Tomorrow, issue 45, September, of Inside Crochet goes to press, so here is a last minute taste of the last summer issue (already?!) IC44. I will give you a sneaky peek at 45 once it is to bed. Less than two weeks to buy this issue in the shops, so go get it if you see something you like. 

  

Yup, that is the littlun, managed to sneak her in yet again!

All the lovely images are as usual by the wonderful Britt Spring

 

fashion crochet projects

 A couple more patterns from the book - summery beach/festival attire today...dreaming of the sunshine! :)

This is a very simple cropped waistcoat perfect for layering over a vest, tee or maxi dress at a festival, while the mesh dress is a perfect cover up for the beach. Strangely enough, now is probably the perfect time to get making stuff like this for your summer holidays (once the Christmas present crochet is out of the way!)

stripes galore!

I do so love a stripe!

Now that the warmer weather is finally here, it can be hard to find projects which still make you feel like spring, so how about some classic Breton inspired stripes for a fabulous naval look? My new book, Knitting Vintage has a lovely wide stripe sweater in, taking inspiration from just that look, and I love it, even if I do say so myself! I have been wearing it already!

You can also find my nautical striped sweater pattern on Ravelry.

If those are a little warm for you in this mini heatwave we are experiencing in the South East, why not try some very summery lacy stripes. This cute cotton sweater was in Let's Knit magazine last year, but if you can't find your copy, I shall be publishing it on Ravelry soon.

spring/summer collection

It's up! you can find the new collection as an ebook on Ravelry. Sorry it took so long. Now onwards and upwards with the Autumn/Winter 09/10 collection...such is the non-stop life of a knitter and all that.

pick of the crop

As summer slides slowly out of view, I am almost ready to publish the final pattern from the booklet of five designs from my summer collection. It is just going through final pattern checks and charting and hopefully will be up on Ravelry in the next week or so. The sweater takes inspiration from the cropped shapes which were around in the spring/summer collections, but will also wear well into the winter with the layering theme from the current collections. It is also very simple to lengthen if the cropped style is not for you.

With the trees turning colour and having already swept up the first batch of leaves from he garden, I am working on the collection for winter, with woolly warmers being the main focus of the English Heritage theme. Look out for the first projects from that sometime in October.

work in progress

I have been a busy little bee of late and so I thought I would give you a sneak preview of some of the bits and pieces I have been working on this week...


...ends, ends and more ends....

Oh how I detest weaving in ends, the only carrots which keep me going are the huge satisfaction of a neat and tidy project at the end of it and the gorgeous little nest of colour made by all the snipped scraps of yarn. Sometimes I have to photograph it; these little piles of joy are often almost as exciting to me as the project. Likewise the back of an embroidery, intarsia or Fair Isle piece.


My knitting - hands off!
These are some kits I have been sewing for the Kioskiosk day - 26th of July, don't forget!
I have a bit of a conveyor belt of these going, they are so fun and cute to do with the multicoloured embroidered words. I will be doing a few of my crochet kits too and they will include enough yarn and some needles/hooks to make a simple pattern, ideal for beginners. At the moment I am thinking there will be a baby's hat pattern, some floral corsages and perhaps some little fingerless gloves or mittens.


Finally, I have been knitting this jumper since way back in March, but other things have barred its progress. However, I did manage to finish it last week. It is a beautiful 4ply merino/cashmere mix and I have knitted the sleeves as a 4ply, but doubled the yarn for the aran body to make a dk weight as a contrast. It is for the long awaited Spring/Summer collection and therefore I am swiftily writing the pattern this week so I can release it into the world and create a whole s/s '09 booklet of patterns.
Then it will be straight onto the Autumn/Winter collection. Ah, a knitter's work is never done....

spring/summer 2009

Finally I have managed to get the bulk of the project I have been working on for ages finished and on the website. I decided at the beginning of this year that a collection of my own monty patterns would be a perfect vehicle to present a more fashion forward, trend led collection of garments. Being an independent designer, working to my own deadlines, instead of that of a publisher, I can create high trend designs more quickly than when I write books. It is fair to say that even though we have vast amounts of beautiful, classic and contemporary knitting patterns around, there are fewer publications which cater for each traditional season of the fashion world. However, I have tried to keep the patterns wearable and classic, as nobody wants to spend time knitting a garment which is unwearable by the next season.

The patterns and inspiraton can be seen in full on my website, where they will be available to buy shortly. In the meantime, you can buy them from my montyknits shop on Ravelry.

If you don't knit, but want to own a one-off, bespoke garment, contact me and I shall be happy to hand make you the garment of your choice to your measurements.

I am hoping to have my timetable sorted sufficiently to have a new set of patterns based around the Autumn/Winter 2009/10 catwalks out by the beginning of October, so watch this space for an exciting capsule collection based around a British Countryside theme!

let's knit a hat

Check out my new hat pattern in Let's Knit's current issue.

Inspired by the 20s style cloche shape.

Flippy, girly, pretty and knitted in hemp, which was a bit of a pain to work with, but gives a lovely summery, straw-like finish.

You could also use cotton if you can't find any hemp, or any other new tough plant fibre you can find.

new book

The sun is shining, the sky is blue, what a perfect day to begin work on my new book! Although today, I use the word 'work' loosely as drawing, picking yarn shades and swatching in the bright sunshine of a rare British summer day feels much more fun than work should be. It is days like this that I realise how lucky I am to be doing something I love and that satisfies my creative side as my career....however, check back in about 3 months time, after I have been knitting like a maniac for weeks on end, when I have back ache and RSI-induced tennis elbow and it is blowing a gale outside - I may tell a different story!

look out for Easy Kids Knits - the follow up to Easy Baby Knits in the middle of next year, I will keep you up to date with its progress.

(p.s. I am mighty proud of my sunflowers - it's nice to get a chance to sit out and enjoy them!)