Skunk Knitting Pattern

Introducing our June 2012 pattern, a stinky little skunk. As usual he is available from the website, etsy store and as instant ravelry download.
My apologies for it being nearer the end of the month to release this pattern. I've been really busy working on my new line of sewing patterns. I hummed and ahhed about whether I should make them a new line of Jelly Bums, however I decided it might get a bit too cluttered in my etsy shop and website. So my sewing pattern range is known as Elf Pop which you can find on my website and new etsy shop. I currently only have one dog pattern available but I will be working hard over the next few months to get a good range going. Similar to Jelly Bums I want to have lots of animal pattern with dress ups, however I will probably introduce a doll range too. Don't worry I'm sticking to my promise to bring out at least one Jelly Bum Knitting pattern a month.
I hope you enjoy this months little edition, and as always if you knit one up then let me see.
Raynor x

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

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

More dress up

It seems the Jelly Bums have been raiding the dress up box again! This time we're in the kitchen with the chef dress up. There was a suggestion on the Ravlery group posts to make a little mitt to go with the outfit so I tried it out and it looks adorable. I hope you all like it, I think he looks great on the pig, but the outfit will fit any of the Jelly Bum animals made with the animal or big foot legs. The outfit comes with instructions to make the jacket, trousers, scarf, hat and oven mitt.

I'm starting work on a little girly baker outfit now, still in the process of designing the apron as I have a few idea of how I would like it to look.

I just thought I'd write a little bit about the ballerina costume that is also available from the etsy shop or from the website. It has been available for a while now but I completely forgot to blog about it. The costume comes with instructions to make the body suit, tutu, wrap top and pumps. If you have knit up any of the animals for a little girl they will love this dress up outfit, it's perfect for those who loves things sugary sweet and pink, pink, pink!

In other non knitting news, I apologies for being such a slacker with the blog recently it seems that my husband is just a big distraction when he is on holiday from work, and I've got nothing done over the past few weeks. That rolled in with the fact we have been trying to the girls settled into a nursery (first day on Monday, oh no) and I'm starting university in 8 days, eek!
I'll keep you all updated with how things are going with any new designs and hope to get my fingers working on a new animal pattern soon.
Happy weekend knitting everyone
Raynor x

Jelly Bums Badger

 
Hey all, just popping in to introduce the little Jelly Bum Badger pattern. This pattern seems to have taken me forever to create as it took a few attempts to get his face stripes just right (I'm such a faux perfectionist!).
This is the part where I usually say he is available from my etsy shop, however in addition to that I'd like to take the opportunity to announce the opening of the Jelly bums website. I can't believe I actually got around to doing it, my little shiny new website! So if you want to have a peek then click on the 'buy patterns' picture on the right hand side.
The website uses paypal payment so it's just the same as buying my patterns from Etsy, apart from you don't need to have any type of account to use it, just a valid working email address. Simples!
All prices are in pounds (£) sterling, however paypal will automatically convert your currency to the sterling if your outside the UK. So it's really easy to buy the single pattern and pattern deals. I will probably be using the website to add some help videos as well, so look out for that in the future! Also keep an eye out as I'm hoping to run a competition soon to officially launch the website.

At the moment I'm juggling between writing more animal patterns and creating some pattern for the Little Red Stitches shop, as I'm really enjoying creating the dolls. If only you could see the idea lists I have scribbled all over little pieces of paper in my knitting drawer, there's never enough time in the day eh?

Ok back to my knitting, as usual I'll be back with any updates, so in the meantime happy knitting.
♥ Raynor

Little Red Stitches

Hey all,
It feels like its been such a long time since I last blogged. things have been so hectic with the house move and it feels like I've got a million and one things to sort out everyday but I'm getting there slowly but surely.

just as we were starting to move I had started on a new little knitting project which was a nice change from making the animal patterns. I eventually finished the pattern last night and this is the result

It's little red riding hood accompanied by a Jelly Bum Wolf. So now I'm going to be splitting my time between creating the Jelly Bum animals and some fairy tale doll patterns for my new Etsy shop Little Red Stitches.

To be honest I've wanted to create some doll patterns for a while but finding a way to make the doll hair scared me off a bit. I prefer to knit the hair as a piece rather than having the yarn strands, so I've taken the plunge and decided to give it a go. I'm really pleased with the results and can't wait to get cracking on a few more dolls.

I'm also thinking about creating a new blog which is dedicated to helping with toy knitting. I'd add some videos to demonstrate some skills rewired for toy knitting such as mattress stitch, sewing limbs, attaching safety eyes etc. Let me know if you would be interested in this kind of thing and I'll try and get it set up.

Ok everyone have a lovely lazy Sunday, especially for my American visitors who may still be recovering from their July 4th celebrations. I'll be back soon with any updates.
Happy knitting
♥ Raynor

Jelly Bums Rhino

 
Hey all, apologies as this post is about 2 days too late! I've popped in with the latest little Jelly Bum buddy. I've had him half completed for a week or so now and he needed arms attached so he could pose for the camera, so he sat there patiently waiting for me. As always he's available from my etsy shop and blog shop.
The reason I've been so busy is that we are eventually moving house! I'm so excited its actually a house with stairs and a garden for the girls to run about in, perfect for the approaching summer.
We will be slowly moving over the next two weeks, but I'll still have access to the computer so please don't hesitate if you want to get in touch with me, I promise I'll reply.
Sorry this post is a bit up in the air we're rushing around today trying to get ready to go support my mum and my sister as they are doing the 'Race for Life' sponsored run for Cancer Research today at Camperdown park, looks like it will be a good day so we might have a picnic in the park.
OK I'm off for now, I'll be back with any updates but at least you'll know where I've going if I'm gone for a little while.
Happy knitting everyone
Raynor x

Jelly Bums Goat

Hey all, dropping by today to show you the latest Jelly Bum member, a little billy goat. I had been meaning to make this pattern for ages because a lady by the name of Leslie had requested a goat ages ago as her sister has a sweet little Goat named Lexie. Also another great lady, Margaret had requested one to help her sister demonstrate 'The three Billy Goats Gruff' Story for the kids at her school. So I got the needles out and this little guy hopped off the end of them! I'm not sure if you can make it out in the photo but he has a fluffy little beard. I just love how grumpy he looks, it really gives him character.

When I'm creating the animal I like to look at lots of different pictures of them as research to how I want the finished toy to look. I never realised there was so many different types of goats with distinctive looks, so it was back to the drawing board and imaging how I remember them from my childhood, so I hope you all like him.

Also just wanted to make a quick little note about the clothes patterns. I've been wanting to make more pattern but I don't just want to do a dress or a t-shirt etc I would like to make them little themes so that people can pick and choose clothes to individualise their toys. It means I'll take longer to get the pattern out but also that there will be a few bits of clothing at a time. So hope you can bear with me whilst I brainstorm for a while over the themes.

In non-knitting news, what a glorious week its been here. The sun is shining brightly which is a rarity in Scotland so we've been on plenty of long walks with the girls to make the most of it. We're still house hunting at the moment, it's getting really daunting as time is drawing closer for me going to university, so fingers crossed something will crop up soon.

Ok as always I'll be back soon with any Jelly updates

♥Raynor

Jelly Bums Mouse

Hey all, just dropping by to show off the latest Jelly Bum Pattern, a sweet little mouse.
I had this pattern ready for a few days but somehow just could not get good pictures of the finished toy. I love how she looks a little bit chubby because I doubled up the white yarn because it was so thin, reminds me of the greedy little mouse from Cinderella.
I also wanted to say a huge thank you for your kind word about the dino suit I'm so pleased it was received so well. I'm in the process of working on a dress pattern but i'm still tweaking to get it perfect, and then I'll get photos and get it up for you all to use.
Apologies at the moment if I'm a bit absent I'm trying to get on to update as much as possible but we are in the middle of house hunting before I start university so it seems my spare time is filled with searching for the perfect house and then going to viewings. That and the fact that we have to start looking for a nursery for the girls soon, so hopefully you could all forgive me if I'm a bit quiet with things for a few days at a time. However do remember I'm always available to help or answer any questions and I'll always answer any emails within 24hours so please don't be afraid to write to me I'm always happy to hear from my fellow toy knitters.
OK I'm off for now to bask in the last of the rare afternoon sun, so drop by soon for any more Jelly updates
♥ Raynor

Jelly Bums Beaver

Hey all just popping in to introduce the latest Jelly Bum animal, don't you just love that little buck tooth? As with all the other patterns he is available to buy on his own or as part of any of the pattern deals. Can you believe that's the 20th Jelly Bum pattern already, it seems like so many now, but I've still got a big list to get through so I'm not hanging up my needles just yet!
I apologise for my lack of blogging lately, I seem to be trying to have my finger in to many knitting pies. I've been working on a little pattern for The Knitted Toy box, and also trying to clear out a lot of the knitted toys I've had stored away in a box for ages, hopefully I'll be able to find them a home where they will get lots of love and hugs.
I've also been looking into lots of ideas for more free clothes patterns for the toys, but can't seem to make up my mind on something yet. I was thinking perhaps a ballerina outfit or a superhero outfit, but I'm still researching lots of ideas so if anyone has any suggestions of what they would like to see please feel free to leave a comment, as I'd love your feedback.
Ok I'm off just now but promise I'll be back soon with any updates.
♥ Raynor

Jelly Bums Moose

 
There's a moose loose aboot the hoose!

Hey all, I'm back to introduce the latest addition to the Jelly Bums an adorable moose. He's been available to purchase since Tuesday however blogger has been playing up and I've been unable to post about him. His horns were a bit of a nightmare to design, but I got there in the end and I love the way they turned out, plus its always great to have a design challenge with a pattern, it makes the whole process more exciting.

Nothing much to report from this side of the pond as I'm pretty under the weather with some sort of virus as the moment so not feeling to great. However I'm not going to let that get me down as I really want to get cracking with some more patterns as I've got a lot of ideas running through my head at the moment, so I can't wait to get them down on paper (or should that be computer?).

The next pattern will be the 20th pattern still can't believe how quickly it seems to have gone and doesn't feel that long ago that I was creating the very first little doggy pattern. The only problem now is deciding what animal to design next!

Raynor x

Jelly Bums Cow

How now brown cow, look what I've eventually got around to finishing!


 
Finally managed to get things sorted out with the light box and managed to get a new one which was luckily delivered very quickly. I hope this little fellow was worth the wait.
In knitting news this week, I was so touched to learn that a lovely lady named Kate had purchased her pattern to knit for her friends newly adopted son who was making a long trip from Kazakhstan. His birth name means 'leader of the snow leopards' so she was going to knit him up a white Jelly Bum tiger and give it to him for him to cuddle on his long journey home. It never ceases to amaze me how kind-hearted some people can be, and I hope little Bekbaris is now settling into his lovely new home with his little snow leopard.
Things will be a bit hectic in out house this next week as my little princesses celebrate their birthdays. Evie will turn 2 on Monday and Lois will have her first birthday on the following Sunday, oh how time flies. I will be attempting to make a cake for Evies birthday but we'll see how that goes as my baking skills are a little rusty!
I will try and get started on the next pattern during middle of next week so hopefully I will be back on track again with getting the patterns out more regularly. Ok I'm off to purchase some baking ingredients, do you think guests would mind eating knitted cupcakes if it all goes pear-shaped?
♥ Raynor

Jelly Bums Raccoon

Hi everyone, I've bounded on hear very excited today to show the latest Jelly Bum pattern. I think to date this must be the finished I adore the most out of them all, although I'm torn between him and the lion.
This little fellow was inspired by my (almost!) 2 year old daughter. A few weeks ago she started to go through a peculiar phase when eating her meals. She would often take her juice beaker and start pouring it all over her food and then eating it, especially with things like bread. It reminded me of a nature program I had seen on raccoons who also carry out this 'dousing' behaviour with their food. So I started to call her a little raccoon and though I should whip up a little pattern in honour of her animalistic ways!

I've had a pretty rough week as I've developed some sort of cold and chest infection combo, leaving me feeling extremely tired, however I really need to start getting a move on with making more patterns.
I think I may have mentioned it a few posts back about wanting to go back to university to become a midwife, and after a long long 7 month wait I eventually got word of an interview for 23rd February. So hopefully if everything goes according to plan then I'll be back at university by September. So I'm hoping to reach my target of 50 patterns by September otherwise the time frame in which they will be released will slow considerably. I'll take it month by month but I'm hoping to make real progress.
Just thought I would mention that if I am returning to university then I will still be selling the patterns and I will still be around to answer all your questions and queries.
As usual I'll be back hopefully within the week to show of the latest pattern.
Happy knitting everyone
♥ Raynor

Jelly Bums Tiger

 
Hello everyone, just popping in to debut the newest Jelly Bum member, he's a cute little tiger.

After many attempts to get his stripes right I eventually managed to get them just how I pictured. He's now available to buy as a single pattern and in any of the pattern deals.

Thank you all for your kind emails congratulating me on my first Etsy year, your words mean so much and to know that when I write these little messages that I'm not just talking to myself in cyber space.

I've seen a few new pictures of the new leg patterns on Ravelry and the Jelly Bum Flickr group, and they look fantastic, so I'm glad you all like them. So remember if your knitting them, take photos and pop them on the Flickr group so I can see what everyone's creating.

I just realised the last few days that I'm slowing sown a lot more with the pattern creating again so it's all system go here. Tomorrow I'll be back on the ball getting started with the next pattern, I'm still in the process of perfecting the design. This time the pattern will be a little bit more unusual as there are very few patterns out there for this animal, so pop back soon to see what the needles have been stitching.

♥ Raynor

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

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

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

Jelly Bums Zebra

I am so pleased to finally get around to posting about this little guy as he seemed to take an age to create. As you can see we have an inconspicuous stripey friend.... a little Zebra.

 
The reason he took so long was because I couldn't make up my mind about his hair. At first I threaded all his hair with knots and it took forever and in the end I didn't like the way it looked so I gave him a haircut! Once it was all off I decided on just knitting the mane as one piece, and I love how it turned out, he looks like a little punk with a mo-hawk from the side.

I've had so much fun creating these little guys in the past few months, however this pattern will be the last one before the new year as I'm taking a break from pattern writing over the holiday season, don't worry though I'll still around to send out an orders.

I hope everyone is having fun knitting their little Jelly Bums for loved ones this Christmas, and if you do knit one please take some pictures for me and upload them onto the Jelly Bums flickr group because I really do love to see them.

So I'll pop off for now, and in the mean time have a lovely holiday season and try not to stress out too much (I know, easier said than done!).

♥ Raynor

Jelly Bums Hippo

Sorry to those who have been patiently waiting to find out what the newest animal is, I've been having trouble trying to log in to my blogger account so the pattern has been available for a few days now. SoIi present to you the Jelly Bum hippo

 
This little fellow was in demand as I had a few requests to make him. He gave me a great opportunity to try out double stranded knitting as the grey yarn I used was really thin so I doubled it up (Note to self: do not send hubby yarn shopping again). The method was a lot easier to do than I originally thought so I'd defiantly do it again.
I'm already started on making the latest pattern as I'm hoping to have 2 more animal patterns out by Christmas time, so finger crossed I don't get too distracted by the holiday season.
It's getting so much more difficult to photograph my toys in the natural light these days as the winter weather draws ever closer. We even had a blast on snow here on Sunday so it was really dark and chilly, so we have to wrap up warm every time we are out and about. looks like it's going to be a really cold winter in Scotland this year, i just wish I knew how to knit gloves and beautiful cowls, although a girl can dream by window shopping on Etsy!
Take care
♥ Raynor

Jelly Bums Penguin

Hey all I hope your all having a lovely start to your week. As promised I have another new pattern, this time its for a sweet little penguin.
 
This little sweetheart is the first bird to be added to the Jelly Bum collection. I think he's rather adorable and reminds me of pingu. He's the perfect little toy to knit up for the up and coming winter months.
As usual I'm going to get started on the next pattern either tonight or tomorrow, and it means I'm going to get using my new snowflake yarn, so if you know what this yarn looks like you might already have a little hint as to what animal is coming next, and if you don't then I'm leaving you in suspense.
♥Raynor
P.S sorry about all the extra spacing, blogger has gone a bit crazy over the last few weeks and it keeps putting lots of extra spacing into my posts and I can't fix it.