Tag Archives: crochet

Planet Penny Cotton Colours – Ice Cream Shades

Those of you who signed up for the newsletter will know that the new Planet Penny Cotton Colours Ice Cream Shades selection is now available in the Etsy shop. And despite the ensuing flurry of of orders I’m pleased to say there are still some packs available!

I’ve really enjoyed playing with this new palette of colours, especially as I have got just a little bit obsessed with making these gorgeous crochet roses from the Frank & Olive Crochet CAL. It’s a super simple pattern, and if you would like to join in you can help Ruby with her wedding flowers!

The yarn is exactly the same super quality as the Planet Penny Cotton Colours Rainbow Shades, a lightweight DK, and the packs of 10 different Ice Cream colours in 50g balls is £26.00. It comes with a 3mm crochet hook, which I recommend if you are making amigurumi and need a denser stitch. For blankets, throws etc I use a 3.5mm hook or knitting needles.

Find it in the Etsy shop right HERE…

I’m off to work on the second new collection, a Pastel rainbow this time. It’s going to be soo pretty for baby things, and with a new baby for the family putting in an appearance in the Autumn I’m going to have fun with it.

I hope you love the new Planet Penny Cotton Colours as much as I do…

I’ll be back soon…x

The Crochet Retreat with Frank & Olive

Well I’m home, bright eyed and bushy tailed from a simply stunning weekend at the very first Crochet Retreat with Frank & Olive and can’t wait to tell you all about it.

I hopped on a train to York on Friday afternoon and after the taxi driver had negotiated the rush hour traffic I arrived in the peaceful Yorkshire countryside at Deighton Lodge, a converted farmhouse. Here I was welcomed by Ruby and Kim, of Frank & Olive Crochet. Ruby & Kim - Crochet Retreat with Frank & Olive Ruby is a fabulous crochet designer as seen in Mollie Makes, Simply Crochet, Inside Crochet and Kirstie’s Handmade Britain.

As the other ‘Happy Hookers’ arrived we were given a very welcome glass of Prosecco to sip while we gazed with wide eyed wonder at the heaps, piles….mountains of gorgeous yarn which surrounded us. Just yarn heaven!

Crochet Retreat with Frank & Olive I really wanted to bring this sheep home! DMC sheep - Crochet Retreat with Frank & Olive There were pattern books galore to inspire us and it wasn’t long before we had all dived in and started new projects and we were a little reluctant to stop to eat. That is until we saw the gorgeous Greek themed feast which had been prepared, just scrumptious!

And that is how the weekend continued, with fabulous food and drink, more yarn than we could ever use, inspiration, lots of laughter and new friends. It was exactly what I needed and I’ve come home thoroughly inspired. Marna Lunt - Crochet retreat with Frank & Olive Ruby had arranged a workshop with Marna Lunt the textile artist who is lovely and had us all crocheting, cutting and stitching to make our own creations, I’ve nearly finished mine… Marna Lunt workshop - Crochet Retreat with Frank & Olive The final luxurious touch was a massage with Nassira, who was fantastic – it just added that extra relaxing element…

So I’ve come home full of enthusiasm and have only been slightly daunted by discovering that our internet is on the blink! So. I might get this published, who knows but hey…I am sooo chilled…

If the Crochet Retreat with Frank & Olive sounds like it might be right up your street you can find out more about it here… and I’ll be back soon to share a few more of my makes…x

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

Moving on, new ideas…

There’s nothing like climbing out of a rut with a flash of inspiration and some new ideas.

And I’ve had to work hard to get into the right frame of mind, but I’m getting there! A lot of the problem has been the ‘swimming through treacle’ effect of mountains of STUFF. I’m really bad at parting with things, and my little cottage is filling up rapidly with all the things I can’t bear to part with from my mum’s home, not just yet anyway. (I’m also filling my studio, my shed, the veranda…)

So you can see that with all that going on, there hasn’t been much room to be creative and have any new ideas at all.

However, here’s the first one, a Planet Penny Newsletter. I wanted to be able to add a little something extra to what goes on in my woolly world so I investigated MailChimp and found it was actually jolly good fun finding out just what I can do. If you would like to find out more the sign up is on the sidebar, it’s a work in progress!

Planet Penny Products photo practice digital SLR camera

I’ve had some new ideas about the Planet Penny Cotton Colours yarn too. So many people have commented on how lovely it is to work with but I know those gorgeous rainbow brights aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, and I can do subtle as well, you know!

So this is the first proposed set, delicate pastels which work beautifully together and also with the white ‘Snowdrop’ yarn. I can really see these as a baby blanket or something cuddly for the cot.

New ideas Planet Penny Cotton And the other collection is this… new ideas - Planet Penny yarn I think it’s just scrumptious,and I can’t wait to try out some new ideas with these soft colours!

It’s all in the planning at the moment so I’d love to know what you think. And maybe I will be able to do some limited editions via the newsletter.

I’ll be back soon…x

Crochet Eggs for Easter

I’ve been putting all my crochet eggs in one basket this week!

crochet eggs in a basket I’ve had the whole rainbow of Planet Penny yarns in play and twiddled around until I perfected a pattern for these colourful eggs. (I can just about do them with my eyes closed now!) I’ve written a pattern, which is here… Crochet eggs close up … and played around to my heart’s content arranging the eggs in jolly ways as Easter decorations. Would you like to see?

crochet eggs on ring crochet eggs on tree tree full of crochet eggs These are the smallest flowers I’ve made and they work really well with a french knot or a bead in the centre when you stitch them on. I think they will now turn up all over the place!

Don’t forget, you can buy the whole rainbow of colours to make these crochet eggs at the Planet Penny Etsy shop, and there are other patterns there too. (Made with this yarn the eggs are about 5cm/2″ long. If you use your own choice of yarn make sure you use the appropriately sized hook, the size will vary accordingly.)

See you soon…x

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