Jelly Bum Turtle

Turtle knitting pattern is available from the website, Etsy and Ravelry.

 

HELLO!

Today is release day for our new turtle design to be released. This little guy took a while in the design stage as I couldn't quite decide on how to do his shell. I like to keep my patterns simple so they are quite and easy to knit for beginners and experienced knitted I finally opted for this design. You can't quite see his shell from the front as his big head kind of gets in the way so here is a little side view of Mr Turtle.

 

I can't believe that it's been 10 weeks already since I started releasing the latest 10 designs. It's been so much fun getting back to dedicating time to Jelly Bums and speaking to a lot of old friends who have supported me from the start back in 2008 and great to get to know some new faces too. Your kind words and support really spur me on to create more designs. As always my most favourite part of designing toys is seeing your finished toys. Recently I've also been reading a lot of emails from you guys about all the charity work you are doing with the finished toys which is fantastic. I really want to feature a few of you guys on the blog with the story behind the toys you are knitting.

I have a lot more designs in the pipeline and you may remember my ever elusive 50 pattern goal, however the list has vastly expanded since then so I'll still be creating for a good while yet. I will now be releasing a pattern a month, so that you guys know that pattern releases will be more regular in the future. I'm also working away on a few more designs over at my other venture Elf Pop Purl which will be solely dedicated to doll knitting patterns. SO pop over and have a wee nosey and keep an eye out for any updates from the shop by favouring the shop, which will update you when any new patterns are listed.

Ok doke guys, if you have any messages for me feel free to email me or leave a comment below i'd love to hear from your with feedback and suggestions or even a simple hello :) for Jelly Bums.

Happy knitting all

Raynor x

Jelly Bums Duck

 Duck pattern is available from the website, Etsy and Ravelry.

Quack Quack all!
Just popping in to introduce the little Jelly Bum Duck knitting pattern.This design has to be one of my favourites from all the toys I've designed. I created the pattern as a mallard duck, however the duck can easily be  knit in all brown with a little blue stripe on the wings for a female duck version. I've included a front view and a side view of the finished toy as I think you you get a more ducky profile from the side, by seeing the full force of the magnificent bill.  I hope you like him, he's be super cute to knit up for a farm theme or 'old MacDonald' finger puppets for little ones.

So  now this leaves us with only one pattern to release next week to complete the new ten designs. So you know the score by now if you want a peek then head over to our give-away page to be in with a chance of winning the first copy.
Last weeks lucky winner of the Lady Bug pattern was Theresa Ann, so a huge congratulations to you. Remember if you entered for the duck pattern give away, the winner has been emailed so go check you in-box.
So as always remeber to like, share and most of all keep on knitting.
Have a great week everyone and I'll see you all next week.
♥ Raynor

Jelly Bum Donkey

Hello everybody, you may have noticed that I am posting a lot more on this little blog. Well as some of you know I was on maternity leave after having our little boy, Flynn, in August last year. I was due to return to uni this June, however due to family circumstances we decided it would be best if I took another year out and then returned in 2013. It feels like a huge weight off my shoulders and also seems to have magically allowed me to start creating again as I have so much more time on my hands.
In the last post i mentioned that there was to be an update to the pattern schedule. Well i have decided to commit myself to releasing one Jelly Bum pattern every month. Not only will this allow me to make patterns of all the animals which have been requested over the years but will help me reach my original goal of releasing 50 patterns and hopefully more!
So for the May 2012 pattern I've been working on this little guys over the past few weeks, a sweet little donkey, hee haw! As usual he is available from Etsy or the website. Let me know what you think and remember if you knit him I want to see so remember and upload the flickr, ravelry, Facebook or just send me an email.
Happy knitting
Raynor x

Pattern mashup = Dragon

Hey all,
I've been meaning to write this post for a while as the original photo was posted on Ravelry way back in January. I want to introduce you to Martin.

© flyingpigknits on Ravelry

© flyingpigknits on Ravelry

© flyingpigknits on Ravelry

I practically sqweed (I'm not actually too sure how to spell the particular noise I made but you get the picture!) when i seen this little guy. So thanks to Dagny (flyingpigknits on Ravelry) who made this little guy, for giving me permission to pass on her fab idea to you all. Martin is made from the latest Jelly Bums crocodile pattern with the spike from the free Jelly Bum dino suit added to his back, making him into an adorable little dragon. This is why i love seeing what other people make from my patterns as you guys add your own twists and mods so that you can come up with a whole new look to a toy and make some really unique little toys. So please if you knit one of these little guys post some photos to the Facebook page, Ravelry or Flickr, I'd love to see your very own little dragons.

Also just to keep you up to date with how things are going with patterns, i'm currently working on one, have got a bit through it but still trowing ideas at it to see what looks best without making the pattern too fiddly or complicated for beginners or those wanting a quick knit.

I also wanted to ask you guys opinion on a new line of Jelly Bum sewing patterns? I haven't sewn in a long time and in fact don't even own a sewing machine. Recently I've been thinking about getting one to teach my girls how to sew as I feel its one of the skills a lot of children have lost in recent years. This got me thinking about a new range of patterns, and I'd love to hear your opinion even if it's just to say that you would dust off that old singer and get back into sewing yourself.

Raynor x

Jelly Bum Crocodile

 
Well hello there, long time no see! Ok so I've been very lax with the upkeep of the blog for the past while now. Its due to a huge combination of things such as juggling studying, work placements, family life, pregnancy etc etc etc. However I also wanted to confess that I've just been stuck in a bit of creative rut or somewhat of a 'designers block' for some time now. Perhaps it's just because I have a million other things to deal with in the day and then when it comes the time to get a half hour here or there to knit my brain is just frazzled. I've been finding it hard to get inspiration to pick up the needles and create, and then when I do I just end up frogging it because the finished item isn't turning out how I want it to, oh the joys of being a Virgo perfectionist eh? Anyhoo last week I got a little light bulb moment and took the bull by the horns and started to knit. Out of nowhere popped this little guy, a cheeky little crocodile. He will be the 30th Jelly Bum animal to join the crew. Can you believe it there are 30 animal patterns, it seems crazy to have that many available now. As usual he is available from my website and etsy store. By the way if you were wondering what the difference between a crocodile and an alligator, apparently alligators are only found in south USA and whereas crocs are found worldwide, plus a crocs teeth will always show when its mouth is closed whereas an alligators teeth are hidden.You learn something new everyday huh? (Can you tell I googled it? haha).

Jelly Bum Panda

Why hello there!

I've popped on to let you all know about the new Jelly Bum panda pattern, it's he adorable! As usually he is available from my website or from my etsy shop.

My apologies to everyone who has been in contact asking when I was be releasing a new pattern. My fingers have been itching for months to try and get more patterns out, I've just been so busy with work/uni which are definitely pattern stoppers, much to my disappointment.

I've been off on holiday this week for the first time in 3 months so I've had a chance to catch up with things, the the new pattern out and even get started on a new pattern. I am catching the bull by the horns this time as I won't get another break until Christmas time. Once I get the new pattern out I'll try and get some new dress up patterns available too.

I hope your all doing well and enjoying your knitting, I love the change in the seasons when it feels good to be knitting cosy stuff again, makes you feel all warm and fuzzy.

I'll be back soon with updates on the latest pattern under construction.

Raynor x

Jelly Bum Kangaroo

Ok I'm just going to slip quietly through the door here, since I should be ashamed at myself for neglecting this little blog!

My apologies for disappearing, it seems my knitting life is back on track after my little stint on work placement for uni. It seems to be hotting up here in Scotland (Read as: the temperatures are now just above freezing!) but all I want to do is knit, knit, knit. Seems that it's the perfect way to procrastinate when I should really be writing that 3000 word essay.

Over the last while I've been mulling away with this pattern until I had perfected it, so I'm proud to introduce to you the Jelly Bum Kangaroo. I've been informed by the lovely Australian Faye that the toys should be referred to as 'she' as male kangaroos do not have pouches (ashamedly showing my ignorance by calling it a 'he') which would make sense since they are for the little Joeys after all.

As usual available from all the usual etsy and website locations. I hope you all like him and want to knit them up for your little joeys.

For the next few pattern I'm going to concentrate on a few more clothing patterns for the toys so I'll be doing a boy theme and a girl theme still deciding what I'll go with for them though but have a few sketches down. So keep an eye out for them.

Love, hugs and thanks for your patience

Raynor x

Jelly Bum Squirrel

First of all I want to thank you all for being so patient with me during my huge absence from posting. I have been around juts lurking in the background really as I've not had much time over the last few months only to send patterns and answer my emails. I hadn't lost the knitting bug just that i barely had any time to dedicate to my family etc with all my uni stuff going on and so something had to give. I came of on holiday juts before Christmas and picked up my needles as soon as. It felt like being reacquainted with a long lost friend!

So now that i have a little time to myself I've been creating again and this time I get to announce the arrival of the Jelly Bum Squirrel. Naturally with me being a redhead he had to be a red squirrel. Adorable as ever I really enjoyed knitting him up since he was my first project in as many months. So if you want to knit him up as always he is available from my Etsy shop and website.

In other knitting news I have went and purchased a little drop spindle, and some nice Shetland tops. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, then I'm planning to start hand spinning some yarn for myself. The whole reason behind this was that I'm starting up a new little venture called Little Hobos. These will be little toys knit by myself in my own hand spun wool. You never know I might even give dyeing the wool a bash as well. So if you would like to keep updated with that new venture you can follow my progress at http://www.littlehobos.blogspot.com/.

OK I'm off for now, I'm still knitting away so please check back for any updates and I'll see you all on the other side in 2010!

Happy new year all

Raynor x

Jelly Bums Bat

Hey all, I can't believe its getting into autumn of the year already! As promised in the last post I'm concentrating on the holiday season, so I've added a little Halloween bat to the Jelly Bum gang. You can't really see it in the photo but his wings have a nice little ridge detail and little points to the bottom rather than just a straight edge. I love how they eventually turned out after many trial and error test knits. I can see these little guys being knit with the dangly legs and hanging upside down as a little Halloween display, how adorable.

As you probably know I usually keep the next pattern a secret, however I have promised to make a turkey for all those knitters out there who like to celebrate Thanksgiving, or even those who would like a like little Xmas turkey. I might try and squeeze a little Halloween dress up costume or two in before then.

In other knitting news some of you may have seen that I was featured in 'Let's Knit' inspiration station this month, which is very exciting. I was quite pleased my photography skills lived up to publishing standards!

In the non-knitting news It's been really hectic here recently as I try to settle into the routine of being at university and meeting lots of new people, lots of fun though. The girlies are also still settling into nursery but taking to it quite well, independent little madams, making me feel rather redundant now.

OK I'll be off for now, and as usual will be back with any updates, in the meantime feel free to get in tough if you have any questions or queries I'm always happy to hear form my fellow toy knitters.

Happy knitting

Raynor x

Quick knits

Hi everyone,
I hope you all having a lovely weekend. The weather has been lovely in Dundee today, makes a nice change from the rain and thunderstorms we've had for the past few weeks. It's been great to have the girls running around in the garden whilst I'm getting on with a few more designs.

My darling husband had informed me today that he seen the magazine I was speaking about in my previous post on sale yesterday so I guess it ok to post about it now.



This is the very first pattern I have ever made for a printed publication. It's called cute couple and is was for a magazine called Let's get crafting! issue 15 Quick Knits. It was extremely interesting to see how the whole process works, and I'm very pleased with the end results.
I really enjoyed working on this project and would love to do more magazine work so if there are any magazine editors out there reading then I'd love to hear from you.
The magazine is aimed at crafters who would like to have a taster of different crafts and so the issue come with four balls of 35g yarn in blue, pink, orange and green, plus a pair of 4mm needles. Perfect if your a beginner knitter and loads of other really quick and easy projects in the magazine too. I've been looking through all the articles drooling over the gorgeous yarns they have featured, and trying to resit logging onto all the great adverts for knitting shops.
I've added the pattern to the ravelry library so if you knit this little pair up please add them to your ravelry projects I'd love to see everyone finished toys.
Happy knitting everyone
Raynor x

Playing dress up

Hey all,
I've been slacking lately with the blog, as I've been busy making more of my lists! This time I've created a huge list of dress up clothes for the animals to wear. I've already released the superhero and supergirl costumes.





I'm currently working on a ballerina which is almost compete, just needing photographs and the pattern checked over. I'm really excited about knitting these up as I love the idea that child can play dress up with the animals or they can be giving as a themed gift.

Also if your a Raveller I've started up a new Jelly Bums Group so please feel free to come and join by clicking here. It will be great to have one place to answer questions and get feedback from everyone and also to make any announcements.

I 've had a really good week so far as I've just received a copy of my first ever non-self published pattern! I don't know if I can say to much about it yet as the publication won't be released for a few more days yet so I'll let you all know once it's all official.

So I'll probably be back in a few days with the new ballerina pattern so please pop back. I hope you have a lovely weekend everyone, relax, knit and enjoy life.
Raynor x