Knitted Daffodils

I've been having fun.... playing.... designing a little pattern for daffodils. I started it over a week ago. Spring was, well, not exactly "in the air", but maybe round the corner, and so I felt in the mood to make these. Now we are back in the throws of winter and the real daffodils in my garden, which were just about to burst into bud are now buried beneath drifts of snow.

I have added these to the Etsy and Craftsy shops and hopefully I'll feel inspired to design some more flowers soon.

I've also been busy with my Stahbuster Challenge and have made a couple of hats.

 

 

 

I'm still on target with my 52 items in the 52 weeks of 2013 for Greenfields Africa . I'm sure I will get behind at some point, but I'm nearly a 1/4 of the way there now, so I'm pretty pleased with myself.

On Thursday I went to The Sewing For Pleasure show at the NEC Birmingham. I'm so pleased I chose Thursday - before all the snow came down! It was a lovely day out. So much colourful fabric and scrummy yarn, all under one roof!

I was fairly restrained in my purchases though.

 

 

I bought a dress pattern and some dotty fabric (I hope we get some warm enough weather for me to wear it!) I didn't intend to buy a dress pattern, but they were "Buy 2, Get 1 Free" and as I'd gone with my son's girlfriend, who wants me to teach her to dressmake, we split the pattern deal between us.

I bought both charm squares aand a jelly roll in Sweetwater's Noteworthy line. Although we had made a pact that we "just looked" first time round the hall, and did our buying on the second lap, I'm so glad I broke the rule and bought these first time round. A lot of stallholders were on their second show in two weeks and stock of the really popular pre-cuts was thin on the ground. These would almost certainly have been out of stock by the afternoon. I also bought some of the Clover Soft Touch crochet hooks. Again stock was low and I couldn't get all the sizes I wanted, but these will do me for now. They really are very gentle on your hands. I hat having to go back to a standard hook now.

Overall, it was a good show. I came back with my head spinning with ideas. I was tired, but happy, and now it can snow as much as it wants to. I'm more than happy staying cosy inside, having a battle with my conscience - do I finish the Bee in my Bonnet Row Along quilt that I started late last summer?

 

 Or maybe the charity quilt I've so nearly finished?

Or do I break open that jelly roll and do some more playing!! Decisions.... decision... life is hard!..

 

 

 

New Knitting Pattern - the Marlow Boots

Finally!! I've forced myself to sit at the laptop, checking and re-checking numbers, words and photos for long enough to be able to get this pattern listed on Etsy. Its been a work in progress for a looooong time :(
I love designing something, but I don't love writing it up, so these sat in my knitting bag for so long that I had a hard time deciphering all my initial scribbles, so basically I just had to start over, re-knit and make myself type at the same rate as I knit. Thankfully its all done now, checked, tested and up for sale.
They are so cute and easy to make.
I knew I wanted to design a pair of boots that looked a bit like the Jaden Boots

but that were a lot easier to make. Although Jaden are knit flat, they use a circluar needle to get round the cuff, and that initmidates some people, so these new boots needed to be worked on straight needles only.

The new Marlow Boots are based on skulduggery and deception!! They look as though they have a side opening, but when you look real close...... it's false !! They just pull on.

This makes them a whole lot easier to knit, and as they are worked entirely in garter stitch, they are great for intrepid beginners, as well as more experienced knitters who just want something relatively simple, but modern to knit whilst watching TV.

If you want to have a go, the pattern is for sale on Etsy.

Let me know what you think of them.................Julie

Customer Photos

I have to tell you I have some really wonderful, friendly and generous customers!

I  often tell people I would love to see a photo of what they have made using my pattern. It is great to see someone else's colour choices and adaptations of the original pattern, and now I have a Facebook Page it is really easy for customers to post a picture of their finished (or even half finished or just started!) projects.
One of my most popular patterns is the Jaden Boots

I was thrilled to receive this photo that a customer had taken showing a cute little newborn sporting the pair that she had made! The baby whose name is Avery is just a few hours old in this photo!

Jessica from River City Knits who made these chose to knit the sole edging in a dark brown. It works so well! I love these.

Another dear customer, Debbie, chose to crochet an edging to her version of the Jaden Boot with a boucle type yarn, and used some really cute wooden buttons.

When I designed the Splish Splash Splosh Boots I chose to use bright colours - the colours you would find on rubber rain boots

But see how sweet they look when knitted up in pastel pink! (Thanks go to Louise Retter for this photo)

And finally I have a bonnet photo to show you.

My original design was knitted in pink with a cream flower and ties

Christy Harris recently posted this photo on my Facebook Page, showing us her lilac and white version. It looks so soft and feminine. I love it!

These customer photos provide a wonderful resource for other knitters who may be looking for inspiration. Thank you all so much for taking the time to post them. It is very much appreciated!

The Tale of the Rabbit's Trousers

It's funny how ideas evolve isn't it. They take their own time and develop in their own way. You never know where they are going to end up.

A few years ago I designed my own pattern for two knitted rabbits - identical apart from the ears. The pattern developed over many months. I hadn't designed a knitting patern before and it was a steep learning curve. The project got put away when it seemed impossible only to be brought out again a few weeks later. Finally I was happy with the result and I started to knit the rabbits to sell on Etsy.

I had boy rabbits and girl rabbits................

Some had upright ears, others floppy ears..............

I sold the rabbits along with baby hats and shoes and just as I do now with the patterns, a proportion of the profit went to Leukaemia Research. They sold well, but there is a big difference between knitting for pleasure and knitting to sell. I couldn't keep up, and arthritis and RSI started to develop in my hands and wrists. So, the obvious answer was to sell the pattern. I have since designed many knitting patterns, and I'm happy to say I've learned a lot and they don't all take me several months any more!

Then back at the start of this year a lovely lady called Abby asked me if I would knit her a rabbit and a hat for her baby that was due later in the spring. She wanted the rabbit to have dungarees and a hat that matched the baby's hat. I said I would. It was lovely to knit a rabbit again... especially knowing it was just one... I didn't have an order book full!

The rabbit's hat had a button just like the baby's

and was the same colour. It's the Harper Hat pattern in my Etsy store

A week ago Abby told me that she had had her baby and sent me a photo of him, all dressed up ready to leave hospital wearing the hat and with the rabbit by his side!

I love the fact that the rabbit is almost as big as he is!!!!!

It made me realise I ought to offer the pattern to everybody. Other people might want a rabbit and a baby hat to match!. It's written out in the post below this one.

Whilst I was typing it up, I had an idea. I enjoyed making this rabbit. I would enjoy making more - not too often, just as often as the hands allowed and so an idea was born. An idea which I think was actually instigated by my son's girlfriend Laura over at Louy Magroos (As I've just opened a second Etsy shop selling quilt and sewing patterns, we were discussing what I should do with all the quilts I will eventually accumulate, and she suggested I raffle them off via the blog, with donations going to my Justgiving page) - Sooooo, that is what I intend to do with rabbits! I shall make one every so often, and offer it as a giveaway, suggesting that the winner add a small donation to my Just Giving page

I LOVE my new idea! I hope you do too!

I'm sorry this was such a long post! If you've actually stayed the course and reached the end, I hope you were sitting comfortably with a cuppa in your hand!

Jubilee Weekend Free Pattern Offer

 We have a 4 day weekend here in the UK as it is the Queen's Jubilee and we're celebrating in style with street parties everywhere!! - but if the weather forecast is right we are going to need waterproof wellies, not just knitted ones!
I'm having my own "crafty" celebration by giving a FREE knitting when you make a purchase on lovefibres on Etsy.

To receive your free pattern this is what you need to do:
1. Make a purchase from my etsy shop
2."Like" my Facebook page
3. Publicly follow this blog
4. Leave a comment below telling me your Etsy username and which free pattern you would like. I will then email it to the same address as the original Etsy purchase

Offer ends at midnight GMT 5th June.
Enjoy your weekend!!

THIS OFFER IS NOW CLOSED

A New Venture

I'm about to start on a new exciting venture!
I find that I just can't stop making quilts, and have so many ideas in my head that I've decided to start selling patterns for quilts, as well as the quilts themselves, on Etsy.
I decided it would be a bad idea to put them in the LoveFibres shop, as I really like the unified look that it now has, so I'm starting a new shop - Mack and Mabel
The other thing I'm going to do is combine my lovefibres blog with this one, so you will find both knitting and quilting related items here. I will move my free patterns over and add some quilting tutorials, as well as continuing to show you what I've been making for charity and for family and friends.
I do hope you will follow my new blog, and let me know what you think of it - good and bad!
Let the fun begin!