Drew Designs

I decided it is about time I started a blog all about knitting.

Launching Drew Designs.

Find new knitting patterns and pictures of great knits I've tried and tested. Links to what's hot in knitting and much more.

This comes with a caution...addiction is probable. I have caught the bug and it must be shared.

Touch Wood Rings

Check me out! I am famous throughout the land for the beautiful ring that sits on my fourth finger...


Touch Wood Rings made two beautiful wooden rings for our wedding back in October. You can read all about them and see more of their incredible creations on their blog.


Made in Canada, worn in England.

Knitted Head Scarf Patterns - Part 2

As promised, here are the additional patterns from my head scarf collection:

3. Purple/Grey Headscarf (middle right)

For this head scarf, I used round needles so there is no sewing up at the ends. You could also use DPNs (double pointed needles).
Needles: 4mm round needles, __cm long
Yarn: Any DK wool, 50g ball, suitable for 4mm needles.

Cast on 100 stitches in purple yarn.
Be careful the yarn is not twisted when joining your stitches into a loop to start Row 1.
Row 1: k2, p2
Continue until head scarf measures 2cm from starting edge.
Next Row: using grey yarn, k
Continue until head scarf measures 6cm from starting edge.
Next Row: using purple yarn, k2, p2
Continue until head scarf measures 8cm from starting edge.
Cast off using rib.

Change colours, width as desired. Add stripes of colour in the middle section. Let your creativity really go wild with this one!

4. Moss Head scarf
I made four of these in varying colours and they all looked so stylish. Plus they're super easy to knit!
Needles: 7mm
Yarn: Any chuncky yarn will work.
If you want to use a thinner yarn, just use smaller needles. This will create a smaller, tighter bobble effect.


Cast on 8 stitches
Row 1: k1, p1
Row 2: p1, k1
Continue repeating this sequence until desired length.
Cast off
Sew ends together.

Job done!

Enjoy the patterns and let me know how they turn out. I'd love to see how creative you've been...

Knitted Head Scarf Patterns

So, as many of you will know, I have recently got married and so have naturally doubled the amount of family members I can knit for! This led to knitting NINE head scarves for Christmas pressies. Now they've all opened them I thought I'd share my patterns with you. Yes, that's right, I made them up myself. I'm climbing the knitting ladder one stitch at a time!

Here are the first two patterns for you. It's the first time I've written down a pattern, so please post up any questions you have. Let me know how yours work out.

1. Purple Passion (left)
This is so easy, anyone can make it!
Needles: 7mm
Yarn: Any chunky wool will work.

Cast on 12 stitches
Row 1: K1, P1 for entire row
Row 2: as row above.
Continue like this until it fits around yours head (or the head your knitting it for).
Cast off.
Sew two ends together.

2. Holy Headscarf (middle left)
This one has holes in the middle which are created using 'yo' (yarn over). I knitted it for my eight year old sister and she loved it. The pattern below is for a wider adult head scarf.
Needles: 7mm
Yarn: Any chunky wool will work.

Cast on 15 stitches
Row 1: p
Row 2: k
Row 3: p2, k2, 2tog, yo, k1, 2tog, k1, yo, k3, p2
Row 4: p
Row 5: p2, k1, 2tog, yo, k1, 2tog, yo, 2tog, k1, yo, k2, p2
Row 6: p
Repeat Rows 3-6 until required length.
Next Row: k
Cast off

Pattern:

So there you have it, two Drew Designs to get stuck into! (Do you see what I did there?!) I'll post up the other two patterns soon. Watch this space...

SO vintage!

It seems Vintage is the thing, the way forward (kind of) at the moment. Everyone is knitting vintage, baking vintage, selling vintage and people love it, don't they? I mean, I do!

I am dying to knit a jumper now that I've finished all the knitted hearts (4 days to go until the big day - crazy!) So, of course, I started browsing the net for yummy designs. That's when I stumbled upon Stone Hill Collections. If you want vintage you need this site.

You name it, they got it: buttons, knitting patterns, lace, jewellery...everything from bits to bobs!

And...I found my jumper pattern there too. Do you like? So the colours are a little 'off', but that's the joy of knitting, right? Knitting patterns, your way. Ask me in a year and I might be able to show you the finished article.

For now I'm working on my not-so-vintage scarf, but more on that as it progresses...

Get creative. Get vintage!

Stickman.com

Whatever you're doing, STOP!

Check out drawastickman.com. All you need is a mouse/touch pad and a few minutes and there you have it, a creative, fun treat for you to enjoy.

Anyone can enjoy this, however creative you think you are.

Good old fashioned drawing...with computers!

For some reason, mine's a bit grumpy. It's just how he came out. There's a character waiting to be created...are you up for the challenge?

Caravan for sale on ebay...apparently

I love the way life can inspire stories...if you pay attention.

Yesterday I had two missed calls on my phone with answer phone messages, so naturally I listened to them. Both of them were from a northern man asking me about my caravan, you know, the one I put on ebay.

Hang on...ebay? Caravan?

Then a lady called me too, asking about my alleged caravan. What the heck was going on?

Firstly I've never been on ebay and secondly, I have definitely never owned a caravan.

But what if I did and I've lost all memory of it...

What if I told them I did and had a big bartering war with them, running off with all the money...

What if someone set me up with a stolen caravan...

What if I met real owner and he turned out to be a killer who lures people in through ebay...

Life is the biggest inspiration. All we gotta do is pay attention. What happened to you today?

Gill Lewis

Seriously check out her website. It's so much fun!

Owen Davey

So, I'm doing an intern at Bath Festivals at the moment and today I was putting together some info sheets about some authors who are visiting schools as part of the Kids Lit Fest. I was going from website to website and this one blew me away...

Check out Owen Davey. He's an illustrator and he's produced this beautiful picture book, Foxley's Feast and is soon to release a second. I think his drawings are brilliantly stylistic. I want one!

His talents don't stop at stories. He's produced work for the likes of Orange, The Times, Jamie Oliver and the BBC! An inspiration to all us budding creative types.

Take a look at his wrapping paper too. It's the coolest. Now whose birthday's coming up...?

Bouquets with a difference

Isn't this just the coolest thing you've ever seen in your LIFE!

They are made by a Princess Lasertron and it is how she makes her living. I want to be her!

Check out her amazingly creative blog here.

Ralph Allen Writes presents Rebecca Tucker

Unfortunately Ralph Allen Writes 2011 competition is now totally come to an end. Winners have been announced. Prizes have been given. Anthologies have gone on sale. I certainly have learnt a lot from it and I think the pupils involved have learnt a lot too. Being creative is not easy, you know. It takes a lot of work but all the pupils who entered the competition are now published writers, which is amazing!

There was one girl, however, that missed out on the opportunity to be published. I'm putting it down to some computer malfunction. So here for your pleasure is a story that's definitely worth a Creative Thinkers post. Rebecca Tucker's chilling tale, Trapped Forever:

“Beware of the ring! Do not put it on your finger or you will be trapped forever!” The fortune teller’s voice was cruel and emotionless. As Harry walked out of the tent his face was as white and blank as an icy lake. He felt quite taken aback! Didn’t fortune tellers normally say what you wanted to hear?

            Over time, Harry’s family moved house, into an extremely beautiful Tudor building. After the family had settled in, Harry discovered an archaic basement. Feeling curious, he decided to explore the dusty rooms. Harry found a small box and, feeling inquisitive, chose to look. Harry opened the lid of the tiny container and found a ring with a grinning skull. Feeling rather disappointed that it was just an old ring; he put it on his finger. After all it was pretty cool!

            Suddenly, Harry found himself falling through the clouds and realised that the ground was getting closer. Harry hit the floor with a thud. He looked round the room, flooded with light. It was as empty as an abandoned cave. Without warning the light in the room got blindingly bright and it filled with fire, closing in on Harry like a hungry tiger…

            Harry woke up. Thankfully it was just a dream! Rubbing his eyes he noticed someone standing at the end of his bed.

            “Happy birthday!” his mum exclaimed. “I brought you breakfast, it’s your favourite!” She held out an enormous pile of pancakes.

            “But my birthday’s a week away!” Harry answered.

            “Don’t be daft Harry!” his mum said, handing him the pile.

Harry stopped arguing and ate his breakfast. He had to admit, it was lovely!

            At school that day everyone was unusually nice to Harry: Mrs Turner had given him chocolates for winning a maths quiz, his mum had made him a special birthday lunch, Mr Wood had given him a cake with pink icing and a candle and his class had sung happy birthday to him!

           

Walking home, a sudden noise made Harry wake up from his daydream and, as he looked up, he realised that he had no idea where he was. The sky was filled with beautiful stars and Harry felt himself turning as he tried to see them all. The stars became a blur as Harry turned faster and in their place were terrifying ruby eyes.  As he watched, unable to move, Harry saw several monsters’ heads appearing out the darkness, then their bodies and, last of all, their hideous red tails. He heard a murmuring growl that grew into a furious roar of victory. Harry shut his eyes and covered his ears, hoping desperately that they would go!

            Without warning everything changed. The dreadful scarlet creatures were replaced by a flaming ring of fire, out of which emerged terrifying, headless zombies, dripping with blood.  Suddenly, Harry remembered something someone had said to him years ago. “I am trapped forever in my dream…” Harry realised as the Zombies closed around him, ready to kill.

To order a copy of the Ralph Allen Writes Anthology please email me. They are only £5 each with proceeds split between Ralph Allen School funds and Cancer Research.

Bertie and Jack in Bath

As promised, here are some pictures of Bertie and Jack's stall in Bath, England. It looks like something you'd find in Europe rather than rainy England! If their work is not worthy of a Creative Thinkers entry, I don't know what is.

All their pictures are one-offs. If you hang these babies on the wall, you'll be the only one that has one exactly like that. Truly unique. And now I work for them!

Check them out on Facebook: Bertie and Jack.

Bertie and Jack in Bath

So my life has turned super busy and it may look like I've forgotten all about creativity, but I just wanted to let you all know that it's just not the case. In fact, you'll be happy to know that I have a new job (yay!) working on a little art stall in Bath called Bertie and Jack. They sell cute pictures of elephants, penguins and doves made of patterned paper. Perfect for wedding presents, birthdays, moving in presents ...basically there's one for everyone. The designs are so simple, yet really affective. They are perfect.

Check them out on Facebook: Bertie and Jack.

I LOVE working on the stall with Emma and Rebecca. I'll take some pictures today for you all to see.

Watch this space...

National Knitting in Public Day 2011

Get your knitting needles out and get involved people!



Where could you share...?