Category: Yarn Crafts

Find out about new yarns, knitting, crochet, and other yarn related hobbies

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Star Buys 16th January 2019

10% OFF 
City Nights Collection by Lewis & Irene
With inspiration from all cities but specifically a city close to home, London. Lights twinkling from tall buildings and the bustling roads with their shiny black cabs. When the day comes to an end the city sparkles with lights thus the glimmering metallics in this collection.

NOW £12.16 per metre Offer ends 29.1.2019
Shop Star Buy Fabric

15% OFF 
Stylecraft Jeanie Aran

Stylecraft Jeanie is an exciting yarn that captures the spirit and heritage of the denim trend. Inspired by the timeless and classic hues of denim, with colours ranging from rich deep vintage indigos to lighter blues plus the addition of a pastel range including white.  Jeanie is an aran weight yarn, its cotton acrylic blend means that it is soft to the touch and it can be machine washed and tumble dried. NOW £3.44 per 100g Ball Offer ends 29.1.2019

15% OFF 
Stylecraft Jeanie Aran Patterns

Stylecraft Jeanie patterns featuring a collection of stylish ladies garments. Use the Denim shades for Winter Warmers and the pastels for early Spring Warm. NOW £2.34 each Offer ends 29.1.2019

Shop Star Buy Yarn & Patterns

10% OFF 
DMC Printed Cross Stitch Kits
NEW….. From the DMC Fashion Illustration Range
No need to stitch the black brushwork just cross stitch the pretty dresses.
All materials and needle included.NOW £14.14 each 
Offer ends 29.1.2019
Shop Star Buy DMC Kits

PLUS DKS30SE and DKS100SE models come with a FREE JQ6 Quilters Kit worth £129 and ATELIER 7 model comes with a FREE JQ7 Quilters Kit worth £185. OFFERS AVAILABLE UNTIL 31ST JANUARY 2019. All offers strictly subject to stock availability.

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Crafting Holiday at Home

Every now and then I get asked to write the blog for Tudor Rose Patchwork.  I’m not a great blogger, my daughter knows more than I do and she’s only 14.  But then you expect a 14 year old to be a technological wizard.

I might not be a technological wiz, but I can craft.  In fact I love to create and make.  So much so that I decided to treat myself to a week off work.  The children were still and school and the husband was out at work and I had the luxury of 5 days to please myself crafting.  The washing machine did go on but there was not one garment ironed – apart from the quilt I was working on.

As well as having my sewing machine out to work on my quilt, I had yarn on the coffee table to crochet, my Pfaff Creative 1.5 embroidery machine was running 1400 stitches per minute and I finished a beaded parure.

According to Wikipedia, a parure typically consists of a combination of a matching necklace, earrings, brooch, bracelet and often a diadem or tiara.  Well mine was a mini or demiparure:  necklace, earrings and bracelet.  It was a huge project but the feeling of joy when I completed the last beaded toggle was immense.

 

So you have an idea of what my living space looked like.  The dining table, which when extended seats 14, was piled high.  It was so nice being able to leave everything out ready for the next day, knowing that I was coming straight back to it and not having to put things away until who knew when.

I loved being able to leave the embroidery machine set up.  It does take up quite a bit of room and I don’t have a dedicated crafting space so leaving it on the dining table for a week was marvellous.  Christmas is coming and I treated myself to a few Christmas designs.  I now have a set of 8 pristine, white napkins, each with a different design and in a different colour. 

My daughter chose purple as the colour scheme for our Christmas tree this year so we now have 5 white and purple embroidered felt decorations.  And finally, I nearly burnt out the engine creating lace bookmarks and a lace lantern.

It was a really wonderful week.  The downside, all the house work to catch up on.

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Star Buys Offers Till 20th November 17

 

40% OFF
Winterlude, Mikoto II Black, Mariposa Meadow, English Diary

From £5.97 per metre

 

23% OFF
Flower Fairy – Needle Felting Kit

A felt by number kit to make up an adorable flower fairy. The kit is super easy with the pattern printed on the felt, making it perfect for beginners or children!

 NOW £9.95 
Offer ends 21.11.17

 

I
25% OFF
French Knitting Bee

These cute French Knitting Bee’s available Yellow or Green body and 2 eyes, it has 4 pins and comes with awl which has protective cover. The pack also includes a pom pom tool for making small and large pom poms, this tool is also great for making fringes. Basic instructions are on back of display card.

Was £4.29 NOW £3.24
Offer ends 21.11.17
AVAILABLE IN-STORE ONLY

Bonfire Bonus Offers….. from Janome
Don’t miss these amazing offers on selected Computerised &Quilting Machines. Savings of up to £300 plus Free Quilting Kits
Offers Valid until Friday 17th November 2017 
Subject to stock availability  

 

Join us for Project Linus Day
Wednesday 15th November – FREE 
Project Linus is a wonderful charity that makes quilts for critically ill children. It helps to provide them comfort and a sense of security. You can be part of Project Linus by joining the team at Tudor Rose Patchwork for a special workshop where you will be making quilts, all of which will be donated to project Linus. You can make a quilt of your own design, or you can head to the Project Linus website for free patterns. The quilts don’t have to be any size in particular, they can be as small as a baby quilt or big enough for a teenager’s bed. As long as they don’t have any embellishments and are 100% cotton (including the wadding). Can’t make it on the day? You can make a block or two and hand them in for us to turn into a quilt.  If you need more information: call us on 01234 824983, email us at info@tudorrosepatchwork.co.uk or drop in and talk to the counter staff. 

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Shop Update
To everyone who visited the shop and made Sew Saturday such a successful day on 21st October.
Congratulations to Angela Scutchings
who was delighted to win a metre of fabric in our raffle and was one of our first 5 lucky customers to receive a Goody Bag
Newon our website!!

We’ve got some lovely little bargains over on the website. Every little helps in the run up to Christmas!
20% OFF
NEW!!! from Lewis & Irene 
Themed with a selection of fabulous diggers, trains, planes and more …. ‘Small Things on the Move’NOW £10.36 per metre
Offer ends 7.11.17

18% OFF
Anne Smith Designs
Fun little doll patterns with painted faces allow you to experiment with new techniques while creating a toy to be given as a gift or kept for you to admire.
The dolls are no taller that 17″ when finished so they are great for using up scrap fabric. You can try out all sorts of colour ways to put your spin on your doll! 

 NOW £9.00 
Offer ends 7.11.17

Also reductions on the lovely squishy Wendy Supreme Cotton Chunky – pop over and have a look and treat yourself to a bargain.
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FREE Patchwork Slippers Knitting Pattern

A delightful design – these slippers are easy to make. They fit your feet snuggly and best of all, they are very portable. Just fold them up and take them on holidays.

Materials:

3.75mm needles

100g of any double knit yarn.

Suggested yarns:

Stylecraft Life DK 100g – 75% acrylic & 25% wool

Stylecraft Wondersoft DK 100g – 100% acrylic

Adriafil Knitcol 50g – 100% merino wool

Adriafil Regina 50g – 100% merino wool, currently with 25% off

Adriafil Magnete 50g – for that felted look with none of the hassle!

Sizing:

The sizing of the slippers is altered depending on how many stitches you cast on and how many rows you work for each square.

Ladies Size 4        Each square should measure 3”. Cast on 16 stitches and work 19 rows

Ladies Size 5        Each square should measure 3 ¼”. Cast on 18 stitches and work 22 rows

Ladies Size 6-7    Each square should measure 3 ½”. Cast on 19 stitches and work 26 rows

 Stocking Stitch Square (make 4)

Cast on according to size.

1st row: knit

2nd row: purl

Repeat until you have completed the correct number of rows for your size.

 

Rib Stitch Square (make 4)

Cast on according to size.

 1st row: K1, P1 to end of the row

2nd row: P1, K1 to of the row

(Each row starts with the same type of stitch as the last row ends on)

Repeat until you have completed the correct number of rows for your size.

Moss Stitch Square (make 4):

Using the same technique that helps form the rib stitch, you can knit this striking effect. Moss stitch is essentially a 1×1 rib stitch.

Cast on according to size.

1st row: K1, P1 to the end of the row

2nd row: P1, K1 to the end of the row

(Each row starts with the opposite type of stitch as the last row ends on)

Repeat until you have completed the correct number of rows for your size.

 Making up:

 Step one:

Take 2 of each square to form each slipper, and sew together as in the photo. Two stocking stitch squares form part of the slipper base. Two ribbed squares form the base and sides. Two moss stitch squares form the heel and front of your slippers.

Make sure that you sew in the ribbed squares exactly as the picture shows so that the cast off edges form part of the opening of the slipper.

 Step two: 

Take the two moss stitch squares and sew to the edges of the stocking stitch squares as shown. You have now formed the heel and the toe. Now take one of the moss stitch squares only. This will form the front of your slipper. Sew up a third edge to the side edge of the ribbed square. Now sew up the fourth edge to the edge of the other ribbed square.

Finishing – To edge your slipper, crochet a chain around the opening of the slipper, or make an i-cord and sew around the opening.

I-Cord:

Step 1: Cast on a few stitches. I-Cord is usually made using 3-5 stitches.

Step 2: Knit one row

Step 3: Do not turn the work, just slip your work to the other end of your double

pointed needle. Your working yarn will be at the “wrong” end of your     work.

Step 4: Pull the working yarn tightly along the back of your work and knit the

next row.

Step 5: Repeat steps 3 and 4 until you have an I-Cord that will fit around the slipper opening with a slight stretch. Sew in place.

Decorate with buttons as we have done or embroidery, beads, ribbon. There are endless possibilities.

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FREE Loopy Scarf Pattern

This unusual looking scarf takes approximately one hour to make. Perfect for whipping up an evening, or in a long queue!

Requirements:

One set of 15mm straight needles

50g Adriafil EtaBeta,  or Stylecraft Swift Knit.

Loop st: Insert needle into stitch knitwise, wrap yarn around needle twice. Pull yarn through, and leave both loops on right needle. Slide stitch off left needle.

Instructions:

Using 15mm knitting needles, cast on 5 sts.

Row 1: Loop st across all 5 sts.

Row 2: K all sts, treating each loop wrap as 1 stitch.

Repeat rows 1 and 2 until the scarf is the length

required, or you have 30 cm of yarn remaining.

Cast off loosely.

Making up: Wrap scarf around neck, and pull

through a central loop near end of scarf to secure.

We’ve knotted the ends of our scarf just to give it a little extra weight at the ends!

This pattern can be adapted to any yarn.  Our

recommendation is to use needles larger

than the yarn indicates and that the yarn should

have some variation in it.  The number of stitches

can also be altered till you get the width you need, although wider scarves will use more yarn!

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Pixie Dust Crochet Along Blanket

PIXIE DUST (NOUN)

A substance or influence with an apparently magical effect that brings great success or luck.

Origin: 1950’s. From the magic dust that enabled humans to fly in J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan

We’re so excited to be announcing our very first Crochet Along! We will be officially launching for The Festival Of Quilts at Birmingham NEC from 10th – 13th August (we’re on Stand E3), but you can sign-up online now ready to receive your first installment on 15th August. When you buy the bundle at the special price of £20.00 you will receive a free pattern every following 2 weeks for 10 weeks. The end result is an adorable baby blanket or throw, use it in the pram, pushchair or car seat.

The blanket is made in the beautiful, soft Peter Pan Pixie yarn. The patterns are aimed at beginners and build each week on the skills you learnt the week before. However, this is a simple pleasure for the more experienced crocheter.

The pattern is utterly flexible, you could change the colours, increase the size, change the yarn. Make it for a friend, a child, a teenager, an elderly aunt…

You will need a 3.5mm crochet hook, scissors and a knitter’s needle, and the size of the finished throw is approximately 91.5 x 68.5 cm (36 x 27″).

Sign up and join in here: Pixie Dust CAL

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Joy’s March Update

What’s been happening since my last update?

I mentioned I was crocheting mad – still am, nothing has changed there. I’ve lost count of the WIPs. There are presents for family and friends, tasks to encourage my mum back into crochet and of course, things that I just must do for me. And there’s a blanket CAL starting soon that I’ve got my eye on too. Never enough hours in the day. And I’m sure that’s the same for all of us.

My mum’s been unwell and needed to get her groove back. She tried to teach me to crochet when I was 8, then as a teenager. I was 43 before I asked her to show me again. I’ve come on leaps and bounds since then but she needed a helping hand. So I found us a lovely blanket of squares we could work on together and I’m pleased to say she’s enjoying herself again. And it’s been great that I could give her something back.

Since my last post, I attended the first beading class with our new tutor and that was a huge success. A lovely group of ladies just having a lovely time together, like minded but from so many different backgrounds and walks of life. I’m very much looking forward to our next class at the end of March. Sue Stallard proved to be a super tutor, our group is a mix of complete beginners, some of us with a bit of experience and a couple of ladies who have been beading for donkey’s years. I’ve already been shopping for our next two projects. It does help that I know what’s coming next and what we have in stock. Come and see our new beads and crystals all the way from Czechoslovakia.

I do enjoy sewing and quilting but as a busy mum I spend a great deal of time driving and waiting for children. The portability of crochet and beading just lend themselves to being picked up and put down. I sit in the back of the car sometimes, with my laptop on the seat next to me, watching the latest drama or documentary, a pile of wool around me, a pattern fastened on to the headrest in front of me and a flask of tea. It’s actually not a bad way to spend a few hours really, truth be told. However, roll on the longer nights, because beading to the illumination of a car light is quite hard work on the eyes.

At work, I’ve been working on a sample embroidery. It’s a stitched and stump-worked kit that we may stock in the future. But I have needed a magnifying lens and lights, as the piece and stitches were so tiny. And that was in broad daylight. Keep an eye out on our social media and website for the kits.

 

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February Progress

Nothing much has changed, the weather is still dismal and grey.  Sad to say but I still haven’t finished my lovely big crocheted throw.  Nearly there, 180 rows done, just the edging to do.  Getting quite excited now the end is in sight.  It has been quite nice spending a little time each evening on the sofa in front of the TV with my ever-growing blanket keeping me warm.  Spent the day out with my son and 10 other 14 year olds over the weekend paint balling.  Well they were paintballing, I sat in the car and crocheted, jumped out into the rain, fed them, sent them off again, jumped back in the car, crochet and repeat.  They all had a brilliant time and were exhausted by 4 o’clock.  I had a marvellous time being able to crochet without feeling guilty that I wasn’t doing housework/ironing/vacuuming etc etc.

 

I have however also been working on a couple of my many UFOs.  Just a few…

 

Having finished this lovely little piece, I have rediscovered my love of handwork, I started this stumpwork piece in a class with Kathy Laurel Sage about 18 months ago and I completed it last week. Just waiting for a frame now.  And of course, I’ll have to find a home for it.  It has reminded me how much I enjoy cross stitch and embroidery.   And goldwork… and tapestry… and jewellery making in its various guises.

I’ve joined a monthly group starting next month here at Tudor Rose Patchwork with our new tutor Sue Stallard and I’m very excited about the projects we’ll be doing in class.  The samples for each class are lovely and I’ve had a wonderful day ordering in the beads and crystals we’ll need.

The shipment of Czech delicas arrived on Thursday.  Huge amount of work involved getting them ready for you all but actually thrilled about new projects that are ahead of us.  Not to mention a couple of UFOs too… along with a bracelet and a necklace that need attention.

Help!  There’s just too much to do and not enough time.  Maybe if I didn’t sleep, eat, work or have to do anything with the children.  And I keep finding more to do.  I belong to a couple of Facebook groups and every day there’s a new pattern I’d like to make or new products I’d like to try.  A good job I don’t belong to any other social media.  It’s just madness.  How do you decide which project, piece you’re going to work on next?  Do you try and finish something a section a week whilst working on several others at the same time or just wing it, work on what you feel like that day?

 

 

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January Update

So the new year has started after a wonderful but very busy Christmas with family and friends.  The weather is topsy turvy, sun shining brightly one day and frosty and cold the next.  Heating on, heating off.  Walk the dog, coat on, coat off.  Ride the horses – lightweight macs to keep them dry in the rain or thick, heavy beat the freeze rugs.  Just don’t know what to do or where we’re at.

 

Nothing changes for crafting for me though.  I’m addicted to crochet just now.  I’ve got UFOs at the sewing machine, UFOs in the jewellery-making and beading box, UFOs in the cross stitching bag.  But nothing pulls me away from my yarn and crochet hooks.  During 2016 I created 3 blankets which were given away as Christmas presents to family and special friends.   I made a dress, lovely to wear during the hot summer, and even crocheted a bag – currently a UFO at the sewing machine…

 

My wonderful husband treated me to some marvellous yarn for Christmas.  A 45% silk/55% mohair mix in a deep purple/maroon shade.  I’ve chosen to use it for another throw.  Two of last year’s blankets were crochetalong’s and the third was a very simple pattern.  This time I’ve chosen something more complicated to push me.  The first challenge being the chain of 177 stitches.  Never worked a chain so long before.  Found a tip online – create a chain in counts of five.  Worked well.  Got the right number of stitches first time.

 

I found that once I mastered the basics – a slip-knot and chain, a double crochet and a treble – anything is possible.  However complicated a pattern, stitches are all built around these basics.  So my new pattern with woven stitches, cables, arrows and celtic weave amongst others, are all just building on the basics.  And I have to say I’m enjoying learning and pushing myself with this.  I’m only on row 34 but loving every moment I am able to find half an hour in an evening to work on this.   There has been a certain amount of frogging but fortunately not too much.

 

“Frogging” I hear you ask.  What is frogging?  I had to google it too.  Quite simply, “to frog” is “to rip out stitches”.  It is a play on words alluding to amphibians and their chorus of “ribbit, ribbit, ribbit”.

 

Whatever your craft, I hope you have a wonderful 2017.