm hook and white chain 7
row 1 work 1 sc in 2nd chain from hook and each chain along [6sc] turn,do not make turning chain
row 2-4  work sc in each sc
row 5 work 2sc in first stitch, work to last sc, work 2sc in last stitch [8sc]
row 6 work 2sc in first stitch, work to last sc, work 2sc in last stitch [10sc]
row 7 work 2sc in first stitch, work to last sc, work 2sc in last stitch [12sc]
row 8-11 work 1sc in each sc - 4 rows
row 12 slip stitch into first stitch, work 10sc, slip into last stitch, turn
row 13 miss the slip stitch from previous row and slip into first sc, work 8sc, slip in next stitch, turn
row 14 miss the slip stitch from previous row and slip into first sc, work 6sc, slip in next stitch, turn
row 15 miss the slip stitch from previous row and slip into first sc, work 4sc, slip in next stitch, fasten off

Embroider mouth eyes and nose as shown in picture before sewing skull to hat placing chin of skull 2 inches (5cm) up from contrast trim row.

Crossbones make 2

This is harder to explain and I will get pictures edited in later when I make another to help clarify, but it's basically a chain ,work a nobbly bit,work the chain,make 2 nobbly bits,work other side of chain make nobbly bit and close...bear with me and I'll TRY and write down what I did...

chain 16
in 2nd chain from hook work 1 slip stitch, 3 hdc and 1 slip stitch (5 stitches in one loop)
work in sc along chain to last stitch.
in last stitch work the following, 1 slip stitch, 3 hdc, 1 slip stitch, 3 hdc, 1 slip stitch (this is the double nobbly bit)
continue working down other side of chain to last stitch (the one that was the 1st stitch at the beginning)
in last stitch work 1slip stitch, 3hdc, 1 slip stitch and fasten off

Hopefully this should now look like a bone, if not when sewing to hat the center of the nobbly bits can be pulled in a little to make the indent...again I appologise and I will try to get clearer to understand photos and instructions up ASAP

Sew these onto hat below the skull as shown.

Present hat to toddler and hop he/she likes it :D

My kids are nuts

Brian is thankfully in bed...after climbing on windowsill, climbing on wheeled coffee table to get onto big unit and getting stuck cos it runs away as he pushes leaving his legs dangling AGAIN screeching "muh-mee help it skay-wee"...then running full pelt and PRETENDING to fall over (it's so overacted it's unreal) saying "i crashed"...pulling me here and there to show me that the ads have come on the tv EVERY BREAK on nick jr


And that was only for the 3 hours Gregor was at nursery...then i got it in stereo LOL

Thank gawd mine actually go to bed at night, and if Brian gets up early say about 6ish he goes and switches on the TV and sky in the toyroom and plitters about playing for about an hour before coming into our room and dropping Hubbys slippers on his face to waken him saying "ah want-ah milk peeezzzz" (clever boy dosnt do that to Mummy)

This morning tho i was woken up with a gun in my face...okay a purple waterpistol thing but a tad disconcerting having that pointing at you held by a smiley wee face saying "hiyah muhmee"

They're full on hard work...but wouldn't change them

a little piccy update

As I said earlier today, I'm making the windmill bag in deep red/pinky colours...piccy with 4th panel just started

I was reminded today that tyre warmers are not to be used next year in F1. A bit unfortunate after what we had here last year.

Gregor was 2 and well nutty about F1 already...then he started doing something strange to all his cars...at 1st we didn't understand why, but he was always wrapping up the wheels...most often with paper that he'd ripped off his magazines, but sometimes using the babywipes...the latter was usually on his toy Roary the Racing Car maybe due to the larger wheels.

It wasnt until we noticed him doing it JUST before a race started...he was copying the tyre warmers. At just over 2 years old he had already figured out that the F1 cars had covers on their tyres and obviously felt HIS cars needed them too...so Mummy thought...lets MAKE Roary some. Knitting being the best bet as i could easily make a closed stretchy tube that he could ease on himself. A few interrupted-by-2-kids hours later i had this...

top left...size 12 needles, DK wool, 15 sts, 65 rows (12 stitches would be enough)

top right...sew cast on and cast off edges together
bottom left...use row ends to gather as tight as you can and fasten off tightly
bottom right...the finished tyre warmer
 
 
Now I had only got this far before Gregor was nosying about...he disappeared...came back with Roary...and without actually being told or shown what to do started putting the finished one on !!! A little bit more sewing later and Roary had toasty tyres for bed that night LOL

Final blether for this post. One of my primary (junior school/age 5-11) classmates mum popped a photo on Facebook...we think its primary 3,maybe 4 (age 7 or 8). I'm the 2nd from the right on the back row :)

A day of Gardening with a "Pit Stop"

The past couple of days have been quite nice, so we finally got round to tidying up the garden.

Or rather re-tidying...we did a whack when we 1st moved in at the end of May, but the weather hasn't been the best so it got a tad overgrown again. Plans for next year to grow stuff but we were a couple of month late in here to do anything worthwhile.

The boys have a bubble blowing lawnmower, and when Hubby started mowing the grass the 2yr old dissappeared into the house and returned with their mower...and proceded to copy ever move Hubby made, be it direction and even the stance with one leg forward

I also managed to get into the tatties. I'd popped 6 sprouting potatoes in the ground not long after we moved in, and the flowers had just died off so i knew they were ready to lift. From those 6 small new potatoes I got a whole big pot of them...and the 3yr old was highly amused by the tatties coming out the soil

Once we'd filled not only OUR brown garden waste wheelie bin but the mother-in-laws too we thought it was time to stop (we did put the grass clippings into the new compost bin...pat's own back).

The next job of the day was Granny's scooter. The mobility scooter needed the wheels pumped up a bit, and Hubby thought Gregor would love the short run to the garage and back...he didn't just love it, he had a complete ball of a time. Standing between Hubbys legs as he drove it...and then came the wheel filling. The wee soul thought he was doing a pit-stop..."THIS IS RACING DADDY!!!"...thank goodness he had a nappy on or he'd literally have wet himself with excitement PMSL. Hubby brought it back here (we're halfway between garage and grannys) and took Brian a wee run up and down our street...

Not very far, but he thoroughly enjoyed the run, Gregor ran to meet them coming back then raced them home. He was chuffed to win. Both boys were a tad miffed that the scooter had to go away again...who knows maybe another jaunt sometime.

And hopefully another good day tomorrow so we can trim the hedge a bit...it's not bad as you can no doubt see,but ours is the most overgrown looking one on the street so we'd better neaten it LOL.

Alpha Male at 3.5 Years Old

Our 3 yr old is definitely showing some alpha male signs...or rather that he understands the way it works...and it's quite interesting to see it.

While getting his morning bum change...

He pointed to Hubby..."you're number 1"

Then to himself... "I'm number 2"

Then to his younger brother (2yr old)..."Brian's 3"...and followed that with "...and Mummy's 4"

So Hubby asked..."why is Mummy number 4 and not number 1 or 2?"..."Cos she's a girl"

Interesting....

He'd said something similar the other night, but Daddy was 1,Mummy 2,he was 3 and Brian 4...and the odd other time he's said he was 1 and Brian was 2...so I think he's realised roughly what place is his, altho i'm not keen on being number 4 personally just cos i'm a "girl" LOL

But i'm interested to see how this is developing in his little mind and they way he's describing it in a way he understands.

Don't talk to me about front wings

The Red Bull Racing Wing-gate debacle might have mostly calmed down by now, but Vettel, Webber,Horner,Marko and Mateschitz have no idea how easy they have it being short of just one PMSL

Yeah I AM joking...theirs is a multi-million industry...I'm just whinging about £1 cars

So what do I mean? Well we have 2 small boys, both adore cars, both are quite hard on toys. I would love to get them collectable items for the future but I know they would want to play with them and unwittingly destroy them...so the local £1 shop had something close

A "Ferrari", a "Renault" and a "McLaren" were bought for each kiddie (total cost of £6)

  

But boys will be boys as the saying goes....within 24 hours we had...

Long story short, after many broken wings (cue Mister Mister music) and a bit of doctoring to make the space we now have...

Yes that IS a little lego soldier in the "McLaren" and Peppa Pig in the "Ferrari", and only one front wing...

The downforce would be really sh*t on these cars LMAO

19th July

Yeah, i know, i've lapsed again LOL

Been busy with accident prone kids,trying to fnd things to do for them in rainy weather and still knitting things

Currently making a doll for my friends wee girl...doll also has a doll using the knitted self pattern found here

knitted self blank

Many thanks to Deadly Knitshade for her pattern...i can see me using it a few times more...maybe even attempt it with the suggested 4 needles LOL

In other news the RBR forum has been interesting...Unicorns and other hillarities have evolved from trying to lighten the odd thread...unless you've read it this will mean nothing, credit to Alex and C80yd for the artwork

food

Children are such fikkle things when it comes to food

The other evening we went round to a friends house for a BBQ...yes it's actually warm and sunny enough for one of those things in Scotland just now

Anyway...G ate virtually nothing, a few cherry tomatoes and i dont think much else, B did eat a bit of burger and a whack of cucumber...funnily enough when the ice-cream came out they both devoured the delectable treats

But that is not something out of the ordinary as my boys will happily much on things one day and dislike them with a passion the next...they always seem to do well at breakfast and the rest of the day can be hit or miss.

G ADORES broccoli...yes broccoli...i cannot go down the veggie ailse in Asda without him asking for it, tomato soup is another love and he will eat a whole tin at a time...yet most meals he will sit there and fuss for ages sometimes picks,sometimes devours sometimes eats nothing...i have decided that if he asks for something before i go shopping then that is what he gets for his dinner, so far it seems to be working and he usually eats quite well those evenings.

Another fikkleness thing...they always want to eat off YOUR plate, even if what is on theirs is EXACTLY the same...and why is it when you give them something they wont touch it (gammon steak)...but they insist that the bits of yours that you slice off and give them is "nummy"....give them it on their plate the next time "ah dont like it" GGRRRR lol.

And try and steal something off THEIR plate and it's a whole different screeching ball game "NO DADDEEE THATS MIIIIIIINE"...well you were not even eating that slice of nectarine and it had been sitting there for 30 mins while you farted about with the toy car on the sofa...he thought you were finished LOL

1st July 2010

Bumps and Bruises

Oh dear,where do we start

Yesterday G and B were play scuffling, G pushed B and Bs nose connected with the edge of the coffee table! thank gawd the corners have rubber protection do-dahs on them.

So little B starts wailing and then the blood starts trickling...wipe and trickle...wipe and trickle...errrr think we'd better get this one checked out.

Trundled to the new hossie (that escapade is another post in itself) and booked him in. All this time he's hiding his face under his hat and thankfully the bleeding had stopped of it's own accord...I have a feeling he KNEW he was going to get prodded LOL. Nice Dr B was on duty that day...evil doctor shoved evil lighted looking thing up Bs right nostril...much wriggling and screeching ensued (Mummy had a good firm grasp with one arm curled round arms and chest the other round the forehead)

Thankfully Doc feels fine with it, slightly inflamed probably due to his cold and thats maybe why it bled so easily...at 2 yrs old a nose is unlikely to break as it's mostly cartilage but it's always better to be safe even though there is really nothing they can do if it WAS broken.

Half a punnet of strawberries later confirmed that little B was fine, but he missed his afternoon nap...6.30pm, an hour earlier than his normal bedtime preperations, and it was too quiet...went for a nosy and the wee mite was fully clothed couried round his teddy sound asleep on his bed.

He wasnt happy that Mummy had to fuss him and change his rump and get his PJs on...well i couldn't leave him in a nappy he'd already had on for 4 hours and hope it would last another 13 or so, and belted jeans tshirt fleece and trainers are not the best sleeping attire. It woke him up enough till i'd got his brother ready too and they had their bedtime milk.

They joys of having boys eh? LOL

28th June 2010

Darn it...i will get one of these things going eventually LOL

so...what can i blether about...ah the European GP from Valencia, the footie and some tennis

I'll set the scene from yesterday...


2yr old B has put himself down for a nap, completely dead to the world with the manky Teddy in one hand (no chance of stealing to wash as his little vice-like grip is NOT for letting go) and the other hands thumb shoved in his gob

"The Chain" starts playing over the TV...."WRAY-SING CAAAAAHHHHHRRRSSSS" screeches the 3yr old G (he'll name that tune in 1 lol )

Jake is blethering away about McLaren when *tug tug* with acompanying radioactive aura of smell..."muh-meee...i done a pooopeeee"

wonderful (note the extreme use of sarcasm)...i'll spare the details tho LOL

the race starts and we're pointing out cars and naming drivers so the 3yr old knows a bit more...love the way he says "shoogahrrrmahkeurrr" lol, he IS getting better and recognising more cars and individual drivers...anyway, Webber pits early after he had a pretty naff start,dosnt go quite right and i hear movement from the 2 yr old...go to investigate

3yr old screeches "OH NO MUMMY...MARK WEBBER CRAAAAAASHED!!!"...nah...oh...replay...feck that was fast,...flings steering wheel (thanks to Rubens at Monaco we all know how expensive and hardwearing those things are), and gets out...PHEW and thank gawd to the designers of those cockpits, 20 years ago he would NEVER have been able to walk away with minor cuts and bruises

while said spawn are devouring cheese sarnies and pickled onion monster munch like the rabid munchins that they are... the race continues

Go Kobayashi...it was lap 50 odd and he still hadn't pitted...how on earth are you keeping those tyres running???

OMG, looking good Rubens!!! FOURTH place! Well done to the Williams team,you guys have been struggling with that underpowered Cosworth engine, sorry about Hulk, he definitely deserved better too.  I had joked about putting money on HRT or Virgin getting points after the other sports results over the week...wasnt too far out was I?  lol

At the end...yay for Seb, those points keep Red Bull up by the McLaren boys and keeps it interesting... thank gawd Webber is fine,how the h*ll he can be relaxed enough for an interview with the beeb?

I hope in 20 years or so to be looking up at one of those podiums thinking "that's MY boy/s"...Frau Schumacher should know what i mean LOL

Mahoosive snickers at Kbayashi overtaking Aonso, Sauber beating the works Ferrari was most titilating.

TV turned over,no red button forum for us as the footie was on and hubby wanted to watch,even the end of the standard beeb program was lucky to be seen and the start of the footie was sky+ed...i gather from twitter that all tv dudes at valencia had a power problem so it was cut short anyway,only about 12 mins of the usual hour...conspiracy dudes suggest they all wanted to watch the footie...Jake Humphrey protests this is not true of couse LOL

But needless to say being a Scottish household we did snicker mightily and the 2nd German overpowering display of the day...jokey texts/tweets/facebook status updates ensue...half my feeds are Scots swapping laughing remarks about the poor show from the English team, the other half are in general complaining about the really pooey showing the boys made (i've toned down the extreme disgust that was voiced)

What they need to do is be more Scottish...we don't go to the footie EXPECTING to win...if anything we HOPE to win but EXPECT to lose...we go for the party...win/lose we celebrate/commiserate...who cares lets PAHHHRRRTTAAAYYYY

If you havnt seen them yet the Irn Bru adverts are looking good...Bruzil 2034 PMSL, love the tongue in cheek humour

The tennis has been watched but not the same amount...Murrays done okay so far,getting thru easy enough, almost shocking results for Federer and Nadal...and dear gawd an 11 hour game,with over 200 aces,ending 60/58 in the final set !!! I know they'll change the rules and bring in some tie-break for the final set...shame really as if anyone looks like they could end up getting close,they should be allowed the chance to beat the record...altho i dont know if anyone would really want to, and those footie nancies get paid silly money to ponse about for 90 mins and think they've done a hard job (the F1 boys get away with large salaries in my mind for danger money and the massive gforces they cope with)

And now to silverstone...last year it clashed with my then 1yr olds first birthday (his party started at 3pm after qualifying lol)...this year it's the local Harbour Gala on the Sunday...sorry boys,but you're not old enough yet to really appreciate standing around for ages in the probable pouring rain for a brief glimps of a helicopter and a doughnutting lifeboat...we can picnic in the living room with a 42" tv and surround sound :-)