Little Donkey Hooded Sweater

Silly Season was the perfect excuse to have some fun with this Donkey sweater.  A stocking stitch body and moss stitch cuffs and collar means this cutie won’t take long to knit.  The real magic is in the long flowing mane, created using tassels, and there’s a handy pouch pocket in the front for storing carrots.  But my favourite element to this design, the ears, adorable!

This would make a great nativity costume for a little one, or just an extra funky Christmas sweater.

The pattern is written to fit chest sizes 53 – 73.5cm which is approx. 1-11 years old.

To knit this you will need:

• Stylecraft, Life DK (75% acrylic, 25% wool, 100g/298 m) in Grey, Silver Grey and Charcoal
• 3.25mm needles
• 4mm needles
• 4mm crochet hook (for mane)
• Locking stitch markers
• Tapestry needle

I look forward to seeing your finished projects.

Happy Knitting,

Piggy Nose Surprise, Last minute gift knitting

Take a break from time-consuming, intricate gift knitting to make a speedy stocking filler that’s guaranteed to put smiles on your friends’ faces.

This might look like a simple stocking stitch mug hug, but it has a special secret on the bottom is a pink snout, so that as you drink, you’re transformed into a perfect piggy :)

You will get quite a few mug hugs out of one 100g ball (or you could stash bust).

To make this you will need:

• Stylecraft Life DK (75% acrylic, 25% wool) Rose
• 3.25mm DPN’s
• Mug (circumference approx. 27cm)
• Pink Felt
• Pink sewing thread and needle

I would love to see your finished projects,

Happy Knitting,

Festive Flower Pots

I am always looking for new things and new ways to yarn bomb the everyday objects around the house.  The silly season is the perfect opportunity to take things to a new level of daft, all in the name of Christmas!

Dressed up in their festive finery they’ll look just fabulous on a windowsill or table, planted with a small conifer or poinsettia (what a great gift!)

I designed these festively themed flower pot covers for Simply Knitting magazine and you can find the pattern inside issue 139.

For the Santa pot you will need:

• James C Brett, Twinkle DK (97% acrylic, 3% polyester, 100g/300m) Red
• Stylecraft , Special DK (100% acrylic, 100g/295m) Black
• Oddment of Gold DK

For the Snowman pot you will need:

• Patons, Merino extrafine DK (100% wool, 50g/120m) White and Black
• Oddment of orange DK
• Stuffing
• Buttons

For both:

• 3.25mm DPN’s
• Black 13cm  flowerpots

As always I would love to see your finished projects,

Happy Knitting,

Snuggly Eskimo Buddy, super quick knit!

This cute little chap is knitted in a variety of textures and will make the perfect snuggle buddy for some little (or not so little person).

Joe is worked in King Cole Cuddles Chunky, King Cole Merino Blend DK and James C Brett Faux Fur.  Knitted in the round, there is very little sewing up to do, perfect!

You can find Joe inside issue 99 of Let’s Knit Magazine.  As always I would love to see your finished makes on my Facebook page.

Happy Knitting,  Jane x

 

Does Miffy Wear Pants?

I may have mentioned once or twice that I love my job.  I love the random nature of the projects I am asked to design.  Recently I was asked by
the lovely editor of Let’s Knit Magazine if I would like to design a licensed Miffy soft toy.  Well that was a silly question, the answer was always going to be yes!  I adore Miffy, my children were force-fed a diet of Miffy stories, but yet when it came down to getting every detail correct, there was one question I did not know the answer to…… Does Miffy wear pants?  As you can imagine this resulted in a few humorous emails between me and my editor, the answer was this….

You can find my Miffy pattern inside issue 99 of Let’s Knit magazine.

I would love to see your finished projects on my Facebook page.

Happy Knitting,  Jane x

 

 

 

 

 

Piggy Hat, yes really it is a Piggy Hat

Say hello to my little friend, the Piglet Hat…

With the weather getting colder, our attention turns to cute accessories we can make for our loved ones.  Dare I say it, gift knitting (you know you should have started it by now, if you want to avoid a repeat of the Christmas gone, when you swore you would never knit another *insert expletive* gift again.

This cute piggy hat is sure to delight the wearer almost as must as the wearer’s audience, with its big friendly eyes and its comedic snout.

The pattern is written for three sizes to fit head circumference 40 (45, 50) cm.

Skills:

• knitting in the round
• decreasing

Kit needed:

• Sublime Baby Cashmere Merino Silk DK (it is a posh piggy hat)
• 3.25mm double pointed needles
• 4mm double pointed needles
• two leather shanked buttons 2.5mm diameter
• toy stuffing
• stitch markers

 

You can find the pattern inside issue 98 of Let’s Knit magazine.

Happy Knitting, Jane x

It’s Alive! Frankenstein Sweater for your little monster

It is that time of year again folks, where I dust off my spooky imagination and get to have some really silly fun in the name of being ‘seasonal’.

Over the years I have designed a number of Halloween collections for Simply Knitting magazine, but this year it is just one project….

Frankenstein Sweater (isn’t this young man just the coolest model ever?)

This super cute drop shoulder sweater is not only for Halloween, I am sure your little monster will want to wear this sweater well beyond the scary season.

Those of you who are not new to my work, will know that I like my designs to be playful, yet simple to achieve. There are charts for the hair and eyes, which are worked using the intarsia method.  But fear not, you could easily work these using duplicate stitch (or swiss darning), which would produce a great 3D effect for the features. The mouth and tongue are worked separately and sewn on the front at the end.

The pattern is written for chest sizes 53 – 76 cm (that is approx. 12 months to 11 years).

Skills needed:

• k2tog
• ssk
• ribbing
• picking up stitches
• mattress stitch
• swiss darning or intarsia
• crochet chain or I-cord

Kit needed:

• Stylecraft Special DK yarn in (black, bright green and violet)
• Oddment of red 4ply yarn
• 4mm crochet hook
• darning needle
• 2.5mm needles
• 3.25mm needles
• 4mm needles

You can find the pattern for this sweater inside issue 138 of Simply Knitting Magazine.

 

Still looking for more spooky inspiration, take a look at my Ravelry store,  if you are quick I am running a special offer.  Use the code ‘Socktober’ at the checkout and you will receive a 30% discount on all my patterns!  Happy Knitting, Jane x

Ghost Toy

Knitted eye balls

Black Cat Ear Hair Clips

Crochet Bunting

Black Cup Cosey

 

 

 

 

Cute Critters, hanging baskets to keep the kids tidy

I know how difficult it is to contain your child’s favourite possessions and encourage them to put them away.  I designed these character to baskets to make tidy-up time fun!

The baskets are worked flat using a simple mesh stitch, I used Wendy Supreme Cotton Chunky which is incredibly strong and comes in a range of fun colours.

You can find the pattern for these baskets inside issue 90 of Let’s Knit Magazine.

Harriet the Hedgehog, knitted pin cushion

This cute but prickly character will take very good care of your pins for you.

Harriet is knitted flat with a bobble stitch body, she is a quick and fun knit which will make a great gift for the ‘crafty’ person in your life.

You can find the pattern for Harriet (and indeed Harriet herself on the cover) of issue 90 of Let’s Knit Magazine.

Squeaky Clean Bath time Fun

Bath time will be so much more fun with this cute pair of knitted wash mittens.

 

Featured in issue 135 of Simply Knitting magazine, these two were knitted using Rico Design, Essential Cotton DK.  The yarn really did a great job of keeping its shape when wet and they will wash nicely in the washing machine.

I am sure you could adapt the pattern to make other bath time pals, I would love to see what you come up with.

Happy Knitting,  Jane x

 

My Ass on the front cover of Simply Knitting magazine

How could I not run with that headline?

I had great fun designing for issue 132 of Simply Knitting magazine, as you can see there is a cute donkey purse on the cover,  it is mine :)  I love this little fella!

 

There was also a cover mount kit with all you need to make a flower corsage, there were a couple of different flowers to choose from.   Happy Knitting, Jane x