Sock Monkey Hat & Scarf Pattern

A few of you have asked for a pattern to follow to make a hat and scarf for your sock monkeys, or equivalent sized toys.
As mentioned in my previous posting I followed a pattern given to me by the lovely Claire aka 3tabbycats from the money saving expert sock monkey thread. I contacted Claire and she has kindly give me permission to post her pattern here:

The pattern was given with instructions to use 4mm needles, I only had 4 1/2 mm needles to hand so I used those.

Hat
Cast on 28 stitches ~ knit 2 ~ purl 2 until it measures about 25cm, cast off.


Fold this in half and from the wrong side stitch up each side to make a rectangular pouch.

From the wrong side again at the place that is going to be the top of the hat you can either leave this as it is and add two pom pom's ~ one to each corner (on the outside), or like I did you can gather the top of the hat by sewing a running stitch (using the same wool) along the top inside and gathering it in.

Scarf

Cast on 8 stitches ~ knit 2 ~ purl 2 until it measures about 50cm and cast off.

Pom Pom

For the pom pom the outer circle of card is cut about 2.5 cm in diameter and, for the middle circle about 1.75cm (or draw around a 5p piece) ~ remember you need two of these. Wind the wool onto the circles with a wool needle to make it easier and neater.

You can now add either tassels or pom poms to your finished creations and voila, a miniature hat and scarf!

I must admit my hat was a tad on the large side for my monkey, but this was because I used the larger needles and the pattern is intended for a ladies sock sized monkey and not a childs sock (which is what I used).

Thanks again to Claire for the instructions x

Back Soon

Kandi

x

Saturday, Shopping and Knitting

Yesterday I finally finished knitting my little sock monkey a hat and scarf. I think they look so much better finished off with accessories. I am not a knitter it has to be said, but I followed some really simple instructions from the brilliant 3tabbycats on MoneySavingExpert, Sock Monkey Thread and came up with a little hat and scarf in no time (well, more like a couple of hours!), here he is all finished and ready for the next frost;

He was my only make this weekend so far, I have been putting off sewing until I got a rotary cutter as I have some small bits I want to cut and my eyes and scissors are just not cutting straight and I don't want to waste any more material (I lost my temper with some wonky felt on friday... I really must get a life).

Anyway shopping yesterday I found a lovely little craft shop which is close to where I live and it was a little treasure trove. In the main it has loads of stuff for cardmaking and scrapbooking, but there were sections for sewing and jewellery making along with lots of tools and bits and bobs. I was rather suprised at the prices as I thought they were very reasonable, the lady who owns it mentioned that she is a crafter and she tries to keep her prices as low as possible as she knows how expensive these hobbies can be (ain't that the truth)! This was my stash from there yesterday, including a rotary cutter;

I have left all the prices on, rotary cutter £8.45, Craft Pliers £3.95, Eyelt Plier £4.25, the cotton at the front was 30p a spool! The craft pliers are infact a crimping tool which I paid £8.95 for recently so I bought this one for my friend, at that price I couldn't not. In addition to this they run a loyalty card scheme every £10 you spend you get a stamp and fill up the card for money off.

Anyhoo, if you live in or are visiting Northumberland this little shop is Crazy Crafters, 1 Poplar Bulidings, Ashington, Northumberland (opposite Wetherspoons Pub ~ Rohan Kanhai).

Following on from my craft haul I scoured the charity shops and came away with this top for £1.50, it's not something I would wear but thought I could make it into something, it's a boden kaftan type top and it's a size 20 so plenty of material to go at.

Nb. I don't hang my tops out to dry like this it's only for the sake of the picture, my Nanna would be turning in her grave to see a top hung on the line, it was drummed into me ~ 'If you wear it on the top hang it from the bottom, if you wear it on the bottom, hang it from the top'... I really, really must get a life....

Now what to make with this material.........

Back Soon

Kandi

x

Sunny Fridays, and Monkeys...

I have had a rare day off work today, last day of the kids school holidays (hooray!).

What a beautiful day it was too, the sun was shining all day and I felt like I was wasting my day sat at the kitchen table with the sewing machine.

I started making my mam a new peg bag and I needed it finished by Sunday so I had to get stuck in. My last peg bag was quite cute but this one was much more simple (hope she likes it):

Once this was done, as the machine was out I made a little sock monkey, I did the machine sewing in double quick time and then took all my bits out into the garden to finish it off, dragging the kids out with me (kicking and screaming to be parted from their beloved computers!).

Here he is all done and dusted:

I think I had better knit him a little hat and scarf, whilst catching up with my soaps tonight!

Back Soon

Kandi x