Something a Little Different - Some Very Rambunctious Frogs

Finally a little knitted update

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Dear knitting Cabbage Heads,

I have been using patterns by Claire Garland from Dot Pebbles Knit for most of these little animals. She has a fab Instagram account. Shoes are sadly not made by me but from various sellers on Etsy and I will be trying to learn how to do it myself eventually. Anyway enough of the preamble.

Apologies for the lack of updates, knitting outfits for many frogs at once is a tad time consuming.

I was at a bit of an impasse at as to what to knit next after my last project. I got some inspiration from Instagram and began knitting some slightly larger frogs using some DK yarn and 4mm needles instead of 4 ply and 2mm needles. It’s quite surprising how much bigger these stitches seem. I’m not keen on the mouth here, I think smaller stitches needed.

Large frog with small frog

I made two of these multicoloured larger ones. Seen above with a regular tiny sized frog in the pumpkin patch. That sent me searching my yarn stocks for other multicoloured yarns. And I found a set I’d ordered and barely used. It was acrylic, when I tend to prefer a natural yarn, but it needed using up and it’s a less expensive mistake if it goes wrong.

I quite liked them, adding arms made them rather expressive and I rather like that. Gone is the innocence of those first pics, and they are seeming a little wriggly and cheeky now.

Next up legs, I had a feeling once they got them they were going to be hard to control. I admit I got a bit bored of making arms and legs and eventually the 3 frogs who had to wait the longest staged a protest. Purple frog was the cheekiest ring leader.

Grabbing their appropriate balls of yarn they perched next to me chanting ‘What do we want? LEGS! When do we want them? NOW!’ So I was obliged to begin the legs production line again. Once fully limbed they were rather difficult to control and I spent quite a while trying to contain them. The picture took a bit of a beating, and they stole those pumpkins from the rabbits. Tut tut, much head shaving ensued. Eventually, I rounded them up, sat them all down and promised them attire if they behaved.

It wasn’t all plain sailing and we had a couple of accidents along the way. This poor soul was sat upon by my ample bum and came out a bit flat. I gave him cpr and he’s fine now, stuffing all redistributed properly again.

And then this happened. I’m always losing my darning needles. But this was probably a little extreme. I was interrupted while sewing by the neighbour needing help rescuing a stray chicken, not one of ours. When I came back I realised I’d put my sewing needle somewhere ‘safe’. Safe for who though? Safe for who? The mice looked on in trepidation, glad they were solid and this could never happen to them. I think I’ve gone down in their eyes.

Once aware of the situation two of the others came to help.

So soon it was time for dressing up. Jumpers, hats, cardigans, dungarees, shoes etc. Luckily clothing seems to keep them still and much more well behaved.

These frogs have been named beautifully by a friend left to right, and I’ve given them mini identities - Lavender - a skateboarder dude, Chilli - , Nutmeg - a singer/songwriter, Parsley - going on a picnic to consider her new novel she’s writing, possibly about witch craft, Thyme - on a learning journey, and Cinnamon - an artist. I’m sorting out all their accessories - I.e. a basket for Chilli and Parsley, something cool for Nutmeg etc. These particular frogs will be up for adoption eventually over on my Etsy page or via here privately. I’ve no idea if they will take off or not. Comment here or message me if interested.

So that’s me signing off for now, till next time. If you have any suggestions for photo opportunities for the tribe, or any ideas for other animals you’d like to see let me know below. I do post updates on Notes more regularly if you want more regular updates.

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