Head Over Heels All Stars

New yarns in Head over Heels All Stars have arrived from Stylecraft. All 6 shades have been  chosen by Stylecraft Blogstars and inspired by the artist David Hockney. Earlier this year knitters and crocheter's voted in their thousands for their favourite combinations of colours to add to the yarn range. There's a post about the competition on the Stylecraft blog. I was amazed and thrilled to find out my combination was one of the winners.

Influenced by this picture on the cover of the book by Chris Stephens about the artist I chose muted shades of blue, green and a splash of pink. The picture is called 'Pool with two figures'.

Six shades from the special dk range went into my yarn combination.

Here are some details about the yarn:
75% super wash wool
25% nylon
100g ball weight
400m/437yrds
needle size 2.25mm
machine washable at 30 degrees

This is how the final 'Pool' yarn looks close up. The wool blend is durable for socks but light enough for making knitted or crochet shawls.

Below is the shawl I designed specially for Head Over Heels All Stars 'Pool'. The pattern is available from Stylecraft bricks and mortar stockists and is free with the yarn purchases.

The 6 new All Star colour combinations and designers are from top left 

Saltaire by The Twisted Yarn,  Ossie by Cherry Heart, Woldgate by Josie Kitten, 

bottom row from the left:

Pool by (yours truly) Hand Knitted Things, Splash by Zooty Owl, Red Pots by Attic 24.

Trio of Owls

Inspired by things autumnal, 'Trio of Owls' is the latest toy pattern from Hand Knitted Things in seasonal muted colours. This cute little family is easy to make with knit and purl stitches in contrasting colours and textures, with the addition of large rustic buttons creating the whimsical character features. 

The colourful body and wings are made with a recent addition to the Batik Elements yarn range called magnesium. This is combined with two solid shades, biscuit and gold. 

Here's some pattern details for this project:

Yarn
x2 50g ball Stylecraft Batik Elements Magnesuim 
x1 50g ball Batik dk Biscuit
x1 50g ball Batik dk Gold

Needles

x1 pair 3mm (US3) knitting needles (small owl)

x1 pair 3.25mm (US3) knitting needles (medium and large owl)

x1 pair 5mm (US8) knitting needles (large owl)

Notions 

x1 3.5mm (US3) crochet hook for making the feet only

x2 x 20mm diameter buttons (small owl)

x2 x 30mm diameter buttons (medium owl)

x2 40mm diameter buttons (large owl)

x6 decorative 10mm diameter buttons (these are optional added to the front of the larger buttons)

Sewing needle suitable for the buttons

Blunt tapestry needle for sewing and weaving yarn ends

x2 large hands full of toy filling

Finished sizes

small owl - 9cm x 10cm x 6cm (3.5 x 4 x 2.5 ins)

medium owl - 14cm x 14cm x 8cm (5.5 x 5.5 x 3 ins)

large owl - 16cm x 20cm x 4cm (5.5 x 8 x 4 ins)

Skills required to make the owls
knit
purl
cast on 
cast off
make a chain of crochet
basic sewing on buttons and seams

Pattern is available on Ravelry called 'Trio of Owls'.

Buttons were sourced from a selection from The Textile Garden and some already in my collection.

Update: The giveaway is now closed, a winner has been chosen and notified by email. 

Thank you to everyone who entered.


The Giveaway runs from 

Tuesday 4th September to Monday 10th September 2018 

and includes the following:

Digital pattern 'Trio of Owls'

Yarn Pack from Stylecraft containing the following:

x2 50g ball Batik Elements Magnesuim 

x1 50g ball Batik dk Biscuit

x1 50g ball Batik dk Gold

(the buttons are not included in the giveaway)

To enter the giveaway follow the link below, 
enter an email address 
so we can contact you if you win. 
The winner will be randomly selected and notified by email. 

***GIVEAWAY***

Good luck!