Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Cuddle Creatures

 Here are some creatures that could use a little comfort, and maybe a cuddle.  I love knitting...especially when I can create something beyond a scarf! I was inspired to make my "Cuddle Creatures" by my friend Pam, who designs and knits her own line of the most adorable "monsters" ever!
I add an iron-on heart to the rear!
But I didn't want her exact specs, so that I could springboard into my own creations. Therefore, I had no idea how these would turn out! The first one, a little blue guy, was smaller, but my husband loves him, and even let him ride on a trip to North Carolina! Meanwhile, I was busy clicking my needles with a new idea--I would make a creature for everyone in the family for Christmas!
My littlest nephew walked in one day when I was working on a purple girl (she is made of lavendar-scented Sugar and Cream yarn)--he asked a million questions about what I was knitting, why was I knitting it, and what is knitting anyway? So cute. Then he asked if I would knit him a creature. He said he wanted something white with blue hair, and then this adorable six-year-old sat down and drew the face he wanted me to ultimately embroider onto his Cuddle Creature. It was an angry face, so I had to laugh--but I had my orders.

Lil Abe Ominable
As this big white guy with the angry face emerged, Sam and I decided that he was an abominable snowman! That was all I needed to write his story, "The Story of Lil Abe Ominable." Nicholas decided on green--so knitting his creature with a lime-scented yarn, he became Al E. Gator, and I wrote his story too. Then I created Christmas boxes for the boys and filled them with goodies, including  their hand-knit creatures and homespun stories. One of the new things I taught myself while creating these cuddly things was to knit an icord! I enjoy knitting icords so much, I just kept knitting them in different colors and came up with a whole new project I will share next. While my older nephew enjoys his alligator, the younger one sleeps with Lil Abe every night! There's nothing like stitching something you can dream with.

Eat, Write, Dream, and Stitch something cuddly!