The Woolly Adventures of a Knitting Kitty: May 2022

Sunday, 29 May 2022

Stylecraft Blogstars Garden Party - a round up

The Stylecraft Blogstars Garden Party has come to an end and I hope that we have inspired you with some ideas to use for a party of your own. I have really enjoyed seeing all the different designs that have been created and thought it would be nice to see them all together in one final big TA-DAH! Thank you so much to Stylecraft for taking such wonderful photos. (All photos copyright Stylecraft except for the tea cosy copyright Hand Knitted Things.) I have linked each design to the relevant blogpost where you will find links to the pattern. Some of the patterns are free to download while others are raising money for charity so do please support us if you are able to. Thank you.

*** Day 1 ***

Attic 24 - Summertime Tin Cosies

*** Day 2 ***

Hand Knitted Things - Trellis Tea Cosy and Bunting

*** Day 3 ***

Catherine's Crochet Corner - Paja's Party Coaster, Placemat and Jug Cover

*** Day 4 ***

The Loopy Stitch - A Posy of Dreams Mobile

*** Day 5 ***

Emma Varnam - Lovely Jubbly Cakes

*** Day 6 ***

josiekitten - Macaron cushion

*** Day 7 ***

Crochet Between Worlds - Twisted Ribbon Bargello Table Runner

*** Day 8 ***

Jane Crowfoot - Julie's Bunting

*** Day 9 ***

Helen Shrimpton - Lilibet Placemat and Coaster

My Macaron cushion is raising money for Myositis UK and I am donating all proceeds from pattern sales to my fundraising page, Fibre4Fibres. The pattern costs £4 but the code 'gardenparty' will get you a discount until the end of May so you've not got long if you want to take advantage of the discount! You can buy my pattern from my Ravelry designer page here. Thank you so much if you have already bought a copy. xxx

Thursday, 26 May 2022

Stylecraft Blogstars Garden Party - Lilibet Placemat and Coaster

It's the final day of the Stylecraft Blogstars Garden Party and Helen Shrimpton, who is Crystals and Crochet, is bringing the party to a close. Helen has designed a pretty placemat and coaster for you. Helen says:

'Lilibet is an elegant placemat and coaster, to add a touch of class to any summer garden party. Made with Stylecraft Naturals Organic Cotton in Bone, Blossom and Peppermint, using a 4mm G hook. As an alternative, the placemat or coaster can be mounted in a hoop and used as a hanging mandala.'

The Naturals Organic Cotton comes in a fabulous range of colours and I'm tempted to make some rto go with my new Macaron cushions that I've made using the cotton yarn. The pattern will be available from Helen's website here for £2.

Stylecraft are giving away the yarn to make this project for one lucky person and a friend. Check out Stylecraft on Facebook and Instagram to find out how to enter.

Tuesday, 24 May 2022

Stylecraft Blogstars Garden Party - Julie's Bunting

It's Day 8 of the Stylecraft Blogstars Garden Party and today's project is brought to you by the lovely Jane Crowfoot. Janie has designed some beautiful crocheted bunting; it really is exquisite and the beads add a wonderful sparkle. If you look at the last photo, you can see all the details. Janie says:

'My amazing sister-in-law, Julie, adored bunting. Any excuse for a party and Julie would be there with a stepladder and loads of bunting to decorate the room! We lost Julie after a courageous battle with cancer, so I wanted to design something in her memory. A pretty, floral bunting that features yellow, her favourite colour, was the obvious choice. The pattern will be £6.95 with a donation from the sale of each pattern going to Bowel Cancer UK.'

I can definitely see this bunting gracing any wedding reception too as it is so pretty. The pattern is available from Janie's website, and I'm definitely going to buy a copy so I can make some.

Stylecraft are giving away the yarn to make this project for one lucky person and a friend. Check out Stylecraft on Facebook and Instagram to find out how to enter.

Monday, 23 May 2022

More Macarons!

I've been busy making more Macaron cushions to go with my new garden furniture. Instead of using Stylecraft Special DK, this time I used Stylecraft's Naturals Organic Cotton yarn as it has a lovely range of colours. So far I've made one crocheted cushion and one knitted cushion and I have enough yarn to make at least one more. These are smaller cushions than those I made for the Garden Party, so I didn't do as many rounds in each colour. I decided not to add any flowers to these but I did do a crocheted picot edging on both of them.

You can see the picot edging better in these photos. I joined the front and back of the knitted cushion covers by doing a double crochet round through the cast off stitches before adding the picot round and I think it looks pretty.

Here are the yarns that I used. I picked them specifically to match the lap quilt that I made a few years ago. Going clockwise from 12 o'clock, the colours are Sea Green, Cardoon, Artichoke, Bone, Blossom, Flamingo, Plum, Indigo Wash, Azure, Faded Denim and Blue Lagoon. I decided to leave Bone out of the colour scheme once I'd made a start on them.

If you'd like to make your own version of the Macaron cushions, the pattern comes with instructions for both knitted and crocheted versions. You can find the pattern here in my Ravelry designer page and the code 'gardenparty' will get you a discount until the end of May. I am donating all proceeds from pattern sales to my Fibre4Fibres fundraising for Myositis UK. Happy Macaron making! xxx

Sunday, 22 May 2022

Stylecraft Blogstars Garden Party - Twisted Ribbon Bargello Table Runner

It's Day 7 of the Stylecraft Blogstars Garden Party and it's the turn of Michelle and Anne who are Crochet Between Worlds. They have designed a gorgeous table runner which looks stunning. Michelle says:

'The Twisted Ribbon Bargello Table Runner uses Bargello crochet techniques and simple stitches to create an optical illusion of a spiralling ribbon along the length of your table runner. The pattern may be strange to follow, different to anything you've done before, but read it thoroughly and work stitch by stitch and you'll create something amazing!'

I've not tried Bargello crochet before but I love the effect that it creates and would definitely like to give it a go.

The pattern will be on sale for US$4.99 with $2.50 of each sale in 2022 donated to The Rotary Foundation End Polio Now campaign. You can find links to the pattern via the Crochet Between Worlds blog.

Stylecraft are giving away the yarn to make this project for one lucky person and a friend. Check out Stylecraft on Facebook and Instagram to find out how to enter.

Friday, 20 May 2022

Stylecraft Blogstars Garden Party - Macaron Cushion

It's Day 6 of the Stylecraft Blogstars Garden Party and today it's my turn! I'm really excited to share my Macaron cushions with you! My idea of a garden party includes lots of delicious treats like dainty sandwiches with the crusts cut off, strawberries and cream and plenty of yummy cakes and biscuits. Mr JK loved meringues so I decided to create a cushion in his honour. I chose some of the colours of macarons that you see in those expensive patisseries and just looking at them makes my mouth water!

Initially I only designed a knitted cushion, but then thought it would be nice if there was a crocheted version too. The cushion uses 7 shades of Stylecraft Special DK yarn in Buttermilk, Lincoln, Vintage Peach, Duck Egg, Powder Pink, Pistachio and Parma Violet. I love how those colours look together; it fills my heart with joy.

Both cushions are worked in the round and have buttons to close them so you can remove the covers for easy washing. Although the pattern has been written to fit an 18" cushion pad, it is very easy to adapt it to fit a circular cushion pad of any size. I've actually started making some smaller ones which I will share with you very soon. I need lots of cushions to go on my new garden furniture. I really don't think that you can have too many!

The wonderful team at Stylecraft Yarns have done an absolutely amazing photoshoot showing off all the designs that have been created by some of the Stylecraft Blogstars. I've been sharing some of those photos with you each day of the Garden Party. When I first saw the photos and all the gorgeous flowers on the table, I decided to add some extras to the pattern so you can embellish your cushion with flowers and leaves. There is also an option to add a picot edging to the cushion and I'm doing that on the cushions I'm working on at the moment.

The Macaron cushion pattern is available from my Ravelry designer page here for £4. If you use the code 'gardenparty', this will give you a 50p discount until the end of May. If you aren't able to use Ravelry, please email me at 'josiekitten at gmail dot com' and I will do my best to help you out. All the proceeds from the sale of this pattern (like all my paid for patterns) will be donated to my fundraising page Fibre4Fibres which is raising money for Myositis UK. If you are a regular visitor to my blog, you'll know that I was diagnosed with myositis back in 2018 and it's had a massive impact on my life.

Stylecraft are giving away the yarn to make this project for one lucky person and a friend. Check out Stylecraft on Facebook and Instagram to find out how to enter.

Next up on the Garden Party are Michelle and Anne who are Crochet Between Worlds, and they have designed something really gorgeous. You'll be able to find out more this Sunday 22nd May.

I do hope you like my pattern and are enjoying coming along to our Garden Party! It would be really lovely to see your cushions so please do share your photos on social media and tag me in. xxx

Wednesday, 18 May 2022

Stylecraft Blogstars Garden Party - Lovely Jubbly Cakes

It's Day 5 of the Stylecraft Blogstars Garden Party and today is the turn of Emma Varnam. Emma has designed the most scrumptious looking collection of cakes, guaranteed to make your mouth water! Emma says:

'I thought it would be fun to create some crocheted cakes which could hide among the real sweet temptations. I was attracted to crochet originally by making cupcakes and it was fun to go back to these ideas and patterns.'

I once knitted myself a cupcake which I use as a pincushion and I'm loving the French Fancies and the chocolate cake with a strawberry on the top. Which is your favourite? The patterns are available to download from Emma's blog and will be available for free until the end of the Garden Party.

Stylecraft are giving away the yarn to make this project for one lucky person and a friend. Check out Stylecraft on Facebook and Instagram to find out how to enter.

Monday, 16 May 2022

Stylecraft Blogstars Garden Party - A Posy of Dreams Mobile

It's Day 4 of the Stylecraft Blogstars Garden Party and today's design is from Emily Littlefair who blogs as The Loopy Stitch. Emily has created a gorgeous mobile - I absolutely love it! Emily says:

'A Posy of Dreams' is a quick and easy make using three elements: flower strands, chain of hearts and the string of leaf buds. Make this mobile uniquely yours by working these elements to your heart's desire.'

It's such a pretty design and I am wondering how I can include one in my new garden seating area. The pattern will be available from Emily's blog and on Ravelry for $5 AUD and Emily will be donating 50% of sales to the Leukaemia Foundation for the month of May.

Stylecraft are giving away the yarn to make this project for one lucky person and a friend. Check out Stylecraft on Facebook and Instagram to find out how to enter.

Saturday, 14 May 2022

Stylecraft Blogstars Garden Party - Paja's Party Coaster, Placemat and Jug Cover

It's Day 3 of the Stylecraft Blogstars Garden Party and today, Catherine Bligh from Catherine's Crochet Corner is sharing a very clever design. Catherine says:

'Paja's Party is a three-in-one pattern - a coaster that can either grow into a place mat or into a gorgeous beaded jug cover. Perfect for an afternoon tea in the garden! No previous experience of crocheting with beads is needed - the pattern will walk you through it with plenty of pictures.'

I especially love the beaded jug cover and will be making a couple so that I can keep my drinks 'bug-free' when I'm sitting in the garden. You can find out more about Catherine's design on her blog and her pattern will be available to download from Ravelry.

Stylecraft are giving away the yarn to make this project for one lucky person and a friend. Check out Stylecraft on Facebook and Instagram to find out how to enter.