Easter Craft Envy

Some of you may have noticed that I haven’t been blogging much lately. I am not arrogant enough to think you care but it bothers me. One of the reasons is that I have knitting going on that I just can’t show you until it is released, and that sucks.

So I have decided to broaden my blog a little and do a few posts about the envy I feel when surfing the net. It happens. I get craft envy, house envy, knitting envy, all kinds of envy. I know you feel it sometimes too. When you look at something and think, “why didn’t I think of that?” or, “Why isn’t y house that beautiful?”… you’re with me here right?

Anyway, it seems there are a lot of Easter crafts popping up at the minute, since it’s Easter and that, so since I am child free for the weekend and have no-one to do the crafts with, I have decided to show you my 10 favourites from the blogosphere.

All link back to the tutorials for how to do it. All will make you a teeny tiny bit envious.

So without further a do Here are my top 10 favourites.

Copyright of Crafty Endeavor

Egg Garland from CraftyEndeavor.com made by wrapping crochet thread (coated in a goo) around water balloons filled with air. Such a lovely idea.

I also saw a tutorial where they pushed two wrapped sweets into the balloon before blowing it up. When you pop the balloon the sweets are inside the cotton egg.

Copyright of Funhomethings.com

Sweet Egg Wreath by FunHomeThings.com

What fun to be had with some plastic eggs, ribbon, a foam wreath and glue!

copyright of PositvelySplendid.com

Cute little felt carrot garland by Positively Splendid.

This one involves sewing and isn’t all that child friendly, but cute all the same.

Copyright of 99 Crafting

Super simple googly eggs by 99Crafting.com. Boil and egg and stick the eyes on then draw a random mouth. Kids would love these!

Copyright of Parenting.com

How cute are these!  Carrot Strawberries from Parenting.com. Dip strawberries into warm orange candy melts and leave in the fridge. Once hardened  drizzle more candy melt over them to make these awesome looking carrots. Mine would not look like this I can tell you now!

There are a few Eater food crafts on the linked page and also a link to just go and buy these awesome carrots too!

Copyright of ThatsWhatSheSaid.net

A really cute way of tying up a flannel (wash cloth) by ThatsWhatSheSaid.net . You could even put a Cream egg in the center.

Copyright of Pragentemiuda

Fabric covered toilet roll centers by Pragentemiuda.org. Really cute. Blog will need translating unless you speak Portuguese.

Copyright of Delightfully Noted

I love these Bunny Tail Treat Cups by Delightfully Noted. Super cute and easy to make.

Copyright of Hostess With The Mostess

How sweet are these terracotta  Easter baskets by HostessWithTheMostess? You could reuse them later too. I know they would look lovely in my kitchen. Really brighten up the place!

Copyright of Sweet Explorations

Last, but by no means least, are these gorgeous Maracons by SweetExplorations.com. They look too cute to eat, but they look really tasty. I am super conflicted!

So there you have it, my top 10 Easter crafts.

I hope you find something there you would like to make or why not link something below if you find or make something you think should have been included.

Happy Easter everyone!

Free Pattern – Pearl

Wow I’ve been so bad at blogging lately! I have no real excuse except that I have been doing tons of secret knitting so I’ve had nothing to really show you.

But today I have something really nice to show you!

Pearl is my first shawl pattern which I designed for the Let’s Knit Magazine March 2013 issue.

Copyright Let’s Knit Magazine

But now, Let’s Knit have released it on their website for free! Woo!

We all love a freebie right?!

So if you would like to knit this pretty shawl, head on over to Let’s Knit and print off your copy today (or bookmark it for later).

Pearl is a beautiful merino wool scarf and is stylish and lightweight. As Let’s Knit says; it is a lovely accompaniment to both day dresses or evening-wear.

 

And I promise I am going to blog more…. honest!

A Late Run Down of 2012

Hello everyone!

Yes I am still alive and kicking. I’ve just been so crammed full of stuff to do that this is the first chance I’ve had to do this.

Last year I wrote a post in the New Year about all the patterns I’d achieved over the previous year (2011) and told you all my resolutions for 2012.

So I’ve decided to do the same and to look back at those resolutions and see what I accomplished… (it’s not good, I can tell you!)

So first, here are the patterns I released last year:

That’s fifteen patterns in total this year. There are 3 included in there that were in magazines too so Yay!

All the patterns are available from the pattern link above, except the magazine ones. You would need to buy Let’s Knit magazine for those.

So last years resolutions…let’s have a look:

Resolutions

• Lose weight. Every year I have to shift some Xmas fattage.
• Continue to write patterns while studying into knitwear design more.
• Train myself up properly. I will complete my Knitting workshop and get more handy with the needles.
• Blog better. I need to tell you more knitting things. I keep a lot of secrets from you!

Finally,

• Get a pattern in a magazine, whether that’s online like Knitty.com or a paper magazine. Maybe make an E-Book or something.

Well, I have recently started a diet about 3 weeks ago, so obviously it didn’t work to well last year.

I did continue to write patterns! I did 15!

I never did work through that knitters workshop thing but I really still should. There is a lot I don’t know, but I learn something new all the time.

I’m a terrible blogger. I admit it. I’ve actually got worse recently since I’ve been too busy with other things. I will try my hardest to blog more though. Honest!

And finally, get a patter in a magazine. I managed that! I got my first pattern in Let’s Knit mag in October 2012 and I have been in every month since. I have designs going in right up to the April issue so far so things are going well on that front. I also released an eBook of five hat designs. You can see it on my pattern page.

This year, I decided:

• Lose weight (again! I’ve been dieting 3 weeks though so we’ll see!)
• Blog more. (I’m really going to try!)
• Get into some other magazines.
• Get something on Knitty.com
• Design some garments as well as accessories. (I’ve started with that already)

So that’s it for now.

More from me soon. I have to. It’s a resolution!

Another Year, Another Sale!

For my last post of 2012 I would like to say goodbye to a rubbish year (it has not been the best time for my family) and hello to 2013 with hope for a better year and a pattern sale from me! Hooray!

From midnight tonight (UK time) you can buy 2 patterns and get 1 free in my Ravelry store! Weee! Exciting! Also there is 20% off my eBook – The Seasonal Collection.

No coupon code is necessary, just buy the eBook straight out or for the 3 pattern option, place 3 patterns in your Ravelry shopping cart and the cheapest one will automatically be free.

The offer lasts until midnight 14th January 2013 (UK time) so plenty of time to look through and decide what you would like.

As for the worlds party night, I hope everyone has a wonderful evening and sees 2013 in with a bang!

See you on the other side people!!

 

Black Friday Weekend Sale!

Hey guys!
Guess what? It’s Black Friday tomorrow which is followed by Small Business Saturday and then Cyber Monday which basically means it’s a sales frenzy for all you shoppers and a hectic ”I’M BUSY!!” time for people like me

All photographs are the copyright of Zegrae Stylefoto and Kydel.
http://www.zegrae.co.uk

So, as from Midnight tonight CST (Central Standard Time) I am offering you 25% off everything.
So that’s Every pattern (including the ebook) and every item in my Etsy shop in case you can’t be bothered to knit it yourself and just want me to do you a solid.

Basically it’s everything in the picture above plus a couple of other things that I missed out!

All you need is the magic word “BlackFriday25” at the checkout of either Ravelry or Etsy and you will get the percentage off.

However, since you are special cos you read my blog and all that, I will let you in on a secret.
If you sign up to my mailing list (you need to be quick!) You will get a code for 30% off.
So be quick and sign up buster!

Here is the linky you need to sign your life over to me sign the list.

Happy Shopping!

Starla

I know that I haven’t blogged in two months and I’m so sorry! Things have been rather hectic over here and I haven’t had time to sit and chill for a moment.

But I am going to do a catch up for you today. There should be (all going well) two posts from me today. The first one is a quick one about Starla. A new hat pattern!

Copyright Zegrae Stylefoto. http://www.zegrae.co.uk

$2.99

A lace beanie worked in the round The brim is hemmed with a purled turning point. The lace is a stitch pattern called “Shooting Star” that has been altered slightly to fit the hat better. The entire hat is lace work all the way up to the bind off. This is a beautiful hat and will keep you interested as you knit. The pattern is only four rows each repeat but it is interesting to see it appear each time. It makes a textured beanie and something that would definitely be loved!

(PDF download only)

The pattern is originally from the Knit Picks website and can be seen and purchased by following this link here. However, the way Knit Picks is set up, if you are not in the USA, you cannot buy anything from them. So here is the Ravelry links for everyone else, and people from the USA too. or see it on Ravelry.

Sizes:  

To fit one size: Adult head 22 – 25 inches.

Materials:

2 x 50g/ 123 yards  Gloss DK Yarn by Knit Picks in Cranberry

1 Size 4mm (16 in) circular needle

1 Set of size 4mm DPN’s

Tapestry needle

Stitch markers as necessary 

20 sts / 32 rows = 4 inches in stocking stitch.

Skills required:  

Knit and purl stitches

Knitting in the round

Decreasing and increasing

Making stitches by picking up the running thread between stitches

Removing and replacing markers 

Instructions are provided in written format.

Originally published October 2012.

PDF file size: 412 KB

 

Look At Me All In Print and That!

I have exciting news!

I have been pretty quiet on here lately because I’ve been busy with secret stuff. Kind of like a super hero but without any actual saving lives or specific costume.

One of the things I’ve been dying to tell you is about Emmeline!

Copyright Let’s Knit Magazine 2012

Around February this year I designed this hat and named it Beau Sancy – after the diamond worth £5million but that’s another story.

It was a picot edged beret with diamonds and a swirling crown. It looked like this when I’d done;

Copyright Zegrae Stylefoto. http://www.zegrae.co.uk

It was knitted in Mirasol Wach’i (1511 Light Blue), which is an aran weight, 10 ply yarn. I really wanted to show you all because I loved it and was super proud but I kept quiet and submitted it to Let’s Knit Magazine instead. They only went and liked it!!

So it has now been released in their October issue. There have been a couple of changes. I switched down to a DK weight (8ply) in the gorgeous Fiberspates Scrumptious DK (yum!) and the name was changed to Emmeline.

 

I am so happy to finally be in print! Hoorah!

So, although I can’t promise to never keep a secret from you again, since I already have lots of them tucked away in my little brain, I can promise that when I share my secrets they will be good ones! Well, they are if you’re me anyway! Depends how much you care I suppose!

Let’s Knit October issue is out in the shops now for you to buy and knit all the goodies in there, including Emmeline. If you want to have a sneak peak of what else is inside you can check it out here on the Ravelry pattern pages.