Category Archives: Bunting

Crochet Heart Bunting for Little Hearts Matter

Today I am sharing a new Planet Penny pattern for Crochet Heart Bunting to help raise awareness of the Little Hearts Matter Charity.

This is a great charity which raises funds and awareness for children born with only half a heart, something I admit I knew nothing about before. During the month of October there is a lot going on with the theme ‘Handmade Hearts’ and you can find out all about it on the Little Hearts Matter website.

I’ve made my bunting using the Planet Penny Colours range which is perfect for this pattern, but it’s also a great stash buster. (Sadly no longer available but any dk cotton yarn is suitable) If you’ve made a pretty baby blanket as a pressie, coordinated bunting for the nursery would be a lovely little added extra.

The pattern is available here as a FREE downloadable PDF ,however if you use and like the pattern it would be great if you could visit the Little Hearts Matter website and make a donation to help these amazing and brave youngsters.

I hope you have a lovely weekend, and if you decide to make the Crochet Heart Bunting I’d love to hear about it!

See you soon…x

P.S. If you like hearts, you might also like the small heart pattern I created for the #PeytonHeartProject which you can find here.

A Funny Old Week…

It’s been one of those weeks where I feel like I’ve taken two steps forward and one and a half steps back, do you have those? The main calamity was the disappearance of Planet Penny into a virtual black hole a couple of days ago. Many apologies if this affected you in anyway, it was not your computer! The technical term according to the help desk was the ‘White Screen of Death’ which was very scary, but I was really smug when I worked through the long list of instructions they sent and sorted it out…All On My Own!

It’s quite horrible outside, the wind is howling and the rain is lashing down, so I do hope you are keeping warm and dry. My heart goes out to everyone suffering in the floods, it must be horrendous…

It seem very odd that if a disaster happens abroad all manner of aid, both financial and physical is supplied, but when people are suffering hardship from extreme weather conditions in our own country it seems such a struggle for them to get any help. (If you are not in the UK, you might not be aware of the flooding in some areas in the west of the country, but you can find out here.)

Anyway, back home with a cheerful picture of the bike which I found outside our Community Shop this week. It’s owner was probably only about eight years old, but what style… I’m quite envious!

I had great plans to share a new pattern, but what with one thing and another, it’s not quite there. I found some crochet bunting on Pinterest, but not finding a pattern decided to work it out for myself. I wanted something a bit plainer than the more usual ‘granny’ bunting, and I’m very pleased with this. It’s really quick and easy…

Hopefully I’ll finish off the pattern very soon, and there will be more photos when the light is a bit brighter!

I’ve had my ‘window-dresser hat on this week in our Community shop and with Valentine’s Day on the horizon I made this Valentine Tree for the window display…(although I’d actually quite like to keep it on my dresser!

I’m now going to desert you for a comfy chair by the fire with the baby knitting, where hopefully the sound of the howling wind and lashing rain won’t be quite as loud as it is here in the studio!

I’ve amalgamated two of the patterns from the Debbie Bliss pattern book from my last post, so I’ve got a stripy tank top on the needles…

I’ll be back soon…x

The Knitters Mobile

Do you remember the Knitters Mobile? Back in February I returned to the Knitters Christmas decorations I made for the Advent Calendar in the run up to last Christmas…

…and decided to make a mobile. I knitted some tiny bunting to go round a wooden hoop, suspended all the little balls made with the Planet Penny rainbow colours and ‘Hey Presto’, a Mobile!

It’s been hanging around quite literally, for a while and was a source of amusement during Open Studios but over the last few days it made an appearance on the Loveknitting Facebook Page which has sparked a fresh wave of interest. Planet Penny yarn is perfect not just for crochet but knitting too so a pattern to reflect this is well overdue. The Knitters Mobile requires minimal knitting but is a fun project to start off with. I have written a set of instructions and you can download them here, for free.

(Ed. to add: due to a few Facebook comments about sharp pointy things I would like to point out – This is a decorative piece for a craft room. It is NOT a toy, it is NOT intended to hang in a crib, it is for the enjoyment of adults, not children!)

I still have a fancy for a lampshade with these hanging all round the edge, wouldn’t they make wonderful shadows?

There have also been requests for a kit. I am thinking of perhaps a pack containing all the materials necessary to make the mobile which could be bought along with Planet Penny Crafty Cotton Pack. Would love some feedback on this idea, especially from those of you have bought the cotton already!

And finally, I’ve cracked the challenge of a knitted version of the Crochet Rainbow Mice! The Knitted Rainbow Mice Pattern is now available from the Etsy shop as an instant download, as are all the other patterns…

Enjoy your week, I’ll be back soon…x

The Right White

I can’t believe it’s sunny again! The Spring has taken so long to arrive but it’s so nice to be able to get out with Higgins for a walk with the camera.

I’ve just trawled back through the May posts for 2010, 2011, 2012 and been amazed at the flowers I photographed then. the cherry blossom was out, lupins and poppies, tulips, wisteria and roses. There’s an awful lot of catching up to do. I’m really hoping the back yard get’s a move on or it will look like a desert for Open Studios!

On our walk however, I was looking for ‘White’ and I found it. A daisy…

..a feather…

…white sloe blossom…

…and stitchwort…

Higgins tends to get a little impatient with all the stop/start on his walks. He does like to keep an eye on me at all times, and if he’s wandered away and found something really interesting (and probably revolting!) just hiding behind something is the best way to attract his attention. He come’s hurtling round the corner convinced I’m eating all the dog treats!

I’ve been thinking about white because I’ve been planning to add white to the Planet Penny Cotton range, as I’ve had quite a few requests. I trialled it at Christmas for the Christmas Crochet Bunting kits and was very pleased with it. However I’ve been caught out with the dreaded dye batch anomaly, and the yarn I received is not quite the the right white to put the Snowdrop labels on. I’m probably being over fussy as it’s the same lovely quality and the difference is very slight. But I’ve decided to sell it on at a reduced price because it may be just what you need to create a bag, or some bunting or edge your granny squares.

There are just 7, SEVEN, packs left now priced at £20.00, which is £2.00 a 50g/125m ball instead of the usual £2.60 and is a light DK weight. If you would like to purchase a pack just leave a message on the contact form with your email address and I will get in touch to arrange payment. The postage in the UK is £3.50, for elsewhere, please ask me.

And now I’m going to get back out into the sunshine and do a spot of gardening. I think Higgins will be assuming his usual gardening position, however…

…you just can’t get the staff!

See you soon…x

P.S. Don’t forget, there is still time to enter the Planet Penny MOO Prize Draw and win yourself some gorgeous business cards!

No Time for Crochet Hearts!

Hello! I thought I’d start with cheery daffodils ‘cos I’m going to moan…only a bit, but I’ve had so little time to be creative this week, and all I really want to do is make more crochet hearts because I have a cunning plan! I had a flash of inspiration last week, sourced the very thing I wanted on line and when the box arrived I thought yessss…that’ll do the trick and life piled in behind and filled up all my available minutes.

So, darn…and other, more colourful expletives. However I’m not going to spoil the whole thing by rushing it, or giving the game away so you’ll have to wait until later in the week I’m afraid!

One thing I did do was to redisplay the Hearts and Crochet Garland. I wanted to put it on the dresser to instil a little Spring like colour to cheer things up so I carefully divided it into two pieces. I’m happy with the way it works…

…and it’s most decidedly cheerful!

A complete change in the weather means we’ve swapped the snow and grey clouds for this…

…but losing the snow so quickly means this…

and also…

…but there were a few places where Higgins could walk rather than swim…

He came back and parked himself on his favourite look out post, he does prefer to admire the great outdoors from the comfort of an armchair I’m afraid!

Thinking of crochet hearts got me digging around in the archives, back to last February in fact, when I made this for the dresser…

I never did write a pattern for the whole piece, but the pattern for the crochet hearts you can find here if you are thinking ahead to Valentines Day.

I’ll leave you now to get back to the crochet but in the meantime do call over to Handmade Harbour to check out the Handmade Monday links. Lots of busy crafters making beautiful things! Don’t forget, you can join me on Facebook, Pinterest or Twitter!

See you soon…x

Planet Penny

Crafts, Needle Felting, Crochet, Patterns & Tutorials

Category Archives: Bunting

Crochet Heart Bunting for Little Hearts Matter

Today I am sharing a new Planet Penny pattern for Crochet Heart Bunting to help raise awareness of the Little Hearts Matter Charity.

A Funny Old Week…

The Knitters Mobile

The Right White

No Time for Crochet Hearts!

Silent Sunday