Little Boxes of Crochet

Thank you so much for all of your warm, welcoming words! You made it such a pleasure to be back.
I thought I would show you a very special something I have been involved with over the past little while.

I have a wonderful friend, Amanda Bloom who in November last year, launched the most amazing crochet subscription box, Little Box of Crochet. And guess who was lucky enough to be the first designer - Me!!!!

As it was Autumn, we decided something seasonal would be lovely and somehow the subject of Toadstools came up, something we are both passionate about.

And so, with lots of chatting between NZ and the UK, the plan hatched for three crocheted toadstools.

While I was busy with toadstool maths (the easy part let me tell you), Amanda established an empire sourcing yarn, boxes, printers all to the highest standard and most beautiful of aesthetics. And she did all this while her gorgeous daughter Jenny was battling cancer. 

The day the first box arrived in my mailbox was one of the most proud I have had. So proud of Amanda and Jenny and so honoured to have been a part of it.

And guess what? The box sold out!

However,... a little bird told me, the Toadstool Box is set for a re-release - wahoo!

I can't wait to show you more boxes I've recieved over the past few months. They brought so much joy to me, just as Amanda and Jenny have for me.

Lots of love,

Kate xxxxx

Dog Days...

 I can't stop making these new characters. Every time I go to pick up my crochet hook, another puppy appears. 

Even on the walls!
Lots of love,
Kate x

Christmas Lighthouses.....

Sometimes I find myself pondering things in the middle of the night when I find a pocket of wakefullness. The other night saw me thinking about a Christmas tree in a lighthouse - and so I started making these lighthouse baubles - or babules as I keep going to write. And another exciting thing..... I dipped my crochet Christmas babule (see) from this pattern in glitter and glue. It worked!

As for the toadstools, I have another whole post waiting to be written but I need a little bit more than five minutes to do it in. For the meantime, read about them here.

Mini Crochet Advent Caravans!

 I just wanted to remind you of this project I made for Christmas last year. This is one of my favourite patterns ever and I am so looking forward to filling them up with goodies for our tree again. You can find the pattern here.

Lots of love,
Kate. xxx

How to Crochet a Mini Christmas Wreath

With Christmas creeping up (at least in the world of handmade as there is only so much 'making' time until December), I thought it would be fun to add a festive project to the Lakeside Cabin from "Let's Go Camping! Crochet Your Own Adventure". A wreath for the door. Of course, once I made that, the caravan (also in the book) looked bereft. Now, I can't stop making mini decorations....

p.s. please ignore the paint on my fingers in the photos.

Materials:

gold or silver 4ply yarn

embroidery thread (or 4ply yarn) in red and green (or white)

needle

Abbreviations (US terminology)

ch = chain

st/s = stitch/stiches

ss = slip stitch

sc = single crochet

sk = skip

N.B. All rounds are worked in continuous spirals

 Round 1. Using 2.5mm crochet hook and gold yarn, ch10. Ss back into the first ch to form a loop.

Round 2. Working over the 10ch loop rather than into it, crochet 12sc evenly distributed around the loop. Ss back into the first sc. (12)

Round 3. *1sc, 2sc into the next st. Repeat from * until end of round. (18)

Round 4. *2sc, 2sc into the next st. Repeat from * until end of round. (24)

Round 4. *3sc, sk one st. Repeat from * until end of round. (18)

This will cause the wreath to start curving back around like a donut.

Round 5. *2sc, sk one st. Repeat from * until end of round. (12)

 Fasten off leaving a long tail to sew the first and last round together through the central hole.

For the French Knots 

Secure the thread to the wreath then wrap the needle anywhere between 1 - 4 times. 

 Place the tip of the needle back through the wreath and draw through the wraps.

 After a few french knots have been embroidered, thread the needle with green yarn and scatter some straight stitches to create leaves. Continue on with french knots until you think "Wahoo".

At this stage, my wreath is so new I have it stuck to the caravan with a needle. However, because it's going onto the door temporarily, I will fastsen it on with small pieces of double sided sticky tape - then it will be easy to remove after Christmas.

The  Lakeside Cabin wreath was made with a gold base and white embroidery thread for the french knots. 

If you are feeling particularly festive, you could attach a brooch back and wear it on your shirt!

Let me know in the comment section below if you have any questions.

Lots of love,

Kate. xxx

Pavlova Hat!

No new dress yet.... I had better get stuck into it. In the meantime though, here is a photo of the pavlova hat (Pav Hat) that I made for a fancy dress party. I went as Anna Pavlova of course. Just looking at the photo makes my mouth water. 

Lots of love,

Kate. xx

'Let's Go Camping! Crochet Your Own Adventure' - a look inside the book!!!!!

Now that pre-orders of 'Let's Go Camping! Crochet Your Own Adventure' are turning up in mailboxes around the world, I thought it was time to show some more photos from the book.

I can't believe that this project began mid January and now it is in my hands. 

One of the things I enjoyed most about writing this book was the little anecdotes I share at the beginning of each chapter. All of the projects come from different elements of my life - the cabin above was based upon a holiday house we had when I was tiny, the colours of it though, coming from my granny's house.

 The photography by Keiko Owikawa still takes my breath away each time I look at it. And as for the styling, I still can't believe how lucky I am that Christine Leech joined the team.

 So here are a few more photos for you to look at - I hope you like them!

We were also very fortnuate that Playmobil came on board and gave us permission to use my vintage Playmobil toys in photos - they bring such magic and scale to the projects. As I look at this photo I can't help thinking how funny it is to see the tiny binoculars that Mum gave to me at Christmas - neither of us knew they were going to be starring in a book this year. Goodness me.

Having received a copy a few weeks ago, I have been crocheting my way through the book to quadruple check each pattern. To my chagrin (a word I never get to use - it almost makes it worthwhile), there were some small mistakes that I have remedied with a printable errata page found at the top left hand side of the blog.  

I've also changed my commenting system I will now be able to reply to your questions!

A book! Yippe Yay! Whoot!

Lots of love,

Kate. xxx

A Crochet Teepee (from Let's Go Camping! Crochet Your Own Adventure)

 Here is a photo taken of the teepee for Let's Go Camping! Crochet Your Own Adventure before everything was parcelled up and sent off to England for the photo shoot.

How much would you love to snuggle up with a book and read in there.....

Lots of love,
Kate. xxooxx

A Sneak Peek at Let's Go Camping! Crochet Your Own Adventure

 Now that the release date is rapidly drawing near (24th September - Jonno's birthday), I thought I should show you a little bit of what I have been up to over the past few months. 

Many of you have seen the crochet caravan which will of course feature in the book, but did you know that there are all sorts of other patterns for things like narrow boats, ice cream trucks, lake cabins, tents, teepees, etc, etc (my fingers will drop off if I write down everything and you have to have a few surprises left when you open the book).

 One of the projects I adored making was this narrow boat. Here it is undergoing construction on the kitchen table. It was such a joy to make.

 At first it was a little cold so I made a wood burner for it. What a difference, the bed only needed one blanket after that otherwise it would just be too hot to sleep. I do spend a lot of time on my own it may be worth pointing out here.

 Cruising along the kitchen table on a paper river.

The wood burner is of course crochet and doesn't make a difference to room temperature.

If you are wanting to pre-order a copy, check out your favourite online bookstore or try here
Lots and lots of love,
Kate. xxooxx

Crochet Blankets and Roses

 This is the kitchen table this morning. I really love the way the landscape changes all the time. Today it has my blanket stretched out so that I can work out the next few colours to be used.

And the last of my roses on a new plate.

I am loving using the bobble trim in the pattern rather than at the end.

A gleaming collection of new cotton to be used also makes for a happy Kate.

Lots and lots of love,
Kate. xxooxx

Put a Pompom on it.....

 Even though the colours I use may look as though I have blindly chosen them from a bag full of yarn, I am actually very fussy about my choices. And if I get a 'not quite right' combination, it can drive me up the wall. I found my self in this situation last night, feeling that the red was a bit too sharp for the blanket. After a while of humphing, I decided that rather than tear back all of the rounds until I reached the 'splinter', I would soften it by working over the 2 rounds with a pale green pompom trim (from here-although I slightly modified the pattern so that it would sit flat).

I am sooooo happy with it and now feel that I should do a few more pompom rounds. It kind of reminds me of a chenille bedspread. It makes me wonder what other mistakes in my life I can cover with pompoms....

Lots of love,

Kate. xxooxx

A New Dress

 With my snippets of time here and there I have managed to cobble together a new dress. I cut out the pattern one day, the fabric the next and so on until it was finished.

 I am becoming rapidly addicted to Japanese sewing books, particularly the ones translated into english. 

 This is one of my favourite views, looking down upon a new dress.

And I have started a new project to keep myself warm on these suddenly cold evenings. 

Lots and lots of love,
Kate. xxooxx