Daisy Chain Necklace

Another pattern up on the Love Knitting and Love Crochet sites this week is this pretty Daisy Chain Necklace. It is a really versatile project - I have already made necklaces, garlands and some pretty flower clips for my littlun to wear in her hair using these flowers and each project (especially the hairclips!) receive plenty of admiring comments. The chain is so easily customisable to any desired length, and you can play with the yarn weights used to create differently sized daisies. 
It is very quick to hook and the pattern is written for both UK and US crocheters.

 

All images by Kirsten Mavric

2015

As you can see if you read my post Healing Crafts, it has been a bit of an odd year healthwise for me, but I have still managed to squeeze in quite a bit, workwise! Here are some highlights, in order that the pictures appear.

This year marked ten years of freelancing and the event which reminded me of this was the Loop tenth birthday celebrations. I was the first Loopette and it was an honour for Susan to ask me to contribute to the book Loops 10 which she published to mark the occasion. I designed the Sweetie Pie Capelet and I will do a proper post to talk more about it all very soon.

One of my favourite and most 'liked' patterns of 2015, Ava boxy sweater from Inside Crochet 62. (My first task for 2016 is to get all my patterns updated in my Ravelry and Love Knitting shops!)

My littlun now fits into most of the patterns I made for my books Knitting for Children and Crochet for Children, so she wore them a lot this year, which made me very proud, as she just loves them, and a lot of them I made when I was pregnant with her, so it has been a long wait to use them! Here is one of our favourite projects - the Mouse Mitts from Knitting for Children.

I also discovered my first book, Easy Baby Knits is being reissued early 2016! More about that soon.

Nymph is a crochet pattern I designed for Yarn Stories, a UK based yarn company spinning yarns in the UK,  a fact that makes me love their yarn even more!

Last year I worked on my first book in quite a few years and I have to say I love the way it has turned out. Not seen a hard copy yet but I shall let you know as soon as it arrives! It is a modern crochet book for beginners inspired by Scandi style. (It's just so me!)

I  really enjoyed the people I have met and classes I taught at City Lit last year - this is from the first ever Giant Knits class that I have taught which was great fun! Next up are knitting and then crochet classes for improvers over the next couple of months - check out the details here.

Last up are two more of the projects I designed for Inside Crochet - the cute little Apple amigurumi and a versatile daisy chain necklace/garland.

I also went to Yarndale for the first time, which was fabulous! I am definitely going again this year - will I see you there?

Here's hoping 2016 is as productive with less of the negative side. I am starting the year off having to fix a hole in my hallway ceiling from a leak, but am trying to remain positive and look after myself - lots of calming knitting and crochet for all the new babies coming to friends and family this year are keeping me stress-free so far!

Happy 2016 everyone.
Images by Kristen Perers, Lucy Williams, Claire Montgomerie, Cico Publishing, Yarn Stories, Parragon Books, Claire Montgomerie, Kirsten Mavric.

crochet garland pattern

 

Another new pattern in Inside Crochet this month, this time a cute little garland that is already residing above the littlun's cot. Very quick and easy to make, this one is perfect for beginners and easily adaptable - make it whatever length you wish, or even turn it into a necklace if that takes your fancy!