Little Cotton Rabbits Patterns!

Top news - Julie from the knitting blog 'Little Cotton Rabbits' has decided to sell two bunny patterns.



Little Cotton Rabbits was one of the first craft blogs I read in 2008 and Julie was very friendly and really encouraged me to learn to knit. Her knitted bunnies definitely inspired me and when I felt like throwing my knitting into the garden I would read her blog to make sure I carried on.

There is now a Ravelry group full of people visibly trembling with excitement at the thought that they too can make a Julie bunny.

I have just switched over from a blackberry to an iPod touch so I can now get feedly which is great as I really was falling behind with blogs. Whenever I switch my laptop on (the fan needs a clean which I will get round to) the fan hums away and when I have it on during the day at the moment it's to job hunt primarily. Any time I switch to a craft blog - whoosh - it's suddenly 5pm and I haven't got any work done, so I don't read them.

I will be knitting the girl bunny but I don't want to buy it until I have cleared the sofa of WiPs and UFOs. I have just finished my camera cross stitch and I'm currently on the hunt for a black frame of just the right size so it can have some white aida around it. It seems to be just too big for the black frames I've seen in the shops I can afford, so it may be a few weeks yet. There's a sock on my needles (I've knitted the right one) and the patchwork. Not much, but I would like to finish the socks before starting Julie's bunny. Saying things like that really motivates me to finish - if you don't do this try it, it really helps.

Anyway, happy knitting!

Book Review: Quilting on the go! by Jessica Alexandrakis

Following on from my last post about my patchwork progress comes a review of the perfect book for beginner or intermediate level quilters.



'Quilting on the go!' by Jessica Alexandrakis is a superb book and a lot of thought has been put into how the book is organised so that you can progress with your own quilt designs.



If you love the idea of sewing on the train or bus to work or in the canteen when you get there then this book is for you. Jessica shows you exactly what you need to get a travel pack together so you can hand stitch patchwork on the go.



There is 18 pages of help in the 'Getting ready' section including advice on how to collate a fabric collection from thrift/charity shops, online, through fabric swaps etc, 16 pages on 'Starting to sew' with advice on tacking, what to do with the borders when you sew hexagons together and where to get the backing material.



There is 42 pages in the third section, which includes ten projects: a tiny sewing kit, a hexagon cushion, a pincushion, a shoulder bag, a small pouch, a laptop bag, a falling stars baby quilt, a tanuki stripe throw, a photo frame and a travel quilt which is in the photo above.



Section four contains 20 pages with features on the different designs you can sew - such as equilateral triangles and squares, half hexagons and 60-degree diamonds with interlocking background. There are then ten pages of graph paper with different patchwork shapes and designs already drawn on so you can colour in and see what works best. There are two pages of templates, one page of which features actual size templates, the other ones you will need to enlarge on a photocopier.



The graphs at the back of the book and the neat organisational feel of the book are what impressed me the most. I loved the look of the book as soon as I saw it and the details inside are so exhaustive. I think you get a lot of advice for your money with this book as it's slightly thicker than average.



Jessica is extremely talented and you can follow her blog 'Life Under Quilts'.



This book was released just last month and you can be amongst the first to own it by shopping at Search Press.

Thanks to Search Press for sending me this book to review.

Photoshop and Patchwork

OK - so this is my first ever post featuring a photo which I've Photoshopped.



You don't have to tell me I need some practise here. I couldn't find a happy medium between darkness and light. I'm so used to my basic camera software and Picasa (which I've used ever since 2008) that even armed with a yellow dummy book I still remain a useless Photoshop idiot for the time being.

I had an enormous laptop crash the other week which deleted all my programmes and Kodak don't do the software drivers for my camera anymore so it's forced me to use Photoshop which I bought at the start of the year, which is no bad thing. Photo quality may decrease before it gets better is all I'll say.

Moving on - the photo is actually showing you that I have managed to sew all three lines of hexagon pieces together, and not only that, have managed to sew two lines together into something resembling patchwork. I started this project a long time ago last autumn and originally it was going to be a draught excluder. It's now morphed into a little throw to put at the end of my bed. Not a quilt, that's too overwhelming for me at the moment as I have a king size bed, but a little mini-quilt will suit me just fine. I love the mixture of fabrics and that I can shop for little packs of more whenever I have the money and build it up as I go. The sewing is not as much of a headache as I thought and I get into a rhythm very quickly. I have quite a few projects on the go which I will tell you about soon.

NB Just so you don't repeat my mistake - you shouldn't put fabrics of the same colour anywhere near each other. Just saying.

Great British Sewing Bee Final

The Great British Sewing Bee came to its conclusion last Tuesday. I felt a bit sad for Lauren in the final as she is obviously talented but felt overshadowed by the magnitude of Ann and became quite emotional. It was unfortunate that the task she was most dreading, to sew a man's shirt, came up in the final.


Image from BBC iPlayer

There is no way you can suddenly whip up decades of sewing experience when you are pitched against someone that experienced and I felt she was the winner in a way. I'm sure she will get tons of work as a result of it.

Though it was obvious to me who would win from about the second episode and I made my predictions, I enjoyed seeing the talent from the other contestants.

You can watch the whole series on the BBC iPlayer.

You can buy the tie-in book from Search Press.

You can keep the spirit of the series alive by taking up sewing yourself and taking that first step. You could sign up for a sewing class at your local college for September or over summer if they do summer courses. You could look at my book reviews for a sewing book to get started with.

Don't be sad - keep the sewing vibe alive by exploring the craft blogosphere and your local sewing shop. There will be another series along soon!

Book Review: Knitted Cats & Kittens by Sue Stratford

'Knitted Cats & Kittens' by Sue Stratford is a funny alternative to the usual knitted animal books based around bears or bunnies.



There are 20 cats and kittens of all shapes, sizes and colours and even a pattern for mice and a scratching post thrown in for good measure. This alley cat is my favourite in the entire book.



There is two pages on materials, advice on yarn, filling, safety eyes and threads. There is also two pages on techniques such as i-cord, mattress stitch (all the cats and kittens are based on flat knitting with two knitting needles), wrap and turn, three-needle cast off, fair isle technique, intarsia technique and chain stitch. The diagrams are very clear and easy to follow.



She has the usual abbreviations at the back of the book but she has not specified what yarns she has used throughout the book. At the beginning of each pattern she just writes 'DK' which is fine but personally I would have liked to be told which yarn was in the picture of the cat to try and make it look as good. There are a huge array of different 'DK' yarns which could look completely different when knitted up as a cat.



She does not specify how much yarn you will need either - just one ball or two balls and in some of the larger projects this may leave you to run out of yarn when you are almost at the end. She does tell you how big the cats will come out and the tension so if you made sure your yarn will knit up to the same tension you would not have any problems, but beginner knitters may not understand this. She says at the beginning of the book that 'In all cases, unless the pattern states how many balls are needed, just one ball or less has been used. Quantities are only provided for projects that require more than one ball.'



Apart from this the book is super cute and has a whimsical air about it. The cats are well constructed and the book would be a lovely addition to any toy knitter's bookcase.



'Knitted Cats & Kittens' by Sue Stratford is currently sold out at Search Press but you can buy one of nine new copies at Play.com or any other booksellers you may be able to think of : )

Thanks to Search Press for sending me this book to review.

Book Review: Knit back in time by Geraldine Warner

'Knit back in time' by Geraldine Warner is a must have for anyone who loves vintage and knitting.



You may be thinking it contains lots and lots of vintage style jumper and cardigan patterns - if you did you would be wrong.



'Knit back in time' is a textbook which informs you how to do two different things - how to update vintage patterns to suit modern sizes and yarns and also how to customise modern patterns for vintage-style elements.



You may have noticed, if you shop in thrift or charity shops, that there is usually a box of old patterns for about 20-50p each. This book will tell you exactly how to alter the pattern slightly and substitute yarn.



For example, in the latter half of the book she has featured the same modern jumper but she's included four different retro vintage sleeves to put with the main body, a puff sleeve crown (my favourite), a pleated sleeve crown, a box top sleeve and a fitted long sleeve.



At the back there are tips for finishing, such as blocking and sourcing the right buttons as well as the different types of buttonholes you can knit or crochet. There is a page with 11 embroidery stitches if you want to get artistic and five fair isle patterns including a very cute cherry.



There are also patterns for cuffs, collars and pockets. If you are looking at starting to design jumpers this is a really helpful introduction and a comprehensive guide to begin with.



'Knit back in time' by Geraldine Warner ia available from the Search Press website now.

Thanks to Search Press for sending me this book to review.

Pick up and knit stitches

Unless you were knitting before school or kindergarten and designing garments for your schoolmates after finishing with your snoopy lunchbox you may have to learn a few things about knitting. The kind of people who can pick up knitting needles and design really quickly are rare and most of us require a YouTube video or two along the journey to knitting nirvana.



One of the things which really confused me a couple of years ago was picking up and knitting stitches. At the time I was working on my cream cardigan (the one that died). It used Rowan 4 ply cotton which split. Not great yarn to learn how to pick up and knit with.

Also the pattern said pick up and knit something like 86 stitches and no matter how hard I tried I always seemed to end up with 92. The amount of half stitches I picked up was astonishing and I gave up. I had looked for a tutorial online but hadn't found one. So, as I'm looking at a knitted cardigan pattern on Ravelry which I've been assured is very simple, I thought back to when this technique would have scared me to death. I have practised with aran yarn and the process comes naturally now. If you have been stumped by this too watch the video above!

Great British Sewing Bee: Contestants

Following in the footsteps of Mastercrafts on BBC Two comes the Great British Sewing Bee with Claudia Winkleman. It starts tomorrow at 8pm.

It will follow the formula of the Great British Bake Off, with two contestants being thrown overboard each week, this time into a sea of navy trimmings and buttons instead of victoria sponge.


Chevron Sewing Trio by 'By Samantha' on Etsy

You can check out the eight contestants on the BBC website.

I personally admire Michelle the most as she balances a job as manager of Centrepoint, a homeless charity, with sewing for herself. Tilly looks the most enthusiastic as she has only been sewing for two years, yet has an entire wardrobe of handmade clothes. Ann looks to be the most experienced and will also have a good chance I think.

Wouldn't it be great if the winner is not amongst those three and is someone totally unexpected?

Of course it also depends on how well they do under pressure, not just sewing skills. Michelle looks good here too as she works under significant pressure constantly, but we'll see.

Crafty Podcast Love

I love crafty podcasts. They were all I listened to on iTunes a couple of years ago. I subscribed to Electric Sheep as I'm sure many of you did, then found Craftypod.



Last year, during Wimbledon I found myself wanting a break from jobhunting and tennis! So I did another search for knitting podcasts, but this time I wanted something to watch on my laptop.

I found The Knit Girllls, and I soon became addicted and couldn't wait until their video cast went up on Mondays.

Leslie from The Knit Girllls mentioned that she had attended someone's wedding who also did a knitting video cast. So I subscribed to her too.

Round the Twist is completely on my level. Carin is a nurse who helps people recover from stroke and live their life fully again. She is obsessed with knitting (big tick), loves Doctor Who and wears Doctor tees (another tick) and references The Big Bang Theory (yep that's a lot of ticks but there's more).

She loves cross stitch, spinning and knits baby sweaters for her doctor colleagues. She got married last year and has two adorable dogs, Phoebe and Daisy. Trust me, you'll be hooked. Go along to iTunes right now and subscribe.

New Book Review: 100 Bright & Colourful Granny Squares to Mix & Match

'100 Bright & Colourful Granny Squares to Mix & Match' by Leonie Morgan is the most vibrant colourful guide to granny squares I've seen.



There is 24 pages of advice and guidance to start you off on your journey if you're new to crochet. You will love the edgings and the advice on blocking if you are a little bit more advanced. The pictures are very clear and the diagrams are big so you can see the crochet hook and yarn very clearly.



Each granny square has a clearly written pattern with yarn guides for different sizes of throws. All of the squares are based on aran weight yarn with a 5mm hook.



There are five projects to make with the granny squares including a child's blanket, two cushions, an adult blanket and a bag.



What really makes this different from other books is the successful use of colour. The colours are bold and brilliant but Leonie has put some lovely subtle and muted combinations together which aren't too in-your-face or jarring.



I also love that this book has so many variations of the granny square. The traditional granny square is a well-loved basic by all of us who crochet but it can get tired and need a splash of colour or some mad bobbles and writing sometimes.



'100 Bright & Colourful Granny Squares to Mix & Match' by Leonie Morgan is available now on the Search Press website.

Thanks to Search Press for sending me this book to review.

Malabrigo love

I treated myself the other week to a hank of Malabrigo from Loop.



Words cannot describe how I felt as I unwrapped it from its envelope and tissue paper. The intensity and vibrancy of colour, the amount of colours in the yarn and the softness of it blew me away. It's definitely the most beautiful yarn I've ever bought. I'm hoping to have felting adventures with it in the future. I bet it felts like a dream.

I am knitting it up into stocking stitch for a cushion cover. I'm knitting it straight on my 5.5mm circular knitting needles and it's really soothing and luscious. I keep running my fingers over the knitting just to feel its softness. Can you imagine what I'll be like with a 48cm x 48cm cushion covered with it?

Book Review: 'Stress-free Sewing' by Nicole Vasbinder

'Stress-free sewing' by Nicole Vasbinder is another brilliant book by an experienced craft teacher. It's a technically perfect book which makes you feel relaxed about sewing when you pick it up. It's very much aimed at the novice sewer about to buy a sewing machine for the very first time. The emphasis on machine sewing continues throughout the book so bear this in mind if you prefer to handstitch.



There are ten chapters in total: -

Section one - Tools and equipment - Sewing tools, notions and trims, marking, measuring and cutting tools, miscellaneous tools, and Section two - Solutions and tips - fabric solutions, pattern solutions, sewing solutions, embellishment and trimming solutions, fitting solutions and finishing solutions.



It covers all aspects of sewing such as choosing a sewing machine and a guide to different feet, to making a muslin and facings. It includes a guide to fabric and how to choose patterns. Basically it's all you could ever want to know about dress making and sewing with a machine.



I learnt many things from this book - for example I had no idea you could sew a button with a sewing machine. I thought maybe you could do the buttonhole but this is aimed at those who want to save time and get really whizzy with their machine. I also found out that when sewing knits you shouldn't use a 100 per cent cotton thread, it should be an all-purpose polyester as it stretches with the fabric. They may seem like small tips but they all add up to a better sewing experience and less stress.



Another tip amongst the thousands in this book is to iron fusible interfacings onto the back of your tissue paper patterns to make them last. All great advice from a sewer with a huge amount of experience and talent to boot.



This book is so well worth the money if you feel your sewing knowledge could be improved upon or if you didn't grow up with a parent who made a lot of your clothes in front of you. Maybe you have no-one to ask in your friends and family and you can't afford a class or proper tuition. This book is for you.



'Stress free sewing - Troubleshooting tips and advice for the savvy sewer' by Nicole Vasbinder is available from the Search Press website.

Thanks to Search Press for sending me this great book to review.

Magic loop sock pattern on Ravelry

This last ten days have been busy for me. Busy at work and at home too with a large custom order which was nicely repeated and added to a week later, I have been a busy busy busy girl indeed. It's a great feeling and I thoroughly enjoy having enough to do.

So in true busy stylee this week's post is being furiously tapped out after work. Here is a nice free pattern from Ravelry : )


Copyright Erica Lueder

If you haven't signed up for Ravelry you don't exist. It's official. So sign up now. It's free and is exploding with so many free and paid for patterns you will wonder why the day only has 24 hours in it.



The above pattern was picked by me because it's knitted with two circular needles. I wanted to try the magic loop method of knitting socks as I've tried knitting with four and five needles and I can't quite get the hang of it. I have watched YouTube videos demonstrating the magic loop and it looks a little bit easier than wrestling with multiple needles. Go and show your appreciation at Erica's blog here.

So I will put this on my list of projects and start it in a week or so. I hope you try socks too if you haven't before.

Book review: Felt with love by Madeleine Millington

'Felt with love: Felt hearts, flowers and much more' by Madeleine Millington, published by Search Press, is a colourful guide to working with thick luxurious wool felt.



It's a perfect beginner book for those interested in starting to sew with felt and will also interest those who wish to hone their craft skills.



There are four pages about materials and the tools you will need, two pages about dyeing fabric, six pages about different stitches (nine stitches in total) and two pages about adding embellishments. There are ten pages of actual size templates at the back of the book.



There are 15 projects in total, three of which are festive, including snowflakes and a festive star.



The quality of the projects is very high and I would say there are very original designs in here like the angel garland (pictured above), the four seasons wall hanging and the princess and the pea (also pictured above). They are longer projects and would require more skill but would look very different to any other projects from a felt book.



Madeleine sells patterns in her shop online and blogs - at Madeleine Millington.com. She is inspired by Medieval, Elizabethan and Folk art and teaches regularly.

The book was released earlier this month and is available to buy on the Search Press website.

Thank you once again to Search Press for sending me this lovely book to review.

Book Donations

Regular readers who have been with me since Feb 2008 (yes I am five this month) will know that in the last year or so the book reviews have been coming in thick and fast with me reviewing about two or three a month.


Alice in Wonderland print by JaneandCompanyDesign

I love writing book reviews. I don't mind advertising for craft publishers. They turn the craft world, enable us to create and are leading the craft and homemade revolution. I am going to continue to write them as I enjoy them and more people read them than read about what I'm crafting. I love the books I receive and some of them have truly inspired me to look beyond knitted jumpers and plain yarn.

But I have about 30 books now. I have finally run out of inventive things to do with the craft books. Some of my favourites are stacked up next to my bed on my bedside table underneath my lamp and they look beautiful.

But some of them are looking forlorn as they are not completely to my taste, which doesn't mean they are no good or of poor quality in any way. I don't re-open them and they lie around gathering dust.

So I have decided to donate this 30-40 per cent to my local library who will receive around fifteen brand new books in the next few weeks. As each book is worth on average about £15 this is a total of above £200 in donations to my local library. I want as many people as humanly possible to take the books out and be inspired by them to create and reduce their material consumption. I hope you agree that this is the greenest thing to do with my books.

Book review: Recycled Chic by Amanda McKittrick

'Recycled Chic' is a new book by Amanda McKittrick published by Murdoch Books this Thursday.

I've had a few 'upcycling' books sent to me now so I was quite sceptical. What would this one do differently to make it stand out from the rest?

I'm glad to say I can see a few recycling projects which I haven't seen before. The crochet doily earrings for example and the iPad jacket, which has been made from an actual suit jacket. There are also two projects which successfully recycle a man's shirt into a very girly top.

I would say this is an excellent book to buy if you don't already have a recycling or 'upcycling' book in your collection. It has the basics like how to add a ruffle to a t-shirt, how to make fabric buttons, how to make a basic bow to embellish clothes and shoes and how to make a pompom.

There are 22 pages of hand sewing advice to begin the book - how to add darts, tucks and pleats amongst other stitches. The rest of the book is divided into two: 'How to reinvent your wardrobe' and 'Accessories and Embellishments'.

The last book I was sent did spark an idea to replace all the buttons on a winter coat with fabric buttons which I wouldn't have had before leafing through the book so these kind of books definitely inspire you to spruce up your wardrobe for few pounds instead of buying new all the time.

'Recycled Chic' by Amanda McKittrick is released on Thursday and is available to buy online from Amazon or your local independent bookshop.