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.