Toft's Charity Project

Hello all,

You'll be happy to know that I have caught up with my projects again. I have also sent samples to Inside Crochet for a commission. They will hopefully make an appearance in the nect few months. It's all exciting :)

My latest make is a project to raise money for charity. I am a massive fan of Toft Alpaca and they are currently creating a crochet jungle. The charities that will benefit are Noah's Ark Hospices Charity and Birmingham Children's Hospital Charity. donations for these great causes are made by buying a #crochetjungle monkey pack. This pack includes material and the pattern to make your own monkey for family and friends. I have made my mischievous monkey and I will donate him to Toft so he can tour starting at the Knitting and Stitching show in March. 

If you wish to donate anything you can there is a just giving page. Check it out and help them reach their target https://www.justgiving.com/crochetjungle/

The Monkey pattern is a fun make and is quite quick. I really liked making the hands and feet as this was a new technique. This is something that I would like to incorporate in my future projects. 

This weekend I am heading to Unravel in Fareham for a browse. It looks to be full of amazing exhibitors so I will hopefully find much knitspiration there for future design projects. I will let you know what it is like so you can plan to go next time. 

I am in need of tea, biscuit and  my next project.

Until next time

Happy Crafting

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I'm back!!!!

Hello all,

I seem to have lost track of time :s I hope you are all well. I am in the process of relocating to Birmingham to move nearer to some lovely yarn shops. I am having to face the reality of how huge my yarn stash is. I need a bit of a clear out but it is so difficult to do. Once I am in my new property I will have a whole room to fill with yarn goodness.

I am still in love with West Yorkshire Spinner's yarn. I recently visited my sister in Reading and went along to a lovely shop called Yarnfest. It is in Thatcham and filled with good quality yarn...including my favourite West Yorkshire Spinner's. There are other yarns such as Debbie Bliss, Noro and Louise Harding. There is also a cute dog which will help you with your yarn shopping. Yarnfest also run a variety of workshops that look amazing to attend. I will be sure to try and tie in a visit there whenever I visit my sister. Check out the shops website for more http://www.yarnfest.co.uk/

I have a couple more magazines commissions on the way (one includes the yarn I brought from Yarnfest) and I have also had a couple of patterns reprinted in a German magazine called Hakeln which is exciting :)

Toft are currently raising money for Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity and Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice. They are making a crochet jungle which will be on display at the Knitting and Stitching show in March. I am helping towards this project but if you are able to make some leaves or buy a monkey kit where a donate would be made to these brilliant causes, that would be much appreciated.  please check out their website for more information. 

 http://www.thetoftalpacashop.co.uk/Article_News_crochetjungle.aspx

Well I need to get back to typing up my patterns :)

Until next time

Happy crafting

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A New Yarn Thief

Hello all,

I am very surprised to see that it is now February. The 2 remaining projects that I thought I would complete before now are .......still not completed :s. I have began to hand quilt my Christmas decoration but I feel it may be a couple of months before it is fully completed. My patchwork blanket is still one patch short but I have found a sewing club (that welcomes knitter too) where I can go to finish it. The group runs Wednesdays at the Quilter's Den in Warwick. This shop sell items to quilt with and the workshops are great full. It's well worth checking out the website  http://www.thequiltersden.co.uk/ The sewing group was lovely as I felt really welcomed and it was nice to see a mixture if crafts under one roof. 

I have not been able to post current projects as I have had interest from a magazine. I will post what I have been up to when I can. Not too long though :) 

The Dinosaur blanket 

I travelled down to Reading to visit my sister. I was able to pass on the dinosaur blanket and she was please with the outcome. This will hopefully be something she will use more when the new addition to the family arrives. Whilst in Reading I though it would be a great opportunity to sample the local yarn shops. To my horror I could not find any independent ones (Oh No).On a plus side it did mean that my yarn stash is not going  to take over the house. I have managed to force the current room shut and no one must every enter or they will drown in a sea of yarn. John Lewis had their yarn section which was lovely and I particularly liked their display. 

Badger the Yarn Bandit

Whilst in Reading, I felt that my project was safe from the yarn bunny bandit....however I was wrong. There I was just quietly working on a new design when out of the blue something jumped into my knitting bag!!!!!!! I looked and to my horror, there was a new yarn bandit.....a little black and white cat also known as Badger. He ran away with a ball of yarn and he also stole some of my work. I was in such a state of shock I let him keep it :s

To help recover from this sadness, I have booked to attend two events. The first is tomorrow and is at Guthrie and Ghani http://www.guthrie-ghani.co.uk/. This is a cute shop located in Birmingham in an area called Moseley. Lauren (from the Great Sewing Bee) runs this shop and it welcomes not only sewer but knitter and crocheters too. This is a fair Isle workshop where the end product is a pair of lovely mittens. I wanted to go as this work shops covers knitting with 2 hands...which I am not great at. I am also intrigued to see how to change colours in rib stitches. I am really looking forward to this :) Check out the website as there is a monthly Knit and Natter group too. 

I have also booked to attend The Sewing/Hobbycraft/Stitch show at the NEC between 20th-23rd March. I enjoyed the show around Christmas and thought that if the opportunity was there again, I would go. I will be on the hunt for knitting and crochet bargains. 

With that, I have a project downstairs that I am dying to get on with :)

Happy Crafting

Sarah Coad

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Hobbycraft show and Christmas Jumper part 3

Hello all,

It is again a busy week for the merry land of Knit's Not Perfect. I have spent the first part of the week creating more Christmas decorations in preparation for the craft fairs. I have now designed three different decorations. The first being mini stocking, the second was a snowman and the final was a snowflake. For these projects I used Patron 100% wool which just added a more festive feel. 

I then had the opportunity to begin my Christmas jumper :) The new batch of yarn arrived. It is Drops, which is a blend of alpaca and wool so is nice and thick. I did my tension square and found that I need to use a 5mm needle as opposed to a 4.5mm or my jumper would have been tiny. I decided to start with the sleeve as I have two of them to make and I can get bored if I do two one after the other. I found the pattern to be simple and it worked well. I have adapted it by adding an extra row after each increase row to ensure that it is long enough. I would recommend Sue Stratford's book to anyone looking to make their first jumper. 

I did a craft fair in Bedworth on Saturday and it went very well. I took along some of my older projects and books that I wanted to get rid of. I found that this town did appreciate the products made out of natural fibres. Key rings, phone cases and the Christmas decorations went down well so I will have to make more up to replenish my next fair (which is on Sunday 17th)

On Sunday I went to the Hobbycraft show at the NEC. This was the first time that I attended a show like this. I was prepared slightly as I remembered to pack a bag to put my goodies in. Just as a warning the car park was £10 (ouch). There was a great range of stalls on the day including many papercraft and beading ones. However, I had to make sure that I stayed focused or I could have spent all of my money, very quickly. All the usual magazine publishers were there so I picked up a great number of older Knitting and Crochet magazines and the current ones at a reduced cost. I had three favourite stalls there. The one begin good old TOFT, the second Bulldog Krafts and the final Hobzy

TOFT's stall was beautiful, they had all of the amigurumi animals suspended from the ceiling which made the stall stand out from other. There was a great range of products and I was able to check out their new wool. TOFT is a company that sells luxury yarns that are made from natural fibres and are not dyed. They firstly began with Alpaca yarn (As they are an Alpaca farm, well worth a visit if there is a tour). They have now broadened the range by selling yarn made with 100% blue face Leicester wool, which is very yummy. For more details look at their website www.toftalpacashop.co.uk

Bulldog Krafts was a company that I had not heard of until I went the show. They sell bamboo needles, hooks and Tunisian crochet hooks at a reasonable price. I was able to buy 9 Tunisian crochet hooks for only £10 which I thought was a bargain. they also sell lovely 100% cotton yarn in beautiful colours. The yarn is a good quality and you get a great length out of each skein. John was the man I spoke to there and he seemed very friendly and genuine. His partner (who is the keen knitter) is also lovely and approachable. You are able to buy nice kits from their website. I am tempted with the baby blanket kit as I have a family member who will be in need of it soon. Please check out their Facebook page and website www.bulldogkrafts.co.uk

The final find of the day is a website called Hobzy (www.hobzy.com) This is a website where you can sell your own products online. Unlike other sites, they do not charge you to upload your items but will only take payment once you sell it. I was informed on the day that this is 15%. It is a website intended to help smaller business sell their products so I may give it a go. 

I have three orders to work on this week. This Friday is Knit Night at Esquire's Coffee Shop in Coventry. Here is great as you can watch great acts such as comedians, singers and poets for free whilst knitting :) The group runs 7pm - 9pm and any skill level is welcome. Please remeber to bring your own yarn and needles as these are not provided on the day. On Sunday I will be at Ashby St Ledger's Village Hall for a craft fair. It runs from 2pm-5pm and it should be great. I will be there with my friend from Kazam jewellery so come on down if your free. check out my Facebook page for more details. 

That's all for now

Happy crafting

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Craft stalls and the Knitting Thief

Hello all,

I did my 2 craft stalls and it seemed to go OK. The first was in the town of Nuneaton. Here I found people seemed to like smaller items such as key rings. I was nervous when I first arrived as this was my first actual craft fair.  I managed to forget my table cloth (despair) As I looked sadly at my naked table all was not lost as I lucky had a friend there to help me out. I have learnt that Rule 1 of a craft stall never forget your table cloth or you will have a naked table of shame! Rule number 2, make sure your items clearly show what they are. I had some headbands but people seemed unsure what they were....I even had one person tell me that the necklaces I had made were lovely. I have since decided to order some mannequin heads to display them clearly on :). Rule 3 take your knitting. This was great as people came over to chat to me about my craft and also laugh as I managed to tangle myself in the wool again and again. 

The second craft fair I did was in Rugby. I came more prepared as I had my table cloth! However, to my surprise the tables were already beautifully dressed. Rule 4 do  not assume you will need to use the table cloth you bring. In this area I found that my mobile phone covers did well :) So I have come to realise that location can affect what you sell. I guess this means that rule 5 is that location is key. 

I tried to make my tension square for my Christmas jumper but alas it was an epic fail. I realised that I knit extremely tightly. So tight I have to use needles that are 1/2mm bigger than intended for the wool. This means if I continued with the current yarn...It would be holey and look odd. I have since consoled myself by yarn shopping on www.woolwarehouse.co.uk Of course I did not buy anything extra....that I will need to hide from the husband....:s 

I am up to date with my knitting orders :) I have made 2 minions, 2 cowls, 1 West Brom scarf and a Super Mario. I found a great pattern on http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/mario-plushie by Linda Potts. The pattern is free and it is a great pattern. It is easy to follow and the end products look like what they are meant to.  I have since become a massive fan of Linda and follow her blog :) Please respect that the pattern or end product is not to be sold. 

I have realised that my knitting is no longer safe in my house. There is a creature that lives in my home that steals yarn and needles. I thought I was misplacing things until I caught the villain red handed, or pawed rather! To my horror, the criminal was none other than my pet rabbit Caramel. I was there, casually sewing my project together and she jumps on my table, steals my knitting needle, runs away with and and then gnawed it. I am in need of a new place to stash my work.....and a new 3.5mm bamboo needle.

I have brought the latest Inside Crochet magazine and again delighted with the projects. I particularly love the crochet Christmas Stocking and the Festive Wreath. This has been added to my long list of things I would love to make myself.

I have now got the festive spirit so currently working on Christmas decorations for future stall. I have finally got an original pattern that I am happy with for a mini stocking and I hope to made a mini snowman soon too (as red and white are the only colours I have :s)

I will be selling on a crafty stall again on Saturday. It is at Bedworth Methodist Church, Mill Street, CV12 8JZ. The event begins at 10 am and I will be there.......with a dressed table. 

Well I am going to return to my festive makes

Happy crafting :)

Busy Busy Busy

Hello all,

This has been a very busy week. I have had more minions to make, 4 orders for scarves and a craft table to think about :s

First of all a quick update on my Christmas Jumper, I have yarn :). I ordered it from www.woolwarehouse.co.uk. the prices on this website is great and my order arrived the next day. I would recommend this to anyone. There is the option to buy acrylic and natural yarns. I have worked out as well where I can add rows to make the sleeves fit me better. The next step is to knit a tension square, which will be on hold until next week.

I attended the Wool Party at TOFT on thursday. It was nice as we could see some of the new yarn which is made out of wool as opposed to alpaca fleece. It was a great evening as there was tea and cakes and a great group. We tried to catch up with our UFO's but tea and chatting took over. I would advise you to attend a knit night at TOFT so you can meet the gang and also look at the great range of yarn available.

Knit night at Esquires Coffee shop went well last Friday. I had a lovely group who were knitters and crocheters. I even had someone interested in learning basic Tunisian Crochet. My group is special as we have some Deaf Sign Language users. I am fortunate that I am a signer so communication is not an issue. 

I had two orders where I did not have the correct colours. I was fortunate that I went to Derby and came across a knitting shop called 'Wren's' The staff are friendly and there is a good variety of yarn colours. You can even buy neon colours if you like. However, I was most impressed that they held pretty much every colour available in the Style craft range. I was able to get the colour needed for my bespoke cowl and also I got some acrylic wool to make a scarf that is in the colours of West Brom football club. I would recommend a visit.

I have been working on the West Brom scarf first as I know it will take the longest. I decided that since I have brought DK wool, that I would double it up to make it chunkier. However, this is proving to be difficult as the yarn keeps knotting up. Meaning this project is taking longer that anticipated.aaarrrrggghhh

I have now added to my stall stock winter headbands. They are made out of Rowan Big Wool so are lovely and warm. Speaking of my stall, I have two events this weekend. The first is in Nuneaton and the second is in Rugby. For both of these events I am sharing a stall with my friend Kazam Jewellery (www.kazamjewellery.co.uk) who makes lovely pieces of work. check out her website for more.

The craft fair at Nuneaton is Saturday 10am-3.30pm at the Nuneaton URC Church, Chapel Street, Nuneaton, Warwickshire CV11 5QH. there are about 15 different stalls and entry is free.

On Sunday come to The Rugby Hotel, Sheep Street,  CV21 3BX 11am-2pm. This is again a free event so come on down and support local crafts.

Hopefully I will see you at the weekend at the craft fairs but if not, happy crafting until next time :)

Sarah Coad
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Back from my Holiday

Hello all,

I am back from my holiday with the family to Weymouth. It was a great trip and lovely to spend the holiday with my close family members. Whilst away I have still been doing my crafting and visited many local wool shops. 

The first I visited was on the way to Weymouth in Salisbury. It is a beautiful shop called 'Born to Knit'. The shelves are stack high with a lot of beautiful yarn. The shop itself encourages knitters and crocheters to use beautiful natural fibres. There is an excellent range of colours and different weighted yarn available  You can find Rowan, Debbie Bliss and Artesano wool here and many many more. Whatever your project is, you are bound to find gorgeous wool that will really add to it. I have brought some lovely Debbie Bliss cotton from here and have a new project in mind for this already. My brother, James Reed (who has a blog http://jreedguitar.wordpress.com/ by the way), lives in the area so I am sure to visit this shop again. I love the knitted bear present outside the shop. For all the products in this shop please look at their website http://www.borntoknit.co.uk/. The shop even offers one to one tuition, check out their page for more. I have included a picture of the shop below.

Once in Weymouth, I visited their local shop called 'Spin a Yarn' the website is http://www.spinayarnweymouth.co.uk/. This shop has a good range of Acrylic and some natural fibre yarn. The owner is nice and willing to give advice, if needed. Here I found chunky Wendy Cotton yarn, which I had not seen before. As you can guess, I have brought this and have a little project in mind.

The final shop that I had the opportunity to visit was 'Yarn' in Bridport. This is a spacious shop which has a vast range of yarns that are made up of natural and natural with a bit of acrylic fibres. It is a lovely shop to browse around and easy to navigate. They even have a comfortable sofa for the poor non-yarn addict to rest on, this was great as it gave me plenty more time to browse. They stock wool including Rico, Artesano, Rooster to name a few. I had never come across Rooster Almerino until I came to this shop and fell in love with it. It is so soft and the colour range is excellent. The shop owner knows when you want to be left to browse and when to offer advice and guidance. She seemed extremely knowledgeable and friendly.  I wish I lived nearer the shop but it is great to know that they have a website (http://bridportyarn.co.uk/) where I can order from. Also the owner has a friend who lives near Bedworth (my home) so maybe I can get my orders delivered by hand :p The wool I brought can be seen below 

I also browsed the charity shops and picked up a couple of knitting book. One covers Fair Isle knitting so I am hoping to get a few pointers from there and others were stitch guides for inspiration 

 I have now decided to be brave and knit my first jumper. This will be no ordinary jumper but a Christmas one :) I am a proud owner of Sue Stratford's latest book 'Merry Christmas Sweaters to Knit'. I tend to find that my arms do not quite fit regular jumpers, so hopefully if I make it myself, I can adapt the jumper slightly to make it fit. I will be blogging about this project regularly so you can keep up to date with my progress. 

Overall a busy holiday but very enjoyable :)

Until next time happy crafting 

Sarah 

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