New DMC patterns

This was the last crochet project I worked on before the birth, finishing off in between naps and with my swollen feet up!

Take a peek at the other patterns on the DMC website, as there are some fabby ones - I particularly like the new Natura pattern book.

fabulous fair finds!

I have been quite poorly since the littl'un was born, but finally managed a trip out at the recently and went on a little walk to the local church fair, which was fabulous. One of the stalls was selling handmade items, and I spied some familiar knitted floral brooches in beautiful colours (above). The vicar's grandchildren had knitted them from my own book 'Knitting for Children' and had made a fantastic job of it, choosing shades that went well together, making a very pretty presentation on the stall. One of the beautiful girls, Jolie, had made a fabulous ball of yarn from finger knitted tubes (below) she must be going for the world record! I wonder how many metres there are and how long it took her. It is a fabulous pastime to keep her busy while in front of the tv!

I also donated some of my toys for the benefit of the church, and bought the most beautiful dolls pram from the 1930s which I purchased for little Millie's first Christmas present. It is a bit well-worn, but I am looking forward to bringing it out in the spring to spruce up and maybe use to decorate the nursery until she is old enough to push her dolls and teddies in it.

Looking forward to many more Christmas fairs over the next few weeks!

a new arrival...

A recent break in the blog and my knitting life in general can be explained by this little person, who will be receiving the sole attention on my needles and hooks for quite some time! During my career break, I shall try to post occasionally about my projects, such as the green booties she is sporting, or trying to, in the above piccie, for her and any interesting things which my happen in my now very different life. The green booties are a very simple pattern from my book Easy Baby Knits which I had great fun re-knitting for my own little bundle of joy.

Knitting as normal will resume sometime next year.

crochet for children - out now!

So, it is finally out! My new book teaching children to crochet, Crochet for Children is aimed at kids, but hopefully the patterns are cute and interesting enough to appeal to their parents and grandparents too, so all the family will enjoy using this book. I love it, and hope you do too! Here are some pictures from the book, let me know what you think!

quilting...

I am going through a very exciting period of my life at the moment, which I plan to blog about more very soon, but in the meantime, I apologise for lack of presence here and leave you some pretty pictures of some fabric I have bought for a very important new arrival, which may see me sewing (or doing hardly any crafts at all...) rather than knitting for a while....

the top lot come from a rather gorgeous little shop in Canterbury and I had a ball choosing which fabrics I thought would look fabulous with some I had already bought. It took hours!

These (above) are Japanese cottons from the absolutely fabulous Eternal Maker in Chichester and the ones below are from the now sadly closed Sally Bourne in Crouch End. Can't wait to show you what the finished article is like!

...more soon!

nest knitting games

I went along to the Nest knitting games at the weekend which were loads of fun!




They had knitted fruit and vegetables in the window which were judged to be the best for all sorts of reasons like the sweetest, longest and tastiest. Yum!


There was a guess the city honey contest, with a city honey and a country honey to judge which were best. I liked A, and will find out which was which very soon hopefully.

I also want to know who won the fastest knitting competition as I had to leave before it took place, they would have walked away with the very covetable knitted cup!

The sale is still on, so even if you missed the fun of the knitting games, there are plenty of reasons to visit the lovely nest!

Crochet for Children

Eeeek!! New book landed on the doormat this morning, and it is possibly my favourite book of the books I have written so far. I just LOVE the colours and layout of the book and the pieces were simply such fun to make! I hope you love it too - here is a sneak peak. It is out at the beginning of August, will show you more then!

RCA Textiles show

Last week I popped along to the RCA textiles private view on a very hot and muggy day (how do they choose the hottest day EVERY year?!?)

The knitted textiles students were all very diverse which meant an interesting show. Fiona Brooker's pretty watercolours translated beautifully into her textural knits, made up of stripes of many different gauges, stitches and fibres, the mohair working especially well at blending the colours as in her painting. The palette is pretty and quite calming, creating throws perfect for snuggling under in the colder months.

Lucy Faulke exhibited some crochet, which is fabulous to see, and not only that but she used it in an interesting and orginal way, combining with plastics and using oversized hairpin lace from looms she made herself to create interesting pieces which could become furniture or jewellery.

Victoria Campbell's stunning monochrome pieces were bejewelled with metal beads, chain and metallic yarn to create beautifully elegant evening wear.

Helen Paine used heavy printing techniques on brightly coloured, fine knits to create very modern, wearable pieces.

Victoria Bulmer used recycled denim very effectively to create energetic, textural garments for men - which is unusual in itself for knitwear, most students aim for womenswear. She had also produced a very professional looking fold out pamphlet of a range of her pieces instead of business cards.

There was an interesting and original layout to the show this year, with each textiles student interspersed with a product design one. I think the two disciplines go well together and it was interesting to see the textiles students who used interesting products and form in their work and the product students who utilised textiles in an interesting way. For me, the most fascinating of these was Marina Dragomirova who used Bulgarian carpet making traditions to create chairs that take the form of looms, with the warp and weft making the seat - fabulous! She also has a diverse range of other products, which are just as interesting.

The show has unfortunately now closed, but I am sure there will be many more gems in next years batch of graduates!

DMC creative crochet patterns

Some new patterns I have designed for DMC using their Petra and Metallic yarns have been published, what do you think?!

My favourite piece is the little 50s inspired neck scarf above, although I do love a granny square, and one that sparkles is an extra special treat!!

You can buy the entire kit to make these patterns, so go treat yourself, they are the perfect cotton accessories for summer.

graduate fashion

Had a fab time the other week at the RCA fashion show, regular mens and womenswear was ok, but the knitwear was amazing! So bright, cheerful and original.

My favourite collection was Helen Turner's, above, with her fabulous pile fabric garments, looking like beautiful feathers or a massive pom pom. These moved so beautifully as they went down the catwalk.

Ruth Green
Hannah Buswell

Check out my full report on this year's graduates from all the big shows in Issue 20 of Inside Crochet, out in a couple of weeks.

Inside Crochet issue 19

New issue of Inside Crochet is out now! Tis very colourful and summery, which is just what we were aiming for, and our cover model is going to be the understudying the lead role in the Phantom of the Opera, so exciting! Hope you like it.

First of two parter at City Lit last weekend, it's a 3D crochet class, so much fun was had making beads, weird and wonderful shapes and ruffles. Next class we will be concentrating on surface texture and experimenting, so more pictures to show with the outcomes of that next week!

inside crochet issue 18

Excited about the new issue of Inside Crochet, which you can see a preview of here.

I adore Jennifer Cirka's Wedding Fascinator - my vintage lace top bought for four quid from Bexhill-on-Sea definitely came in handy for this beautiful shoot!

I also love the Eugenio Stork pattern by Yanina from Pica Pau, which I have made, so can enjoy in real life too!

3d crochet workshop

Details of my upcoming class at citylit, perfect for crocheters who know the basics and want to try out some new techniques in a fun way, we will be going through shaping techniques, to create pieces which could be jewellery, toys or art pieces. Get booked on!

knitting vintage

I have yet another new book out, this time one which is inspired heavily by fashions from the 20th Century, called Knitting Vintage. Here are a few pictures to give you a flavour!

pretty slippers...

More pretty pictures from the kid's knitting book today. I love the idea that you can make a simple slipper pattern then customise them to suit your own character or that of your child's. I am sure any little girl who loves to dance will enjoy sewing ribbons to her pretty in pink pair, or if you are a Wizard of Oz fan like me, the ruby slippers are a must! A boy might even like to make some football boot slippers...would love to see any variations you come up with!