Issue 102 of LGC Knitting & Crochet Magazine is out in shops now and I’ve got two exclusive patterns in this issue. You can just see a couple of them highlighted in the yellow star on the front cover!
The first of the patterns I designed for this issue were a cute pair of Russian dolls. I’ve always loved Russian dolls, my mum had a giant one with smaller dolls stacked within the bigger ones that I was obsessed with when I was little. I think at it’s heart a Matryoshka is truly a doll and a child’s play thing so I was delighted to be given the chance to design a mother and daughter set. I love how they turned out and you could really have fun with the tummy embellishments adding embroidery and maybe even beads to make your doll completely splendid!
This month I also got to design a cactus collection, I’m a little bit obsessed with cacti and succulents and we have a variety dotted all over our house – it was really fun to make these everlasting ones though. My favourite has to be the curly cacti which was a little bit different and for those that which to know is based on an Epiphyllum curly locks.
The magazine comes with a six melody yarns which are lovely bright pastels and contains a two-tone ombre yarn and mini cream buttons as well as;
Issue 101 of LGC Knitting & Crochet Magazine is out in shops now and I think it’s absolutely mer-mazing that my Melina the Mermaid is this months cover-star!
When I was little I totally used to pretend I was a mermaid when we went to the swimming baths, swooshing in and out of the waves, swishing my hair in the water and singing. These days I’m much more of a land-mermaid (I’m sure that’s a thing) and so I had great fun relieving my childhood dreams to design this little lady…
And when Melina has had enough of swimming about all day she can just whip off her tail and put on a skirt to dance the night away…
This month I also got to design Heidi the Hippo – she’s not as confident in the water as Melina so she’s donned her water wings and rubber ring to help her along, though they are removable too for when she becomes a natural.
The magazine comes with a special marine themed yarn kit containing six ombre effect yarns and mini white pom poms as well as;
Have you picked up the latest issue of Crochet Now magazine? The new colourful issue hit the shelves on 12 April and I’ve got a brand new pattern featured inside. See that cute little toucan on the front cover, well that’s my Tulio.
Nature is a constant source of inspiration for my designs and, although I’ve been designing for awhile now, a toucan was on my (long) list of creatures I wanted to try and crochet.
Birds are such a wonderful subjects to recreate in yarn as they often have such wonderful colouring. They also lend themselves so well to a bit of creative licence; I love rainbows too so the combination of the rainbow beak makes me feel very happy.
Now you may notice, if you have the magazine, that there is a picture reference to the right side and wrong side of crochet, unfortunately there was a ‘layout error’ and the images were swapped, picture 1 is the wrong side and picture 2 is the right side and it should have been the right way around.
I know a couple of people contacted me asking about it and, don’t worry you haven’t been crocheting wrong, it was just a little mix up and the magazine has passed on their apologies for any confusion.
I really enjoyed leafing through my copy of Issue 27 as it’s is such a lovely bright edition! Along with Tulio the Toucan there’s tons of fabulous patterns, inspiration, offers, giveaways and interesting articles to read – and this issue also comes with a super fun fun addition to your crochet kit; a sparkly unicorn hook gauge.
Crochet Now magazineis available in major supermarkets and newsagents across the UK. If you hook up Tulio the Toucanbe sure to share your photos with me on social media (facebook, twitterorinstagram) – I love to see what your finished projects!
Until next time folks! Happy hooking, keep calm and crochet on my friends xx
Massive congratulations to LGC Knitting & Crochet Magazine on their 100th issue that went on sale 5 April! I was honoured to help commemorate issue 100 of by creating the little Party Pup featured as this month’s cover star.
Let’s Get Crafting held a competition for the dogs name and the end result was Cento? Pronounced ‘chento’, the name means 100 in Italian, I thought it was a great name for the little guy.
Donning his favourite hat and crocheted balloons, which with a little bit of wire help, float in the air. This colourful pattern would make a great birthday gift for your friends and loved ones simply by personalising the number you add to the balloons.
And the most exciting news – Let’s Get Crafting are giving everyone a present by making him available ontopcrochetpatterns.com for free! So quick go get your copy..
This month I also got to visit with an old friend, Peaches the doll, who came to me on a shopping trip for some new clothes…
She picked up shoes, a handbag, a dress, a skirt, two tops and some dungarees! Boy can that girl shop!
I really had great fun designing a new wardrobe full of clothes for her. As well as these two patterns the magazine is filled with competitions, articles and an awesome knitted chameleon pattern (I need to learn to knit shapes!).
The magazine also comes with a free special yarn kit with eight lovely bright party colours and;
Anyone else just longing for Spring? It’s been so cold here recently that it’s been distinctly unpleasant to even go outside! Now it’s March I’m beginning to feel that we are heading out of winter and onto warmer days filled with Spring lambs, chicks, Easter eggs and bunnies! So I was super exited to see the lovely and bright new LGC Knitting & Crochet Magazine (on sale now) with my sweet and stripy Isabella Bunny as the cover star!
The fun amigurumi pattern will help you to create a wonderful crochet bunny with interesting striped details. She has a removable fluffy dress and of course is wearing underwear to preserve some of her modesty! And you can use the length of free pink ribbon tied around her ear to finish off the project,
As well as Isabella Bunny I worked on the most fun pattern imaginable! Who in their lifetime gets to say that they’ve designed a bow tie for a rabbit! Well I can now claim that moniker and I couldn’t be more pleased! I adore how Reeces the rabbit looks in his smart formal wear – all dressed up ready for Spring. Of course humans could wear the bow tie too but you’ve got to admit it looks awesome on the bunny!
The free yarn kit with issue 99 includes six lovely bright colours:
Six hoppy yarns…including a special yellow fluffy yarn and pink ribbon!
4.5 mm hook & 4.5 mm knitting needles
47 exclusive patterns
Plus… a 68 page magazine
LGC Knitting & Crochet Magazine is available in major supermarkets and newsagents across the UK. If you hook up either Isabella Bunnyor the Bow Tiebe sure to share your photos with me on social media (facebook, twitterorinstagram) – I love to see what you make! So why not hop to it and get your copy of the magazine now!
Until next time folks! Happy hooking, keep calm and crochet on my friends xx
You may remember that at the end of last year I entered the Amigurumi.net fantasy character competition and whilst I didn’t win (though thank you to everyone that voted) I really enjoyed the design process of creating three little fantasy amigurumi characters.
AND I’m really pleased to say that Gnorman the Gnome, the first of these characters, is out of testing and ready to be released into the world!
Gnorman is a sweet little fellow with a gentle disposition who lives in a simple hillside dwelling deep in the woods. His favourite pastime is tending to his beloved mushroom garden where he cultivates scarlet capped toadstools loved by his fairy folk friends 🍄.
I couldn’t believe it when I was in town the other week and I came across some little tiny tools that were just perfect for Gnorman! And yes it’s completely normal to buy your amigurumi their own accessories…he needed a couple of spades and a rake…
There are a few characters on my bucket list of things I’d like to design and a gnome was one of them and I loved how Gnorman turned out!
And what about the other characters? Well I’m planning to work on getting Wheelan O’Wool the Leprechaun out to testers next – so watch this space!
Pattern Links 🎉
Gnorman the Gnome is now available and on sale onRavelry(with coupon code: GNOME) until 16 February 2018 after that time the pattern will revert to full price. The pattern is also available on Lovecrochet.com.
Remember to share your Gnorman project’s to be in with a chance to win a free pattern if you are featured in my monthly newsletter.
Until next time; keep calm and crochet on my friends xx
Once upon a time, in a far away land, a crochet designer that was asked to design an enchanting princess doll…four months later Princess Jessica appeared on the front cover of issue 98 of LGC Knitting & Crochet Magazine (on sale now) and the crochet designer lived happily ever after!
Have you seen it? I was super excited to see Princess Jessica as this month’s cover star! What a lovely start to the year.
I was really keen to make her a little bit more of a modern princess which is why she is supporting a chic ‘Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ inspired up do. A hairstyle which happens to be the perfect fit for a tiara!
As well as Princess Jessica there’s also a mini pattern series by me of little love tokens which includes; love bird key rings, a mini heart gift bag, a heart brooch and a heart handbag charm. They all make really quick valentines gifts or, if you are like me, you can just crochet loads of puffy hearts because they are super fun to make.
The free yarn kit with issue 98 includes six lovely bright colours which are just perfect for cheering anyone up in gloomy January. In this month’s issue you’ll find:
Is it a bird? is it a plane? No it’s Daphne theLet’s Get Craftingsuperhero winging her way to you in Issue 97 of LGC Knitting & Crochet Magazine (out now). You can just see her peeping out on the front cover from behind the Aurora yarn kit.
Without a doubt she is one of the most fun projects I have designed for the magazine (so far). I love how she turned out! Let’s Get Crafting ran a competition to name this sassy hero and ‘Daphne’ was the name that won – it’s not a name I would have even thought of but it definitely suits her somehow don’t you think?
I also had great fun designing a trio of bracelets for this issue, I really adore how the magazine has styled them with the person wearing all three bracelets at once – loving that look!
As always the magazine comes with the pattern, the hook and the yarn to make your project choice. In this month’s issue you’ll find:
Six Aurora yarns…including a special ombre yarn!
3.75mm hook & 3.75mm knitting needles
48 exclusive patterns
Plus… a 68 page magazine
LGC Knitting & Crochet Magazine is available in major supermarkets and newsagents across the UK. If you hook up either Daphne or the bracelets be sure to share your photos with me on social media (facebook, twitter or instagram) – I love to see what you make!
Until next time folks! Happy hooking, keep calm and crochet on my friends xx
The annual design contest at Amigurumipatterns.net is now on and this year’s theme is “Fantasy Creatures”. Fascinating fairies, unique unicorns, dramatic dragons, mesmerising mermaids and all sorts of weird and wonderful characters from all corners of the imagination are competing to see who’s the most magical of them all!
I was so inspired by the concept of creating a fantasy creature (or three) that I decided to take part for the first time. So without further ado allow me to introduce to you Gnorman the Gnome, Wheelan O’Wool the Leprechaun and Gene the Genie.
Meet Gnorman the Gnome. Gnorman is a sweet little fellow with a gentle disposition who lives in a simple hillside dwelling deep in the woods. His favourite pastime is tending to his beloved mushroom garden where he cultivates scarlet capped toadstools loved by his fairy folk friends 🍄.
There’s something in the constitution of a gnome that enjoys getting their little hands dirty. Gnorman loves nothing more than tramping around in his forest dell collecting little treasures 🍁
Next we have Wheelan O’Wool the Leprechaun. Whelan is a feisty little fellow and not one to shy away from partaking in a little mischief! He spends his time mending the shoes of the fairy folk and hiding his earnings in a big pot at the end of the rainbow. He’s quick, smart and has magical powers to vanish into thin air – but if he’s caught he will grant you three wishes.
Whelan is well known for his love of Irish Poitín and his Celi dances that can last for days
And finally we have Gene the Genie, my third and final entry to the design contest. When his lamp is rubbed he appears in a cloud of smoke with the power to grant all your wildest yarn wishes and dreams.
Want your ends weaving in, or your hooks to be found? Your wish is his command! When not on duty he can be found whiling away the Arabian Nights sipping Harem Delight cocktails at the Moroccan Desert Oasis bar. Has a fondness for camels 🐫 .
And now the voting to the competition is OPEN! If you happen to like my little designs could you please spare me a few moments of your time to vote for them.
Click the heart-button of TEN of your favourite characters; quick linkvote for Gnorman the Gnomehere,vote for Wheelan O’Wool the Leprechanhereand vote for Gene the Geniehere.
Enter your name and email address in the pop-up screen to submit your vote.
Please note: multiple votings by one person will be removed.
Voting is open until 10th December 2017 and the three designs with the highest amount of votes will be announced the winners of this contest.
There are seriously so many amazing designs from inventive and skilled amigurumists taking part from all over the world in this competition! And I’d like to wish all designers taking part the best of luck!
Until next time folks! Happy hooking, keep calm and crochet on my friends xx
P.S. And for those of you that have asked about the patterns for Gnorman, Whelan and Gene I’ll be releasing them after the competition has finished xx
Disclaimer: I received a sample copy of the book to write this review however I have not been financially compensated by the supplier, book company or the designer to write this review. All opinions expressed are my own and based on my own experiences of using the book / pattern.
Edward’s Crochet Doll Emporium by Kerry Lord is published by Pavilion. Photographs by Kristy Noble
Ed’s dolls is a wonderfully innovative book where you can design your own doll using mix-and-match crochet patterns. Cleverly each pattern is contained within flippable pages which means, like a child’s flip book, that you can make hundreds of different doll combinations each with amazing wardrobes!
Edward’s Crochet Doll Emporium by Kerry Lord is published by Pavilion. Photographs by Kristy Noble
The book is split into sections with instructions on how to make the main doll, then there are two flip sections:
First you choose a ‘head’ – there are beginner and advanced heads to choose depending on the hair style (or facial hair).
Next you choose what they are going to ‘be’ with the bottom ‘outfit’ flip – with costumes for an astronaut and a princess, a ballerina and a footballer, a mermaid and a pirate, a surgeon, a punk and more.
You can make so many different variations of doll! As always I like to make something from a book before I review it and I was inspired by the doll Kerry made of herself – so I thought that it might be really fun to try and create a mini me.
I used TOFT DK yarn to make my doll (as I already had some in my stash from last years TOFTfest and my recent visit to The Knitting & Stitching Show). TOFT DK yarn is pure wool, seriously soft and gentle on the hands – lovely to crochet with. It also has a really great colour range to represent skin tones. I went for ‘Oatmeal’ skin and ‘Chestnut’ for my hair.
All the patterns are in UK terminology and come with detailed instructions and accompanying photos for stitches. In addition the book includes step by step instructions for stuffing, sewing together and adding the dolls features. The patterns are also arranged in order of difficulty so their’s something for beginners and for people with more ‘advanced’ crochet skills.
The body for my doll worked up easily and I chose to give my little doll pants and a boob tube (instructions included in the book for the advanced dolls) so I would be suitably attired underneath my clothes…it seems more than a little weird to be sharing a photo of me in my underwear with the world – but here I am…
I had great fun styling my hair using a spare hair clip and just a normal hair band to tie it back as I usually would my own hair.
The hands are some of the cutest things I have ever made! Like ever! There are options for beginner or advanced hands (these are the advanced) and whilst any doll would look cute with either I do love the little digits.
Next came the clothes….I used the C:1 flip dress option which I made in blue upon which I embroidered yellow and grey flowers (to symbolise the pattern on my dress). I then teamed up my dress with a slightly smaller and longer C:2 yellow scarf and some C:10 black boots.
There weren’t any real accompaniments for a crocheter doll so I improvised and made a little work basket, complete with mini balls of yarn and a WIP. I also cut to size an old 3mm hook I had to fit the dolls hands.
TOFT have started to make some amazing little accessories for the dolls; aside from a range of different coloured dolls eyes (I used the brown) they have the cutest little glasses! However these have proven so popular that they sold out quickly so I wasn’t able to get some – until then a bit of floral wire had to suffice for my specs.
I finished off my doll with a bit of blusher on the cheeks (this isn’t something suggested in the book but something I added as I pretty much always have rosy cheeks!) and with that voilà I was finished…want to see me?
I think there is a definite likeness between me and my mini doppelganger! What do you think?
I had great fun making this doll! And I would thoroughly recommend this book to anyone that enjoys making dolls or amigurumi, or to anyone that fancies making a mini-me. The only problem I envisage is that everyone will want one!
Edward’s Crochet Doll Emporium by Kerry Lord (Pavilion Books) is priced at £16.99 and is available to buy now from the TOFT website and via many brick and online bookstores.
If you enjoyed this crochet book review you may wish to check out some of my other crochet book reviews.
Until next time folks! Happy hooking, keep calm and crochet on my friends xx
