Category Archives: Crochet

Thank you…

I’ve got to start this with a great BIG THANK YOU! I’ve been overwhelmed by the the lovely messages, kind thoughts and helpful suggestions after my last post. I’m working my way through a list of things to investigate! I’m feeling much better now I’ve come to the end of the course of antibiotics. I struggle to keep my brain functioning rationally at the best of times, and adding fogginess and gloomy spirits to the mix was not not helpful. However, I’m much brighter now, I’ve just got to keep a tight rein of myself and not go galloping off after the next exciting thing, wear myself out and go SPLAT again.

It’s heart warming to know there is a big supportive network of kind people who really want to help one another, even though we are very often half a world apart. There are plenty of negative things to say about the internet but this can only be a big plus.

We’ve been really lucky here in Norfolk to have had some beautiful weather over the past week or so. It’s very uplifting for the spirits and I’ve tried as much as possible to get outside. Higgins has helped of course although he gets a bit impatient with the pace, and my inclination to stop with the camera or pick blackberries.

Autumn is a lovely time of year, but it’s overlaid with sadness that everything is coming to an end, which is why I prefer the optimism of Spring. But the autumn light is fantastic, misty in the mornings but golden later in the day and the night sky is spectacular. And I never tire of photographing the richness of the hedgerows, and the warm glowing colours of the berries…

It’s been pretty noisy in the early mornings here. Not traffic, although there’s been quite a bit of farm machinery on the move, but Greylag Geese. It’s lovely to see (and hear) them fly overhead, but I’ve never managed to get a reasonable photo with my little camera. The past few days however, they’ve been congregating in the neighbouring field…

And despite the limitations of a compact camera the zoom didn’t let me down…

Worth hanging out of the bedroom window for!

Planet Penny hasn’t been completely neglected through all this though, I’ve had the crochet hook on the go on and off, and a two very large boxes arrived the other day full of yarn so I’m very well stocked. It’s just as well the nice young man with a van is happy to carry them into the studio because I would never lift them myself. They will sit there now until I’ve found places to stow all the yarn packs and I will treat them like a roundabout!

I’ve added half size packs to the Planet Penny shop, seven balls of either the Sunshine or Shadows shades suitable for smaller projects…

And, and I have a question to ask…Would you like White? Last year I tried a small quantity of white yarn, Snowdrop, which I sold as a Christmas pack with patterns, do you remember?

I tried to buy more because white is such a good background for the rainbow colours…

…but the dye batch was wrong and I wasn’t happy with it.

Now a new batch is available but if it’s the right bright white I will have to buy a whole case of it. Before I completely fill my little cottage with yarn and move into the garden shed I thought I’d better see whether there’s a potential market for it! So do let me know so I can do some forward planning.

And that, for now, is it. I’m off to put my feet up and peruse the weekend papers with a cup of tea, while Higgins and Henry fight over my lap (Henry always wins too, poor Higgins!)

I’m linking up this week with Handmade Harbour for Handmade Monday, do call over to see all the crafty makes there and I’ll be back soon I’ll be back soon…x

A Pain in the Neck!

If it’s been a bit quiet on Planet Penny the last few days it’s because its all been a bit of a pain in the neck…quite literally! I don’t know how it’s possible to lock one’s neck up completely just turning on the pillow to look at the alarm clock but that’s what I did, very effectively. So my midweek post got delayed, and now I’m back in the chair with strict instructions from Lara, my amazing chiropractor, to set an alarm and step away from the computer every 20 minutes….

Which is quite tricky…

I was mobile enough to take the second Needlefelt Workshop yesterday at Arts Desire and like the first one it was great fun.

It’s always fun to see the different interpretations of the same basic skill when we all get together, last week we had these little chaps (spot the bumble bee!)…

…and yesterday these little feathered friends were born…

The Craft Lounge at Arts Desire is proving a great venue for these workshops and I’m looking forward to the 27th July and the Planet Penny Bakery when we will be needlefelting lots of low calorie high fibre treats! If you are interested in joining us you can find out more right here…

Meanwhile, I have been responding to many requests for a Rainbow Mouse knitting pattern for all those who don’t crochet and I’ve come up with this little fellow…

and introduced him to his crochet chums…

What do you think? As soon as I feel happy with the design it will be available alongside the crochet Mouse pattern via the Etsy shop…

He seems to be looking very much at home..

And the sun is shining! The creaky neck has put paid to much gardening, but my lovely son has been over and planted my Sarah Raven Sweet Peas. It’s a super scented collection of white, blue and deep pink …

…and I just can’t wait to pick my first bunch and fill the house with their scent.

I don’t think I’ve shown you my Planet Penny Cotton garden project! It seems a bit mad, but so far has withstood the weather really well…

A possible tutorial? Let me know what you think…

And now, because the sun is still shining and it’s heading towards being the hottest day of the year so far, I shall take my basket of yarn and the embryo mouse pattern into the garden and enjoy the rest of my Sunday, knitting under the cherry trees.

I hope you enjoy your Sunday too!

See you soon…x

Beautiful Blues

I’m suffering from the Blues a bit here after last weekend. No lounging in the garden for me this time, but it’s all full on for Open Studios in 10 days time, and anyway the weather has gone back to it’s default setting – Rubbish! I can’t believe it’s nearly mid May and I’m back to lighting a fire in the evening. Not that the four legged members of the family are complaining, they can’t believe their luck!

I didn’t even find time to write a blog post either, and I’ve been collecting lots of photos over the week. Mother Nature is a lot more robust about the weather than I am, she’s in ‘I’ve started, so I’ll finish’ mode and the garden is filling up nicely, and the hedgerows and verges too.

I love the way Spring has a sequence of colours, it’s reminds me of the little mantra of names I run through when I’m packing the Planet Penny Cottons…Aubretia, Delphinium, Cornflower, Eggshell, Aqua, Jade, Apple, Lime, Buttercup, Marigold, Peach, Petal, Gerbera and Rose Red. Spring starts white, with Snowdrops, but almost immediately there are yellow Aconites…

photo: Van Muewen

…and then the Daffodils and Primroses arrive.

Not long after, pink is added to the mix, with Primulas, Tulips and all manner of blossoming trees. But get to May, and it’s blue…the Beautiful Blues and probably my favourite time of year. I’ve tried and failed so often to capture that mysterious ethereal blue of the Bluebells but it always defeats my little camera…

…and anyway I can’t catch that glorious smell and save it in a file on the computer, can I? It’s an experience, and all the more exquisite because it’s impossible to completely capture it.

In the garden, there are Forget-me-nots.

….Periwinkles…

and Cornflowers, and quite a few of the ‘Wrong sort of Bluebell’ , a European interloper, very prolific but not quite achieving deep glow of our native species. Still, it looks pretty good as a flower arrangement…

There are also Irises, but I can never bring myself to pick those…

…aren’t they amazing?

Back in the studio the challenge is to turn the working space of one incredibly messy worker (Moi!) into an exhibition space for two, and it’s a l-o-n-g job. I can always think of so many things I would rather do than tidy up! T’was ever thus. My dear Mamma, listening to me moaning said, ‘Well, you always used to stuff things under your bed…’ Too late….full!

I’ve tried hard to keep the creative vibe going though. I mentioned the on going white cotton theme in this post, and I’ve at last found time to complete the project which required it. I found this gorgeous pattern…

…with a tutorial here which was just perfect for the Planet Penny colours. One day I might have time to make a throw, but in the meantime, there is this…

It looks perfect on the dresser.

If you are looking for white cotton, there are still a couple of packs left from this post and of course all the other colours can be found in the Etsy shop.

I might be a little random in my appearances over the next week or so, there are a couple of family birthdays, a confirmation and much travelling round the country coming up, but I’ll be back, like the proverbial ‘Bad Penny’!

See you 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!

Waiting for Spring

Happy Easter! It seems strange to start a post entitled ‘Waiting for Spring’ that way but we are really stuck in some topsy turvy weather at the moment. Hard to credit getting up on the first morning after the clocks change for British Summer Time to a sprinkling of snow! We’ve actually got off lightly here in Norfolk as far as snow goes, the pictures of devastated farmers digging their sheep out of snowdrifts in other parts of the country have been heartbreaking. We’ve just got the Arctic blast coming straight off the North Sea and hitting us sitting on the exposed lumpy bit sticking out of the East of England to contend with.

So I’m sharing a pretty Spring like picture to cheer us up…

Higgins is not a fan of going out in the cold and I’ve had a running battle with him over the building of dachshund ‘nests’ out of the soft furnishings. He’s only really happy when he has buried himself and if he finds himself on the sofa with no available ‘blankie’ he will grizzle until he’s been covered up.

Since he’s eaten the corners of all the old cushions he now has a cushion of his very own, and a fleece blanket he can do whatever he likes with. Unfortunately, he feels these are just not good enough, and compare very poorly with the fluffy throw I have draped over the back of the sofa, and the new velvet cushions in anemone colours I rashly bought a few weeks ago.

Every time my back is turned, this happens…

…and he might look guilty…

…but that doesn’t mean he’s going to move!

I’ve reached a bit of a hiatus on Planet Penny just now. It’s always slightly problematic judging stock levels with the Planet Penny cotton because I don’t have a huge amount of space to store it. Unfortunately an unexpected rush of orders has coincided with a couple of colours being out of stock at the suppliers so it’ll be first come first served on the few packs remaining until the middle of April.

But…

There are some changes afoot. I’ll be trialling a new pack, which some of you have been asking about for a while AND I have a new venture in the pipeline which I will tell you about later on in the year, so I’m not standing still by any means.

Meanwhile, Open Studios is on the horizon and I have started an ambitious needlefelted piece for exhibition so a lull on the cotton front is probably a good thing. There are only so many hours in the day! It’s refreshing change to be doing something creative and challenging just for me, I hope it turns out looking at least a little bit like the image in my head.

Just a reminder, the Bunny crochet pattern offer ends tomorrow, Easter Monday at 5pm UK time. After that it will be available through the Etsy shop, but for now it’s still yours for FREE!

I changed the yarn to make this version, a big soft squidgy version as a baby toy…

I’m off now to dig Higgins out of his latest nest, put on his coat and march him round a field or two…

…and then get back to my felting needle. Don’t forget to nip over the Handmade Harbour to see what’s going on for Handmade Monday this week.

I’ll see you soon…x

Challenges, and the Easter Bunny

I think we’ve all been a bit challenged in the UK this week, by the weather! What’s it been like with you? We haven’t had huge amounts of snow here in Norfolk, but we are very exposed to the biting wind heading our way across the North Sea: it seems to have been howling down the chimney for days. It’s hard to believe it’s Easter next weekend, the poor old Easter Bunny is going to have to wear his thermals to do his chocolate egg deliveries!

My main challenge over the week was a talk I had promised to give, months ago. You know how you agree to these things and they seem so far away in the distance and then suddenly, it’s here and you are wondering why on earth you agreed to it! I headed off to Beccles, which is just over the border into Suffolk to give a talk to the Spinners and Weavers Guild about Needlefelting. I sort of had a feeling I might be teaching my grandmother to suck eggs, as the saying goes. Then I found out there might well be over 30 people there and…ooo-er…!

As it was, it was fine. After I got over my initial dry mouthed panic as I was introduced and stood there with no notes, no script but lots of props it went very well.

They were a lovely audience and very keen to set to with needles and fleece to have a go themselves after I’d finished the talk.

As they were all textile practitioners they were happy to be experimental rather than being given a project and although there wasn’t a huge amount of time – and needlefelt is very time consuming – they came up with some jolly pieces and all seemed to have fun.

However, I also had another challenge, and that was definitely down to the Easter Bunny! I’ve been feeling so bad because I have been promising to write up the pattern for the bunny I made last Easter and my goodness, haven’t I got myself in a pickle with it! And all of a sudden, there’s only a week to go! I am sorry, aren’t I rubbish? I think I’ve just been over thinking what I was doing, and seemed to spend ages ripping out and redoing the same piece. Then suddenly, it all fell into place and the pattern is finished.

I’m on the way to having a complete Bunny Brigade…

As you can see, they each have their own personality, right down to a challenger for Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer’s title! (Percy, the Pink Nosed Bunny?)

So I’m thinking of an Easter present for you. From now until after Easter the pattern will be available FREE as a downloadable PDF right HERE! (This offer has expired, but the bunny will be available soon via the Etsy Shop) There is a Planet Penny Bunny Brigade group board on Pinterest so if you would like to add your version of the bunny just let me know and I can invite you. You obviously have to be on Pinterest yourself and I have to be following at least one of your boards (but that can easily be arranged!) Although I’ve made the Bunnies using the Planet Penny Cotton, they can be made using any yarn oddments, just match your hook to the yarn. You can find out more about that in this post.

This is a limited offer, but I’d like to give my followers and customers a head start. Although there’s only a week till Easter, they only take an hour or two to make so I’m sure we could have a wonderful board full of bunnies on Pinterest very soon, let me know what you think.

Finally, for those of you who read last week’s post about delivering Clovis, the Mad French Cat to his home by the sea you might be interested in a follow up tale (tail?) from his new home. Visit Thomas’s blog to find out how he’s settling in, and have a chortle. Tom seems to think there’s not a lot of call for cat stories, so if you disagree do leave a comment with him. I need more pictures like that!

I’m joining in again with Handmade Monday over on Handmade Harbour so do pay a visit to see what’s going on…

Back soon…x