Teasel, possibly my favourite sock design to date

The sculptural stitch pattern combined with the hand-painted yarn, creates these stunning socks. Curving lines of twisted stitches form the stylised flower heads on these pretty socks.  The stitch pattern flows neatly down from the twisted rib cuff, and continues along the front of the foot.

The yarn from Old Maiden Aunt is a blend of superwash merino, cashmere and nylon and is dreamily soft.

The pattern is written for two sizes to fit foot circumference 22 (25) cm.

You can find Teasel inside issue 90 of The Knitter magazine. I would love to see pictures of your finished projects.

Happy Knitting,

 

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,

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

 

 

 

 

 

A new adventure begins with the launch of Lacy Leftovers Socks

Today marks the beginning of a new adventure in my designing career.  I have been designing for over seven years now and have been very fortunate to have over 250 designs published in the UK knitting magazines.  But today I am taking my first steps in the big wide world of self publishing. I have republished a number of patterns where the rights have reverted to me.  But starting from scratch with a self published design, getting it ‘out there’ as they say is very much new to me.

I like to learn new skills and push myself, self publishing is proving to be a great driving force to learn new things, and learn new things at speed!  Pattern layout, page design, photography, copy writing, test knitting, tech editing, promotion and mailing lists, yes they keep you busy.  I have found that other designers are wonderful generous human beings who are happy to help and share their knowledge and I don’t think I could have got this far with out their help.

My first self published pattern is….. Lacy Leftovers.

You can BUY the pattern here

These easy going cuff down socks are just perfect for using up those tiny balls of left over sock yarn, even those highly variegated ones, the ones that you are never quite sure what to do with! The simple two row repeating lace pattern, is both written and charted and the ‘ribbed’ nature of the fabric makes getting a good fit effortless.

The pattern is written in five sizes, to cater from older children to the man in your life. Dare I say these socks would make fantastic thrifty knitted gifts.

The pattern has been tech edited and test knit, please check out the other projects to see just how differently other people have used their leftovers.  Some have used only one skein of variegated or striped yarn. Whilst others have combined a solid colour with variegated for stunning results.

Now you can truly indulge your sock knitting passion, using every last scrap of yarn (and not a sock yarn blanket in sight).

If you would like to sign up for my newsletter, you will receive a 50% off discount code which you can use against the purchase of any of my designs, including Lacy Leftovers!

I would love to see your finished sock over in my Ravelry Group

 

 

Some English Country Styling with my Stag Cushion

If you are looking for some thing traditional, fabulous and cosy, you might just have found your next project.

I designed this Stag cushion for Let’s Knit magazine for their British Wool feature.  The cushion is worked using Jamesion’s of Shetland Double Knitting, if you have ever had the pleasure of working with this yarn, particularly for colour work projects you will know it is a sheer delight.  The ‘sticky’ pure wool makes so much easier to manage, particularly intarsia (especially if like me you are prone to little holes around your motif).

The Knitty Gritty, the cushion is worked in two pieces which are sewn together and a zip inserted.  An I-cord is worked then sewn around the edge for that ‘designer store’ look.

Skills:

• intarsia
• I-cord
• sewing in a zip
• mattress stitch

Kit needed:

• Jamieson’s of Shetland DK
• 3.25mm straight needles
• 3.25mm double pointed needles
• 41cm zip
• stitch holder
• sewing needle and thread

You can find the pattern inside issue 97 of Let’s Knit Magazine.

 

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

 

Rhoswen socks

The Rhoswen Socks

These delicately styled socks were featured in The Knitter Issue 83.  I was delighted to be able to work with Eden Cottage yarns for this design, the photos do not do the yarn justice it is so beautifully soft, yet strong with a wonderful sheen that works so well with the tiny beads.

The pattern will be available in multiple sizes a little later in the year, to purchase from my Ravelry store.

If you are new to beading, you will love this method of beading with a crochet hook.  You will soon be adding beads to everything (trust me it is addictive).

The yarn is Hayton 4ply from Eden Cottage and beads are Debbie Abrahams (mink).

I would as always love to see pictures of your finished projects on my Facebook or Ravelry pages.

Happy Knitting

Jane

x

 

 

 

Owl Pyjama Case Pattern Now Available to Buy

Hello,  how are you?  I am fine thank you :)  It has been a very busy few months with the lots of exciting things happening.

I have received a lot of requests for my Owl Pyjama Case Pattern, some of you especially those overseas have been difficulties getting a back issue of the magazine it was originally featured in.  But fear not…. I now have it available to buy as an immediate download.  Click the link and you can purchase your copy for £1.99.

This cute little chap is worked mostly in one piece to cut down on sewing up.  The colour work is knitted using slip stitches so no complicated stranded knitting to contend with.  If you are new to this type of colour work, fear not it is really simple and instructions are included in the pattern.

Buy Now

As always my patterns include links to video tutorials to get you started or provide a refresher should you need one.

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

Happy Knitting, Owl be back soon (sorry I couldn’t resist the bird pun).

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.