Pandas on knitwear

My love for Pandas inspired designs for knitwear.

A PDF knitting pattern is available from my Ravelry store for a pair of 4ply fingerless mitts with a panda holding a piece of bamboo across his tummy.  The gloves can be hand knitted in any 4ply weight yarn - wool, cotton or cashmere.  Knitting instructions include typed pages for the shaping and graph charts for both left and right mitt.

Panda fingerless mitts

The panda also features on a hand knitted cushion and it is surrounded by a circle of flowers similar to those shown in the graph below.  There are also flowers on the  back of the cushion, with a buttoned fastening in the centre.  A PDF knitting pattern for the cushion is also on Ravelry

The graph below shows a design which was used for the body of a child's cardigan/sweater.  A selection of different sizes were made for stores in the USA.

Graph showing pandas and flower design for child's sweater

Another panda glove pattern in my Ravelry store is for a pair of 4ply mitts with a panda's face on the front.  The palms of the mitts are plain.

Panda Face fingerless mitts

I don't have access to the real thing, so the photo below was taken from a non-copyright internet site. The panda looks quite content while chewing away on the bamboo pieces, or whatever it may be eating.

Bewick swans and swan mitts

Living in Barnes Wetland Centre are two beautiful Bewick swans.  They seem to love swimming around together and are very synchronised.

Synchronised swimming for the Bewick swans

Two Bewick Swans

What a beautiful face, with lovely yellow and black beak.

Bewick swan

I have a PDF knitting pattern in my Ravelry shop for fingerless mitts with a Bewick swan on the front of each glove.  The original gloves were hand knitted in denim blue 4ply wool and are available in my Etsy shop.

Swan fingerless mitts

Swan mitt - left hand

Swan mitts - knitting pattern on Ravelry

Swan mitts for sale in Etsy shop

Oystercatchers and Oystercatcher fingerless mitts

Last year, in September, I went on holiday to Penrhyn Bay in North Wales.  The self-catering holiday home directly over-looked the beach, which was not suitable for swimming but was suitable for wading birds such as these two Oystercatchers.  This photograph was taken from the outdoor terrace in front of the house.  Unfortunately the Oystercatchers were too far away to get good photographs and, if you tried to creep near them, they flew away!

2 Oystercatchers on the beach at Penrhyn Bay

One day, I went for a walk on the beach and managed to get a bit nearer, so got some slightly clearer photographs.

Oystercatcher on the beach in North Wales

Oystercatcher looking for food on the beach

On the last morning of the holiday, I had time to kill while waiting for the train in Colwyn Bay so I went to investigate what was happening on the beach.  It was fairly early in the morning and I came across a group of sleepy Oystercatchers.  When I got too near, they woke up and flew off.

Sleepy Oystercatchers on the beach in Colywn Bay, North Wales

 I love Oystercatchers and, after I got home, I decided to design some fingerless mitts with an Oystercatcher on the front.  They were hand knitted in mid blue Drops 4ply Alpaca.

Oystercatcher hand knit fingerless gloves - left mitt

Oystercatcher fingerless mitts - background blue 4ply alpaca