When you just have to hug a Mosasaur toys

When you just have to hug a Mosasaur, it is good to have one in reach.  Or a Spinosaurus, or a Brachiasaurus...  You know I like plastic dinosaurs, well I have a soft spot for those in particular, and they are scattered around my studio having all sorts of fun.  Having a few on my desk it is a bit like that scene in Firefly where Wash has them on his flight navigation console and is having a little mini episode while waiting for orders. 

This plastic one from Jurassic World has great jaw action, I have a very similar one on my desk that chews on pencils and fingers and just is a great thing to throw around while reading articles.  Esme even grabs it once in a while and tries to feed him a seashell when she is trying to get my attention.  The other is a plush and more huggable (but still has teeth!)  The teeth are very important for this toy and being able to chew on things.  And being plush it can more easily be tossed across the room in between episodes or during Minecraft excursions.

honeybee pattern

I was asked to work this up a few weeks ago, made design drawings, but had not begun the construction phase until yesterday.  I was feeling physically better from the flu that hit us over the weekend... and needed to take my mind off Sunday's other events and the echoing thoughts about not going to the funeral tomorrow on Thursday.

I think it turned out quite cute.

Changes would be to narrow the neck, enlarge the wings, and Esme says the legs are in the wrong order but that will be a difficult thing to change.

It Came from Outer Space

Alien Monster Doll by KnitOwl Toys

So many aliens! Just a note that we have nearly reached max capacity for holiday orders. The desk is a virtual cloning lab full of eyes, mouths and stuffed aliens.

CHRISTMAS ORDERS (custom make to order) will be halted on December 10th at midnight. We are also out of Turquoise color. Thank you to everyone and have a wonderful Christmas holiday!

Note: Ready-to-ship items in the store will still be available for Christmas shipping until December 15th.

Alien Invasions continuing this holiday season...

at the KnitOwl Toy Shop

All the usual suspects have been rounded up, thread, scissors, felt and stuffing for the holiday season crush. The KnitOwl is working in her workshop four days straight!

Handmade Bed Bug Back Pillow in Use with the Wii

Caterpillar Back Pillow
Shown in use while Mark plays the Wii.

They say sometimes your back hurts when you play the Wii. Mark has this game 'Rampage' he has been playing for a few days, and the Bed Bug is getting some use as a back pillow.


Esme watches intently as Daddy plays 'Rampage' on the Wii.

Esme LOVES to watch the game as the creature tears up buildings in a city. There are lots of noises and the monsters have silly antics.

Dragon Pillow

One of my workshop items was this dragon pillow. I'd planned a large bed pillow out of this nice red and white striped fabric. But not just any boring rectangular pillow - it had to be special and interesting, something unique. Mark helped me evolve the idea into something worth it's stuffing ;) This 30 inch wide dragon took about two hours to make and one yard each of the front and back fabrics. With 100% cotton ticking fabrics and good seams he should also survive the washing machine.


Shown on top of our plushy dragon blanket which also helped inspire it


Esme thinks it's an interesting toy too, with his curly tail, floppy arm and mouth full of teeth. Here she makes for good scale as she pages through a new board book.

I've been using the dragon as a head pillow at night the past few days as well. It makes me happy to make something that actually gets used. I think this dragon bears repeating. A couple of times maybe... in slightly different incarnations. Mark already says he needs one of his own because I'm monopolizing this one :)

Next: Purple bassinet quilt, more aliens and lots of fabric!

More Cotton Slug Attack pictures

More pictures of Mark and Esme with the cotton toy slug the other night. I really need to make more but won't get more time until this weekend. I've also got a request to make a 'plush foot' for a sandal company... which I've done one mockup for and need to make another.

Original Art and In the Toy Workshop again...

We're getting into the slow season at work - so I'll be spending a little more time in the workshop. I have a few patterns to PDF, and a few more I'd like to tweak into other forms. Up North we collected boxes of my old prints and sketchbooks from college. I've been posting those in the art shop a bit at a time.

These ones all have a similar art style and theme - from 2002-2003 while I was in college.


'Disarming Creatures'
ink sketch on paper

'Small Woman' original linocut print

'Medicine' 4 color screenprint

I'm also making up a box of toys to send to a craft art show in Iowa. I'm hoping to make up a few more elephunks (plush elephants) and slugs etc...



Wouldn't it be great to have a pile of blue or pink elephant toys?

Custom plush slugs in 6 colors

Got a whole box of printmaking stuff for rock-bottom clearance price lately as well. That was a great find, as I couldn't find the box with the good studio stuff up North. We also finally got my Mom's photo album back to her, which made her cry some. A few of my own personal photo albums, diplomas and personal treasures were in another box and it is nice to have those again too.

Elephants!

We'll be headed through the Twin Cities when the Republican National Convention is on - so Mark suggested we bring some KnitOwl elephants :) This is a new (sort of - I shrunk Bumblephant freehand) original pattern from KnitOwl (me!).


Showing some Stars and Stripes


Cool in Blue

A few more days until we head off on our trip!

Esme meets a Slug

New flock of plush Slug toys coming into KnitOwl toy shop!

It was love at first sight
or was that love at first bite?

And then of course the obligatory 'Om Nom Nom' followed...
(toy was rescued quickly)

Esme is getting so big! It's hard to believe she is almost 6 months old. She has been trying squash and sweet potatoes and bananas along with her cereal. It was quite cute today, she actually indicated to me she wanted her bottle of juice on the table while I had been feeding her bananas. She refused the spoon for a moment, leaned forward and made lots of noise in the direction of the bottle sitting on my side table. I picked it up and asked 'You want this?' Esme opened her mouth wide and made excited kicks clearly communicating 'Yes I want THAT!' It's wonderful to see her doing new things :)

Hippo Toy and Captcha

Mark read today that Google Blogger is now requiring TWO captchas (image verification stuff) to make a comment to a post. SHEESH! How hard do they have to make it to read blogs anymore?

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The other day at the fabric counter I bought a bolt of nice grey cloth. I was thinking elephants. Mark suggested hippos or rhinos. We were talking about a hippo mouth (kind of like the dragon) full of big flat teeth. Today I was over at Two Little Banshees and she is talking ab out making a hippo as well. It got me to sketching tonight about how to do that open mouth... all those teeth showing interest me :) Here is what I came up with.


Happy Toothy Hippo

Miscellaneous working sketches I like
Click to Enlarge

Arrr! Pirate LOLrus says Where's Me Bucket?

Pirate LOLrus says: Arrr! Where's Me Bucket? I'll keelhaul the blighter who stole me bucket!

Another Farkism collaboration from Mark and I ;)

Complete with hat, eyepatch and parrot

Don't worry Pirate LOLrus!


Nobody stole yer bukket silly lolrus - here it is ;)

This guy will be at KnitOwl custom toys shop!

How to Sew a Hooded Towel

Kelba unwillingly models a hooded towel

Click here for Instructions and more pictures on how to sew a hooded towel.

I made two of these towels last night! Kelba has become the 'clothes model' for anything medium sized ;)

Baby Update: At nearly thirty weeks I've finally reached that 'Uh-oh really can't bend/roll like that' phase - and sometimes she gets wedged uncomfortably in my right side and I have to lay down for a few minutes to try to coax her to the left. But she is active, especially in the morning and just before bed. Mark said she felt like she was 'dancing' in there last night as we were watching a movie.

And more little horses come clopping in:


Punk Rock Zebra!
Mark said one needed purple hair ;)

Rainy Day: New softie friends at KnitOwl

We're having major rain and thunderboomers today!
But that's okay - as I have lots of things to be sewing ;o) I've been staying up late and working on these in between other things. I also have a red alien half-done, and a few other things cut out to try.


6 inch pink bunny girl

9 inch sleepy blue bear

'Hopkin Green Frog' : SOLD! Thanks!