Home sweet home

This is the view of my studio from my living room. That’s where the magic happens! My students come to see me and we sit together at the white table and create clothing, accessories, home goods, and more with sticks/a hook and string. It’s also where I design projects for my books and where those designs come to fruition. I’ve experienced the gamut of human emotions in that room – from frustration and fear to exhilaration and passion. It’s a pretty special place.

Want to come and make some magic with me? Why not contact me and come for a lesson?

Happy New Year!

One of my resolutions for 2012 is to post more regularly here, as I’ve been seriously neglecting this little blog for months! It’s been a very busy few months – all good things, but life has taken away from my internet time for sure.

The big news is: I wrote a book!

It’s called Teeny Tiny Crochet and is available for preorder on amazon.co.uk at the above link, on amazon.com here, and on bookdepository.co.uk here and bookdepository.com here. It comes out on 9 Feb.

Everything in the book is 3″ (about 7.5cm) or smaller, many items a lot, lot smaller. You can create miniature ducks, sheep, ladybirds (ladybugs for the Americans!), and even a minuscule gingerbread house. I had a lot of fun making these wee projects and I think you will too.

I’m also under contract for a second book, which I can’t talk too much about yet, but I’ll keep you posted. Happy 2012, everyone! Hope it’s a great one for you.

Weird and Wonderful

Just returned from a lovely holiday in Rome and while I was there, I found out about this fantastic Italian crochet artist, Anna Pontel. Have a look at some images:

Aren’t they lovely and bizarre?

Amazing quilt! (I love my students!)

A while back, Kathryn took an embroidery class with me, and she’s stayed in touch ever since, sharing her beautiful creations. This is her latest, and it is stunning!

I’ll let her tell it in her own words:

“I thought you might like to see this, which I have made for my mum for her 80th birthday…I did 28 little embroideries of things that remind me of her, and then put them in a quilt.”

She adds that she got the idea for the quilt from the project here, on the lovely Feeling Stitchy blog.

Here are some of the closeups of the hand embroidery that make up this marvellous heirloom piece (click on the pics to enlarge):

I love the deeply personal quality of this piece, and I really get an insight into Kathryn’s loving relationship with her mother – the motifs she chose are so evocative. I’m just blown away by the work and care that went into this project. Well done Kathryn!

I love my students!

My student Hilary took on a challenge – to crochet a sweater/jacket that looked like a tailored, professional piece, with none of the lacy, openwork bits that are so common in most crochet designs. She wanted something she would actually wear, that fit with her personal style. She found a pattern (the “Suits Me” jacket from Lily Chin’s Couture Crochet Workshop book), bought some gorgeous wool, and set to work. We’ve had a lesson several times during the course of her making it for her to check with me on the trickier bits, but she ploughed ahead herself for most of it, working carefully and conscientiously. And here is the final result!

Isn’t it stunning?? It’s the sort of thing you’d pay a fortune for in a very posh shop, except it would never fit as well or be as well-finished as this one is.

In return for using the photos, Hilary said I must include the following statement:

“…just make the point I wouldn’t have tackled it without your help, most especially with reading the pattern as well as how to do the button/hole band, blocking and seaming.” I’m so happy to have been a part of this beautiful project, Hilary! Well done you.

Pretty potholder – free online pattern!

I started this last evening while watching an episode of Torchwood (why did none of you tell me this show was actually good??) and after 2 episodes, it was finished. So easy!

The free pattern is available here from the lovely Crochet with Raymond blog. Warning: probably not for beginners. Requires some mental translation.

Owl hat!

Another quick and easy project for my niece Mae, who made her debut last Monday!

The free pattern for this hat is available on Ravelry here.

Cute, huh?

La Droguerie

My husband and I took a quick trip to Marseille this past weekend, to participate in the christening of an extremely cute little lady called Valentine.

Whenever I visit Marseille, I try to find the time to visit La Droguerie, the nicest yarn/fabric/notions/haberdashery shop I’ve ever seen. It’s a France- and Japan-only chain that sells luxury yarn right off the cone, along with gorgeous pattern books and loads of fabrics, ribbons, buttons, and everything else you can imagine. Sadly, I didn’t have the good camera with me so I didn’t get pics of the interior of the shop, but I can show you my haul.

It’s fair to say I did some damage.

All the yarn you see there is 100% alpaca, 100g of all the colours except the deep teal – 200g of that one. It’s fantastically soft and luxurious and will be so lightweight and warm when knitted. Let’s take a closer look at that yarn, shall we?

Can you see the gorgeous, subtle colour variations in the taupe and the teal? The rich, clear solids of the pink and the mint? Aaaaaaah I love this yarn! I have a feeling it will live in my stash for quite a while before I pluck up the courage to actually use it for anything. It’s too beautiful as it is.

The book is all baby patterns, and I’d love to show you inside but don’t want to violate copyright. The layouts are amazing, the design impeccable. It was the only book they had in an English translation and if they’d had more, I would have bought them all. The patterns are so beautiful. I’ll be showing you finished objects as I make things from it.

If you’re in France or Japan and have a chance to visit La Droguerie, you won’t be disappointed!

Videojug!

A little while ago, I made a series of how-to videos with Videojug for knitting and crochet, and here they are!

My video profile on Videojug

Titles include:

KNITTING
How to knit
How to purl
How to knit garter stitch
How to knit moss stitch
How to make a wrap stitch in knitting
How to make a buttonhole in knitting
How to make a cable knit scarf
How to use circular needles
How to cast off in knitting
How to teach children to knit
How to add beads to knitting
How to knit with cotton
How to use bamboo knitting needles

CROCHET
How to do crochet chain stitch (right and left handed)
How to double crochet (right and left handed)
How to half treble crochet (right and left handed)
How to treble crochet (right and left handed)
How to crochet a flower (right and left handed)
How to crochet a circle (right and left handed)
How to crochet a granny square

These videos are great resources for my students, as well as the general public. I hope you find them useful! I also have a selection of the videos embedded at my website. Thanks for checking them out, and let me know what you think of them!

Baby madness!

My niece is being born any day now (and I know her mum, my sister in law, would prefer sooner rather than later!). This is the first baby girl being born in my family and I’ve gone a little bit mad making things for her, as all the baby girl items are so cute and so quick to make! I thought I’d share a few of the latest-finished things with you:

HOW CUTE ARE THESE?? The pattern for these crocheted booties can be purchased here and it is well-written and straightforward. I just love them. I decided to make a matching hat, as I fell in love with the blush colour of this Sublime Cashmere/Merino/Silk DK yarn:

This was taken outside in the sunlight so you can see the true colour a bit better here. I knitted a simple newborn hat pattern with some i-cord at the top to make it even cuter.

And finally:

There’s a reason Debbie Bliss’s baby knitting books sell so well; it’s because the patterns are so darned adorable! I embellished this little cardi (called the Matinee Coat, from Debbie Bliss’s Simply Baby) with a crocheted picot edge in white. One caveat: this is the smallest size, and it’s definitely at least a 3-6 month, if not bigger. This will be far too big for a newborn! But it’s so lovely. I hope the parents-to-be will be very happy with it!

Have you made any cute baby things lately? Aren’t the patterns for girls so much better (and plentiful) than the patterns for boys? Have you found any boy’s patterns you love?