 This time last year, I was just finishing up the design for a crochet along with UK Hand Knitting and right now the CAL is in full swing over on their website, so head on over to download the first three blocks! CAL This joyful blanket project unfolds over seven weekly parts, so there is still time to join in! There are six floral squares, followed by the border and full making-up instructions. As it is me, you can expect a feast of popcorns, puffs and beautifully simple textured stitches in this blanket, all coming together in a fresh, floral-inspired design that is perfect for spring, bursting with texture, and seriously fun to make.  The Blossom Blanket CAL was inspired by spring, my absolute favourite season, and my love of gardening. I designed this off the back off finishing the Granny Flowers deck and I just couldn’t stop designing even more floral motifs! I adore seeing blossom appear on the trees after the long winter months as a signifier of the growth and the sunshine to come. In fact, I am currently deep in this blossom induced reverie at the moment - are you?! What a glorious week of sunshine, blue skies and spring blooms we have had so far. The sample blanket that I designed uses @rico_design Organic Cotton, but as the CAL is designed to be made in yarn that you can get at your LYS, it can be made with lots of other gorgeous yarns too You can check out which yarns and where to buy them on the UK Hand knitting website here: UK Hand Knitting  Here you can see a few different colour ways make in Stylecraft Special DK and in fact, I have just been playing with the new Stylecraft cotton twist too, and I have a pretty project coming soon that you can try with these blocks and the Cotton Twist, so keep an eye out for that. If you are more of a knitter than a crocheter, then fear not, the wonderful Jeanette Sloan has designed a knitted blanket for the KAL, called Bloom which you can also find the downloadable patterns for via the Uk Hand Knitting Website. I am really looking forward to seeing what yarns everyone chooses to make their blocks in, please do share your progress with me as I would love to see what you have been making. 
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 On request, I will be teaching an extra course at Citylit this July - my popular Colourwork Knitting class. This class is an introduction to working with colour patterns in your knitting. You will learn how to play with colour, to follow a colourwork chart, to change colours neatly, and to use yarn bobbins, plus there will be some professional finishing techniques. The series of techniques we will look at are Mosaic Knitting, Fair Isle/stranded knitting and Intarsia and the class is usually a lot of fun.  Materials will be provided, but if you want to bring your own colour palette of lovely yarns to play with, please do. The course is two weeks weeks long, on Saturday 4th and 11th July 10.30am-4.30pm Link to book: https://www.citylit.ac.uk/courses/hand-knitting-for-improvers-colourwork/vx135-2526   After the sell out success of my workshops at Sconch last year, lovely Sam has asked me back to Essex to teach some fabulous workshops showing you how to read crochet charts and use my crochet card decks. One is in the morning and one in the afternoon and you get a discount if you book onto the whole day! An added extra this year is that now I have a new deck to discuss too!  In this workshop, I will introduce the decks and demonstrate how to use the cards and charts. Everyone will get to pick their own motif to hook and will use the charted pattern on the reverse to make it, all the while being carefully guided through any new techniques. I will also of course be available to answer all your queries about the deck and to sign copies. This class is suitable for confident beginners who want to increase their granny square knowledge but will be fun for crocheters of all levels, but participants must at least know the basic stitches, UK double crochet, half treble and treble crochet to join the class.  There are two class timings, on Saturday June 6th, at 10am and 2pm. Please bring your own 3.50mm, 4.00mm and 4.50mm crochet hook but you don't need to prepare or bring anything else with you to this class - all other materials as well as tea/coffee and of course cake are included! Link to book: Sconch  This week, the sun has been shining pretty consistently and it feels like spring is finally in full swing and I might finally be able to pack away my winter coat! With warmer weather in mind, I have just booked in a new set of summer workshops in the South East, so I thought I would tell you all about them in my next few posts. There is a mixture of knitting and crochet classes and all levels are catered for. First up, I will be teaching some more knitting classes at The Wool Gallery. I am really looking forward to bringing my joyous knitted colour work class to St Neots with an evening class introducing three fabulous colour techniques - Mosaic, Fair Isle and Intarsia knitting. There will also be lots of faffing and playing with lovely yarns and colours - utter bliss! We will look at following charted patterns, making and using yarn bobbins where necessary and how to choose the best colours for your patterns. This course will take place on Thursday evenings after hours at the shop on New Street for three weeks on the 4th, 11th and 18th June, 6.30-8.30pm  At the other end of the knitterly scale, you can also learn the very basics of the craft or refresh your knowledge if you are bit rusty with a laid back, fun beginners class covering the basic knit and purl stitches, plus casting on and casting off and maybe more depending on skill level. The aim is to build confidence in your skills. This class will be on Saturday mornings in the shop on Saturday 13th and 20th June and all materials you need will be provided.
Email, call or pop into the Wool Gallery to book your space - they are already filling up!  If you like your toys to have a familiar, lived-in look then the Syd Rabbit Pattern could be the one for you. Syd is slightly wonky and full of character which makes him even more loveable. I wanted him to feel like your old faithful side kick who was ever present in your childhood and was perhaps repaired and restitched a few times, lending a slightly well-worn and mismatched feel as a result.  Syd came to life in the early 2000’s when I was Loop London’s first ever Loopette, while at the same making cute creatures from old felted jumpers and upcycled fabrics. The original upcycled rabbit who inspired this pattern must have been made by me circa 2005 from a lemon yellow wool jumper. He sat on the shelf next to the till in the original Loop store at 41 Cross Street, Islington and was an old faithful friend to the staff and customers alike.  People often asked how to make the rabbit, so when Susan wrote her first crochet book, Vintage Crochet, she asked me to replicate it for the book, using yarns from the store. And so, Syd the crochet rabbit was born.  Almost 20 years later, here he is again, the pattern updated for modern crochet techniques and reimagined using some of the more contemporary, but just as beautiful, yarns available now in the larger store just down the road on Camden Passage. The sample bunny in the images uses beautiful De Rerum Natura Ulysse, available from Loop, but any sport weight to DK yarn will work just as well, as you can see from these gorgeous versions made by Jane from Moorland Cottage Crochet. Jane’s versions of Syd the Rabbit.  If you want to make your very own version of Syd Rabbit, you can find the downloadable pattern on Ravelry or Lovecrafts. Syd may have got a shiny new coat, but he is still the same, slightly dishevelled, definitely lopsided, totally lovable rabbit.     Crochet Easter egg Pattern Adorable little critters to keep your boiled (or chocolate!) egg warm on Easter morning. A simple pattern, perfect for beginners. Please note that you can find the patterns for the knitted cosies shown in the images here ABBREVIATIONS Ch = chain Dc = double crochet (US sc) Pm = place marker Rnd = round St = stitch  MATERIALS Any scraps of dk weight yarn 3.5mm hook Yarn needle Felt Assorted buttons TENSION Exact Tension is not essential. SIZE To fit regular hens eggs or roughly the size of a confectionery egg such as a Cadbury’s Creme Egg  Cosy Confectionary egg Pattern With 3mm hook, work 2ch Rnd 1: 6 dc in 2nd ch from hook do not join rnd, pm and start to work in spirals. (6dc) Rnd 2: 2 dc in each dc around. (12 dc). Rnd 3: [2 dc in next st, 1 dc] around. (18 dc) Rnd 4: [2 dc in next st, 1 dc in each of next 2 sts] around. (24 dc) Rnds 5-12: 1 dc in each st around Fasten off yarn  Hen’s egg Pattern With 3mm hook, work 2ch Rnd 1: 6 dc in 2nd ch from hook do not join rnd, pm and start to work in spirals. (6dc) Rnd 2: 2 dc in each dc around. (12 dc). Rnd 3: [2 dc in next st, 1 dc] around. (18 dc) Rnd 4: [2 dc in next st, 1 dc in each of next 2 sts] around. (24 dc) Rnd 5: 1 dc in each st around Rnd 6: [2 dc in next st, 3 dc] around. (30 dc) Rnds 7-14: 1 dc in each st around Fasten off yarn Weave in all ends neatly.  FINISHING Use buttons or googly eyes for eyes and felt shapes for ears and beaks. Use oddments of yarn for hair, faces, eyelashes. Add cosy to your egg to keep it warm this Easter morning or pop it into a confectionary egg to gift! Enjoy!   Knitted Easter egg Cosies Adorable little critters to keep your boiled (or chocolate!) egg warm on Easter morning. A simple knitting pattern, perfect for beginners. You can find the pattern for the crochet chick shown above here Abbreviations K = knit K2tog = knit two together P = purl Psso = pass slipped stitch over Sl = slip St = stitch St st = stocking stitch  MATERIALS Any scraps of dk weight yarn 3.5mm needles Yarn needle Felt Assorted buttons TENSION Exact Tension is not essential. SIZE To fit regular hens eggs or roughly the size of a confectionary egg such as a Cadbury’s Creme Egg  COSY Garter stitch pattern With 4mm needles, cast on 24(30) sts and knit every row for 5(6) cm, knitting in 2 row stripes of two colours if you wish. Next row: (K2(3), k2tog) 6 times. 18(24) sts Next row: knit Cut yarn, leaving a long tail to sew up seam. Thread needle through all stitches and pull up into a round. Sew up seam and fasten off yarn. Weave in all ends neatly.  Stocking Stitch Pattern With 4mm needles, cast on 24(30) sts and knit every row for 4 rows for a garter stitch edge or work in k1, p1 rib for 4 rows for a ribbed edge. Change to stocking stitch and work for 3(4)cm, ending with a purl row. You can knit in stripes of 2 rows of two colours if you wish. Next row: (K2(3), k2tog) 6 times. 18(24) sts Next row: Purl Next row: (K1(2), k2tog) 6 times. 12(18)sts Next row: Purl Next row: (K0(1), k2tog) 6 times. 6(12) sts Next row: Purl Cut yarn, leaving a long tail to sew up seam. Thread needle through all stitches and pull up into a round. Sew up seam and fasten off yarn. Weave in all ends neatly.  Rabbit Ears These are worked in garter st, but you could do them in stocking st, or in a mixture of stitches. With 4mm needles, cast on 7sts. Work two rows garter st Next row: inc one stitch at both ends of next row - 9 sts Work a further 4 rows in garter or st st. Next row: Dec one stitch at both ends of next row - 7 sts Work a further 4 rows garter or st st Next row: Dec one stitch at both ends of next row - 5 sts Knit one further row Next row: Dec one stitch at both end of next row - 3sts Knit one further row Next row: Sl 1, k2tog, psso. Fasten off yarn. Attach finished ears to the top of the cosy. Weave in all ends neatly.  FINISHING Use buttons or googly eyes for eyes and felt shapes for beaks. Use oddments of yarn for hair, faces, eyelashes. Add cosy to your egg to keep it warm this Easter morning, or pop it onto a confectionary egg to gift! Enjoy!  Welcome to my blog, which I am hoping will become the go-to place to catch up on my news and new releases find free patterns and to be inspired!  Today is a quick post to tell you about a lovely children's knitting workshop I have just booked at The Wool Gallery St Neots for the Easter hols. The class is on April the 9th from 10-11am and is totally beginner friendly knitting. Try your hand at the basic stitches and make and decorate a cute easter egg cosy at the same time! All materials included and each child will get a little egg to fit inside their cosy, too!  Email, call or pop into the Wool Gallery to book your space.
Next up on the blog, I shall also be sharing the knit and crochet patterns for these cosies for those of you who won't be able to make the class. Claire x The Wool Gallery |
AuthorClaire Montgomerie is a textile designer specialising in knitting and crochet. She is a craft stylist, author and editor who has authored and edited many craft books and publications. She has been teaching knitting and crochet for many years, enjoying sharing her love of knit and crochet. ArchivesCategories |
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