Saturday 31 January 2009

Free Patterns: Waistcoat & Baseball Cap

This little piggy went to market, this little piggy stayed at home, but the Jelly Bum piggy got new clothes, and the big bad wolf got none!



Today I come bearing freebies!

So to go with the 'Three little pigs' theme I made a pattern for a little waistcoat and baseball cap so they can be made in all different colours so each pig can be dressed different.

They will also fit on any other of the Jelly Bum patterns so feel free to accessorise your toys. Just as a note the waistcoat will probably be too large to fit the finger puppet bodies, however the hat will still fit.
The pattern is available as a PDF download by clicking here.
I hope you you enjoy the patterns, I will work on some more clothes patterns for the animals in the future as they look adorable with little outfits on. Perhaps I could go with some dress up themes. Remember and add your photos to the flickr group if you make the waistcoat or the baseball cap.
Today I'm going to start on the leg pattern for stuffed toy, but I've decided to give two different options so it may take me a few days to get them up. So pop back soon and see the results.
♥ Raynor

Monday 26 January 2009

Jelly Bums Wolf



Whose afraid of the big bad wolf?
Well this latest pattern took a little long than expected to get released, after getting off to a flying start, general life got in the way and he had to be put on the back burner for a few days.
This pattern was made as a request from a customer of mine who used my pattern for her shamanic work, it's great when people tell me their purpose for knitting the patterns.
I also had a lovely lady write to me a few weeks back letting me know that she uses the animals to illustrate her own homemade stories for her grandchildren, which I thought was a fantastic idea, to get a kids imagination flowing. So along those line I thought perhaps this wolf could be used alongside the Jelly Bums pig pattern to make little toys or finger puppets to go with 'The three little pigs' children's story. I'll add a little free pattern to the blog this week to help 'accessorise' the story a little.
Another request I've had from a few people lately is about legs for stuffed toys. The toys sort of just took on a look of their own when I started creating the jelly bums and the flat bottom of the toy just seemed to have its own unique 'look'. However I'll work on a little leg pattern for the toys this week and I'll pop it on the blog for free so it's accessible to everyone who has previously purchased a pattern.
So with my little blog patterns on my 'to do' list this week, the next pattern won't be available until the start of February. So please come back again and see what goodies the Jelly Bums have in store over the next few weeks.
♥ Raynor

Thursday 15 January 2009

Jelly Bums Fox


Here is the newest little member of the Jelly Bum posse and the pattern is now available from my blog and Etsy shops. I love his colour, but the original yarn colour doesn't show too well in the photo. I must have a natural affinity to foxes as I'm a redhead too.

I'm getting really frustrated with taking photos for the animals as they are often finished and waiting to be photographed, but I'm having to wait until certain times of day to get the perfect lighting, I really need to find a good light box kit.

Right, enough of my moaning! One thing that has made me a very happy bunny is the fact that Julie Williams from Little Cotton Rabbits has linked to here from her blog. Julie is an amazingly talented knitter with a huge following plus she has fantastic writing skills, the combination makes her blog so lovable. It's an great honour to be mentioned on the blog so I wanted to say a huge thank you to Julie. If you haven't ventured over to see her amazing little bunnies (amongst other animals and cupcakes) then take a peek, you'll be sure to get hooked on her latest cotton creations. Also a big hello to anyone who arrived here from the little cotton rabbits site, I'm glad you came.
I've already started another new pattern which was requested from one of my Etsy customers, and I really needed to start it while I still had the design in my head. It should be available by next week, so keep your peepers open for any updates.
♥ Raynor

Thursday 8 January 2009

Jelly Bums Rabbit


This is the first Jelly Bum pattern of 2009, a cute little bunny rabbit. Very easy to knit up, he was requested by a few of my customers so that they could knit up a storm before Easter time. I'm glad it's not just me who barely gets one holiday season out of the way but is starting up their knitting projects for the next! So if you knit him up you can hide all you Cadburys cream eggs under the tea cosy body and he'll keep them safe for you.
Each time I knit an animal I always like to imagine what people would use them for. Some of my customers have used them for all different things such as animated stories and even shamanic work. The safari animals are always a popular choice to knit up for kids nursery rooms. I love knowing how people use the patterns, so if you've knit up one (or more) of my patterns send, add your pictures of you work to the Jelly Bums Flickr group, I'd love to see the secret lives of the Jelly Bums.
I'm going to get started on the next pattern tomorrow, as I want to make up for lost time over the holiday season and get cracking on that target of 50 animals.
So check back soon to see what my needles have been creating.
♥ Raynor

Wednesday 7 January 2009

Happy 2009

Hello everyone, I thought I would wearily dip my head back in here after what seems like a little hibernating period. Well first of all I just wanted to say a little belated Happy New Year to everyone and I hope you had a lovely holiday season. For those who have been waiting ever so patiently you'll be glad to know that my knitting needles have been warmed up again today and are now back in action, clicking away creating the latest animal pattern. I was informed by my husband that I 'hadn't made a pattern in ages', I think he missed getting to choose the animals! Now the winter may be a little cold for the little fellow being created but I've had a few requests to have his pattern ready before spring time. I'm hoping to have him ready before the start of the weekend, so remember and pop back to meet the newest furry friends.
Take care
♥ Raynor