jam jars and pretty flowers

Its been a while since my last post. I've had a long project on that'll be coming out at Christmas this year. Now its finished I'm really happy with it but it has been a real slog to get it made and stolen most of my crochet mojo.

I've a bit to catch you up on first up for the latest Love crochet magazine I was asked too design a couple of dinosaurs.

This was the sketch I can up with. I was going for a cartoon look rather and I wanted them to be a similar body shape so that the pattern wouldn't be to long for the magazine.

I used the Rico essentials cotton aran again mainly because I have lots of it in stock now and I'm always really happy with the results you get with it.

I love these little guys they worked out just how I wanted and look great on the cover of the magazine.

The fairy that you can see in the top corner is also my design and can be found in this issue.

I really wanted a full skirt on this fairy so I tried out a few ideas with mixed results but in the end I adapted the pattern for the 3row scarf and I've wrapped it around and around to give the look of layers of fabric. It makes it a really easy way to make something that looks quiet complicated.

Next up is Craftseller I've missed a couple of these so we'll start with my fave.

This was a bit of a strange project I was asked to create a breakfast motif that would be attached to a 1950s style apron. I had just been doing a lot of fruit and veg patterns so it didn't seem that crazy. The hardest part was making everything flat when I'm so used to making things 3d.

This is the breakfast plate before it was attached to the apron. I think the bacon is my favorite bit :)

In this months issue of Craftseller i go a small quick project to do as they asked for a glasses case.

I've made a few glass cases before for my mum but for this one they wanted it to be a granny patch work.

This is another of the rico cotton ranges its the baby soft and its a great one as the colours are nicely muted and give a faded retro look.

Last offI just what to show you something i've been collecting. When I start playing around with new stitches I usually make a little jam jar cosy to see if I like the new stitch and to see how it will look worked in the round.

 Most of these were stitch I've used on shawls and tops but The heart one at the front is going to be used on a tea cosy :) All the flowers are from my garden which is looking lovely at the mo and making me very happy.

Cal likes the flowers too.

I have some more news coming soon so I'll try and post a bit more often


happy crocheting
liz xxx