In my Dutch blog I tell about making a Mouse Mansion for my knitted mini mouses. An English translation is available in the second section of the blog on Elzeboom. Alice
Building a Mouse Mansion
Leave a reply
Polly Plum cushions
On Facebook I saw some of the patterns from Polly Plum. Sometimes she gives a free downloading. So I downloaded Afghan block Letitia and made a cushion cover from it
.
The blocks are made with Stylecraft special DK in the colors Midnight, Duck egg, Empire. White, Cornish Blue, Vintage peach and Tomato. The blocks are sewed together with empire and the edge is also made with empire and midnight.
Also an other block of Polly Plums designs, a bit smaller, is transformed in a cushion cover with 9 squares. I couldn’t find the original pattern anymore in my documentation. But the colors and yarn are the same as in the Letitia cover. Only this time I made a special add of my own to the design. I added crocheting a circle of chain stitches around the center of the block. So the block becomes more 3D. Later on I made also a round of flower leaves on round 2, that stand out.
.A few years ago I made the fools in love collection of Polly Plum and sewed them together to a nice cushion cover. Alice
Knitting Mouse Sam
Mouse Sam is the third mini mouse I am knitting and its making goes better then in the other mouses. Knitting is not so troublesome anymore. I know were it gets tricky.
Sam is a main character in The Mouse Mansion from Karina Schaapman, the designer. He is also the friend of mini mouse Julia
This time I was knitting the pieces of the mouse a bit different. In the Muizenhuis Breiboek is suggested to knit an edge stitch to the pieces. So now each beginning and ending was knitted with a knit stitch. The pieces become more flattening. and are much easier to sew afterwards. But it is difficult to remember while knitting to do so.
But doing so in the ear pieces, this edging makes an irregular edge. By sewing the inner and outer ears together with the festoon stitch, It gives a messy edge.
I also changed the body yarn to another color, namely Scheepjes Sweet Treat – Linen – no 505. The color is a bit lighter than in the former mouses. In the Mouse Mansion, Sam is a friend of Julia and belongs to a different mouse family or tribe, so the different color is no problem.
It took me longer to finish this mouse. I had some problems with the skeleton and the attachment of the tail. This time I made some better thumbs and nose. Finishing and sewing cost more hours then knitting.
Meanwhile when sewing was not possible due to light conditions in the house, I knitted a jumper for the little guy. I used some leftover Schachenmayr Catania fine, but in the end, there was not enough yarn to knit sleeves.
The pattern of the sleeveless jumper is easy: Cast on 18 stitches on needles 2 mm, start with 3 rows of a border stich, Then 6 rows of stocking stitch. In the next two rows of ss, fasten of 2 stitches on each beginning of the row. Continue with 6 rows of ss and fasten of all stitches in the following row. Your front piece is ready, do the same with the back piece and sew them together on the sides and on each end of the neck. Your Jumper is finished!
Thanks for reading my blog. Alice
Fall into Autumn blanket – part 6 and 7
Part 6 in the Fall into Autumn blanket from Alice Tarry is all about fir cones. This part wanted a background of cream and brown for the cones. This part is also made in the mosaic crochet technique. I was not acquainted with this kind of crochet and there was a problem with my supply of Yarn. So I skipped therefore this part of the pattern and give it a try of my own.
Because part 6 also has to be crocheted in two bands on both side of the blanket, mine supply of yarn was not sufficient. So I decided to rehearse the pattern of the first middle part of the blanket instead of the fir cones. But with a twist of myself.
About the pattern called a carpet of leaves from part 1 you can read in this blog 1
I decided to use this pattern with my leftovers, creating colorful leaves of my own. The leaf pattern repeat its self and is 6 stitches wide. For the background I used Stylecraft special DK Toy. Because in autumn fallen leaves are mostly of different colors I used two colors in each band. The leaves are made about 6 stitches instead of 7 or 8 in the former band of part 1 and original pattern.
Then it was time to finish the blanket with an edging.
Part 7 is all about an edge around the blanket. In the original blanket an edge of leaves is made on each short side, But I skipped this. I made an simple edge using the last yarn balls and leftovers, that I had in my yarn box. Whenever possible I followed the edge pattern of the blanket.
Then there were a lot of threads to finish. Also some poppies has to be crocheted and attached to the blanket. I am very satisfied with the outcome. I hope you like mine Fall into Autumn Blanket. Alice
Fall into Autumn Cal by Alice Tarry
Used colors from Stylecraft special DK:
Lipstick, toy, stone, green, khaki, cream, gingerbread, plum, sage, sunshine, walnut, gold, grass green, mustard and some leftover balls and hook 4.0 mm.
Fall into Autumn blanket – part 5
After the berries and basket, there is a field of pumpkins between green hedges in part 5 to make. With a special stitch you can make a lot of pumpkins. Between the Pumpkin Puffs you have also to crochet a chain of 3 stitches and skip 1 stitch on the former row.
PP: Pumpkin Puff; (yrh, insert into first st, pull up a loop the height of a tr) 3 times (7 loops on hook), (yrh, insert into 2nd st, pull up a loop the height of a tr) twice (11 loops on hook), (yrh, insert into 3rd st, pull up a loop the height of a tr) 3 times (17 loops on hook), yrh pull through 16 loops, yrh pull through two loops.
In the next row with green you have to crochet a dc (Eng.) stitch in the PP stitch top (in the pattern English terminology is used) between dc stitches around the chains of the former row. There comes a glimpse of green above the pumpkin, the stem.
Then with brown the field background is made with standing stitches. (see pattern)
Mine two rows of pumpkins stitches in orange and yellow, didn’t protrude very much after crocheting them. So afterwards I made two long chains in orange and yellow and weaved it behind the PP stitches. The PP stitches then stand out more.
The last part of this blanket piece were a row of acorns, in several brown colors in a band of yellow (leaves). In mine blanket I used some ecru as background. My yellows were diminished after making the pumpkins.
This part 5 has to be crocheted on both sides of the Fall blanket. Alice
Fall into Autumn blanket – part 4
Part 4 is all about the fall season fruits. In part 4 you start with making baskets, or better one big basket. Using back loop and front loop stitches a layer with a weaving pattern is made in brown. In the picture it is the top layer.
The second layer is about berries. The background is green and the berries purple. The colors I choose where leftovers form other projects, they are not totally the same as in the written pattern. Tarry choose honey for the basket, green for the background and plum for the berries. To make the berries you have to crochet a lot of bobble stitches.
The terminology in the pattern is English. When used to American names it can be confusing.
Bobble: (yrh, insert hook into st, yrh, pull up a loop, yrh, pull through two loops) 4 times in same st, yrh, pull through all loops on hook.
With dark brown the stems of the berries are crocheted in the next rows.
Then there follows a layer with dark green and alternating red berries with white stems. The red berries are also bobble stitches.
It was puzzling to make the layers from this point on. I used leftovers from Stylecraft special DK available in my stash. And because you have to make the layers on both ends of the blanket, a small amount of yarn is not enough to make a layer. But I managed.
So up to part 5, that is all about pumpkins, Alice
Fall into Autumn blanket – part 3
Last Year in January 2025, I became occupied with other things and I couldn’t add more postings about the Fall into Autumn blanket, that was on my hook. But between doing the other things I was still crocheting the blanket. Part 3 was under way and this part was all about toadstools and fungi.
The used yarn for the blanket is Stylecraft Special DK in the colors lipstick, toy, stone, green, khaki, cream, gingerbread, plum, sage, sunshine, walnut, gold, grass green and mustard. These colors where all in my stash!
First there was to crochet a purple band with white dots resembling the white puff toadstools you encounter in the woods and meadows. Then came a green band with the red and white toadstool, commonly known as the fly agaric. The white dots were made by Bobble stitches. There is a video about this part.
In the red cap of the toadstools there were white dots embroidered, but the method used was something like sewing the dots afterwards on the caps. I didn’t do this but added the dots while crocheting, but they became not very visible. So I do not recommend this.
The toadstool part has to be worked on both sides of part 1 and 2. This picture was made when finished with part 3. Alice
Knitting Mouse Julia
After making mother mouse Anna with the pattern of the Dutch breiboek from the Mouse Mansion, I started with one of the sibling mouses. I choose to make Julia. Her pattern is somewhat different and smaller than Mother Anna.
Julia is the main character in the books and house. She experiences lots of adventures with her friend Sam.
I knitted first a dress for Julia, using the given pattern from the book. Julia dresses with a pinkish dress in the Mouse Mansion books.
The dress is knitted with a leftover from Katia Jaipur, not available anymore. This yarn is also very thin. I knitted the dress with needles 2 mm. Knitting was not a problem, but finishing the threads was. So I crocheted an edge in single crochet on the neck side of the dress to cover the threads. The dress is partly open on the backside, because mouses have tails.
Meanwhile I started with the legs and body of Julia on another pair of needles, 1,5 mm. I used the same yarn as in mother Anna. Thin cotton (Scheepjes Sweet Treat) in the main colors (Pink and Champagne).
In my first blog about knitting mouses I wrote about the difficulty of knitting 7 stitches from one cast on stitch by the legs and arms. In this mouse I cast on 7 stitches to start with the legs. later on I put my yarn needle through the seven stitches and attach them to the opposite side. I made a picture of it. By the arms I started with 9 stitches to form a little hand.
Also this time I attached the tailbone wire to the skeleton of the mouse. I Used adhesive sport tape to do this. You have to cut it a bit to make it work. Do this before stuffing!
In the next picture you see Julia stuffed, but not yet ready. In this phase still a lot is to accomplish. Knitting the tiny inner ears, embroidering the face, attaching the arms and finishing all the thread ends.
I also made some thumbs on the little hands. I had some trouble with the eyes, the beads I used for Mother Anna were far to big for Julia. I had to find some better beads. Luckily I found a pair in my stash. Beneath a picture of the almost finished mouses. Alice
Knitting mini Mouses 3
Mother mouse Anna is finished, I made her some clothes and embroidered her nose and mouth. The eyes are small round beads. This Mouse, according to the book an adult mouse measured 12,5 cm in height.
First I knitted a small top piece in coral yarn. I had to rip the first attempt, for I had not enough stitches casted on. Then I casted on more stitches and added an edge on each side in a garter stich pattern of 2 stitches. The main body was knitted in stocking stich. . The used yarn was Drops Flora unicolor, a very nice thin yarn. I knitted this piece on needles 2 mm. Making the armholes and a neck rim finished the piece. Then I made a small buttonhole with yarn loops and festoon stitches at the top of the right front panel, later on I added a small button on the other side.
With purple yarn ( Phildar pronostic + in color fuchsia) I made a skirt. I intendent to follow a pattern in the book. But choose to start at the top of the skirt by myself. I increased the stitches diffusedly from there several times so the skirt would widen. The back stayed open because of the tail.
In the back edges I knitted over 2 stitches the garter stitch pattern. In between I knitted tricot or stocking stitch. I think the skirt came out a bit too massive. Maybe this yarn is somewhat to thick or needles 2 to small. I finally made a buttonhole and button on the back and put some elastic in the waistband.
The last part of the clothes for my Mother Mouse was an apron with Drops Flora again. It didn’t come out the way I wanted, and is not totally finished. I still have to fasten a snap button on the apron strings on the back side.
The mini mouse needed whiskers. I had some fishing line in my stash and made a pair of whiskers. I joined them to the fabric with transparent nailpolish! Just use a drop and then move the whiskers trough the fabric a bit and it will seal them in seconds.
I hope you like my first Mouse Mansion Mouse. Alice
Knitting mini Mouses 2
Knitting on small needles is a challenge when you are knitting with slippery cotton. It took me four days to finish the first mouse and assemble all parts. Because of the soft colors I also needed some bright light or sunshine when I was knitting.
One of the problems I encountered had to do with the head-pieces. There were two parts to knit and they must be sewn together, but how was my problem. The description is not totally clear on this point and there were also very few pictures. So I had to figure it out in my own way. I hope it is correctly done. But I am not sure.
Also a skeleton has to be constructed. The book suggested electric wire, but that was not in my stash. I use mostly green coated iron wire, that is available in different seizes for use in the garden. So I made a skeleton with this wire. Because of the sharp points of the wire-piece, I bend these to a loop on the ends before adding in arms and legs. But now the color green became visible through the fabric of the arms and legs. My solution was to wrap some painting adhesive tape around the the wire.
The skeleton was also too large, so I bend the top forward and so a skull was made, now you can bend the head a bit. Then I stuffed the mouse.
Last part to add was the tail. Here also the wire had to made less visible by coating it with tape. A part of the wire must be putt firmly into the body. But this is a weak point of the construction. In the second mouse I attached the tail to the frame of the skeleton with some adhesive sport tape. In the first mouse I didn’t. This mouse has now problems with standing on smooth surfaces.
Sewing all the parts together is a delicate work. Luckily I had some experience with other dolls, but It could be better. I am not so proud of the result. Last task was embroidering the face, adding the ears and nose and find some eyes. I used two little round beads from my stash.
And then my first doll was born. Mother Anna I named her. Between knitting all the parts I also knitted some clothes, with thicker needles (2 mm) and other yarn. Maybe I write about this subject in another blog, Alice
Elzeblaadje 