Book of the Week: Jean Greenhowe's Knitted Toys

Hi Everyone!! Happy Friday!! I am at work today, and that means for my competition winners, your parcels have been sent to you today so not long now!!!

I know I've done a lot of Jean Greenhowe books, and this one is even discontinued, but you can find them in charity shops and all over, and in libraries, so it is available and Jean Greenhowe is my absolute favourite toy designer. I've also given one away to my lucky reader Sara this week so this seemed to be the perfect week to show this book off. I've also knit a couple of things from the book too, and loved it.

These are the two covers that I know of so keep a good look out in your local charity shops for either of them. I paid £2.50 for my copy so they are a good buy for the amount of patterns. 

There are over 50 patterns in the book, and I have knit the penguins and some of the witty knits. I love the different patterns and there are so many that can be customised too for your own toys. My favourite has to be the witty knits for this, you can literally make anything you want with the basic pattern. I have knit the ghost from the witty knits. He has bells inside him in a matchbox (all the instructions are in the book) so that his chains rattle!!!!

There is a basic topsy turvey doll in the book, as well as the humpty dolls and the christmas decorations. Just lovely patterns. I love this book and they are so easy to knit. 

I hope you all have a lovely day, and the sun shines on all of you!!!

Book of the Week: Jean Greenhowe's Little Gift Dolls

Happy Friday Everyone!! I am in a good mood today, I am at work, and singing along to the radio, Good Old Ken Bruce!! The Blattman woke up to a puncture this morning so he is totally Not Happy, but we have tracked him down a new tyre and he is off to get that sorted before he goes to work. Today is Book Review Friday and I am going to review a book that has been a staple in my knitting arsenal for ages and I have knit so many different versions now I can almost remember the pattern now!!

Here is the book and it has the patterns for a selection of little dolls. Little is a bit misleading, they are about 6 inches tall and there are so many differing patterns including a witch for halloween, a snowman- see below, a bride and groom, chimney sweep, nurse, and a bunch of really cute jelly babies too. The pattern is great and they are really quick to do, and make great gifts. I may add more pictures later for you but as I am at work I don't have many here. I've knit a witch and a couple of versions of the groom with various attachments. I even made a Blattman too- which I will find when I am at home and edit this post

Hvae a lovely day everyone, its a bit chilly here but it could always be worse!!

May Day Competition

Happy Tuesday everyone, and Happy May!!!! Today I am beginning a competition so you all have the chance to win one of two prizes and I am pretty excited about it. I hope you are.as excited as I am . So what are the prizes I hear you cry?

The first prize is two skeins of pure silk in bright fuchsia pink. This is so very soft and beautiful, and worth about £16! So a pretty good prize I think. This prize is available worldwide, so doesn't matter where you live, you can win this.

The second prize is a copy of the now discontinued Knitted Toys by Jean Greenhowe. I have searched for this book forever and I have been so lucky to find 2 in charity shops. Now I don't need 2 so I would love for someone else to have the opportunity to own this and knit from it. It has some fantastic patterns in it, such as the penguins I've knitted and the witty knits which are really cute little patterns. This book is in pretty good condition too. This one I am so sorry but is only available for UK winners simply because it is pretty heavy and the postage abroad would be remarkably expensive. But still, Worldwide entrants can win that yummy silk!!

So what have you got to do? Well firstly you need to follow the blog. You can do that on blogger here, on Facebook or on Twitter. Then post a comment below with your name and email address, what country you live in and how you follow the blog. Its that easy. Then I will pick two names after the closing date, show on the blog and then email you for your address.And then you will get a fab package from me with your prize!!

The competition closes at 11:59pm on the Monday 7th May. Winners will have a week to get back to me with an address, if not I will pick another winner. The competition is open to everyone over 18 anywhere in the world. The names will be picked by random, using a hat and the Blattman.

Good Luck Everyone!!!

Book of the Week: Jean Greenhowe JiffyKnits

Happy Friday everyone!!! Shock Horror it is actually sunny out. Wow! And I'm at work. Oh well, never mind, the sun might bring the customers in. So how are we all today? I am still knitting my feather and fan blanket, but the end is nigh everyone, and I am most definitely heaving a great sigh of relief. Don't get me wrong, I do love knitting, but a 2 row lace pattern repeat for nearly a metre is somewhat tedious after the 60cm I've done so far. I am hoping to get it finished today and then I can share the great yarn I am using to knit it tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Today was then the perfect time to introduce a new section of the blog, Book of the Week. I use Ravelry all the time for my patterns. I love its search feature and the ability to block out all the stuff I don't want and look up patterns for the exact yarn I have in front of me. But I do rely on a few books I have bought, been given and donated, and get at the library when I can. So these reviews are for these, the books I couldn't do without.

Today I am starting with a very cute toy book from a designer that has been in my life a lot longer than when I was just knitting. These pattern books have been around long before me, and I remember them being around when I was a child, and my granny, great aunt and mum knitting from them. I remember looking at the pictures in the Knitted Toys book for hours, espoecially the detailed dinosaur set-up in there. But enough about that book. JiffyKnits is the one that I am reviewing today. So why JiffyKnits? Well, Jiffyknits is probably the best one for beginner knitters young and old, and everything in it is made from garter stitch strips

This book is the best one for beginners as it is perfect for learning to knit garter stitch strips and then learning to sew them up, and shape the finished objects into the toys in the book. You need very small pieces of yarn to knit most of these, and there are patterns for every season of the year. Patterns include Christmas snowmen, penguins and father christmas, Easter Bunnies, a whole halloween scene of characters which is where my cute little frogs come from, a whole range of play food and even a tin of beans-which is the cutest thing, and when I can find the perfect shade of Heinz blue, my mum will be getting one as she has been hankering after a tin for ages!!!

So what have I mostly knit from this one? Frogs. And lots of them. Over 50 in fact.

 
Every one has its own character and I love them so much.
This particular book has 45 different patterns and costs around £5.30 for the book. Good Old Deramores have it on offer at the moment for £4.76.

Have a great day all, and have a lovely weekend too. Keep your fingers crossed for my lace!

Needles and Books

After a great trip up to the Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace, I was lucky to get some brilliant books and patterns, and this inspired me to share some of these with all of you, as well as some of my favourtie books already in my bookcase. Knitting is one of the biggest parts of my life, I love to share my knits with my family and friends all over the world and it has brought me endless hours of fun and peace and destressing.So here are my hot picks for the christmas list of any knitter.

Now most of you probably know me as a toy knitter, and that would be accurate. I love to knit toys, and create a character every time, from my little frogs to the biggest Ark!! So at the show, I couldnt resist this book of Dinosaurs.

Tina Barrett has created this brilliant collection of fun dinosaurs to knit. They are all knit flat too and are so fun and cute. Each dinosaur comes with facts too so the book is great to use with children, learning about their dinosaurs. The first ones I have knit will also be off to Year 2, with special cards so they can learn all about their new friends. I love this book, great pictures and very easy to follow and knit patterns. I even learnt something new about jointing toys from this book.

I personally cannot live without Jean Greenhowe, and I know many toy knitters feel the same. She has been designing for many years, and toys from my childhood were knit from her patterns, and now I am knitting those same patterns. I love the christmas ones, especially this one as I have knitted the nativity from this one.

I have nearly all the books she has published, and her website is a great resource too, with some brilliant free patterns to get you started.

The 'twenty to make' series of books from Search Press are a brilliant series of craft books from all over the crafting world, including sugarcraft, papercraft, crochet and knitting of course, sewing and jewellery making. I have a few of these books and I love them. My favourites include the christmas knitting and knitted flowers, but there are so many to choose from, baby booties, egg cosies, mug cosies, aliens, food, cake and many more.

So here are just a few of my favourite books for knitting, and ones refer to for a lot of my toy knitting needs. They have taught me so much along with the amazing Ravelry so I am forever in debt!!!