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,

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

 

 

 

 

 

Summer Living, Knit Style

Hello :)

As I sit to write this post, after a many days of sunshine and gentle breezes… it is pouring down with rain.  As we say in these parts, great weather for ducks!

Issue 93 of Lets Knit Magazine hits the shelves tomorrow and inside I have a few summery projects for you.

 

Inspired by the beautiful African Flower crochet animals that are all over my social media feeds, this butterfly cushion was born.  I thought to myself, ‘ why should the hookers have all the fun?’

Why not take the basic hexagon pattern and create your own African Flower creatures, I would love to see your pictures.

To compliment the cushion, I also went a little I-cord crazy and designed some bunting and a mobile.  Why not get the children making I-cords using a knitting dolly (French knitting), and use those?

For those of you not as enthused by butterflies as I am, I have something that is just perfect for Al Fresco dining………..

 

I hope you have enjoyed this months projects as much as I did designing them.

Happy Knitting,  Jane x

 

Beaded knitting, it is fast becoming one of my favourite knitty tricks…

Meet Bellona, I designed these fingerless mittens for The Knitter magazine and they were featured in issue 77.  The beaded fleur de lis catch the light beautifully as the Debbie Abrahams beads nestle down in the scrumptious Sparkleduck Spirit yarn.

 

 

 

The mittens are worked in the round and the beads are added using the crochet hook method.  No having to thread hundreds of beads onto your yarn before you start!  These mittens would make a great addition to your wardrobe anytime of year.

It is never too early to start preparing for Christmas, is it?  I know I hear you screaming at me.  But I really wanted to share these with you.  These were also featured in The Knitter issue 77.  They are a great project to develop both your beading and your Fair Isle skills.

I hope you can forgive my indulgence in sharing Christmas projects in February and that you will share your finished projects with me on my Facebook page.

Happy Knitting x

 

A Plethora of Purple Scarves…

Well it has been a busy start to 2015 for me and I realise that I am somewhat behind with updating my blog (naughty knitting blogger!).  But I wanted to bring the blog upto date and share some of the designs that have been released during the past couple of months.

The December Issue of Simply Knitting features a plethora of my creations, all designed to keep you cosy during the chilly months.  See if you can guess my favourite colour?

There were not one, not two, but four scarves featured in this issue….

Luxurious, which is a chunky knit scarf worked in Stylecraft, Tibet yarn.  It is a quick knit and can be worn many ways as you simply use the lace eyelets as buttonholes.

 

Preppy Chic, this is another chunky knit with cables that run along the outside edge, to give this scarf some interesting shaping.  Worked in Stylecraft, Life Super Chunky, this really is a quick knit.

Rolling Waves, this little beauty is worked using Stylecraft, Senses Lace.  The yarn is so light and fluffy I can’t recommend trying this yarn out enough.  One ball of yarn is all that is needed for this cleverly crafted scarf, the yarn is available in some really pretty colours.  I am looking forward to seeing your finished versions of this project.

I am a big fan of self patterning yarn, it gives an instant look of complexity to your knitting with no extra effort.  I like to team the self patterning yarn with a solid coloured contrasting yarn for some extra wow.  So image my delight when West Yorkshire Spinners developed their Signature Birds range of sock yarn.  The self patterning yarn is available in Wood Pigeon, Blue Tit, Bull Finch, Owl, Pheasant and Mallard.  Each yarn has a coordinating solid coloured yarn.  These ‘Taking Wing’ mittens shown above are worked using Blue Tit and Cardamon.

 

Yes you spotted it, I said four scarves.  This linen stitch cowl was a free pattern for subscribers.  It only takes one ball of Stylecraft, Vision DK and is available to download from the Simply Knitting website here.

Happy Knitting everyone, as always I would love to see your finished projects on my Facebook page.

You can download a copy of issue 127 Simply Knitting here.

Stylish beaded napkin rings

Threading loads of beads onto yarn for a beaded project is not my idea of fun, so “Beading Beautiful” is another of my patterns that use the crochet hook technique.

With a lovely dark yarn and contrasting shiny beads make contemporary stylish looking napkin rings, perfect for your festive table.

If you are not familiar with this beading technique there are some fantastic resources out there to get you started.  Laura Nelkin has a fantastic Craftsy course that teaches many ways to add beads to your knitting, even some that use dental floss!  I warn you though, if you enrol in this Craftsy class you will spend so much time looking for more and more projects you can add beads to, totally addictive!

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

You can download Issue 87 of Let’s Knit Magazine here.

Festive Teddy Outfits

Bring your favourite Teddy into the seasonal festivities with either a Mr or Mrs Santa Claus outfit. Thinking of buy a Build a Bear toy this Christmas? These outfits are the perfect fit for their standard height characters.

They’re designed for an average sized teddy, but if your teddy is (ahem!) slightly larger tummy, some elastic webbing will accommodate the more, ahem, ‘rotund’ stuffed belly.

And if you dare treat a younger, less careful person with such a charming outfit, it’s also machine washable!

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

You can download Issue 87 of Let’s Knit Magazine here.

Christmas Glamour Knitting Patterns has a new sugar loaded colour palette

Everybody likes a sweetie or seven at Christmas, don’t they?

This year I decided that I would rework my Christmas Glamour patterns range in a sugar loaded colour palette.  I have chosen to use the gorgeous 4ply merino yarn from Wendy.

If you would like to make some of these cute Christmas treats, you will need a ball of each of the following yarns:

• Wendy Merino 4ply Seapray shade 2380
• Wendy Merino 4ply Birch shade 2365
• Peter Pan 4ply Sugar Plum shade 909

The patterns are available via my shop or on Ravelry, you can buy all six patterns for only £3 or if you would prefer to buy just one pattern it is yours for £1.50.

This is really a great stash busting project, each piece only uses approx. 10g of yarn.  I would love to see your finished projects.

 

Good Enough to Eat, please don’t though

It’s normal for Jane’s projects to be somewhat in advance of the seasons, so creating Christmas and winter designs in spring is, well, normal. This was the case when creating her latest designs in Let’s Knit issue 86.

But there are only 7 weeks to Christmas, and still we don’t have our central heating on! So, with our warm clothes still in the dark depths of the wardrobe, may I present to you in my long lost brummy accent…

Iiiiit’s Chriiiiiiistmaaaaas!

 

“Home Sweet Home” Gingerbread house is ideal for your first winter project. A sweet and simple cable for the roof tops swiss-darned, stocking stitch walls. Fill with toy stuffing, and it’s a lovely decoration, but if you place some bagged rice inside it will make a stylish doorstop.

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

You can download Issue 86 of Let’s Knit Magazine here.

Alexandra Palace, bands, teaching, shopping and me

Hello,

How are you all?  Have you got your woollies out yet, now that the weather is turning cooler?

I love the autumn, not only does it mean that this closet redhead does not have to go into hiding everytime the sun comes out to play, but it’s what I like to call ‘knitting season’.  The highlight of my knitting calendar ever since I learnt to knit has been the annual pilgrimage to Alexandra Palace, London, home to the Knitting & Stitching Show.

Alexandra Palace holds many fond memories for me, from the first time I visited and realised that there are lots of people just like me who are addicted to yarn! There I learned that Ladies are not always ‘lady like’ when doing battle over yarn, and that shopping trolleys and elbows are the weapons of choice to secure that much coveted skein.

I have attended Ally Pally as a vendor during the time I owned Knit ‘n’ Caboodle. It was a wonderful experience getting to meet some many lovely customers.  I have nothing but admiration for any vendor at Ally Pally, it can be gruelling.  Long days, usually dreadful travel times, set up and break down are incredibly hard work, thank you for continuing to be part of this event every year.

During the past couple of years I have been visiting Ally Pally to see bands.  It is by far my favourite music venue, the acoustics are second to none, the atmosphere is amazing.  It is not a particularly big venue which makes for a great experience wherever you happen to be standing.

 

The Vaccines with their support act for that night the awesome Band of Skulls

 

The Vaccines, home coming gig

Band of Skulls

The Black Keys,  one of the most atmospheric gigs I have ever been to, belting blues tunes and simple lighting……..  bliss!

This year I visited Ally Pally on two consequtive days.   ‘Why?’ I hear you ask……. teaching.

You possibly saw my blog posts announcing my classes.  I taught four classes over the two days in the Prima Make & Take Theatre.  I had some wonderful students, many of whom have been in touch to show me there completed projects.  Well done ladies, I am really looking forward to seeing what you make next with your new found skills.

I really enjoy teaching, it gives me the opportunity to meet knitters and crocheters from all walks of life and help cultivate their passion for the craft.  Over the next few weeks I will be announcing some new workshops in the Essex area.

If there is a particular technique you would like to learn, or a venue you would like to see me offering lessons, please let me know.  I am relatively new to the area and your help would be very much appreciated in finding great places to teach knitting and crochet.  Cute cafes, cosy rooms, I am all ears!

Jamiesons of Shetland Fingerless Mittens

Let’s start with a slap on the wrists for me,  first rule of blogging…. What happens in blog club, stays…. no that’s not it!  Post regularly, that’s it.  Well as I said last week it has been a mad blur of deadlines and now I am able to share some of the exciting projects I have been working on.  I will over the coming days be doing a good old-fashioned show and tell.

Where to begin….

I was an over excited mess when I first saw the cover of issue 84 of Let’s Knit Magazine, why?  Well, not one but two projects on the front cover.

The first were a pair of fingerless (not gingerless as my incompetent fingers just typed) mittens.  I loved knitting these, I must confess it was the first time I had worked with pure Shetland wool.  What an experience,  I can’t recommend using Jamiesons of Shetland enough.  The yarn made working stranded colourwork a total joy, each strand happily nesting down next to its neighbour and staying there, no slipping about.  Working with this yarn I could finally understand how people could be brave enough to cut into their knitting in the name of steeking.

Anyway I digress…..

Perfect Plaid Mittens

Image courtesy of Let’s Knit Magazine

Worked in a monochrome palette with a splash of vibrant blue, why not customise the colour splash to co-ordinate with your wardrobe?

You can get your hands on the pattern here….

As always I would love to see your finished projects on my Facebook page and on Ravelry.

Happy Knitting X