A Splash of Neon | Free Zig Zag Zing Crochet Cushion Pattern

Posted in Crochet, Designing, Free Patterns, Inspiration, Pattern Release, Yarn by Keep Calm and Crochet On UK

Do not adjust your computer screens we are going bright, bright, bright!!

Lovecrochet.com often put together themes for collections and you may remember that I took part in their Coastal Adventures Anthology in June last year with my Pembroke Shawl. For their first collection for 2018 lovecrochet.com decided they wanted to go bold and bright with a Splash of Neon!

Now neon obviously works great for signs and lights in the real-world but used in yarn…hhmmm you say….I can hear you aren’t convinced…but wait, by the end of this post you’ll want to add neon to everything (possibly)!

Now I’ll confess neon is something I’ve never included in a design before and so when the call came out for neon inspired designs, using Paintbox Yarns, I knew I had to take up the challenge!

If you aren’t familiar with Paintbox Yarns they are a practical (machine washable) high quality premium acrylic and cotton yarn available in various weights. For premium yarn it’s really soft and super lovely to hook up a project with and the range comes in over 60 shades in a modern colour palette which, for any crafter, is fabulous to see. It’s also great value and lovecrochet.com often run Paintbox Yarn sales which you can keep up with by signing up to their newsletter.

You might think that neon colours would be tough to use without clashing and that they are too loud and brassy. Scary combinations for crochet right? Well when carefully implemented I’ve learnt that they can be a super fun addition to a project. Take a look at the the eight designs that make up the Splash of Neon collection for instance. Aren’t they all fab! Can you guess which is my make?

Did you guess the cushion with the pink pom-poms? Well you’re right!

I’m really excited to now reveal my new Zig Zag Zing cushion!!

Now you can express your creativity by adding the bright on-trend zing of neon to your home in a fun, not scary, way.

The Zig-Zag Zing Cushion is perfect either on its own or coordinated with other cushions and is a great way to bring a pop of colour to any living room or bedroom.

This free crochet pattern is very straightforward pattern so that it can be readily picked up by beginners. There are written instructions, a chart and I’ve also included instructions for adding a zip opening for a clean look and easy care.

So have I changed your mind a bit about neon? I hope so! I can’t wait to see your finished neon projects. Why not start with my Zig Zag Zing cushion cover which you can get a free copy of right now on Lovecrochet.com

Until next time – keep calm and crochet on my friends xx

19Jun2017

Pattern Release | Pembroke Seascape Shawl

Posted in Crochet, Designing, Giveaways, Pattern Release, Tah-Dah, Yarn by Keep Calm and Crochet On UK

For 2017 year’s edition of Indie June LoveCrochet.com wanted to do something special so they invited a group of designers to create a collection of knitted and crocheted garments featuring The Yarn Collective yarn (which I blogged about here). The result is the Coastal Adventures Anthology – featuring eight beautiful patterns with inspiration from Scandinavian summers on the coast.

I’m really excited to now reveal what I designed with The Yarn Collective’s Pembroke Worsted Yarn. May I introduce to you my new Pembroke Seascape Shawl!

The rectangular Pembroke Seascape Shawl, made from the softest hand dyed merino wool, is as light as a sea breeze!

It’s just perfect for covering up on a chilly summer evening or on an adventurous stroll around a coastal path.

I always think shawls are fun to crochet when I’m making them (I really should make more!). I’ve had such fun with this one adding different stitch patterns which beginner and advanced crocheters should enjoy. The shawl’s sinuous ripples and texture, combined with the cool grey and blue variegated colours, are inspired by marbled ocean waves lapping at a pebbly beach.

Although the pattern may look complex it is very straightforward and will be readily picked up by beginners.

Click on the following link to purchase the pattern and add to your 💗 Favourites on lovecrochet.com or Ravelry.

Exclusive Giveaway 🎉

For your chance to win a copy of my new design simply head on over to Ravelry or LoveCrochet and add it to your favourites or show it some love by commenting below this post with your Ravelry username / or email address.

Bonus Entry: Re-pin any of the pins above, copy & paste the URL of your re-pin in the comments below.

Winners will be randomly chosen on Friday 23 June 2017 around 7pm GMT

And…

Enter any coastal inspired projects in the LoveCrochet Community and enter the #IndieJune2017 competition for a chance to win £100 to spend at LoveCrochet!!! So exciting!!! Can’t wait to see your finished projects.

Until next time; keep calm and crochet on my friends xx

5Apr2017

Keep Calm & Crochet on with LoveCrochet.com + Pattern Giveaway

Posted in Giveaways, Patterns by Keep Calm and Crochet On UK

So one of my New Year resolutions for 2017 (shhh I know it’s April) was to update my pattern collection on LoveCrochet.com. If you haven’t heard of LoveCrochet.com it’s the sister site to LoveKnitting.com and is the world’s first dedicated crochet site, supplying crocheters across the globe with everything they need to get crafty.

I confess I hadn’t heard about the site until a year or so ago and the EU VAT digital pattern sale changes (VATMoss) reared it’s ugly head. Basically the changes meant, from Jan 2015, if you sold any digital products, including patterns and e-books, to a consumer in the EU, that YOU had to collect VAT for that sale at the rate of their resident country, and then report and pay the VAT to that country – sounds complicated and convoluted doesn’t it…

It was actually a rather horrid time – I’d not been designer long and didn’t actually sell that many patterns yet but there were some really talented and established designers who just stopping trading altogether because of the changes. Then like superheros Ravelry and LoveKnitting.com banded together to help out Indie designers!

Between them they worked out a system that left the complication of handling EU VAT to LoveKnitting.com (though this has since changed and Ravelry ALSO now collect VAT on sales on the behalf of designers).

So anyway I digress! I tentatively started listing, both my free and paid, patterns over on what is now LoveCrochet.com – BUT, I’ll be the first to confess, I wasn’t as faithful as updating the site as I am Ravelry so that brings us back to my News Years Resolution…

New Year’s Resolutions are fun to make but they can be frustrating if they are too challenging to keep up with. As a designer I have to say THANK GOODNESS that LoveCrochet.com have an import tool from Ravelry which made the job a lot less daunting! I still had to go in and edit each pattern but as the majority of information was already there it was pretty simple (& it would be a piece of cake doing one pattern at a time).

Anyway…

All my patterns are now listed on LoveCrochet.com and you can find them here.

So, how about a little game to celebrate?

Below is a picture clue to one of the patterns I’ve updated…all you have to do is comment with what pattern you think it is and FIVE random winners will be chosen and announced on 12 April 2017 to win one pattern of their choice!

RULES:

Patterns can be found at LoveCrochet.com
One blog post comment will count as one entry.
Sharing of this blog post / sharing on social media is appreciated but not required for entry.
Pattern will be sent via email or Ravelry account of the winner’s choosing – make sure you sign up for notifications (to the blog) to see when the winners’ names are posted so you can claim your prize if you win and so you can send me details so I can contact you to send you your prize.

Intrigued, I hope so! Make sure you follow on the blog for the grand announcement of who has won!

And finally I hope you do check out LoveCrochet.com even if you don’t fancy playing the game. It is a really good site if you like crochet! There are LOADs of patterns on there, I also really enjoy reading their blog and because the site also sells yarn (and I just bought some) for anyone who hasn’t bought from them before I have this 15% discount voucher to share with you 🙂

Until next time; keep calm and crochet on my friends xx