Oooh how exciting - I've won an award!

I was very pleased today to be told that Homecrafts had chosen my blog as the NUMBER ONE top crafting blog! You can check out the other blogs here, and meanwhile - do please partake of a cocktail with me!

cocktail kat

Christmas crafts tutorials from Homecrafts

Homecrafts (remember my pirate meerkat was a prizewinner there?) sent me these tutorials to share with you = enjoy! Click the pic to browse their site to find the ingredients!

Yarn competition: What did I make?

Remember the competition I told you about? Homecrafts sent me a box of yarn with the challenge to design and make something. I wasn't allowed to use any additional resources except for stuffing and wire...so I've been busily working.

I knew that the mottled wool would work as a meerkat, but because it was much thicker than the yarn I generally use I tweaked my pattern and made a new size, shown below with my big 11" kat and the normal 7" size:

I rather like the natural fur effect of the new yarn. I used the black for ears and eyes and tail end, and the plain cream for the highlight in his eyes.

Next I had to decide how to use the other yarns to dress him. I had pirates on my mind - did you see I was part of the Guinness Book of Records Challenge for most pirates on Hastings Beach? So I thought the black red and green would work well as a pirate's outfit. No additional resources - so no earring! 

I liked how the scarf turned out. I wasn't entirely sure how he'd want to wear it, so made a row of ear-sized holes all along the top edge. Once he'd decided where his ears would go, the end of the scarf could pull through one of the other holes and hold it fast. See the jagged edges of his trousers? 

I was very pleased to find I only used half the fur yarn, so of course had to make another meerkat! 

The multi-coloured sari yarn had screamed "coat of many colours" from the start, so here is Joseph Kat:

His coat is quite heavy, sari yarn isn't at all what I'd imagined it to be. It's really quite thick and solid, so I needed quite large needles. The colour blocks are random, some much bigger than others, but I think it works well as Joseph's technicolour dreamcoat!

Now all I have to do is wait to see what the other competitors have created with the same yarns, and discover how the winner will be chosen! 

Thanks for the challenge to Homecrafts!