My Books – Page 2 – Emma Varnam’s blog

Yarn Shop Day 2018

I have been part of Yarn Shop Day for a couple of years. I utterly love it! Every year it has grown, more and more ‘bricks and mortar’ yarn shops get involved. There is a real sense of community. Each year I have got involved I have popped into see my local yarn shop – the yarn shop I most often go to when I buy yarn – Black Sheep Wools.

I got up super early and packed up a couple of my cuddly friends; all the chaps from Cute Crocheted Animals and some of the projects from Granny Squares Home and Granny Squares Weekend. I learnt from my experience of last year and set off with lots of time to set up and get settled.

Early Birds

This year lots of lovely people came early – ready to meet and greet star guests like Christine – Winwick Mum. The first few to arrive were lucky enough to get a special gift bag from Stylecraft yarns. What a lovely surprise. There were also some free patterns available of Milo the Cat and Dixie the Llama. Such a gorgeous wee pattern by Heather of Keep Calm and Crochet on.

I can’t tell you how lovely it was to see knitters and crocheters who have either really enjoyed my books or blog. In some cases I met knitters who wanted to learn to make amigurumi and it was great to pass on a few tips. Quite a few people bought the Little River Pattern and Yarn Pack – I was thrilled to show them the lap blanket in real life.

Seeing Friends

When we were not chatting I was able to catch up with my friends; Sara from Black Sheep Wools. We could literally chat and giggle all day. I also saw my dear friend Winwick Mum and we had a few minutes plotting and scheming new ideas. She had a quick inspect of my socks and gave me a few new pointers.

Workshops

I also watched Debbie Tomkies doing an amazing yarn dying workshop. If you get a chance to go on one of her workshops, take the chance. It is like a lesson in colour magic. Debbie was kind enough to gift me a skein of her hand dyed yarn and I really believe and a pair of jaunty socks will make their way to one lovely soul from this skein.

The very lovely Melanie was in the wonderful Rowan shop, teaching people to knit. She was super busy all day – we never really got a chance to chat and perhaps it was a good thing, because the yarn in that corner is so, so tempting.

My lovely friend Gemma came and visited in the afternoon. She is super talented and after just a few project designed and made her own Granny Squares Bomber Jacket – we larked around look very retro in our bright creations and it is good that my son and her daughter didn’t walk out with embarrassment. They are instead almost as enthusiastic about craft and all things woolly as we are.

I had such a lovely time. If you came over to say hello and bought a book or even just a quick chat – thank you. You have no idea how encouraging and wonderful it is. I must also say thank you to the lovely Black Sheep Wools family. The care and customer service is wonderful and the cake is a thing to behold and travel for. I am rather looking forward to next year. Well done Let’s Knit Magazine for a wonderful community day and a celebration of our woolly treasure troves.

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Granny Squares Weekend – new book excitement

I am so excited this week. My new book Granny Squares Weekend is published. I am so thrilled with this book because it contains many of the projects that I love to make for myself and now I can provide them for you to recreate for yourself. Advance warning – I will be running a book give-away to blog readers! Stay tuned….

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Hello New Cute Animal Makers

Over the weekend I caught up with all my Blogstar Friends over at Spa mill. We saw the new yarns and patterns from Stylecraft for the Spring Summer. I took a couple of my animals from my book Cute Crocheted Animals and my friend Sandra Cherry Heart said that she would like to try my book and have a go at making one of the animals. Go over to her podcast 42 to see how she got on. I am so very excited. I wanted to give you a little background to why I designed the patterns and wrote the book.

My childhood memories

I have very distinct childhood memories of sitting in my own imaginary world playing with my toys. I was very fond of one particular pretty rag doll, happy dress her for bed, settle her in a small wooden toy cot and smooth her woolen hair as I imagined 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.

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.

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 and that bunny was dressed a 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.

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. Children I know should recognise and like the clothes which their animal will wear.

That must be me!

Each animal in the book has a character of its own. A couple of weeks ago I visited my oldest friends and their children. I had taken 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 the imagination of young people was sparked.

When you make things with you loved ones in mind then, nothing is more satisfying then to hear them participate and enjoy the journey with you and get the joy of creating small toys which have a character of their own. 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.

I hope you will like it and will be able to think of someone you could make an toy for.

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New Book – Granny Square Home

Dear Lovelies, It is a big big weekend. My new book Granny Squares Home: 20 Crochet Projects with a Vintage Vibe is published on Saturday. I am so excited to share the projects with you. What I have aimed to do is to take the basic crochet granny square and demonstrate that you can change the yarn or the construction and create modern items for your home. These projects are not complex.

If you can already crochet a basic granny square you will find each item easy to grasp. I designed home-ware that I would desire for my own home; cosy lapblankets, bedspreads with a vintage vibe or practical caddies for the bathroom. It gave me a opportunity to write up old patterns like my hot-water bottle cover which I had not yet got round to publishing. You will also be pleased to know that I have not forgotten cute cuddly toys and there are a collection of bright and joyful nursery designs.

Thank you

I am so grateful to my publisher GMC, for the fabulous job they have done producing the book. The photos and the styling are so pretty. Even the paper quality is something to behold. My lovely editor Wendy is so utterly joyful to work with, but there are lots of people behind the scenes like my own dear friend Sue, pattern checker Jude, editor Cath and photographer Emma. I am so grateful to them all.The photos above show just a few of the twenty patterns in the book. Please tell me what you think.

Giveaway

~~This week I am hosting a giveaway of my book. If you would like to win a copy (UK terms) then please leave a comment below tell me why you love to crochet and what you favourite thing is to make~~

~~The competition runs until 6am on Saturday 14th October 2017 – Good Luck!~~

This giveaway is now closed – Congratulations to Rebecca who won the book picked from the random number generator.

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British Knitting and Crochet Awards – please vote

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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New Tutorials

Over the past few weeks I have responded to the requests from readers of my book, Cute Crocheted Animals. Some people have messaged me and asked if I could post some video tutorials to help with their making. If you pop over to my tutorial page you can find links to all my video tutorials posted on Youtube.

There are two new guides for you there:

Creating Character on the Animal Faces

Joining Legs on Cute Crochet Animals

I will be honest with you and have no real desire to be on video, but it is nice to be able to show you specific techniques for this book in real time. If you find these videos helpful please do drop a comment below.

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Ben and Evie Fox – making their face

Thank you all for your kind comments about my book Cute Crocheted Animals. You do say some lovely things. I also know that these patterns are not for beginners and for some people who have embarked on making a little chap or lass it has been a challenging process.

Colour Changes

Many of you have found the colour changes for the fox snouts difficult. I get that. Stranding different colours at the back of you work in either knitting or crochet can seem complex. On page 110 I have shown you a nice clean way to change from one colour to another. (I also just noticed that I think we labeled the illustrations wrong). But the principle is there and it will make a big difference to the look of your work if you use this technique.

Stitch Markers

I have said it lots of times, but even the very best crocheters use stitch markers. On page 101 of the book I talk about this more, but a little piece of yarn is a great stitch maker and very inexpensive.

Placing the Ears

I have made the holes for the ears where I think they balance best – you could move either left or right by one stitch if your tension is different to mine. It is always worth bearing in mind that with handmade toys the final look will always be determined by the tension or techniques of the maker.

Mistakes

I am sorry for the mistakes or errata that creep into patterns. Even the very best designers have them. It may be a surprise to you that 3 people checked the patterns and the prose in this book. Still there are things that we miss or numbers that go astray. When re-prints are done we aim to eliminate them. It is never the intension to get things wrong. In some cases I have been able to help people when they have not understood the crochet code or the technique. However if you think it would look better if you added a stitch here or lost a stitch there, you should have the freedom to do that.

I have made two videos which I hope will help you with the making of the face of the foxes. It is not movie quality but I hope it helps.

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Don’t forget to vote

Wow it seems to come round fast – but the nominations are open once again for British Knitting and Crochet Awards. Why not nominate your favourties…favourite crochet blogger for instance or indeed crochet book published this year. Obviously don’t be compelled or anything – but quick hint below if you are stuck for ideas. Go here to vote http://www.letsknit.co.uk/awards/

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Cute Crocheted Animals – Book Giveaway

I am celebrating the fact that my new books seems to be well received. Just so you can start making for Christmas, I will be giving away one copy to a reader of this blog. Would you like to win a copy for your own book pile? If so please leave a comment below with a suggestion of a new animal or piece of clothing. I would love to hear your suggestions.

~~The winner will be picked at random on 1st November – Happy Thinking!~~

Additional Note: Lovely US friends, the US version of the book with your crochet terminology is available from Barnes Noble on 20th Oct 2016 – Great News.

Congratulations to Amanda – who won the giveaway! Thank you all for such amazing comments and ideas. Hopefully the publishers might think about another edition with a whole new family of animals.

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