Flutterby Patch

Cousins in dollyland (blog 9)

If you have been following the travels of the flutterby patch blog-trotting sheep you will remember they have been staying in Ohio (USA). But now they have been invited to visit little Eli and their woolly cousins in Iowa who live with an ever growing family of cute knitted dolls. As they don't have an ocean to cross (thank goodness), they have decided to walk all the way to the next blog Knitting Tree.

However, their journey has barely started when they bump into a couple of items that appear to be lost.

The basket doesn't interest them much, but the sheep all agree that the strange black monster requires further investigation.

Brave Chalky climbs inside the monster's mouth but is afraid it might swallow him so he quickly climbs onto the long pole hoping to escape the ferocious jaws.

Suddenly he slips down the pole and with a loud 'SNAP' the jaws open even wider.

Now all three sheep are swallowed up and trapped inside. What a disaster!

A gust of wind spins them round like laundry in a washing machine.

They twirl and twist and then are suddenly tipped out.

"Perhaps it's not such a bad monster " says Chalky "it will make a great shelter from the wind and rain."

Eventually curiosity gets the better of Charcoal and he climbs onto the basket and tries to lift the lid.

But his efforts are unsuccessful and so Chalky suggests giving him a helping push.

With Chalky's help, Charcoal is able to open the lid and excitedly calls to the others that the basket is full of knitting wool.

What fun! Chalky and Rose join Charcoal in the basket and nestle down into the soft yarn.

And what a snug little house it makes.

The black monster, who all this time has been watching them, suddenly takes a mighty leap.

It's black handle catches hold of the basket 

and before the friends can jump out of their new home they are lifted skyward.

And it seems another journey has begun.

Will the flutterby flock reach Iowa safely?

To be continued - the 10th and final journey will follow shortly.

Meanwhile if you want to knit your own little flock of sheep my pattern can be found here.

Until next time
Eli.

The woolly wandering continues (blogs 7 and 8)

You might remember that back in May we had fun following the flutterby sheep (Chalky, Charcoal and Rose) on their blog trotting adventures around the world. At each blog they met a new woolly friend the idea being that they should travel 'around the world in 10 blogs'.

Their first trip was to Ivory Blush Roses in north America where they met Fred

Trip number two involved a rough ocean voyage to Tasmania where they spent a happy time with dolly Beth and her woolly friend at Little Jenny Wren.

Three was a long balloon trip to Belgium where a sweetie named Daisie was waiting to greet them at Cats and Quilts.

Four - a lengthy trip on a magic carpet transported the threesome to North Carolina where Billy and Miss Kitty entertained them for a while at Cats, Crafts and Penguins.

Trip five was back to Australia in a giant bubble. The sheep were pleased to land safely and spent a quiet few days with Shee-Baa and Lam-Baa at their blog Still at Home.

At the end of May the flutterby sheep travelled with some adventurous penguins on an iceberg all the way from the Southern Ocean to Dublin in Ireland. And it is here that they have spent the summer with their cousin Aaaa-shling and pretty Bo at Wee Cute Treasures.

But the time has come to move on again and the flock have been invited to .... well let's find out...

Total confusion! The sheep cannot understand their invitation to visit a blog in Dublin because they are in Dublin already (Dublin in Ireland)....

Problem solved, they turn the card over and find it is a different Dublin. The invitation is from Dublin, Ohio in the USA.

They will travel to Life of a Domestic Disaster. So out comes the trusty atlas.

A quick look at the map and the friends realise they have another large ocean to cross...not a happy prospect. Rose says she will never travel on a raft again. Chalky insists he will never sit on another magic carpet and Charcoal refuses to travel via balloon or bubble. So how will they reach Ohio?

"Anyone need a ride to America?" the sheep recognise a familiar voice.

They look up and see the penguin friends that brought them to Ireland on an iceberg.

"Our iceberg is moored in the harbour and is ready to sail if you want to travel with us" the chief penguin said. "We are going to America ourselves before heading back to the snowy lands in the south."

The flutterby sheep were happy to accept the offer of a ride and jumped on board. As the iceberg set sail Charcoal watched the lush green pastures of Ireland disappear into the distance. Another journey had begun.

Thankfully the penguins were experienced sailors and before long the three sheep were transported safely to America and were heading off to Dublin, Ohio to see Charlie and Kate at Life of a Domestic Disaster.

The penguins meanwhile were bound for upstate New York to visit their friends at the blog Northern Crow Country. If you are wondering why they are pulling a large cart full of wool just take a look at their smartly dressed cousins on the Northern Crow blog. Wouldn't you want to own waistcoats like that if you were a penguin? The yarn will all be put to good use that's for sure.

Further blog-trotting adventures following soon.

Until next time,
Eli

Festive thoughts

You might remember last week I told you I was I feeling rather autumnal. Well friends, today you find me feeling distinctly festive. The reason....

I just happened to be loitering outside the local fabric store (as you do) when my eye was drawn to some delicious silver and gold fabrics. It's a warm sunny summery day today but on seeing these I was immediately transported to mid December and could definitely detect the scent of pine needles in the air. I had to buy a small selection of course.

On arriving home I matched the fabrics to my various trims.....

and was closely watched by some little faces waiting patiently to be made into Christmas fairies. It's never too early to start thinking about Christmas is it?