Still Working on New Pilgrim Hat

I have a new hat drying right now (on an upside-down votive candle for the shape) and will try to chain stitch a white area around the base, then add a chain-stitched buckle in gold and will see how that looks. It is A LOT bigger and this may not be a good thing! I will probably knit another a little smaller and see how that works.
The first hat was knit with two-strands of New Zealand 2-ply (dk weight) yarn held together and I cast on 36 stitches for the brim, working from the outside to the inside.
The second hat I used a Cascade very thick yarn (will have to check the label again) only one strand and cast on 48 stitches. This I think made the brim too wide and so I let it felt for a really long time, trying to shrink it more. It did become very sturdy! But I think it may still be too large, which tells me that 42 stitches probably would have been just right.
I'm sorry I didn't get to knit at all in the hospital yesterday while waiting for my Dad's surgery, as I thought I would. They kept moving us around from room to room, so I never could settle in and pull out all my stuff. I was going to start working on the pickle, which I will try to do tonight! The idea intrigues me, although my poor Rebecca doll lays forlornly on my dresser, quietly calling out to me, "I need arms and legs and clothes... I need arms and legs and clothes ... please don't forget about me!"
And to make matters worse, the pattern and yarn came in for the Lula doll!!! .... meanwhile, the playmat part of the Knitted Farmyard (which, by the way, is an incredible book) is still very bare, as I have only completed two corn fields and half a meadow in this giant landscape! I have enlisted Kent's help. He will now be the official yarn cutter, as I need TONS of different sizes of yarn cut for me to latch into the rug canvas. Once I get a rhythm going with latching pieces, I can run through a stack pretty quickly and I find it completely irritating to have to stop and measure and cut more.
Not to mention Alan Dart's Dickensian Mice, which I've started and his Knights, which I've almost started. (I say almost, as I needed the needles and had to take off the poor knight's foot and leg.) And of course, last (and certainly least), Randy's socks.
More later ...
More later ...

Felted Turkey

Here's a front view of the turkey. I think his Pilgrim hat may be a bit too small ... I may try to knit another ... in the meantime, I will work out the details on this pattern and post it soon.

Felted Turkey with Face

I wet felted the beak and gobbledy-thingy (what is that called, anyhow??) and stitched it onto his face with one strand of embroidery floss. Then I used black yarn and satin stitched his eyes, but they didn't look right. SO, I then outlined them with white yarn. I'm still not thrilled with this look. Any suggestions?? I used a piece of chunky, black yarn for his tie.

Added Color to Wings

I went back and folded his wings in half each, then used mattress stitch with the same yarn I used for his tail on the edges of wings to close them up. They didn't really need any stuffing. This yarn is very thick. I'm considering needle felting his features. I'll see how that goes.

Felted Thanksgiving Turkey (First Attempt)

Here is my first attempt at making up a knitting pattern for a Thanksgiving Turkey (note his Pilgrim hat). I'm still working on how I want to do his face/beak and red gobbledy-thingy, so sorry he has no expression as yet!

For the tail, I just used a multi-colored yarn that looked Fall-ish to me, but you could easily change colors and knit a bit of brown in the center, then red, then orange, then yellow, or any other combination you like.

For the end of the tail, I increased in every stitch, as if for a ruffle, then on the next row I knit two together all around. I ended with crochet bind-off, but you certainly wouldn't have to do that. In fact, if you just knitted two or more rounds before you decreased, then went on to bind off in the usual way, you should still get a ruffle.

Again, if anyone is interested in the pattern, please let me know. I'll be happy to post it.

If you have any thoughts/suggestions, also please email me and let me know! I wasn't sure if I should try for legs ... Any opinions would be welcome. I'm also thinking maybe I should embroider something around his wings, as they sort of fade into his body ... and a tie around his neck or maybe embroidered buttons? hm....

Jane West Compared to Humpty Dumpty and the Funny Face Soft Drink Cups

I found Jane West this afternoon up in the attic. As you can see from this photograph, she is in pretty good condition. She's almost mint. This is because, as you might remember from my previous post about Jane, that I never played with her. On the other hand, sitting next to her is my favorite stuffed toy of all time. Humpty Dumpty. When Humpty was new (I got him when I was about 4 years old ... I needn't mention how old he is, but let's just say he's definitely 40-something), he sported a small, golden felt crown, felt hands with five fingers each, a darling little felt face and inside were chimes! Behind his crown he had an elastic band from which you could bounce Humpty up and down and his chimes would ring merrily.
He looks a lot different now, obviously, but like the Velveteen Rabbit, he certainly was loved.
In front of Jane and Humpty are what's left of my Funny Face "soft drink" cups. Remember Funny Face? Kind of like Kool-aid. Here we have (from left to right) Freckle Face Strawberry, Goofy Grape (1969) and a later addition (from 1974) With-It Watermelon (however, I remember him being Wacky Watermelon, but all my research says otherwise). Sadly, we never got Jolly Olly Orange or Rootin' Tootin' Raspberry. As you can see, these are badly dishwasher scarred. My own children loved to drink out of them. One day, I realized they were starting to lose their color and sprout tiny cracks in their plastic ... so I retired them to the upper shelf of the cabinet.

The Return of the Pumpkin People

Well, last summer I rescued the pumpkin people from the trash. Yes, I almost threw them away. The first year I made them and put them up, they looked great. They were based on directions given in a Martha Stewart Living Magazine (or maybe it was her Halloween book). Anyhow, that year, I was so proud of them. A neighbor even told me that her child's walk was not complete until she took him to look at the "pumpkin people." Of course, that year I also put them up at the beginning of October so there would be lots of time to enjoy them.
Then last year came and nobody helped me. My eldest daughter was off at the university ... and she was the one who usually would help. I went ahead and bought the bales of straw, but I just couldn't do it all by myself. I put them up without stuffing, but they looked terrible.
Then, this summer, as I was cleaning up the yard, I found them behind some bushes. I went so far as to put them directly into the trash can (sans heads, though, which I thought I'd keep anyhow) ... but then, as our garbage day approached, I couldn't do it. I pulled them out of the trash and set them behind our privacy fence. Well, they did take an incredibly long time to construct! How could I just stand there and throw them away?? What was I thinking? Was I crazy or something???
Anyhow, I was sure this year the ground would be too hard for me to even try to get them in ... then it rained last week! It rained for four days straight!
SO, today, with Kent's help, we stuffed their outfits and put them up! They are extra scary this year, too, as they had stayed outside all year (and not in the shed as usual). Lots of spider webs and roly-poly bugs and earwigs and coccoons are in their clothing. The straw, a year old, is full of strange creatures, too!
If you look closely, you'll notice the pumpkin woman wears a purple scarf. This is one of the first things I ever knitted! She's missing all her stuffed crows, as they looked too gruesome to use. I left them outside all year, too. What a shame! I was just too tired last year, I guess ... I think her broom is up in the attic. I'll have to go check. The first year, I also hung a battery-operated lantern on her arm. This was great Halloween night so nobody would walk into the pumpkin people on the way to our front door.
Happy Halloween!