Nigel's Parrot

Hello all, 

I hope you are all well and enjoying the summer. I can't believe it's August tomorrow eekkkk. this can only mean one thing.....Christmas is fast approaching us all!!!! panic!!! I guess it's time to get the creative hat on and start making Christmas gifts. I also have a wedding to go to and a friend has a baby on the way. There is so much to do in such little time. 

I am proud to announce that I have recently had my pattern 'Nigel's Parrot' published in  Inside crochet. This pattern was first created last year, when my other half and I went to Bird World. It was just a normal trip until we went to a part where parrots were roaming free on branches. Nigel decided to feed a parrot but then the parrot took a shine to him. The parrot proceeded to crawl on his shoulder and remove a button from Nigel's top shirt. After a while the parrot spat out the button but did not move from Nigel's shoulder. We tried to move the parrot with food and also Nigel stood by a branch to try and encourage it to move. The parrot was having the time of his life and just swapped which of Nigel's shoulder he sat on. After 30 minutes  we had to get a zoo keeper to remove the parrot. I felt  a memento of such a funny event was needed and so I made Nigel a parrot. 

I didn't realize that the parrot had so many colours around it's face, chest and tail. The easiest way to tackle this was to make a flat piece which I sewed onto the main part of the body. I felt it captured the main parts of the parrot. It was fun selecting the colours from Drops Safran yarn. They have a great color pallet to work with so matching it to the parrot was easy. 

I hope you enjoy the pattern as much as I enjoyed them. I have also popped new patterns on Ravelry which are of other animal's I have designed such as a cat, dog and bear. 

Over the weekend I was in Salisbury visiting the family and popped into Born to Knit. It is a very sweet shop based in a craft centre. They had a wide range of colours available to select. There was Rowan, Patron and Debbie Bliss yarn. I have made some good selections and will be playing with a design soon. 

Right....better get on with Christmas patterns......

Until next time

Happy crafting

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Ireland and Wool@j13

Hello all,

I hope you are happily crafting the summer away. I have been a busy bunny with my travels!!!!

At the start of May I went on a mini holiday to Ireland!!! We stopped in Limerick and it was lovely. We had the opportunity to see the Cliffs of Mohar, kiss the Blarney Stone and see humpback Whales on a sea safari. I also managed to find a little wool shop in Limerick called Lena's Sewing and Knitting Centre. It was a sweet little shop on the high street. I found a beautiful set of crochet hooks which I had to buy!!!!!!

We also went to St John's Castle which had a gift shop selling knitting kits. I have mohair kit to make a shawl and an Irish yarn kit to make up some mittens. I will be having a play with them when possible. 

I went to wool@j13 and I really enjoyed the day. There was a good variety of stalls and I was lucky enough to attend 2 great workshops. The first was broomstick crochet and this was taught by Helen from Thread of Life. It was an interesting technique which I am hoping to incorporate into a design. I enjoy how it looks when it is made with mohair so fingers crossed It will create something. 


I also attended jar cover workshop ran by Lynn Rowe. Lynn is a talented designer who features in many magazines and books. The workshop was making a cover for a jam jar but used a variety of new stitches. It was a great relaxed environment and I was able to get advice on perfecting techniques. Lynn was a warm and friendly host and I would recommend attending her workshops. 

I have been keeping up with my Quirky Thirties tasks.....I attempted to water ski but this was a major fail......In order to ski safely the boots must be loose enough so that you can get pulled out of them. The boat pulled me so hard that I flew out of the boots and was dragged face first across the lake. I did not realise that I had to let go so continued to be pulled for a while. It is fair to say that i don't think it's for me....

Well I'd better get back to it.

until next time

Happy crafting

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Rebecca and Bithiah

Hello all,

I am proud to say that Inside Crochet have published 2 more of my patterns. I have created 2 animal called Rebecca and Bithiah. The patterns started last year just before Christmas, I made the mistake from the year before of knitting large gifts for each of my friends and family. My gifts ranged from gloves to socks.......the issue at the time was that I kept forgetting that I needed to make each thing twice. I decided that I wanted to create something smaller and quicker to make. This is where I decided to make an army of animals for each person. I decided to make each of my friends an animal which I thought represented them and name it after them. 

The fox is named after my sister Rebecca or Beccy. Beccy has been there a lot for me and helped me through the good and bad times. She has always supported me no matter what. She is also the mother of my nephew Ben (the one I created Benjamin's Bunting for). My sister liked items with fox designs on it and I thought it would be appropriate to make her own. 

Bithiah is someone who I went to university with. She is extremely lively and a joy to be around. Bithiah helped me through my degree and has been a great friend ever since I met her. We lived together in halls and now we meet every week for hula hooping practice. As she is such a lively character it made me think a squirrel would really suit her.

I enjoyed using Drops Safran yarn as the colours are extremely vibrant and comfortable to work with. I like the range and also the price makes the project extremely affordable. It was a pleasure to create and I hope to share some more of my makes at a later date. 

Another yarn that I have been enjoying is West Yorkshire Spinner Rum Paradise. It is multicoloured but so bright and cheerful. I am working on some designs with them!!!

I am looking forward to going to wool@j13 over the next weekend. I have signed up to a broomstick crochet workshop and have a good look at all of the yarn there. I'm really looking forward to it and I hope you can join me!!!!! 

Well lets get back to it!!!

until next time

Happy crafting

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Name Twin and Slither of Snakes

Hello all,


A very delayed Happy New Year. I hope you are all well and knitting away. I have been poorly for a while so unable to blog bbbbboooo!!!! Hopefully I'm on the mend and can get back to knitting!!!!


I can see there is a new knitting event Wool@j13. I am hoping to attend as this is not too far from me !!!!! Of course I will be with my knitting buddy Becky. The event is on 13th-14th May and looks fab. For more information check out their website http://wool-j13.uk/


I was amazed to see I have a name twin (plus or minus a letter) who also crochets!!! Sarah Read creates really sweet patterns (check out the unicorn!!!! it very pretty). She knits, crochets and sews. Sarah Read goes under Stitch Witch Creations so check her out and support my name twin!!!! Her facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/stitchwitchcreations


I am going to join a knitting and crochet world record attempt. On Facebook there is a group called Slither of Snakes and they want your Knitting snakes before 9th April!!!!! The intention is to attempt to break a World Record by having the longest line is knitting/crocheted snakes. After this the snakes will go on sale to raise money for Alzheimer's research UK. This looks like a lot of fun....and a great way to use up your yarn stash!!!!! Check out the Facebook page to request a pattern (https://www.facebook.com/Slitherofsnakes/) !!!!!!


Well thanks my knitting news for now


Until next time


Happy Crafting

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Tunisian Cluster Mittens

Hello all,

Happy days, Inside Crochet have been so kind and printed my pattern!!!!! Please check it out!!!!

This piece is a pair of Tunisian Cluster Mittens. This piece came about as I played with a new stitch pattern I had found. Once I had made head and tails of it and created the original sample I sent a picture to Rhian Drinkwater and she loved the design. Rhian suggested using the beautiful MillaMia Naturally Soft Merino. This has to be one of the most beautiful and soft yarns that I have ever worked with. I wanted a piece that would test Tunisian crocheter but the pattern needed to be relaxing. This stitch was perfect as it is quite repetitive and builds up quickly. I created the piece and sent it off and it is lovely to see how the piece has been published in the magazine. I was also touched to see a mention on the editors page.

I have a couple more patterns on their way soon and I have just been commissioned for a project next year. It is all very exciting!!!!!

I have started the Christmas presents (I know Christmas crafting already!!!!).....I am designing original pieces for my friends and family and hope that they enjoy them. In addition to this, I have my ticket ready for the Hobbycraft and Christmas craft show at the NEC. I love this show as there is a good range of craft items to buy and also there is a little Christmas Market to look at too. I am heading there on 6th November!!! I'll be there with my knitting buddy Becky and I hope to see you there. 

I am proud to announce that I will be going on my first holiday with my new man!!!!!. We decided to go to Scotland.....which I only recently remembered that it is freezing. This was a perfect reason to knit a new hat. As we are planning to go on hikes I did not want to get lost in the dark so I felt it was a good time to us reflective yarn. I made an order to Wool Warehouse and was sent (very quickly) Schachenmayr Lumio. I am a proud owner of a rib stitch hat.....with a massive pom pom!!!!!!! I am looking forward to showing this piece off and also I hopefully will not get lost with my shiny hat. 

Right, lets get back to it!!!!

Until next time

Happy crafting

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SUP and commissions

Hello all, 

It has been a busy few weeks. I have finally decorated my bedrooms. I have learnt the beauty of wallpapering.......or messy I am with the paste. I have also realised that I should not be left alone to paint......At one point I head butted the freshly painted wall and walked around with a purple fringe most of the day. My poor white carpet has also suffered as it is now decorated with purple splodges of paint......I guess this is an excuse to get new carpets. 

I have finished my run of commissions for the magazines so hopefully they will be released within the next couple of months. My Ravelry and Love Knitting shop also appear to be doing well. Please do have a look if you're able.

My knitting buddy Becky and I recently went to Fibre East. It was a great show and there was such a variety of hand dyed yarn. Becky made a good purchase of hand dyed white yarn with colourful specks through it. It has since become a beautiful unicorn!!!!

I can't believe it's already September so I will need to start thinking about Christmas projects....maybe this year I wont make anything too complex......oh dear. 

I have attempted to SUP (stand up paddle boarding) this was good fun!!!! It is quite difficult to stand up on the board but I was able to. I tried to reverse the board but failed epic-ally and fell in the sea........twice. I would say it is worth doing it!!!!!

I'm off on holiday soon and I will be crocheting on the beach....hopefully......it will be a nice break ..........with an attempt at surfing. 

right time to start planning for Christmas....

until next time 

Happy crafting

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True Love and Zorbing

Hello all,

It has been a busy few weeks. I have commissions to work on for Inside Crochet and the knitting collections which is exciting!!!!

I have also been zorbing. It was a lot of fun but I do not recommend doing it on a hot day!!! I went with my knitting buddy Becky and we tried to zorb on the water to begin with. This was an epic fail as we could not even stand up!!!........We decided to instead to lie in the ball and sunbathe. After this we were part of an it's a knock out round....Again I spent most of the time on the floor.......I couldn't keep stood up. Finally we did a maze where we raced against each other. As it was so hot it was like being stuck in a green house....we quickly went from running to walking. It is a good experience but I don't think I need to do it again lol. 

I went to Yarningham which was amazing.It was lovely to attend a local yarn festival which has local suppliers. I found a great stall which provided me with buttons needed for a commission I am working on. They had a lovely range and I suggest looking at their supplies. 

I attended a steeking workshop ran by Ann Kingstone. She was a lovely teacher and had really built my confidence in this area. It felt a bit scare cutting up the knitted samples I created but using the methods used in this workshop really made me want to take on a steeking pattern. 

I have created a new pattern....I feel it is a symbol of true love. This happy couple is a banana called Bernard and a sausage called Selina. This crazy combination came about as my boyfriend gave me the affectionate pet name....sausage........I went with my knitting buddy Becky it was an Andy Warhol exhibition at the Ashmolean museum in Oxford. Amongst the pictures there was one that I felt impacted me greatly. It was a picture of a sausage and a banana.....From that day I decided it was fair that if I was to called sausage he would be called banana. To commemorate this special moment, I made a pattern for a crocheted sausage and banana. The pattern is available on Love Knitting and Ravelry.

I am off to Fibre East on Sunday and I can't wait!! I will fill you in on all the lovely things I buy.

Until next time

Happy crafting 

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