Robin & Penguin Christmas Decorations

Christmas is fast approaching, so here is a little gift for crochet fans. You can download my Robin and Penguin Christmas Decorations pattern from Ravelry right now (it's free and you don't even have to be a Ravelry member).


Hope you enjoy it!

Here's Pepper!

I received my contributor's copy of Inside Crochet issue 21 yesterday (it's in the shops from today) and am really pleased with the layout and photos that accompany my Pepper Puppy amigurumi pattern.

The little paper kennel is a really sweet touch.

Pepper also snuck onto the front cover -

Thanks Inside Crochet!

Special Offer

I currently have a special offer on patterns in my Folksy shop - 3 patterns for £4. If you would prefer to have the patterns stored in your Ravelry library, please let me know and I will set that up rather than send the PDFs by email.

Yummy Yarn - Folksy Friday

Friday again, and this week I thought I'd choose a selection of yarn that has been handspun or hand dyed (or both) by talented Folksy sellers.







There is plenty more yarn on Folksy if you're looking for a certain colour or weight, not to mention all the handmade stitch markers and project bags you could want!

My work in Inside Crochet magazine

A couple of months ago, Inside Crochet magazine ran a toy design competition with one of the prizes being the chance to have your pattern published in the magazine. Of course, I couldn't ignore that opportunity, so picked up my hook and got busy.

Some terrible sketches and a fair bit of trial and error later, I finished my puppy dog amigurumi and settled on the name 'Pepper'. Then I wrote up the pattern, took some photos, emailed them off to the magazine, and crossed my fingers.



A few weeks ago, I received an email telling me that Pepper the Puppy had been selected as a runner-up and they wanted to publish the pattern in a future issue of the magazine. I had a mad few days, sending my ami off to be photographed, reworking the pattern to fit the magazine's submission guidelines, and emailing it along with a contract to the editor, Claire. (The deadline fell when I was on holiday, so I wanted to get everything done before I went away.)

Today my contributor's copy of issue 20 popped through my letter box, and here is Pepper in the winners gallery -



I really can't wait to see my published pattern (but I suppose I'll just have to!).

Love is in the air - Folksy Friday

My brother got engaged to his lovely girlfriend recently, so I decided to see what Folksy sellers had to offer for a newly engaged couple or for anyone thinking of popping the question. Here are just a few of the lovely items I found...







Congratulations again to David and Suzy!

Geek Chic Folksy Friday

A few items that would be perfect for the geek in your life, or to show your appreciation for all things nerdy.

Exciting Stuff!

I've just submitted my first pattern to a magazine for publication - so exciting, but OMG how nerve-wracking!? I could barely sleep last night, convinced that my laptop would somehow have deleted the pattern (plus the back-up on my USB flash drive, don't ask how) or replaced the instructions with complete gibberish. Anyway, reading over everything one last time before sending it this morning, it actually looked like gibberish because I'm so exhausted!

The experience has been good though, because it's the first time I've had to use style guidelines to create a pattern (my own random style is not any recognised standard, funnily enough) and having to meet a deadline has helped me to focus and get organised, which is something I really need to do rather than drift along doing things at my own relaxed pace and putting everything off until tomorrow. Or next week. Or, you know, whenever...

Anyway, I am in need of a nice cup of coffee right about now. I'll try to update my blog later today with a Folksy Friday collection. Hope you all have a good weekend!

Happy Camper Folksy Friday

My husband and I have just bought a tent and we're looking forward to our first camping trip, so that's the inspiration for my Folksy Friday selection this week.

As always, you can click on the images to find out more about each item or search Folksy for more ideas to 'glamp' up your tent/caravan.

Feeling Fruity Folksy Friday

Click on the images to find out more about each item or have a search on Folksy for more delicious finds.

New Pattern Now Available

My pattern for Trumpy the African Elephant is now available to purchase on Ravelry and Folksy.



One of my awesome pattern testers wrote a lovely blog post about testing it. She made such a good job of it, I can't believe she'd never made a stuffed toy before!

My latest design

Meet Trumpy the African Elephant - my husband named him, which I'm sure you'd realise if you'd spent any time around him! (He's now complaining about me saying that, but it's actually politer than what I was going to write...)


I'll be looking for people to test the pattern on Ravelry soon, then hope to have the pattern available through my Ravelry store and Folksy shop.

Knit a square for Japan

If you've been watching the news over the weekend, you can't have missed the footage of the terrible aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. A London-based member of Ravelry is looking for people to knit or crochet squares which will be made into blankets for people who've been affected - more info on her blog here. Grab your needles/hook and do some stash-busting for a good cause!

Baa!

A Wild West Folksy Friday

Howdy folks! I've been playing Red Dead Redemption on the PS3 recently, so I'm using that as a theme for my Folksy Friday selection. Saddle up and take a trip through the Wild West!

Click on the images to find out more about each item or have a search on Folksy for more fantastic finds - yee ha!

Say hello to my little friend...

A few months ago, I blogged about Sarah Keen's book 'Knitted Wild Animals' (you can read that post here) and was trying to decide which animal to make first. Well, in the end it was the hippo and here he is...



He's been sitting on the sofa watching TV a lot this week and is turning into a bit of a critic. He likes watching Junior Masterchef Australia, but he thinks the people on the US Apprentice are all silly and big-headed. He also thought Birmingham City deserved to win the cup yesterday, but he thought they were playing for a tea cup, not a silver trophy...