British Knitting and Crochet Awards – please vote

British-Knitting-Croche-Awards-2017-Emma-Varnam

I am so excited that my book Cute Crocheted Animals has been nominated in the Best Crochet Book category of the British Knitting and Crochet Awards 2017. I had no idea that it would get into such prestigious company.

Obviously it delights me that so many of you who have made the animals and sent lovely photos of your sweet creations. The awards have grown enormously over the last few years and crochet has begun to get its own place within the categories. These awards are wonderful because they not only feature the large companies but also reward small independent shops, bloggers and authors.

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When I started designing the toys for Cute Crocheted Animals, I would never have believed that people would enjoy making them so much.

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My childhood memories

I have very distinct childhood memories of sitting in my own imaginary world playing with my toys. There was one pretty rag doll that I happily dressed for bed, settled her in a small wooden toy cot and smoothed her woolen hair imagininig her drifting off to sleep. The play-acting of the nurturing role is universal I think. An added joy is to choose and dress toys – creatively putting different combinations of clothes, shoes and accessories together.

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All of these moments of play and flights of fantasy are such a precious part of a carefree childhood. It occurred too me that it would be delightful to create animal characters that could be dressed, loved and cuddled for a new generation.

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Design development

Over the years I have designs and developed lots of different animal patterns and I really enjoy making rabbits. I was commissioned to make a lovely bunny for Inside Crochet Magazine  dressed in a pretty Liberty print dress. Over time I kept thinking it would be great to develop a whole wardrobe of clothes for a bunny. I also wanted to develop my pattern design to make the toy easier to dress.

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I started talking to my publishers at GMC, and we began thinking about different animals I could create and the kind of outfits I could design. It was lots of fun and soon little characters began to emerge. I drew the animals and their outfits first and then I had conversations and email discussions with my precious editor Wendy. The outfits are intended to have a quintessentially English style.

That must be me!

When I visited my oldest friends and their children. I took a copy of the book with me to see what they thought. I sat quietly in an adjoining room listening to their conversation; ‘That cat is definitely me, listen to the description – that is me!’ ‘Well we all know I am the fox… I love her cardigan…’. Such precious sounds. A happy smile spread across my face as their imagination was sparked.

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When you make things with your loved ones in mind nothing is more satisfying then to hear them participate and enjoy the journey with you. If you get to see the book, even if you can’t crochet – I hope you will see and read the humour within it. Some of it is my own crazy imagination, lots of it is due to the fabulous creativity of my editor Wendy and designer Rachel, who captured the joy of the project too.

If you have liked the book and perhaps even think about making your own toys. I would love it if you would vote for Cute Crocheted Animals. You can click on the link on the Let’s Knit Website – VOTE HERE. Or use the link button below. When you vote you will be entered into a prize draw. Voting continues until 30th August, but please don’t forget to cast your vote now.

 

British-Knitting-Croche-Awards-2017-Emma-Varnam

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1 thought on “British Knitting and Crochet Awards – please vote”

  1. These are some of the most amazing animal crochet patterns I have ever seen. They are so detailed and intricate and bring out the colors so well. If you are looking for similar free crochet patterns, you can visit Your Crochet.

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