Mum's Baby Jacket Pattern

I've been busy this week knitting up a baby jacket for my new nephew to come ... this week hopefully!  The design is a vintage one and one that my mother knitted for all of us when we were babies and then all of her grandchildren - and every other baby that she knew of!  She had made it so many times that she knew it off by heart!

It didn't feel right having this new little baby coming into the family without my mum's baby jacket (she passed away a couple of years ago) so I decided that I should make it on her behalf.  I used Rico yarn in this gorgeous blue colour and I added 3 blue buttons from her little tub of buttons.  I finished it on Sunday evening.  I remembered when making it that my mother always added some extra stitches for the band at the beginning then knitted it along with the lacy stitches - it saves a lot of time, just remember to knit the tension a little tighter on this garter stitch band.  It is a lovely design to knit and such an easy pattern.  It is a bit lacy for a boy but I think you can get away with it when it is a newborn.  Hope my mum is as happy with it as I am, and I'm sure my sister will be delighted when she sees it.

Knitting pattern downloads now available

Floyd the Flamingo is now available to download on Ravelry.com and Etsy.com.  He is only around 120cm tall!

Boris the Pigeon is also now available to download on Ravelry.com and Etsy.com.  He'd make a perfect gift for someone who loves tennis!

 

This little premature baby clothes set, knitted using double knit (UK) yarn is at last available to download from Ravelry.com and Etsy.com.  It is to fit a 12 inch premature baby, actual size of cardi is 14 1/2 inches.  It would lovely knitted up in traditional blues and pinks too!

 

Christmas 2015: Swedish Dala Horse and Little St Nick

This month's issue of Knit Today is out!  Inside is my Little St Nick design and Swedish Dala Horse.  Hope you like them! :)

Bunny Rabbits

I've been having a little rest from designing for a couple of weeks to make up 2 rabbits for a customer on ebay.  She had been searching for someone to knit these up for her for a while.  I hope she likes them.

New Christmas Patterns in Happy Crafter

Gorgeous reindeer in matching festive jumpers!  Available in Happy Crafter Winter 2015.  I loved designing these.

 

Sweet little Christmas slippers for Santa's newest little helpers!  Designing for Happy Crafter is a bit more challenging than other magazines since the yarn amounts used are limited for each colour.  However I was really happy with the final outcome.  I have a little nephew on the way in December, I wonder if a pair of these would fit him?  :-)

 

The pattern rights for these will return to me in 6 months time - look out for them in my Etsy Shop!

Snowman Knitting Pattern

 

Meet my newest character, the rustic snowman!  He has just been published in Craftseller (Winter 2015).  It is knitted using using chunky cables in an aran yarn by Stylecraft.  The arms use a marl yarn to suggest twigs and have pipe cleaners inside so the arms can be posed into the position you want.  He's a friendly little character, filled with sand so that he can be used as a doorstop.  This is my last design in Craftseller as it is now closed.  Thank you to all the staff working on the magazine, you and your magazine will be missed!

Christmas 2015: Knitted Gifts 1




 The first Christmas gift I've made this year is my 3 Wise Owls pattern.

 

Each owl is knitted sideways so the first coloured wing is knitted first, then the fluffy body then finally the second wing, really simple and quick to do.

 

 

Thank goodness buttonholes are used in the pattern - pop the 2 eyes in, secure them at the back then hey presto! the eyes are finished and look fab!  So much better than counting the rows and stitches between the eyes.  These eyes from Trimit are very good.  They have the metal circular backs which I find much easier to use than the plastic 3D ones I used a couple of years ago where I had to use a hammer to get the backs on!

 

Stuff the toy using small pieces of filling at a time to avoid the owl being lumpy.

 

 

I added some different trimmings this year to the heads.  The pattern calls for one owl to have holly, one to have mistletoe and one to have feathers.  I am quite happy with these ones.  I could have trimmed the fluffiest parts round the eyes but I decided they had more character with them there!  This set is now in the post heading for Boston, USA.  I had to use a replacement gas fire log since customs would probably object to a real log being used in case there were any little bugs hiding in it!

Find the pattern on Etsy here https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/239997042/pdf-knitting-pattern-for-3-wise-owls?ref=shop_home_active_3.