Scrap Yarn as Stitch Marker ::

Inspired by Ruth of Rock and Purl's recent blog posts on teaching I'd thought I'd share a little bit of a simple, yet hopefully useful, tutorial here today.

A lot of my crochet patterns, including my newest sock pattern, are worked in the round, but even those that aren't often require you to pop a marker in at some point during the piece.  I always try and write the pattern as though you were using a removable stitch marker, because I know that's what a lot of people do, but you know something, I very very rarely do.  I much prefer a little bit of scrap yarn!  I think it works so much better, because a lot of the time, it's the space between the stitches I really need to mark, not the stitch itself and because for me, I learned a lot of my fibre techniques from knitting and that's the way you generally place a marker in knitting.  I also think it's a much more accurate way of keeping place and doesn't require reattaching every round, so I thought I'd share with you how I do it.

First choose your scrap of yarn carefully, this may sound a little silly, but you don't want something that will leave strands of fibre in your work and you certainly don't really want to use wool, which may felt into your work.  To be safe use some cotton or acrylic yarn, in a nice contrasting colour to your work, so that it's visible, but not something that may leak dye on your work, especially if you're working in lighter colours.  I tend to use acrylic and I carry a little selection of ends around with me in my notions bag.  You only really need about 2-3 inches of yarn.

Once you've got your scrap of yarn and you arrive at the point in your work you need to mark, simply lay your marker over the work, right up next to the stitch you've just worked.

Then just go ahead and work your next stitch, catching the yarn in between the two stitches and continue working on to the end of the round.

As you approach your marker, lift either end of the marker up and over your work, place next to the last stitch worked and work your next stitch.  You can now remove the marker from the round below, but I actually prefer to keep it in place, so I can see the progression I've made and keep a check on whether I'm being nice and even with my rounds.

The above assumes that you are working in continuous rounds, not turning or joining, but you can use the same method for any way you're working, including working in straight rows.

The Crochet Sock Collection #1 :: coming soon ::

You may already know, I've mentioned it in my newsletter, on my facebook page and I've shared a few pictures on instagram, but if you don't, I'm pleased to announce, I'm working on a crochet sock collection.

I'm very excited about this, over the past 12 months I've designed 7 different sock patterns, so I've learnt a whole lot about sock construction and what makes a great crochet sock.  I really wanted to take this knowledge and develop a collection of crochet sock patterns that are fun, functional and wonderfully quick to create.  Knitting may have the upper hand when it comes to creating stretchy fabric perfect for feet, but it sure isn't as quick as crochet.

I won't lie here, knitting is better at that aforementioned stretchiness, but that doesn't mean you can't make crochet socks, it just means considering the stitch type and looking at the kind of ease you want requires a bit more time.

I have 6 wonderful designs I cannot wait to share with you.  This first collection will be women's socks but I have plans for a men's and a children's collection in the future.

Inspired by Joanne Scrace's openness with her Suffolk collection, I'm happy to share my progress as I go.  There shall be no secret keeping until the big reveal here.  Besides I'm working with some unbelievably delicious yarns, I will simply not be able to keep quiet about!

I want to bring alive in crocheters a passion for sock making so many knitters already know so well. I'm using yarns sourced solely from UK indie dyers, because they are beautiful and your feet should quite simply be bathed in these gorgeous yarns.

If you want some sneaky peeks of the kind of socks I'll be creating you can see my pinterest board here.

The first pair to be finished will be these Mulled Wine Socks. Glamorous and sophisticated, perfect for the festive celebrations.  I picture them over sparkly tights inside a pair of gorgeous heels.

Worked toe up with a solid sole and lacy top, a reversed turned heel and lacy ankle, finished with a ribbed cuff.  The sample pair are worked in Fyberspates Vivacious 4ply in Spiced Plum, a wonderfully bouncy yarn in a fabulous colour.

You can buy your copy here.  A second pattern will be available lat September 2015 and the full collection available by November 2015.

All patterns will be available singly at £3, if you purchase a single pattern you will receive a coupon code for £3 off the full collection once it has been released, because I'm really hoping you'll catch the crochet sock bug and want to only ever wear handmade socks on your feet!  The full collection will be priced at £12.

To keep up to date sign up to my list here.

This Weekend :: Getting Festive ::

No tree yet unfortunately, but Christmas is starting creep it's way into our house, creating huge excitement in the boy.

Behm-a-long ::

I recently discovered the Knitmore Girls podcast, and what a treat it was (well is in fact).  It is by far and away my most favourite of podcasts at present.  Fortunately my late coming means there are literally hundreds of episodes to catch up on.

As a result of this wonderful podcast listening, I decided to follow along with their current knit along, Behm-a-long, simply a knit along in which you knit any one of, the hugely talented, Martina Behm's patterns.

Though I had come across Martina's patterns before (I imagine it would be hard not to have come across her infamous hitchhiker scarf) I hadn't knit any, but I had a gorgeous skien of Fyberspates sock yarn and eagerness for some simple garter stitch knitting, so I purchased a copy of the ever popular hitchhiker and got going and well, I was blown away by this simple yet entirely addictive pattern!  It's absolutely perfect comfort knitting, simple but not boring, just perfect.

I finished my Hitchhiker a few weeks ago now and I wear it all the time, it's quite small in size which makes it nice for cool but not freezing days and also lovely to wear around the house.  I had in mind to knit another, maybe as a christmas gift, maybe for Milo, who loves it for the way the teeth look like dragon spikes, which would be highlighted, I'm sure, if knit in a yellow and green yarn, but then Martina released a new pattern!

Be My Angel, is just beautiful, worked in a similar fashion to the Hitchhiker, except you knit 2 pieces then join them together.  The result are these beautiful wings which wrap around you in what I imagine to be a very comforting way.  I purchased the pattern the moment I saw it and fortunately had just the right yarn in my stash, way back from when I crocheted my January Pullover.

I love the idea of these angel wings knitted up and wrapped around someone you love, my original plan was to gift this to my mum for christmas, but it's going to be oh so hard to part with.

I'm just over half way, but the way I'm going I expect I'll be finished soon, it's just much too addictive, there have been many late nights as a result!

Inside Crochet 48 ::

Issue 48 of Inside Crochet goes on sale today and my oh my are there some wonderful projects inside!

Ali Cambell's gorgeous sweater is on my (ever growing) list of things I'd love to make for myself, one day, Helda Panagary's sweet flower bracelets are perfect for using up scraps and will make great little christmas gifts. Having recently ventured into experimenting with beads in crochet, I'm drawn to Heidi McCarthy's beautiful shawl, which incidentally is her first ever published pattern. I also loved Emma Escott of Lulu Loves, first column and sweet flower embellished journal cover.

I have 2 patterns in this issue, rather excitingly is the first instalment of my mystery blanket.  I've been wanting to design a blanket pattern for ages.  My problem being I'm generally very good at starting blankets but not quite so good at finishing them (if you saw my pile of unfinished blankets...) so I decided I needed a much more engaging way to create and actually finish a blanket.  This design therefore uses a different stitch repeat for each colour stripe, giving you opportunity to really stretch those crochet muscles, worked from the centre out, starting as a mandala and growing into a square, meaning you can finish whenever you feel you've reached the size you want.

Part 1 is the mandala, which can be made as a standalone piece in it's own right if you don't fancy taking the next step. The rest of the blanket will be spread out over the next 3 issues. If you do take part in this series I would love to see how your blanket progresses.

The second pattern is my Foxy Cape, I will not lie, I adore this pattern, I think it's possibly my favourite one to date and I'm so pleased to already have the sample back in my hands, well snuggly perched on my shoulders as I type in fact.

Worked in the round, bottom up, this is a very simple piece, worked mostly in treble stitches, with a few rounds of double crochet on the bottom and double crochet used for the foxes.  The trickiest bit is the colourwork, there are times when you are using 3 yarns at once, as long as you keep all the balls apart and work in a methodical way, you should be able to avoid getting in a tangle.  There will be quite a lot of switching between colours and obviously this is time consuming, however there are only at total of 12 rounds of colourwork across the whole piece and the rest I promise is very quick. I purchased a yarn guide, which I found extremely helpful, it took a bit of getting used to, but once I got my tension sorted it was a breeze to use and helped speed up the process.

If you're tempted by any of the patterns inside, you can find the magazine in newsagents from today, plus I've got a copy to giveaway to one lucky reader, just pop a comment on the bottom of this post and I'll draw a winner on Monday.

Inside Crochet 48 is out in the UK today or can be purchased digitally here.
Photos that aren't by myself are by the wonderfully talented Britt Spring.

Black Friday Sales ::

So I know it's only Thursday, but I thought I would let you all in on my sales secrets a little early!

You may or may not know, that before I became a crochet designer I spent the majority of my time making items from polymer clay.  I have a little etsy shop called Lilley and it is solely due to this enterprise that I was able to remain away from work after my maternity leave ended.  Though this side of my business has been a little neglected since I started designing, I still spend at least one day a week working on it and it's only because of this extra business that I am able to remain at home.
I've run Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales over in my Lilley shop for the past few years and with great success and I shall be partaking over there again this year.

So if any of your loved ones are in need of some ninja stitch markers, a pair of loveheart earrings or some festive buttons (to mention just a few of the items I have available there) hop on over and you can receive 30% off any orders over £15 with coupon code BLKFRI13

Or better still if you sign up to my mailing list you will receive an email containing a coupon code with an even higher discount (this is a different mailing list to my pattern list)

Lilley Handmade Mailing List ::

* indicates required

Email Address *

First Name

Last Name

This year I will also be holding a sale in my pattern store.

photos by Britt Spring

I shall be offering 30% off all patterns in my ravelry store, the prices have already been adjusted so no need for a coupon code, you won't see the discount until you checkout. If you'd rather do your pattern buying on etsy you can use coupon code BLKFRI13 over there for the same discount and it can also be used against finished items I have for sale there.

A very happy thanksgiving to all those who celebrate it.

Design Wars 5 :: the final reveal ::

Woohoo...the final reveal of all of the designs created by the Design Wars 5 challengers has been posted!

 

 You can see all the wonderful creations and vote for your favourites over on the Design Wars blog, of course if you fancy voting for my design I won't dissuade  you from doing so ;) So here is my final design ::

 

 I'll post more about the slippers themselves tomorrow, but if you can't wait that long, the pattern is up for sale over on my ravelry page now. x