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

Knitted penguins and an icy escape (blog 6)

The sheep are having a wonderful time on their blog-trotting tour around the world and will visit just 3 more blogs before heading home. If you would like a 'virtual' visit from the Flutterby flock and become part of this 'sheepy saga' please let me know as soon as you can.
JUST 3 MORE BLOG VISITS and the sheep will be coming home.

The story continues...

Against all the odds the Flutterby flock made it to Melbourne in their bubble and had great fun staying with their Australian cousins Shee-Baa and Lam-Baa. But all too quickly the time had come for them to move on again. Now they were bound for Ireland where their woolly cousin lived with Little Bo-Peep at Carol's blog Wee Cute Treasures. (Do pop in as Carol makes the sweetest little dolls).

And so, with the long journey to Ireland ahead of them, the three friends walked to the south coast of Australia where they played happily on the golden sands. Some picnickers had left a table and a gingham cloth and these they quickly made into a little tent, a useful shelter from the sea breezes.

As night fell the threesome huddled together inside their makeshift tent. A strong wind was picking up and as they drifted off to sleep they were lulled by the sound of the rolling waves.

As dawn broke the unhappy sheep woke to find a thick fog had descended and icy water was lapping round their shelter. During the night their little table-tent must have been carried away by the waves and now, surrounded by ice, it looked as if they were heading for Antarctica.

Shivering and cold Chalky wrapped this red and white Manchester United scarf around his neck. Charcoal put on his green scarf with the yellow stripes that reminded him of the fields back home and Rose chose her white scarf with a hint of sparkle and used the gingham cloth as a blanket. The scarves didn't help much. The shivering continued. What were they to do?  

"Need any assistance?" came a voice.
They turned and saw a penguin looking down at them from a passing iceberg. Then four more penguins appeared beside him.

"Where are you heading?" asked the first penguin.
"Ireland", Chalky replied.
"You'd better jump on board. We're going that way on our 'Pole to Pole' Expedition. We'll be passing Ireland as we travel north so we can drop you off".

It was an opportunity not to missed and without further encouragement the Flutterby flock clambered onto the penguins' iceberg. It was soon decided that the gingham cloth should be raised as a sail and with a strong wind behind them the voyage progressed full speed ahead.

It was a long way to Ireland from the Southern Ocean but with the penguins as navigators the sheep were confident they would arrive safely.

And so we leave them sailing toward a distant horizon. 

Blog-trotting to be continued..........

Until next time
Eli.

If you have knitted a sheep using my pattern and would like a 'virtual' visit from the Flutterby flock you can get details by clicking on the link in my sidebar entitled AROUND THE WORLD IN 10 BLOGS.

Knit a penguin

Measuring a little over 5 cm my penguins are short little fellows but very easy to knit. No shaping is required! Don't be put off by the number of illustrations as each step is very easy to follow.

You will need small amounts of DK yarn in white, black and dark yellow.

I used 2.75 mm needles (US size 2) to give me a nice firm knitted fabric. I didn't want to see white filling peeping through the black stitches.

Body and head: Using white yarn cast on 13 stitches and knit 12 rows. Then knit 1 row yellow and finally 6 rows black. Break yarn 15 cm from knitted piece and remove stitches onto this length of yarn using a large sewing needle (see above). Gather tightly to form top of head and secure firmly.

With wrong side facing over-sew the edges and then turn right way out. The penguin at this stage should fit snugly on your& forefinger.

Stuff the penguin to match the size he was when on your forefinger.

Neck: Run a length of black yarn under each black stitch just above the yellow row. Pull to form a neck and secure. You should find a small amount of filling will pop out at the bottom (see above). You don't need to replace this unless you feel your penguin isn't fat enough.

Legs: Pinch together the base of the penguin (front to back) and secure with a couple of white stitches in the centre to prevent filling falling out. Do the same from side to side but don't pull too tightly. Secure and break off yarn.

Beak: take a piece of yellow yarn approx 25 cm (10 in) long ans tie round sewing needle as shown above. Pull tight.

Do this three more times (pulling tight each time). Remove the needle. You have made a tiny beak which should have two tails of yarn attached.

Thread one of the yarn tails onto your needle and positioning your beak (2 rows above the yellow stripe) push the needle through to the back bringing it out just below the yellow stripe. Fasten off securely. (NB. The area at the back below the yellow stripe won't be visible when the penguin is finished so you can use this area to fasten off your stitching). Thread the second yarn tail onto the needle and thread through to the back as before. Now use this yarn to create two yellow eyes on either side of the beak (see above).

The cloak (makes wings and tail): With black yarn cast on 13 stitches and knit 15 rows. Break yarn 15 cm (6 in) from work and thread yarn onto needle. Pull the yarn to gather the cloak so it will fit round the back of the penguin's neck (from shoulder to shoulder). Stitch down neatly. Pinch together the bottom of the cloak (at the centre point) and place two stitches here to form a little tail which will be large enough for him to rest on when he is standing. Stitch the tail to the back of the penguin

Now lift the cloak at each side to make the wings protrude slightly and secure each one at the bottom. You have finished! Hopefully you will have made .......

a cute little penguin.