Category Archives: Knitting

Spinning a yarn…

Probably the last thing I need right at the moment it a large consignment of yarn…

My home is full, the studio is full and also the shed. Full of masses of stuff I’m just not ready to part with at the moment. But hey, why not just add to the fun and throw in a mountain of colour!

And it’s worked…

Planet Penny Cotton Colours Yarn New Colours

Great excitement today when the yarn arrived. I had samples of one of the colour collections over the weekend so I’ve already been experimenting and I’m itching to have a play with the other colours, a pastel rainbow. Plant Penny Cotton Colours pastel yarn I hope to have these ready for the Etsy shop very soon, I’ll let you know.

As a little aside, do you like cross stitch? I’ve inherited sooo many knitting, crochet and needlecraft books from my mum and I’ve had to be stern with myself and say that the one thing I’m not going to have time for is cross stitch. But I do have these lovely books… Cross Stitch books

…from Donna Kooler, Jane Greenhoff, Katrin Cargill, Patrice Boerens and Better Homes and Gardens. If you are interested do get in touch via the contact form.

So, I’d better to get to work. I have a basket of cotton yarn beckoning to me!

See you soon…x

Knit for Winter with Sunrise Senior Living

A while ago I was invited to join a virtual Knitting Circle, helping to raise funds and awareness for the plight of the elderly in the winter months with Sunrise Senior Living’s Knit for Winter campaign.

We are all knitting hats, scarfs, gloves and mitts which will be donated to various charities to be sold in their stores so they can deal with issues such as people not being able to afford to run their heating in cold weather.

I was sent some pretty pink yarn and a pattern for Peekaboo Mitts, and I’m just about to pack them up ready to send off. They are extremely cosy!

Peekaboo Mitts for Knit for Winter

#KnitforWinter - peekaboo Mitts

Sunrise Senior Living are planning to extend the Knit for Winter campaign next winter, so if you would like to join in with this very worthwhile project, head over to their blog where you can find out more, meet some of my fellow knitters and explore some new blogs!

Will you be joining me to Knit for Winter this year? I do hope so…

Cut Out + Keep – Book Review and Giveaway…

I’m really excited to share this new book Cut Out + Keep Around the USA in 50 Craft Projects by Cat Morley and Tom Waddington which popped through the letterbox the other day for me to review.

I’m sure you know by now that my crafty interests are pretty broad so it’s always good to come across like minded people who enjoy having a go at everything! And not only is this a craft book, it’s a travelogue too, so while you are looking through at the crafting inspiration, you could be planning your US road trip at the same time! Well, we can dream , can’t we?

Washington - Cut Out + Keep

Taking Inspiration from every state, Cat and Tom of the Cut Out + Keep community have translated the food, the landmarks, the culture into simple, fun tutorials for you to make at home. There’s knitting and crochet, painting and printing, sewing and gluing, cooking and..well, eating of course!

This is what caught my eye…

needlefelt cacti from Cut Out _+ Keep Needlefelt cacti, straight from Arizona. These would make brilliant pin cushions, add your own spines!

The Jackalope, a mythical creature from Wyoming. This one is transformed from a plastic rabbit ornament but you could have great fun inventing your own weird and wonderful beasts from whatever you have to hand.

Jackalope - Cut Out + Keep

Being a bit of a cheese monster these recipes made my mouth water… Extreme Grilled Cheeses - Cut Out + Keep …and doesn’t everyone need Ruby Slippers? ruby slippers - Cut Out + Keep The tutorial I tried was for something I really needed, a Cup Cosy. My DH bought me a special coffee cup a while ago, especially for taking to the ‘office’, i.e. the Planet Penny studio. The trouble is, its decorated with a face who’s expression is, well, somewhat troubling…

And even the plastic cover supplied is a bit thin so you can still see it’s evil grin… Cup

So the Seattle project was just perfect.

cup cozy - Cut Out + Keep review

I made the cosy with undyed Blue Faced Leicester Aran weight yarn and it was a perfect fit. Not having a little motif to stitch on I added a lazy daisy flower with a few stitches after sewing it up.

Cut Out + Keep Cup Cosy - review A much happier sight in the morning now (and hotter coffee!) Cheers…

cheers The book is published today in the UK, and on March 17th in the USA. I would have loved to have had a book like this to hand at half term with older children/young teens. There’s so much inspiration to try something new, great for those ‘I’m bored’ moments!

You can order a copy here, but I have a copy ready and waiting to give away FREE!

All you have to do is to leave a comment. Have you been on a road trip? If not, where would your dream trip take you? You have until Sunday March 1st to enter and then I will draw the winning entry.

Regretfully the Cut Out + Keep Giveaway giveaway is only open to UK readers…

I’m really looking forward to reading your comments!

Ed. to add: And the winner is… Julie, who writes the blog Tales from the Riverbank. Congratulations Julie, I hope you enjoy the book and daydreaming about your own road trip!

Happy Friday Number 6

Hooray! Here at last for Happy Friday…That’s the problem with living in the wilds of Norfolk, the internet connection is rubbish at the best of times, and when it goes wrong, it really goes wrong! Never mind, I’m here now, and if I type very, very fast I might just get back in in time for the Great British Sewing Bee which I love, do you?

So what happened this week which deserves a Happy Friday mention? Well, firstly I fell in love with, and just had to buy these gorgeous pieces of vintage eiderdown fabrics from Sarah Moore. As soon as I saw them I was transported back to childhood and the eiderdown m granny used to tuck me under when I went to stay. If only I still had it… I’m hoping to make a little patchwork cushion for my bedroom to keep those memories alive.

2015-02-06 09.40.49

Higgins had a play date with his little friend Coco. It’s sooo difficult to get a clear photo when he meets his pals, there’s so much charging around, but here they are, I think they were hunting otters! 2015-02-06 14.41.31 I started making the cowl designed for the Remembering Vanessa Knitalong which I mentioned in this post and explains the gorgeous yarn I showed you for Happy Friday number 4

2015-02-11 20.35.53

So that’s what’s been happening on Planet Penny, how about you? Do please join in with the Linky below to let us know what has made you happy this week. You can find out how to join in here if you haven’t done it before. Please, please play fair and mention Happy Friday in the post you link to. This is as much about people finding their way back from your blog to the Linky party as it is finding your link below. You can also join in via Instagram with #PlanetPennyHappyFriday.

I’m leaving you with good wishes for Valentine’s Day this weekend, and I look forward to following your links and finding your happy moments!

See you soon…x

2015-02-09 10.30

Happy Friday Number 5

Helloooo…! What’s made you smile this week? Here’s one of my own Happy Friday moments…

Pink & Blue Crocs for Happy Friday …it doesn’t do to get dressed in the dark!

As mentioned in my last post, I got my mum knitting again. This not only made me happy, but all the rest of the family too…

Knitting Nan for Happy Friday

And I finished and posted my lovely ‘Zing’ squares to Lisa of Bobobun for the ‘Do You Mind If I Knit Blanket’ so I had a great sense of achievement.

Stylecraft Life 'Zing' Squares for Happy Friday

So now it’s down to you. What’s made you happy this week?

Tell us all about it by joining in via the Linky below. If you haven’t done it before, don’t be shy. You can find out just what to do here. It’s a great way of making new blogging friends, and for people to discover you and your blog. Please remember to mention Planet Penny in your post and link back to the Happy Friday post here so that you send your readers to the Linky Party and all the other participants

Enjoy a Happy Friday, have a lovely weekend and I’ll be back soon…x

Simple Stylish Knitting Magazine – A Bit More..

Back in November I reviewed a new part work series, Simple Stylish Knitting Magazine which I was very impressed by.

Simple Stylish Knitting Magazine

Unfortunately it seems it was a victim of it’s own success, selling out quickly and having to go to reprint. I know there were a lot of disappointed people because I followed the story via the Simple Stylish Knitting Facebook Page. However, it’s now back and available via subscription and very happily I received a bulky parcel in the post containing the next 4 issues and a folder in which to keep them. I really like that sort of mail, don’t you?

Each issue comes with a new stitch to learn and a ball of yarn with which to knit a sample square so eventually these can be sewn together to make a blanket.

This couldn’t have come at a better time because I have just persuaded my mother to try knitting again. As I’ve mentioned, my poor mum has had health problems over quite a few years, but once upon a time she was never without some knitting on the go, complicated fair isle and aran, baby clothes, a cobweb shawl… nothing fazed her. But once she was ill this all seemed to fall by the wayside, and when she couldn’t sit and knit for hours at a time, she just stopped all together, and then said she couldn’t do it any more…

So sad…

But I’ve just taken round a pair of needles with cast on stitches, handed them to her and said, go on, give it a go, and it worked! I’m really, really hoping that she’ll get back into it, even if she has to do a few rows at a time and then rest…all my fingers and toes are crossed, knitted squares could be perfect for her.

I’m sort of overwhelmed with projects I want to make having four issues arriving at once (so many things, so little time!) but I’ll share some now and some in another post. I love the moss stitch cushion, but I’d have the Planet Penny Moth to contend with…

Simple Stylish Knitting Cover 2

I really wish I had pink wellies, but I don’t think they’d go well with Norfolk mud…

Simple Stylish Knitting Boot Toppers

and there are no baby girls on the horizon at the moment but when there are…

Simple Stylish Knitting Baby Slippers

Adorable!

Issue 3 with it’s ball of golden yarn has these jolly little egg hats…

Simple Stylish Knitting Cover 3

…and a fabulously cosy cowl…

Simple Stylish Knitting Cowl

So I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I’ll be able to take the Simple Stylish Knitting Magazine folder round to my mum very soon and see if she having a go at something a bit more adventurous than the garter stitch I’ve started her off on. Wish me luck, I’ll let you know!

See you soon…x