MiceSpace

is a collection of six short stories for children about a little family of mice who live in the church of St Goran, at Goran Churchtown in Cornwall. 

The book is being sold in aid of St Goran Bell Fund.   For details of the cost and how to buy a copy now, please see the Emporium page.

"The Mice of St Goran" - Competition results

MAKE A MOUSE!

As part of a Bell Ringing Open Evening, the 'Make a Mouse' competition was judged on 1st September 2010 at St Goran Church, where our mice live.  Overall we raised more than £300 towards the Bell Fund so we owe a huge "thank you" to everyone who came along and supported the event.

There were two categories of mouse to judge.  "And the winner is....."

In the Children's competition, the winning entry was from Matthew Brumwell, who gave us his lovely image of our mice.  Thank you Matthew.

In the Grown Ups section, Carol Gawtry knitted the winner, a Clown Mouse.  Thank you Carol.

MAKE A MOUSE! 

Here is a pattern for knitting a mouse of your own - or you can make a mouse from any materials you like, such as felt, wood, or modelling clay.

Why not then give your mouse a name. It can be one of the characters from "The Mice of St Goran", or you can invent one of your own.

Materials: small amount of DK yarn in fur colour, contrasting yarn for features, pair 3mm needles, 3.5mm crochet hook, yarn sewing needle, washable polyester toy stuffing.

Abbreviations: K = knit, P = purl, sts = stitches, K2tog = knit 2 together, Kfb = knit into front & back of the same stitch, skpo = slip 1, knit 1, pass the slipped stitch over.

Measurements: About the size of a real mouse.

Body

Starting at the nose, cast on 7 sts., leaving about 8” wool for sewing up.

Row 1. K

Row 2. and all even rows P

Row 3. K2, Kfb, Kfb, K3. (9sts.)

Row 5. K3, Kfb, Kfb, K4. (11sts.)

Row 7. K4, Kfb, Kfb, K5. (13sts.)

Continue adding one more K stitch at the beginning and end of each odd row until there are 31 sts.

Row 27. K.

Row 29. K1, [skpo] 7 times, K1, [K2tog] 7 times, K1. (17sts.)

Row 31. K1, [skpo] 3 times, K3, [K2tog] 3 times, K1. (11sts.)

Row 32. P.

Cut the yarn, leaving about 8”. Thread through the remaining sts, draw up tightly and fasten off.

Ears (make 2)

Starting at top, cast on 3 sts.

Row 1. Kfb, K2. (4sts.)

Row 2. Kfb, P3. (5sts.)

Row 3. Kfb, K4. (6sts.)

Row 4. Kfb, P5. (7sts.)

Row 5. K.

Cut the yarn, leaving about 6”. Thread through the remaining sts, draw up tightly and fasten off, but leave enough yarn for sewing the ear to the body.

Tail

Leaving 4” of yarn at the start, use 3.5mm crochet hook to chain 24. Fasten off, leaving at least 8” of yarn, and thread this back through the tail to the starting chain.

Making Up

Fold the body in half, with wrong sides together, and sew up the base seam on the right side, leaving 1” open. Stuff firmly, then sew up the remainder of the seam. Sew on the tail. Sew on the ears so that they are cupped forward, with the knit side on the outside.

Features

Thread a needle with a length of contrast yarn and make a small, firm knot in one end. Insert the needle at the tip of the nose and bring out at the position of one eye. Make one small stitch and bring out at the position of the other eye. Make a small stitch and bring the needle out at the tip of the nose. Make three small horizontal stitches across the tip of the nose to cover the original knot, and fasten off by threading through the stuffed body.

For the whiskers, thread a needle with the same colour of yarn or a slightly paler one. Do not knot. Insert the needle at the right-hand position of the whiskers, bring out at the left-hand position, but leave at least 1.5” of yarn hanging at starting point. Take a small stitch and bring out the needle back at the right-hand whiskers. Take a small stitch and bring out the needle at the left-hand whiskers. Cut the yarn, leaving a free end of at least 1.5”. Now fray the yarn ends into their constituent strands and trim the whiskers to the desired length.