Emma Varnam’s blog – Knitting, nattering, crochet and craft

Blooming Lovely

25 May 2024

I have a lovely new book to share with you – but first a confession. I am sorry but I am completely rubbish when it comes to telling you about new books. I will tell you why. I work away in secret for months. The exciting part is the making and the creating. Some close friends occasionally get ‘behind the scenes’ photos sent to them…..’What is that Emma?’ … ‘It’s a Gerbera… can you not tell?’ That sort of thing. But it all has to be in secret.

Then begins the pattern writing….arghhhhhhhhhhhhh! So if I have been a good girl, I will have made very detailed notes. The height of well behaved crocheted authorship is writing the pattern on the computer as I design. That happens rarely. But then after all the deadlines and writing, the designs and the words go off to be photographed and pattern checked. Then the editing begins. There is lots of to-and-fro. Lots of lovely and clever people are involved. And still all is secret.

So when the final book arrives after months of being designed and typeset, it can feel a bit disconnected from the first flush of creativity. But I’ll be honest, I really love my newest book; Crocheted Flowers. If you have followed this blog for a while, you know how much I love our garden and flowers have always been close to my heart.

After writing Crocheted Succulents and Crocheted Houseplants, this book was the logical next step. But to be honest, creating something which is so beautiful and delicate is a bit of challenge. There are 30 flower design you can choose from. They are really good fun to make, quick and easy and the perfect way to use up oddments of yarn. The blooms range from cheery sunflowers to ruffled roses, cool cornflowers and a bristling thistle.

Some of the flowers are crazy easy to make – and I have tried to capture flowers from different seasons. So shall I pick out some favourites. Well the daffodils brought me so much joy. The anemones, viola, primrose and pansies were all based on actual flowers in our garden.

With every book I write there is a very extensive techniques section that gives detailed instructions on all the skills you need to make these realistic blooms and you can flip through the stylish gallery pages beforehand to choose your favourites.

If you have enjoyed my previous plant books I think you will love this one. There is an exclusive 20% discount for my followers available from my lovely publisher: GIFTSHOME. You will need to use the promocode R5622.

If you want to purchase any of my other plant books you can pop over to the shop – where I have a few signed copies. The cacti have been an absolute boon in my gift making for a couple of years.

See my books

I do hope you love it. As a book it is really close to my heart, flowers bring me so much joy and I have designed flowers which really do delight my heart. Plus…. they won’t wilt.

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Jolly Dolly

28 Apr 2024

Here come the Girls!!! Finally….finally I have published the long awaited, much procrastinated doll pattern. Here they are: Amelia, Ella and Holly. All slightly different, but using one very simple pattern. I do hope you like them.

It has, I think taken me three years to finally launch this idea. In design terms that is quite a long gestation period for me. I usually get an idea and then keep going until I have finished it. But some how I couldn’t quite find the design I really loved. After making ALOT of sample dolls, and doing a significant amount of craft sulking (leaving a project in a corner for about 6 months), I am now really thrilled with how the girls have turned out.

Get the pattern now

So what is important about the design process. Well firstly I have used my favourite, integrated limb design. The great thing about crochet and working in the spiral amigurumi form is that you can create the limbs with fewer seams. With fewer seams that can unraval in time the dolls can take more wear and tear. Let’s be honest they need to be robust for all the cuddles and adventures they will be going on.

The three different variations mean you can choose to create just shoes with socks, shoes with tights or even boots with tights. It is just a combination of where you swap in and out of the colours. You can have socks and bare legs, or boots and leggings that go into a long sleeve top. It is your choice to make whatever you prefer.

I like adding plastic toy safety eyes. I like the little twinkle they give. But you must choose to embroider the eyes if you are making a toy for a very young child. I have added in a pattern for a little pinafore dress – very much like the ones I have made for Emily rabbit all those years ago. But as with my very first rabbit design, I have given you the option of making a very simple material skirt instead. There really isn’t a need for a sewing machine. It would be easy enough to hand sew.

So why did the design take me so long? Mostly because I really, really wanted to get it right. Getting the right shape for the face is so important to me. I also want to ensure that when you make the Doll, it is easy for you to replicate the look. I have made 3 different prototypes for the face. Then there is the hair. Creating doll hair is not easy. In one version of my design it took me a full 3 hours to embroider the hair onto the head. Well – that wasn’t going to work. It drove me mad and I didn’t want you to have the same frustrating experience. I think I have now found a way to create the hair which is fun, understandable and a reliable technique. In comparison it is very quick and easy to understand. You can add in wispy strands if you like and alter some of the looks with ribbons and bunches at different levels.

Finally it took me a very long time to find the yarn I wanted to use for the original design. I am very keen that my patterns are at an accessible price point. I think it is great if you can use up your stash. For the fine features of the face, I have wanted to use 4ply yarn. But it wasn’t easy to find a yarn with a good choice of colours which could dip into a wide range skin tones and wasn’t too pricey. For the design I have used Drops Alpaca. I love this yarn, it has an excellent yardage and a broad range of colours without breaking the bank.

Obviously I have just made a basic dress and skirt for the first pattern. However if you have suggestions for additional clothes you would like me to design for the dolls I will get the creative juices going. The pattern is available in my shop – but if you prefer you can also get hold it though my Etsy shop.

After many false starts, trial and error I am happy with how the girls turned out. I have asked a few of my reliable makers to have a go at the pattern and I am delighted with their makes. So sweet. They have been very patient waiting for me to get my crochet hook into gear.

So there you are, Amelia, Ella and Holly – a great gang of girls just ready for hearty adventure and yarny friendship. Isn’t that what we all need?

Get the pattern now

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Favourite Stitches – Shell like

20 Apr 2024
Recently I was asked by a fellow crafter what my favourite crochet and knitting stitch is. Now if you are interested, for knitting, moss stitch is thing of textural beauty. But it is a labour of love. For crochet my usual answer is .. a shell edging. I love it with a passion. You are lucky that it does not appear on every item edge. It is so pretty and so simple. (We will get into the technicalities and the uses later). However in the past year I have been designing more. The new book 10,000 Crocheted Hats has by necessity required me to be more adventurous in my stitch choice and I have begun to wonder if I actually do have some new favourites.

So I thought in the next few weeks I might share a few with you and the reasons why – what do you think? If you have a favourite crochet stitch pattern I would love to know.

But let’s return to the original favourite – the Shell edging. If you can treble stitch – you can make a shell. All you need really is multiples of 4 stitches + 1 stitch if you are doing a straight edge. But working in the round you only need multiples of four. My personal favourite technique is to miss the next 1 stitch, work 5 treble stitches into the next stitch, miss the next stitch and then slip stitch into the next stitch. What you get is a lovely fanned shell. Beautiful. Now If you are working into a slightly curved edge or round a corner then you are going to need more treble stitches. Either way it will look very pretty. In How to Crochet – I used the stitch twice – both for the fingerless mittens and the potholder. Both good patterns – which I continue to make.

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For Emily the Rabbit’s dress in Cute Crocheted Animals I used it at the hem edging and Barbara the Elephant’s little nighty in the Wild Animals book – had a pretty edge. It is such a simple stitch which adds a little feminine detail

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This morning I found a new practical use for the shell edge – solving two problems in one. In the middle of the night – a water glass returning to a hard coaster, can rather go through you. Being of that delightful age of once-woken…now permanently awake…my mind went to the distraction of crochet and the eternal challenge or reducing the left-over yarn stash.

I have just finished my latest blanket project and have a few odds and ends left over. I dug out an old pattern of mine and set to, making a couple of silent crochet coasters. The glass-to-table decibels are reduced and if there is a smallish spillage they are also delightfully absorbent. This favourite patten has a little shell edge. (Of course it does). Three were made in the early morning light.

So it is no wonder the shell edge has been my favourite crochet stitch for well-over a decade. What is yours?

Just for this week I am leaving this pattern here for you as blog readers to use for free. Please tag me if if you make any of these for yourself.

My Flower Crochet Coaster Pattern

You will need:
- Your choice of dk yarn from your stash
- 3.5mm hook
- Tapestry needle
Stitches used UK terms:
- Chain stitch (ch)
- Space (sp)
- Slip stitch (sl st)
- Double crochet (dc)
- Treble crochet (tr)
PATTERN

Using 3.5 mm hook and Creamy white yarn 4ch, join with a sl st to make a ring.

Rnd 1: 3ch, work 11tr into ring, join with a sl st to ch. [12sts]. Break off yarn and fasten off.

Rnd 2: Change to next colour, and join with a sl st in any tr, 3ch, 1tr in the same st, 1ch, (2tr in next st, 1ch) to end, join with sl st to third ch. [24 sts]. Break off yarn and fasten off.

Rnd 3: Change to next colour, join with a sl st in any chain space, 3ch, 2tr in same ch sp, (miss 2tr, 3tr in next ch sp) to end, join with sl st to third ch. [12 3tr clusters]. Do not break off yarn.

Rnd 4: (miss 3tr, 6 tr between next clusters, miss 3tr, sl st between next clusters) to end. [ 6 shell sts]. Break off yarn and fasten off.

Rnd 5: Change to firs yarn, join with a sl st to any sl st, *(1dc, 1ch) 5 times, 2dc; rep 5 times. Break off yarn and fasten off and weave in ends.
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Peachy Keen

14 Apr 2024

I know for a fact that the garden and colour fashion has invaded my making. I don’t know when… but probably two years ago when I fell in love with the Café au Lait dahlia. Then last year everyone in gardening was going hoopla about a new Cosmos colour – Apricotta. We didn’t grow it in our garden. But I was tempted.

Just looking it up now… and I promised I haven’t checked beforehand. Do you know what the pantone colour of 2024 is? Peach Fuzz! Now that is scary. Well there you go. We cannot avoid it. The garden and probably blush tones in fashion have been invading my little grey cells. Peachy colours with a little duck egg blue have been giving me some joy in my ‘Safe at Home’ knitted blanket.

Then my current ‘on the hook’ crochet blanket is my new ‘Tutti-Frutti’ crochet patchwork design. Zingy, joyful squares and half squares. Every block is giving me some joy. I won’t deny that there is some weaving in to do. But I’m a happy weaver. I have actually sewn the squares together, as I did with the Stargazer Blanket. I have used the mattress sewing technique and you get a nice tight and flat join.

The funny thing is that this Spring the peachy – it is a happy accident that just behind the pots on our patio, the acer emerges with a peach/apricot new leaf. The combination is such a joy. I think that my favourite have been the Narcissi – My story. So blousy and very long lasting. They will be a win again for next year. (I bought all my bulbs this year from Peter Nyssen – they have been so reliable).

So there you go, as I am getting older my tastes are predicably going to the tones of silk cami-knickers and coffee and walnut cake. Well never mind, both are a kind of luxury and if we eat with our eyes, I will be more than delighted with my Tutti-Frutti blanket.

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Shop - buy Emma Varnam crochet patterns and books

Blooming Lovely

Jolly Dolly

Favourite Stitches – Shell like

My Flower Crochet Coaster Pattern

You will need:

Stitches used UK terms:

PATTERN

Peachy Keen