Peter Capaldi as Doctor Who

Here's Peter Capaldi as the new Doctor Who - you can download the knitting pattern from my Etsy shop and knit a grumpy timelord of your very own. He's about 12 inches tall, and knits up on 4mm straight needles - no knowledge of knitting in the round needed. He's got a felt waistcoat and jacket lining, and poseable arms and legs.

Knitted Collared Dove

I dodged the showers today to visit the local park so I could take some photos of my latest bird, a little knitted collared dove. Signs of spring starting to show all around: a small pool of yellow croci, hopeful-looking buds on the tree branches and - my favourite - bird twitterings and flutterings as the local avian residents start to stretch their wings.

I was particularly delighted when I sat down on a bench to take a photo of my bird, and heard the distinctive coo-coo-coo of a real life collared dove in one of the nearby trees, very loud and very close. It felt like a little seal of approval from the natural world. Thanks, collared dove!

Collared doves have a very sweet expression. I think it's the contrast between that pretty buff/grey plumage and the beady black eye that helps. People don't tend to like pigeons (I do, though) but collared doves are different.

This little dove is destined for my book of bird knitting patterns, which is going to published by Search Press next year.