Edward's Menagerie

Hello all, 

I don't know about you but I love it when a new great crochet or knitting book is released. Not so long ago Toft Alpaca released their amigurumi book full of adorable animals. If you are unfamiliar with the term it basically means a crocheted toy. They are great as you can get patterns of anything from zebras to Minions.........I know as I have made many. Some of my original amigurumi patterns can be seen in my Ravelry shop. 

I love the story behind the creation of 'Edward's Menagerie' and all of the patterns in the book itself. The designs originated from when Kerry Lord was pregnant with her son (Edward) and this is when she first picked up a crochet hook. From this point she made up the patterns of the lovely animals and they have finally been published in this adorable book. I have been really looking forward to this and was fortunate enough to attend the magnificent book launch....which included a piñata full of knitting goodies :) 

I love this book as it provides clear instructions for all the techniques needed to make the animals from the book. The patterns are also divided into varying levels of difficulty which is great for beginners and more advance crocheters. I love the shapes of the animals and they are sooo hug-able. Another special touch is that all of the animals have their own names and a back story. If you have never picked up a hook before or have been crocheting for years I would recommend this book! 

The one animal I had to make from this book was an alpaca called Seamus. The pattern was easy to follow and I loved that the book also includes sewing up instructions as these are often left out or extremely vague. I quickly made him up and I am chuffed with the results. If you love Seamus as much as I do and you would like a copy of the book, check out Toft's website. 

If you need additional guidance on how to crochet or would like some tuition onto how to make the animals, Toft runs many workshops to provide brilliant hints and tips. These are well worth attending.

I have a few more animals that I would like to make from this book and I will post the results when I have completed them.

I am back from my holidays and I happy to say that I was in much need of my holiday socks as in the evenings it was freezing!!!!!! However, I have a seen a lot of knitspiration and I will hopefully be working on more of my own original patterns soon. 

Until next time

Happy crafting. 

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@knitsnotperfect

http://www.ravelry.com/designers/sarah-reed

Hyacinth Cowl

Hello all,

Just to let you know that another holiday project has been completed :) and my holiday socks have been blocked perfectly. 

I attended a workshop at Toft Alpaca and it was brilliant. I was intrigued to master the hyacinth stitch as they had a pattern for a beautiful cowl. The workshop was ran by the lovely Caroline who is a great teacher. The workshop was relaxed and delicious cake was provided. The pattern suggests to use fine yarn but I wanted to treat myself and I splashed out on extra fine yarn so the cowl would be really soft. i would recommend anyone to attend a workshop held by Toft. Not only are you surrounded by beautiful alpacas but you are also provided a high quality session with teachers who know what they are talking about. 

 The stitch comprises of 6 rows that are repeated. The pattern contained a p5tog which I had never came across. This proved difficult until I learn the trick of slipping 4 stitches purlwise, purl the last stitch and then pass the 4 slipped stitches over. This made the project build up much quicker. 

The pattern also contains a row where you wrap the yarn three times before you knit. This is where I went wrong many times and had to begin my project once again. I learnt the magic of a 'life line' which is when you thread a piece of yarn through the stitches of a row where you can pull the work back to if needed. This gave me the confidence to persist and finish my lovely soft cowl. 

This is now another piece to take on holiday and I think I have now hit the limit of what I can make before I go. I have decided whilst on holiday to take a break from designing and to make a couple of animals from the new Edward's Menagerie book. I am a big fan of these designs and I already have the yarn sitting in my stash. 

I am plotting out where the yarn shops are whilst I am away on holiday. I will be in the Hastings and Rye area so if you have any recommendations please do let me know :)

Until next time

Happy Crafting

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@knitsnotperfect

http://www.ravelry.com/designers/sarah-reed