The final Boost Your Knitting design comes to us from Ella Austin. Ella’s design, Brunny the Bunny, showcases how to properly finish knitted toys. Ella has numerous gorgeous toy designs under her belt, as well as a wider portfolio that celebrates color and texture — her book, the Beginner’s Guide to Colourwork Knitting, was released last spring. A few months ago, Ella was kind enough to answer a few questions about her design process and share some great tips for finishing knitted toys (hint: even she has to occasionally try, try again!)
Read moreThree Techniques for Terrific Toys
Knitted toys can make for fun and cheeky companions, and they really come to life with good finishing. Today, we have a trio of tutorials to give you confidence in making up your toys!
Read moreBrunny the Bunny and Finishing Techniques for Toy Knitting
Oh how I love a cute knitted toy!
But I’ll be honest, I had never been very confident about getting my finished toy to look its best, until I met Ella Austin’s fantastic designs. Ella helped me to overcome my fear of finishing toys, and this month’s project includes lots of hints and tips so that you too can create a polished-looking bunny!
Read moreBoost Your Knitting: The Designers
Are you ready?
We are beyond excited by the stellar list of designers who have contributed patterns to Boost Your Knitting: Another Year of Techniques. These are the people whose patterns I turn to for fun knitting. They have all contributed to my knitting knowledge, and I am thrilled to be sharing their creations with you!
Read moreHow helices, intarsia and a mouse enthralled knitters across the world
Back in 2017 we launched our first book, A Year of Techniques (AYoT), and we really had no idea at all whether anyone apart from us would think it was a good idea. Happily, lots of you agreed with us, and what followed was a year of glorious sharing of knowledge and skills, with twelve knitalongs and hundreds of projects completed. We were totally gobsmacked at how many of you decided to work through the entire book, completing everything, and really honoured that you would choose to dedicate so much valuable knitting time to A Year of Techniques. Lots of people popped in and out and worked on the months that inspired them most, and that was amazing too. The projects were always designed to be self-sufficient, so whether you joined us for one or two, or all twelve – thank you all!
Read moreMay: month of the mouse
May was all about the pinhole cast on, and for many that has meant toys. Alex the Mouse by Ella Austin has, as we'd expected, been a big hit, even amongst those who have previously avoided knitted toys.
Read moreWhat other uses can I find for pinhole cast on?
So, you've read the tutorial, watched the video, started (or even finished) Alex the Mouse, but what else is there to do with pinhole cast on?
Read moreHow to neatly finish Alex the Mouse
This isn't one of the monthly AYoT video tutorials, rather a bonus one for May to show you how to work an applied i-cord edging to join 2 pieces. If you're nearing the end of Alex the Mouse, this could be invaluable.
And that's not all. Ella Austin has shared her expertise on finishing toys
Read moreElla Austin talks toys and colourwork
Jen caught up with Ella Austin (BomBella Designs), colourwork toy designer extraordinaire, recently to find out all about her inspiration and process of design.
Read morePinhole Knitalong
I can't believe how quickly people have ditched their WIPs and cast on for Alex! The knitalong thread in our Ravelry group is already buzzing with excitement. If you're new to posting in our group, please do feel free to just drop in and share your progress. We're a very chatty bunch, but there's no obligation to wade through all the posts in any of the threads, just dive in and say hi!
We are always very happy to answer questions about any aspect of your knitting, and the wealth of experience and knowledge in our group is extraordinary - group membership now stands at 1,260 so wherever you are in the world, someone will be awake and on hand to encourage you along!
Read more