Tegan - Baby Hat with Top Knot Pattern

A few weeks ago, (well probably a couple of months ago by now!!) a customer asked me for a top-knot beanie pattern. I've eventually got round to it. I've made it very simple and knit in the round, and I'm offering it for free on Craftsy and also on Ravelry

It's knit in double knit/8 ply yarn and the pattern has photos of all the stages, so it's ideal for anyone who is quite new to knitting in the round. There are instructions for 5 sizes from premature (4 - 6lbs) to 2years

Like all my patterns, you can use it to make items for sale - but please don't copy the pattern and pass it off as your own - if you want to share it, be friendly and post a link to it either on Craftsy, Ravelry or here - thank you so much :)

If you have a go at knitting it, let me know what you think

Super Model for Jaden Boots

I thought I would share this picture that Jessica from River CityKnits sent me of the Jaden Boots she has knitted.
The Super Model is under one day old!!!! so there is plenty of room for growing, but she is showing the boots off nicely and seems quite happy in front of the camera.
If you want to knit these boots I have the pattern for sale on Etsy or Ravelry or Craftsy
They use double knit yarn and come in three sizes from newborn to 12 months. As Jessica is on her fourth pair I think I can safely say they are quick to knit!

Jaden Boots

 A short while ago, a lovely lady called Debbie (rughookergirl) bought my Jaden boots pattern, and after asking a couple of questions about the pattern, sent me a picture of the first finished boot.

I love talking to my customers, and getting feedback from them, so I was delighted to receive the picture. This interaction is one of the most rewarding things for crafters of the internet age. Some years ago I used to take a regular stand at the NEC Hobbycrafts shows, which are held twice yearly in Birmingham, UK. Customers would talk a little whilst visiting the stand, and tell me what they had made, but ultimately they were pressed for time, wanting to see the rest of the show. Apart from a few rare occasions, I only heard about their creations, rather than seeing them.

It is lovely to see other people's interpretation of a pattern, so you can imagine how thrilled I was when a few hours later when Debbie sent me two more photos. She had decided to crochet a trim around the cuff, in the same boucle yarn as she used for the sole edging!

 Doesn't it look wonderful! The boot is totally transformed into a snowboot - I simply adore this version, and the natural wood buttons set it off wonderfully.

I spend my life with half baked ideas for patterns floating around in my head, and have for some time been thinking about a pieced "Ugg" style boot. I have been wary of mixing crochet with knitting, thinking the crochet would put off those who only knit, but I'm now going to launch right in and design that "Ugg" style boot - and its going to have a crochet trim!!

Thank you so much for your pictures Debbie..... and please keep them coming, folks!!

Baby Mittens Knitting Pattern

This is my pattern for baby mittens. They are knit on two needles and seamed. They are not knit in the round.

They are designed to go with my double knit weight hat patterns which are for sale on  Etsy, Folksy and Ravelry

The first two sizes (0-6 months  and 6-12 months) are thumbless mittens. The third size (1 – 2 years) has thumbs.
Instructions for the larger thumbless  size are in brackets  ( )

Materials needed:
25 g double knit /light worsted/8 ply yarn. (11wpi) for one pair of thumbless mittens
35g double knit /light worsted/8 ply yarn. (11wpi) for one pair of  mittens with thumbs
Pair of 3.25mm (US size 3) knitting needles
Pair of 4mm (US size 6) knitting needles (main needles)

Tension
22sts and 30 rows to 10x10cm (4x4”) square in stocking (stockinette) stitch on 4mm
(US Size 6) needles
Please take a little time to knit a tension square. If your square is too small, try knitting again using a bigger pair of needles. If your square is too big, try knitting again on smaller sized needles.

Abbreviations
K= Knit
K2tog = knit two stitches together
m1 = make one stitch – pick up the loop between the last and the next stitch and work into the back of this loop
P= Purl
tbl= through back loops
st(s) = stitch (es)
stocking st (stockinette)= 1 row knit, 1 row purl (knit row is the front of the work)

Instructions for thumbless mittens (0-6 months and 6-12 months) (make 2)
Using 3.25mm (US size 3) needles, cast on 30 [30] sts
1^st Row:  K2, [P2, K2] to end
2^nd Row: P2, [K2, P2] to end
These two rows form the 2x2 rib pattern for the cuff. Repeat these two rows 10 times
Repeat the first row once more
Next row: Rib to end, decreasing 1 st evenly across row for 1^st size and increasing 1^st evenly across row for 2^nd size                                                                                                               29( 31)sts

Change to 4mm (US Size 6) needles and starting with a knit row work in stocking stitch for 16 (20) rows.
Shape top
Next Row: K2tog tbl, K10 [11], K2tog, K1, K2tog tbl, K10 [11], K2tog                         25 (27)sts
Next Row:  Purl
Next Row: K2tog tbl, K8 [9], K2tog, K1, K2tog tbl, K8 [9], K2tog                                 21 (23)sts
Next Row:  Purl
Next Row: K2tog tbl, K6 [7], K2tog, K1, K2tog tbl, K6 [7], K2tog                                 17 (19)sts
Next Row:  Purl
Cast off

 Sew up top and side seam. Fold back cuff.

Instructions for Mittens with Thumb – Size 1 – 2 years

Right Mitten
**Using 3.25mm (US size 3) needles, cast on 30 sts.
1^st Row:  K2, [P2, K2] to end
2^nd Row: P2, [K2, P2] to end
These two rows form the 2x2 rib pattern for the cuff. Repeat these two rows 11 times (24 rows in total)

Change to 4mm needles (US Size 6) and starting with a knit row, work 2 rows stocking st.**

Shape thumb
Next Row: Knit 16, m1, K1, m1, knit 13                                                                          (32 sts)
Next Row: Purl
Next Row: Knit 16, m1, K3, m1, knit13                                                                           (34sts)
Next Row: Purl
Next Row: Knit 16, m1, k5, m1, Knit 13                                                                          (36sts)
Next Row: Purl
Next Row: Knit 16, m1, k7, m1, knit 13                                                                           (38 sts)
Next Row: Purl
Thumb
Next Row: K25, turn
Next Row: P9, turn
Working just on these 9 sts, work 6 rows in stocking st
Next Row: K2tog 4 times, K1                                                                                            (5sts)
Cut yarn, draw up through remaining sts and secure.

With RS facing, rejoin yarn to the base of the thumb. Pick up and knit 2 sts (one either side of the base of the thumb), knit to end.                                                                                              (31sts)

Starting with a purl row, work 9 rows stocking st.

Shape top
Next Row: K1, K2tog tbl, K10, K2tog, K1, K2tog tbl, K10, K2tog, K1                          (27sts)
Next Row: Purl
Next Row:  K1, K2tog tbl, K8, K2tog, K1, K2tog tbl, K8, K2tog, K1                             (23sts)
Next Row: Purl
Next Row:  K1, K2tog tbl, K6, K2tog, K1, K2tog tbl, K6, K2tog, K1                             (19sts)
Next Row: Purl
Cast off

Left Mitten
Work as for right mitten from ** to **
Shape thumb
Next Row: Knit 13, m1, K1, m1, knit 16                                                                           (32 sts)
Next Row: Purl
Next Row: Knit 13, m1, K3, m1, knit 16                                                                           (34sts)
Next Row: Purl
Next Row: Knit 13, m1, k5, m1, Knit 16                                                                           (36sts)
Next Row: Purl
Next Row: Knit 13, m1, k7, m1, knit 16                                                                            (38 sts)
Next Row: Purl
Thumb
Next Row: K22, turn
Next Row: P9, turn
Working just on these 9 sts, work 6 rows in stocking st
Next Row: K2tog 4 times, K1                                                                                           (5sts)
Cut yarn, draw through remaining sts and secure.
With RS facing, rejoin yarn to the base of the thumb. Pick up and knit 2 sts (one either side of the base of the thumb, knit to end.                                                                                               (31sts)
Starting with a purl row, work 9 rows stocking st.
Shape top
Next Row: K1, K2tog tbl, K10, K2tog, K1, K2tog tbl, K10, K2tog, K1                          (27sts)
Next Row: Purl
Next Row:  K1, K2tog tbl, K8, K2tog, K1, K2tog tbl, K8, K2tog, K1                              (23sts)
Next Row: Purl
Next Row:  K1, K2tog tbl, K6, K2tog, K1, K2tog tbl, K6, K2tog, K1                              (19sts)
Next Row: Purl
Cast off

Join top and side seams. Turn back cuffs.

Feeling Festive

As the days have got shorter my knitting needles seem to have been working faster. I spent several weeks working on some Christmas designs, and as soon as those were finished I launched straight into designing a family of penguins. I'm sure those penguins were in my head because I was still in Christmas mode! When I'm designing baby hats, I'm totally methodical and mathematical, but toys and ornaments just seem to "grow" on my needles, but being the perfectionist that I am, I usually want to change something... the shape of a head, the length of a leg.... after all, if its worth doing, its worth doing well, so now as I sit back and take stock before I launch into my next project, I'm looking down at a "graveyard" of legs and bodies that didn't quite make it to the finished item!! Poor things! What's worse for them is that I know I won't even give them a decent burial. I can use all that stuffing over again, so one day pretty soon "operation de-stuff" will take place and all those odd arms and legs will be cut open and the stuffing saved for another animal or doll. Waste not, want not as they say.

As for my next project....Mmmmn, I'm going to keep you guessing on that one!

Erin - A New Pattern

 I was really pleased to add a new pattern to my Etsy and Ravelry stores last nice. It's called Erin. It's funny that the name for it came to me half way through designing it, and I just knew that was what I was going to call it - no ifs or buts - that was it.
I really like this design as it ticks all the boxes. Its quick and easy to knit, so suitable for a relative beginner knitter, but with enough pattern and shaping to keep the knitter interested and happy.
It is also extremely versatile.
The thick strings came about because someone asked me to design one as a photoprop - photos of sleeping babies wearing only a slightly oversized hat with the bulky strings hanging down across their body, are very popular at the moment.
Its very easy to knit the string narrower though, and if the hat is slightly too big, the string will draw it in a little if its tied to one side of the chin.
If you want a really vintage girly look, then omit the string altogether, the eyelet pattern will then show up beautifully and you can sew on pretty ribbons.

If you are not into the feminine look, or want the hat to be gender neutral, omit the two rows of eyelet pattern and add plaited strings at either end.

You could also knit the flower in a variety of colours and sew them to hair clips. Knit the bonnet in a neutral colour and you can then clip on whichever flower suits baby's outfit that day. What a wonderfully versatile hat!!

We're Having a Heat Wave

......... a wonderful heat wave. The shadows are long and the daylight relatively short, but this sunshine is just fantastic.
I know the British always talk about the weather, but then part of its charm is that it constantly surprises us!
We have had a topsy turvy summer - heat wave in spring, pathetic summer and now another heatwave.
Suddenly the garden clear up ready for winter has stopped, the cover is back off the garden furniture and I'm enjoying every minute of it.
The great thing about designing knitting is that you can do it outside!
As the rsi in my hands is getting worse, I have to concentrate on designing patterns rather than finished items, and I'm loving it!
My head is bursting with so many ideas, I have so many hastily written scribbles in my notebook, that the challenge will be deciphering it when I come back to knit it up and test out the pattern, but for the time being
I'm going to sit on that garden chair, needles and notebook in hand and enjoy the sunshine.
I hope you get to enjoy it too!

Say Hi to Archie

Archie is the newest addition to the Taylor household!
After two years of wishing I had cute pictures of babies modelling my creations on Etsy, I've finally found a doll with a not-too-scary face to wear my baby hats, and hopefully help me sell more, and so raise more funds for Leukaemia and Lymphona Research.
I had previously tried getting my niece to model for me, but she wasn't having any of it. The average time a hat would stay on her head was, I would guess, 2 seconds at best - whereas Archie, well he sleeps through the whole photo shoot.
He has already earned his keep, with 3 sales coming in over night, so "thank you" Archie - keep up the good work!
To see Archie at his photogenic best go to http://www.etsy.com/listing/72089314/organic-cotton-baby-top-knot-beanie-in

A jewel of a find

Yesterday, whilst spending far too much time on Etsy as usual, I came across the most wonderful shop I have ever seen.
It is  the quiet home and sells knitting patterns for dolls
I fell instantly in love with shop and her designs - so much so that I felt the need to convo her and tell her.
She has a blog and I've listed it in my Bloglist below. Her entries are a joy to read

This is a picture of her latest knitting pattern, I love the soft and subtle colours of the variegated yarn and the pose of the doll with its thumb in its mouth.

I too have been busy with my knitting patterns.
I now have most of my Etsy hats also available as pdf patterns and intend to continue writing more patterns over the coming months.
It has been quite a challenge to discipline myself to transfer my well loved pencil scribblings to neat properly written pattern format, but worth it, for even though I know most of the patterns off by heart, it is good to have them secure on my laptop where I can recover them at any time.
Whilst typing them up I was also inventing loads more patterns in my head, so I can see I'll be busy for many months to come transferring what's in my imagination to knitted items and accompanying patterns.
Lets hope wehave a lovely warm summer  so that I can sit in the garden and work on them!

Crazy by nature

Its a crazy world we live in!
All through the summer I was lucky enough to have home grown fruit in the garden which I would pick a little of every morning to add to my breakfast. But come the autumn when I expected my raspberries to be in abundance there were none!
Now, its the end of November, we are having a cold snap in good old central England, and guess what - my raspberries are in full fruit!

The problem is - it takes a lot of willpower to walk down the garden and pick the fruit when its really cold. This morning I made the effort however. The temperature was in the minuses, there was a hard frost on the ground, but I did get my bowful of fruit - even though they were frozen solid and I had to pick them still attached to their stalks. They did taste good though!

What's news on Etsy, I hear you ask. Well, I played around at the weekend with a new design of baby shoe. I'm very pleased with the result, so you shouls see them appearing in the shop quite soon - they are nice and chunky, so I think they compliment the aviator hats better than the crossover style. But, that's my opinion, it will be interesting to see what you, the customers, think.

New hat designs

I love finding time to knit some new designs and I'm really pleased with this one that I shall be listing on Etsy in a few days time. I've used a technique called Fair Isle to create the pattern which has a total of three colours, but never more than two colours in the same row.
It is named after a tiny island in the north of  Scotland called Fair Isle, which is part of the Shetland Islands. There was a strong tradition of knitting on these remote islands, where people worked mainly on the land or as fishermen and warm sweaters were essential to everyday living.
Fair Isle patterns are believed to have gained a wider popularity when King Edward VIII wore sleeveless sweaters (or tank tops as they were known).
It is funny to think that, just as the celebrities of today have an influence on what many people choose to wear, the same thing was happening, almost 100 years ago!!
I have lots of lovely colour combination ideas, so make sure you check out the shop to see what is available in the next few days

If you think you can, then you can!

I think it was Henry Ford who said "Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you are usually right" Well, I've hovered between the two over the last few days, but positive thinking must have won out in the end because I did manage to achieve what I set out to do ( but not without a little stamping of feet, swearing and tearing out of hair in the process!)

Ever since I was a child I've always made up my own knitting patterns. The pattern I buy is never quite the idea that I had in my head so I've always adapted them to suit me better. These two rabbits grew in just this way and I put them into my Etsy shop late last summer. I thought it would be a good idea to sell the pattern, as I can't keep up with demand for the finished rabbits, but its been a real test of my determination. To start with, I knew exactly what all those hastily written scribbles that meandered over my jotter meant, but I couldn't excpect anyone else to - they needed it all written out in proper "knitting pattern language". So I've sat for what seems like days on end with patterns in front of me, scrutinising them to see how they were written, whether you use capital letters at the start of lines, whether you put full stops after abbreviations - all the things I've looked at a thousand times, but never really looked at properly. There were plenty of times when I walked away saying " I just can't do this!" Instructions for papercrafting projects just seemed so easy compared to this.

Next I had to sit and knit what I had written, without looking at my much loved scribbles, just to make absolutely sure someone else would be able to understand it, and that the rabbits turned out right. When I eventually put the pattern up for sale last night, it was with a mixture of relief that I had actually finished at last and trepidation that it might not make sense to someone else.
You can imagine how happy I was this morning to find that someone had bought the pattern, and then nigh on overjoyed when they emailed me back to say they were very pleased with it.

You know what - the task wasn't so hard after all!!!
Suddenly there are a thousand and one ideas for patterns all vying for prime postion in my head right now. Can I do another one? Sure can!

Where DID January go?

I can't believe how fast the time has gone, and how bad I've been at blogging this month. So what have I been doing that has kept me otherwise occupied, you might ask.....well very little it seems!

At the start of the month I revelled in the snow - the breathtaking beauty of it all, the way normal activities just ground to a halt and the way everyone was talking about it. I went for long walks in it, I spent ages clearing it off my car every day and I just looked at it. If it was beautiful during the day it was mind bogglingly incredible at night.

I had a large order for knitted baby shoes, so that kept me out of mischief for a while, and then a few days ago the same person asked if I could come up with a baby beanie with a flower embellishment. This was just the push that I needed. Having spent the month tootling along, basically enjoying myself I was up for a new challenge. Although I have knitted all my life, I have never really mastered crochet properly. i have a blitz every now and again,trying to improve my skill, but always revert back to knitting. I managed the daisy fine, but then I tried to do a crocheted leaf. Uh oh! I spent all one afternoon trying to do a crochet leaf! I was never ever happy enough with my efforts, so in the end I knitted them. I'm really pleased with the outcome, even though I'm not going to enjoy sewing them up - all those ends to sew in !

I've also been doing some more bookbinding, and perfecting a new technique, but I'm going to leave that for a February blog!

I can't believe I'm knitting fair isle again!

What was I thinking of?! I swore years ago that i'd never do anything in fair isle again. All that twisting of the colours around each other to prevent loops, all that trying not to get them too tight, so there is not enough give, all that unwinding of the yarns as they get wrapped so tightly together (possibly with your fingers entwined in them) and then horror of horrors - all those ends to sew in!!So what possessed me to start again? Maybe it was the cuteness of a little baby shoe. Maybe, like childbirth you are genetically programmed to forget the downside of something as time passes. Whatever it was, there is just one problem - having remembered all the things I don't like about it, how will I ever make myself knit the second shoe??!!

The power of the internet

So sorry I haven't posted for a while.

As most of you know, I make and sell things on Etsy to raise money for Leukaemia Research. At the moment I'm knitting furiously as my little baby hats, particularly the ones with ear flaps are selling like hot cakes - mostly to the US and Canada, but I think that's because Etsy is much better known over there.

I've also sent little hats to China and Australia recently and the ladies in my local post office always have a chat and ask me about them. They are the same ladies that knew Dave when he used to take in the parcels from our online craft shop sales, so they are always ready with a kind word or two.

I'm always amazed though when people find, and like my shop, so imagine my surprise when a lady in Canada emailed me to say she had featured my shop on her blog! She is going to do an interview with me and do a second post so I'd better keep my needles clicking over the next few evenings incase there are even more sales.

Ironically, her blog is called Organized Mum (http://www.organizedmum.blogspot.com/), so I'd better try and be an organized mum so that I can keep my shop well stocked.

I am hoping to make some journals to add to the shop in time for Christmas, but I like knitting - I find the repetition very calming. Its as good as yoga and meditation, so if I don't post for a while I'm either so busy with orders or asleep in the chair!!

On my organic soapbox

This morning started so well.

I woke too early, as usual, and did a few rows of knitting in bed until such time as I could justifiably risk waking the rest of the household - knitting with organic cotton, of course.

I went down to enjoy my usual breakfast of organic Weetabix, topped with organic dried fruits and nuts and on most days a few organically grown raspberries from my garden. I took the newspaper from the letter box and there and then - mid mouthful - my nice day stopped. The front page article purported that there is no nutritional benefit from organic foods!

I was, I am, incensed. The article admits the report is only one of several and another one contradicting this evidence is soon likely to follow, and it admits that good quality data to back up any study is hard to come by, but haven't they all totally missed the point. It's not what is in the organic fruit, dairy produce, cotton etc that we buy it for, it's what's left out!

Personally I don't want to eat food with chemicals in it and I extend that reasoning to my crafting.

I have written about the effects of chemicals on the production of crafting materials on my website http://www.julietaylor.com/

The website, I'm afraid is no longer updated as it is so much quicker to show you what I'm working on in this blog, but the article will stay there for the foreseeable future.

However, if you just want a short taster, the reason I was knitting with organic cotton this morning is this:

"Cotton production is one of the world’s most chemically intensive agricultural processes. It covers just 2.5% of the earth’s agricultural land but uses approximately 22.5% of the world’s insecticides and 10% of the world’s pesticides. Its production damages wildlife, contributes to climate change and contaminates water supplies.
20,000 people die each year from pesticide poisoning, many in cotton production. Another 3 million suffer side-effects from the pesticide residues including cancer, birth defects, respiratory problems, infertility and sterility. A single teaspoon of Aldicarb, the second most used pesticide in cotton production, on the skin can kill an adult. Two thirds of cotton is grown in developing countries where the people are least able to get medical to treat the side effects."

So please, next time you are buying yarn, consider buying organic.

Sneak preview

Thought I'd share a sneak preview of something I've been working on for Etsy over the last few days.

I'm not giving too much away, other than to say it's made to my own pattern and each one will be unique - (I'm not allowing myself any re-listings of this one) and its totally organic!

This has turned out to be a whole family venture. Everyone has an opinion on how the finished item should look and they've all encouraged me to make yet another version every time we thought that something needed tweaking. Laura has put herself in charge of naming them, so don't blame me if they are somewhat outlandish!

Its been a really fun adventure making these - just the antidote that I needed to all the tedious proof reading I had to do last week

It will be another week or so before I'm ready to list the first few, but I'll let you know the very moment that they go on sale