My Latest Projects

New Pattern: Animal Patchwork Blanket

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(AKA The slowest project ever) I started this blanket a few years ago as a side project and would only knit when on holiday, hence why it took me months to finish it. And it’s taken me even longer to write up the pattern, but it’s finally here!

I initially created this blanket for Lindsay‘s little girl, Matilda. The whole time I was making it I thought ‘by the time I’m done she will be too big for it’, but luckily (I’m a lazy knitter and don’t really measure my work from the start) it ended up being quite big for a baby blanket – it’s around 70x84cm.

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Lindsay is the talented maker behind Em&Sprout and is one of the reasons why I started knitting squares in the first place. Remember the 30 animal squares I knitted back in 2014? I created them as part of her #animaldoodleaday challenge on Instagram! I then used the squares to make my first ever patchwork blanket and wrote up the pattern for all 30 squares – you can find it here. The response to this pattern has been incredible and worth the effort!

When Lindsay asked me to make one of these blankets for her little girl, I knew I wanted to try something a little different and improve my design skills, plus the initial blanket was a bit small anyway. So I mixed it up and alternated animal squares animals in Intarsia, with plain seed stitch squares (my fave stitch). I redesigned some of my original animal squares, and added a couple of new animals: an aplaca and a panda (don’t think I need to justify why I chose these cuties).

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To join the squares together, I decided to give crochet a try and I instantly fell in love! It gives the blanket such a pretty finish. So I went on and made a crochet border too. Finally I stitched on a fleece backing and I was done!

Years later, the pattern for the animal patchwork blanket is finally available! It includes the instructions, a stitch library and individual animal charts. It’s a very complete pattern and ideal if you’re looking to learn new (and easy) finishing techniques. I really hope you love this patternBlanket11.png and I can’t wait to see your creations!

Buy The Animal Patchwork Blanket Pattern on: ETSY | RAVELRY

 

 

 

Weaver & his Tuxedo Collar

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Since I started knitting, I’ve created a few designs for my favourite pets in the world, DOGS! The first pet accessory I ever made was for my dog Spike, it wasn’t perfect but I love it so much!

Last year I also made a personalised bandana collar for Muffin, how cute :)


Here are some more collars with striped and polka dot bow ties, a couple of designs are still available in my Etsy Shop. Weaver, my friend Claudia’s Petit Basset Griffon Vendéen, actually owns one of those!


Recently, Claudia asked me to make Weaver a tuxedo collar for her Big Day. He looked so smart!



I’m thinking of making a series of smart collars in the future so watch this space!

Jane’s Sukoshi Doll

| julieandtheknits

A few months ago my friend Linden asked me to make a doll for her friend Jane’s 50th birthday. All Linden wanted was for the doll to have blonde hair like Jane and she should also be wearing pastel clothes.

As I’m completely new to knitting dolls I had to try different ideas (and fail a few times too) before I was happy with the look. Thanks to this project I’m finally more comfortable with circular knitting, woohoo (it’s still hard work though)! This is the prototype I first made.


I called this project the Sukoshi Doll’ – ‘sukoshi’ means ‘a little bit’ in Japanese.

And now Jane’s doll complete with her very own ’50’ handbag! 

Omoide Hair Bows

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I’ve had this project in my head for so long that I am super glad to finally share it with you! Introducing… The Omoide Collection! BIG patterned hair bows – the cute patterns represent happy childhood memories, hence the name of the collection (‘omoide’ means ‘memories’ in Japanese). Hope you like it!

 
Yes, lightning used to make me happy!
 
 

My good friend and top customer Claudia kindly agreed to model the bows, doesn’t she look amazing?

The Omoide Bic Bows are £5. You can find them in my Etsy shop – along with plenty more pics of the lovely Claudia. Feel free to get in touch if you have any questions :)

Victoria & her Braid Headband

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I can’t say it enough – I loooove to receive pictures of you and your knits! It kind of completes the whole process – from having an idea for a new knit vaguely taking form in my head to seeing the finished product on someone.

A while ago I made this folk-style braid headband – I think it’s the perfect festival accessory! You can find more pictures of this little beauty in my Etsy shop.

My best friend Victoria really liked this style and asked me to make her one in different colours – black, red and cream. Victoria loves accessories and she can pull off any of them!

Isn’t she super cute?

I’ll be making more of these headbands for sure as they are one of my favourite makes – what colour combos do you think would look great?

Kokoro Coasters

| julieandtheknits
Hi!
It’s about time I post some pics of my newest collections on here! So here is my first collection, 3 sets of heart-shaped coasters in loads of pretty colours. If you’d like to buy one of these sets, simply click on the picture, it will take you to my Etsy shop. You might also have seen those cuties in the Ipad application Gathered for which I created a tutorial – if you have an Ipad and love crafts, get it, it’s amazing! If not, my tutorial is also now available on Mollie Makes’s website.
“Kokoro” means “heart” in Japanese (in case you didn’t know yet, I love Japan – giving my knits a Japanese name is a way of combining two things I love).
These cute coasters were knitted with chunky yarn 51% wool 49% acrylic .
The 4 coasters are wrapped together using red and white checked ribbon and make a perfect gift :)

Size approx. 12x14cm.
Machine Washable. Wool Wash. 30⁰c.

 

Suta Hair Clips

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I’ve been a bit slow in posting the collections I’ve created so far this year but I’m catching up! 
I LOVE bows. They’re my favourite thing to make, so don’t be surprised if they keep popping up on this blog.  For the Sutā (‘star’ in Japanese) Hair Clips Collection, I have used bright colours of merino wool and clips as well as tiny gunmetal star studs. 
Each hair clip measures approx. 5.5 x 5 cm.
You can find these super cute hair clips in my Etsy shop – some have gone already so be quick!
 
 
There will be more studded knits coming up in the next few months so watch this space!

Eliza’s floppy bunny ears hat

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This is the first of (hopefully) many posts about your special orders – in the meantime you can check out some of last year’s special knits here. I love when people ask me to knit something very original, it can be tricky to bring their idea to life but I always try my best to make it happen. Because nothing makes me happier than making my customers happy :)
My good friend Ollie just became a daddy. Ollie and his lovely wife Nichola found a really cute picture of a baby in a fluffy bunny hat. They asked me if I could knit a similar one for their little girl Eliza – challenge accepted! I looked for super fluffy wool and created the hat as I went without a pattern. I received some very clear instructions: the ears had to be very big and long.
Meet Eliza and her floppy bunny ears hat – WARNING: cuteness overload!

Considering how super popular this hat has become, I have decided to make some more. I’m currently working on different designs… Watch this space!