Product Review – Blast From The Past – Shrink Dinks

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Isn’t funny how old things are new again. My daughter wanted to be Strawberry Shortcake for Halloween last year. We searched the internet for costume ideas (we don’t buy costumes, we make them…another long lost tradition). I showed her an example of the “new” Strawberry Shortcake with the jeans and big pink straw hat and the “old” Strawberry Shortcake with the green striped leggings and the puffy hat. I asked her which she wanted to be…her reply as she pointed to the “new” gal…”Mom, I want to be the REAL Strawberry Shortcake!” I guess in the mind of a 4 year old real and original are two different things.

Anyway, “old” toys aren’t the only things making a comeback! Do you remember Shrinky Dinks? They are still around and better than ever. There are kits for boys and girls. Remember pressing your face against the oven door, watching them curl up and shrink? It was magic! Now you can share that same experience with your child.

How many potholders did you make with those looms and long hooks? The crazy colors that didn’t match anything, but Mom was still proud of them. This will keep your weaver busy for hours. They are now making the loops specially for the looms. I had no idea, but the loops that we used were from sock companies…that’s why they didn’t always fit!

As a knitter, I love a good sheep motif, so let’s take a look at some cute sheep cross stitch patterns.

If you want to stitch a little sheep, this mini square from Good Dog Needleworks is a nice choice. It uses just three colors and measures 32 by 32 stitches. That’s 2.2 inches or about 5.5 cm square if you stitch it on 14 count fabric.

I also love these two little sheep, which you can stitch together or in individual hoops and shown. The designs are form Threadbound Art and use six colors. They are slightly different in size, with one being 21 by 17 stitches and the other 21 by 20. They fit in four inch frames if you work them on 14 count fabric.

You can stitch a sweet sheep bookmark with this design from Kits by SA Stitch. This is not for the person who doesn’t like back stitch, because there’s a lot of that here, but it is really cute. It measures 30 by 91 stitches and uses 10 colors. That will make your bookmark about 2.4 by 6.5 inches, or 6 by 16.5 cm on 14 count fabric.

Stitch a pretty scene of sheep in a meadow with this design from Motok Nytok. It uses 21 colors and the design is 99 by 73 stitches. On 14 count fabric that makes it about 7.07 by 5.21 inches, or 17.96 by 13.24 cm.

This yarn full of cross stitch sheep has a bit of a knitting twist because the sheep all look like they have sweaters on. The design is from Soda Stitch Design and it measures 179 by 216 stitches. The full design uses 27 colors. On 14 count fabric it will work out to 12.78 by 15.42 inches, or 32.48 by 39.19 cm.

Another great one with a knitting theme is this one where the wool is coming off the sheep and straight onto the needles. This one is from Happy Cross Stitchers and uses 12 colors. The pattern is 137 by 137 stitches, which comes out to 9.7 inches or 24.86 cm square on 14 count fabric. This would be a fun one to stitch for the knitter in your life (even if that is you).

Or you can stitch the field of sheep of a knitter’s dreams with the Happy Sheep chart from Charts and Stuff. These per-colored sheep can be stitched as shown or worked in any colors you like. The eyes are French knots but you can just stitch them in white if you’d rather.

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