A Free Knitting Pattern - Knitted Easter Bunny

Good Morning All. I hope you're enjoying the slightly warmer weather. Spring is definitely in the air and my mood is lifted today with the bright sunshine warming up the conservatory, where I've been enjoying a relaxing morning, catching up with emails and organising my work. Spring is one of my favourite seasons; for me it symbolises new life, new beginnings and brighter days.

I decided at New Year that I would start to share the many patterns that I have filed away on my PC. I have literally hundreds of patterns that have been published in various magazines and it's such a shame that they're just stuck on my PC when you could be using them to make lovely things.

So first up, with Easter in mind, I have a knitted Easter Bunny pattern to share with you. This little lady is knitted in the round but you can easily adapt her to work in rows as the head and body are worked in one piece in stocking stitch. Her arms and legs are worked initially in rows and then continued with an i-cord (there's a great i-cord tutorial here: i-cord tutorial at Purl Bee)

She stands at approximately 22cm high and would make a cute little pocket pal, to be taken on adventures far and wide.

I've used Rowan Tweed DK, which is quite a luxury yarn for this little bunny, but you could use oddments of any double knitting yarn, as she only uses a very small amount of each colour. You could use larger needles if desired for a slightly larger bunny (try 3.25mm), or you could use 4-ply yarn with 3mm or 2.75mm needles for a slightly smaller bunny.

You can download the pattern here:
Free Easter Bunny pattern

I've put her on ravelry so I'd love to see your little bunnies if you make her. You can add your projects here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/free-knitted-easter-bunny

Happy Easter and Happy Crafting, Lynne xx

My Alzheimer's Crochet Blanket

Despite having found numerous UFO's amongst my stash during a recent tidy up of The Wool Nest, I've started a new project, which is called my Alzheimer's Blanket (yes - I know it's very naughty of me!!!)

My friend is organising a Garden Party in July in order to raise money for Alzheimer's Charity, where I've offered my services to run a crochet class. I thought I'd also make a blanket to raffle, in the hope of raising a few extra pounds. This sparked a "stock take" of my stash which revealed enough yarn for at least 4 or 5 blankets  (and that's only part of the stash!!!!). I found enough Aran, double knitting and cotton 4ply to make a number of fairly sizable throws.

I pondered on the course of action to take - shall I knit or crochet, shall I make squares or work in rows? I tried various ideas but nothing seemed to grab my fancy. In the meantime I was working on a really gorgeous lampshade cover for Homemaker Magazine made from pretty mini granny squares with a daisy centre which I promptly declared my favourite granny square....... and thus my Alzheimer's blanket was born. With a few additional rounds it would make the perfect square.

I'm using up my leftover DMC Natura Just Cotton, which is a beautiful 4ply yarn, suitable for both knitting and crochet. It comes in a fantastic range of colours, all of which compliment each other. I used DMC yarns for my crochet book due out soon (which I'm super excited about!!!!) and I fell in love with it. All of the yarn I'm using for my blanket is left over yarn from my book and from a few other projects, and was all kindly provided by DMC, so I'm pleased to be putting it to good use.  You can see how gorgeous the shades are for yourself by downloading the full shade card here http://www.dmccreative.co.uk/Products/Needlework-Threads/Crochet-Threads/Natura.aspx

I'm using Ibiza (01) for the centres and Blue Jeans (N26) for the final round of each square and also to join and edge the blanket as I have the most balls of yarn in these shades. I will then use up my other colours for the main part of the square. So far I've used:
Tournesol (N16)
Bourgogne (N34)
Gardenia (N36)
Canelle (N37)
Safran (N47)
Chartreuse (N48)
Bleu Layette (N05)
Giroflee (N85)
Moss Green (N75)

I mainly have 1 ball of each, but have 2 of Canelle and 2 of Safran. Whilst I love the creamy tone of Gardenia, I only have a very small amount - perhaps enough for 3 or 4 squares, so I may even buy an extra ball. But as the idea is to use up my stash, I shall try my best not to.

I love my Daisy Squares, and I will share the instructions with you shortly so that you can make your own blanket - a bit like a Crochet-A-Long - what do you think?

Thanks for reading and happy crafting, Lynne x