Petite Purls is a fantastic online magazine that specialises in knitting patterns for babies, toddlers and older children. Having said that, there are crochet patterns and sewing patterns too, all for little ones.

The magazine is published four times a year in January, April, July and October and is packed full of ideas. All of the patterns are free, for personal use only. Although not available to download as PDFs, it takes no time to copy and paste into a Word document to print off.

The magazine was first published in Summer 2009 and was the result of an online friendship between Allegra Wermuth and Brandy Fortune. Joan Bebe joined the creative duo as Technical Editor and Petite Purls was born.

Petite Purls concentrates on independent pattern designers; they will never publish a pattern from a company or a pattern publisher, although sometimes they may publish from a book. There are such lovely patterns available for free, you’ll be spoiled for choice. One of my favourite sections is the ‘Basics’. Here you’ll discover beautiful, basic patterns, which are great for beginners but also ideal for encouraging your creativity by changing stitches or using colourwork.

The latest addition to this ever-growing section is the Garter Bottom cardigan – it’s a lovely design by Amy Grace and is available in sizes 12 months, 2, 3 and 4 years. It is made in Spud & Chloe’s Sweater yarn, which is an aran weight.

All of the patterns are graded by ability, and under the name of the pattern and the designer there is a scale from young girl to older woman. The younger the lass, the easier the pattern.

Issue 14 is the current edition and as per usual there are several patterns I’ve already queued. Who could resist Belle & Beau by Megan Grewal?

It’s knitted in aran weight yarn and has sizes from 3 months to 8 years. Whilst I do adore the tree or the flowers on the bottom cardi, it’s the multicoloured yoke that I love.

My other favourite is the Entropy Vest by Anjali M available in sizes 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 years. The little argyle detail is cute and quirky but the tank top would look just as good plain.

When the latest issue is released the patterns do go up on Ravelry so some of them could look familiar. The site also has an archive of its back issues – all worth a look.

Be sure to check out White Caps by Daniela Nii from the Spring 2100 issue http://petitepurls.com/Spring11/spring2011_p_white.html

and Little Letterman by Danielle Reiner in the Fall 2010 issue

http://petitepurls.com/Fall2010/fall2010_p_littleletterman.html

If you’re still not convinced, I defy you all not to love Capuchon by Tagil Parlmutter in the Fall 2011 edition.

Don’t you just love it?

Happy Knitting!

Stash Dash Ready

March 4, 2013March 5, 2013 LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

As you can see from the pictures the shop is now Stash Dash ready for Tuesday 5th and Wednesday 6th March. There is sooooo much lovely yarn included that I will have to try to control the urge to buy it all myself.

Of course if we’re going to be honest then I shall have to admit to having selected several balls (slight understatement possibly?) for some of the projects I’ve cued…….. Who could blame me?

So will I give you an idea of what to expect when you come in for your 20 minutes?

Spring/Summer is supposed to be coming so it stands to reason that there will be chunky yarns, including –

Shades of Wendy Merino Chunky, Rico Galaxy, Bergere de France Duvetine, Twilley’s Purity & Sirdar Folksong to name but a few. We are also clearing Wendy Celtic Chunky & Wendy Norse.

In super chunky were clearing Sirdar Denim Ultra & Big Bamboo, shades of Sirdar Big Softie and there’s a few packs of Rico Super Chunky Tweed there too.

In aran weight there’s Wendy Traditional Aran, Rico Country Aran, shades of Sirdar Supersoft Aran and several lovely cottons from Araucania.

As you might expect there’s loads to tempt you in double knit yarns – shades of Sirdar Baby Crofter & Snuggly dk, we’re clearing King Cole Riot, Shades, Moods, Moods Duet, Baby Alpaca & Haze. Sorrento from Wendy is also included to clear as is Tiny Tots from Sirdar. There are also shades of Wendy Merino Dk, King Cole’s Splash, Rico’s Cotton dk and Sublime’s Egyptian Cotton.

In 4ply and lace there is Sirdar Countrystyle to clear and Rico’s Romance, there’s also sock yarn, shades of Comfort 4ply and loads of odd balls and hanks.

There’s also scarf yarns from Sirdar, Rico & Tivoli, shades of Reflection from Rico, Snowdrops from Sirdar and loads more yarn in lots of lovely colours, too many to mention.

I’m looking forward to having another look myself and hope everyone that’s coming finds something they like.

Don’t forget your list.

Happy Knitting!

Countdown Beginning……………..

February 19, 2013February 19, 2013 LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

For those of you that have been before you’ll know what it’s all about, the rest of you would probably best to read this previous post here http://knitmidleton.com/2012/07/23/everybody-keeps-asking-me/

Basically, we cover up all the shelves and lay out as many tables as we can fit into the shop; on top of these we put all the yarn we’re discontinuing. There could be whole ranges of yarn, shades of yarn and some you might not have seen before. There will be odd balls, several balls and packs of balls, no matter what, all balls are €3 each.

There are things to consider: you have to book your slot, you only have 20 minutes (you’re timed), you have to prepare, dig out the patterns, check your favourites on Ravelry, make sure you know how much double knit/aran/chunky you need. Have a look at the post linked above if you’re not sure and make sure you book your place quickly before they all go.

This is what you should be expecting.

Let the mayhem begin!

Super Chunky Mistake Rib Cowl

January 31, 2013January 31, 2013 LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

Having managed to persuade my usual model to pose for a picture, you can no doubt see how she feels about it.

Mistake rib is a great stitch pattern to use for scarves/cowls as it gives you a double sided fabric rather than one with a definite front and back (like stocking stitch). The easiest way to remember the pattern is to cast on an odd number of stitches, in this instance I used 17. With an odd number of stitches every row of your scarf will be the same.

We managed to wrap the cowl around Dina 3 times, but the friend it was made for is very tall and tends to wear it wrapped round her neck twice. if you want to make it wider and a little shorter cast on 2 extra stitches (the pattern remains the same).

Cowl Dimensions

Length 180cm/70″

Width 23cm/9″

Materials

5 Balls Sirdar Big Bamboo

10mm Needles

Darning Needle

Abbreviations

k – knit

p – purl

st(s) – stitch(es)

Pattern

Using thumb method cast on 17 stitches.

Work every row as follows – knit 2 stitches, purl 2 stitches repeat these 4 stitches to last st, K1

Work until almost all of your yarn has gone ensuring you save enough to cast off loosely (approximately 3 times the width of your knitting).

Sew cast on edge to cast off edge in order to make a large ring and sew in ends.

Tip – When joining in a new ball of yarn try to do this somewhere along the row rather than at the beginning of a row as usual. This will help to keep the edges of the cowl tidy and means your ends can be better hidden.

New Crochet Magazine

January 28, 2013January 29, 2013 LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

Yes my crochet is basic, very basic actually. Still, that hasn’t deterred me from picking up the first edition of the new Simply Crochet Magazine to have a nosey at.

The first thing you’ll notice about the magazine is the paper. It’s not your usual glossy paper, nor is it the heavier, recycled kind of paper that you get in Mollie Makes. It has a vintage feel about it, with more of a matt look and it’s absolutely packed with editorials, information, yarn reviews and most importantly patterns.

There are 30 items to make including motifs, home furnishings, a baby girl’s cardigan, a woman’s cardigan and a beautiful blanket too.

This is a little snippet of the home furnishing patterns –

The instructions for this super chunky cowl are also included, it’s made in Rowan Big Wool but you could substitute any other super chunky yarn instead.

Some of my particular favourite patterns in the magazine are these little hearts. I can think of several friends that would adore a few of the little decorations dotted around their homes.

All of the patterns have a little pictorial information panel at the beginning indicating the stitches used in the project, the weight of yarn it’s made in and the size of hook required, which is extremely helpful when selecting what to crochet. As a ‘novice’ I can spot the projects I’m capable of straight away by which stitches are used. For example the Cosy Baby Blanket uses shell stitch, which I’m yet to learn.

The magazine will be published on a monthly basis around the 10th of each month and costs £4.99/€7ish, although there are the usual subscription offers enticing you with cheaper issue prices if you take out one. There is also a digital version of the magazine available too on Apple Newstand, it’s www.simplycrochetmag.com/digital and for Android/PC customers go to www.zinio.com
A 13 month digital subscription costs £44.99 about €57 which is quite a bit cheaper than if you bought 13 printed issues.

It’s difficult to tell if an experienced crocheter would enjoy the magazine as much as I have as the projects all seem to be aimed at people with beginner and intermediate levels of skill. I can guarantee you’ll enjoy the magazine if you like funky granny squares, quirky hearts and looking at what other people have created (Pinterest anyone?).

The Simply Crochet Magazine blog http://www.simplycrochetmag.co.uk/ complements the magazine beautifully, there are even links to the odd free patterns, plus readers news and competitions.

I hope future issues of the magazine are as interesting and appealing and that it continues to be chockablock with patterns of all kinds. If you’d like to have a little look at it, I shall have my copy at the shop for a while.

Happy Crocheting!

Open the Box

January 24, 2013January 25, 2013 LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

Look What's Arrived? — Look What’s Arrived?

So, this box arrived at the shop on Friday and there are no prizes for guessing where it came from. As anticipated the yarn inside is lovely.

For our initial delivery of Knitcol from Adrafil we have gone with 6 of the most popular shades – 46, 55, 56, 58, 59 and 62. (If the light is good tomorrow in the shop I will take a photo)

For now the shade card will have to suffice.

Knitcol is 100% superwash merino wool. Each 50g ball contains 125m, knits as our standard dk and retails in the shop for €5.25. There are free patterns available on the Adrafil website here.

We hope to add to the range of shades we stock if the yarn proves popular.

Happy Knitting!

Heart Decoration

November 22, 2012November 22, 2012 LeftFootDaisy2 Comments

(Bleeding awful photos again ain’t they? Sorry! Said in my South East London accent of course)

Size (approx)

Width at widest point 11cm

Height from top of curve to point 9.5cm

Materials

A pair of 4mm needles

Rico Cotton Aran any colours

Darning Needle

Toy stuffing

A 4.5mm crochet hook or ribbon

Abbreviations

St(s): Stitch(es)

K: Knit

P: Purl

Alt: Alternate

Tog: Together

S1: Slip 1 stitch

PSSO: Pass slipped stitch over

M1: Make 1 – From the front, lift loop between stitches with left needle, knit into back of the loop.

K2tog: Knit the next 2 sts together

K3tog: Knit the next 3 sts together

P2tog: Purl 2 sts together

p2togtbl: Purl 2 sts together through back loops

SSK: Slip, slip, knit slipped stitches tog.

Heart – Make 2 pieces

Ornament is knitted in stocking stitch – knit 1 row, purl one row

Using 4mm needles and shade A cast on 3sts.

Work 2 rows in stocking stitch

3^rd row: – Using shade B, k1, m1, k1, m1, k1

4^th row: – purl

5^th row: – Switch to shade A, k1, m1, k3, m1, k1

6^th row: – Purl

Continue working 2 row stripe sequence, increasing by 1 stitch at each end on the next and every alt row until there are 21 sts. Work 3 more rows ending with a purl row.

Decreases

Continue working in 2 row stripe sequence except for the last 3 rows, work these and the cast off in the same shade.

1^st row: – k1, ssk, k7, turn. (9sts)

Working on these stitches only slip the remaining 11 sts onto a small stitch holder

2^nd, 4^th and 6^th row: purl

3^rd row: k1, ssk, k6. (8sts)

5^th row: k1, ssk, k2, k2tog, k1. (6sts)

7^th row: k1, ssk, k2tog, k1. (4sts)

8^th row: P1, p2togtbl. (3sts)

9^th row: S1, k2tog, psso, cast off remaining stitch.

Rejoin yarn to remaining sts

1^st row: k2tog, k until there are 7 sts on right hand needle, k2tog, k1. (9sts)

2^nd, 4^th and 6^th row: purl

3^rd row: k6, k2tog, k1. (8sts)

5^th row: k1, ssk, k2, k2tog, k1. (6sts)

7^th row: k1, ssk, k2tog, k1. (4sts)

8^th row: p1, p2tog, p1. (3sts)

9^th row: k3tog, cast off last stitch.

You need to make a braid to hang the ornament. I crochet 18 chains on a 4.5mm crochet hook, but you could knit a braid, plait some wool or use a piece of ribbon.

Place the hearts right sides together and sew up using a backstitch, remember to sew over your braid in order to hang your ornament. Sew 90% of the way round, sew in and trim ends except the one you’re using to sew up.

Turn heart right sides out, stuff, if you insert the filling a little at a time you will achieve a more even fill.

Sew up remaining opening.

They look great on a plain tinsel wreath like this. Those of you that know me will know I prefer odd numbers so there is one missing!!!!! The wreath was from a euro shop and cost €7 I think.

I love using Rico Creative Cotton Aran for these decorations as it comes in such a wide range of colours and it’s easy on the pocket;however, I’ve also made a good few of these little hearts in sock wool with 2.5mm needles. Once made I omitted the hanging braid, opting instead to put them in a little felted bowl as a gift. They work equally well for Christmas, Valentines or for when you just want to let someone know you appreciate them. They’re quick and easy to knit and can be decorated with buttons and sequins to jazz them up a bit if you like.

011 — They look pretty in plain colours too.

Time for a Little Feedback

November 14, 2012November 14, 2012 LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

Having just sent off two rather large boxes full of knitted and crocheted garments for preemies it’s great to be able to come back to you all with a little feedback from one of our previous collections.

Our collection for the Chernobyl Children’s Trust earlier in the year for knitted hats, scarves and gloves was extremely successful thanks to the fine brigade of people that gave up their yarn, time and skills to ensure that we were able to hand over several black sacks full of winter woolies.

Deena at the charity has very kindly got back to me with a couple of photos of the children wearing some of the items. The photos were taken earlier in the summer at the holiday camp the charity arrange for disabled children and their families to attend.

This is one of the little girls Vika modelling one of the knitted hats on a balmy summer’s day; however I’m sure she’ll be grateful of it now it’s much colder in Belarus.

Sveta and her mother Galina are in the picture above sporting their scarves, with a little help from Deena on the left.

I hope, like myself, you enjoy knowing the items crafted by all of us are actually going where they’re supposed to and that the right people are benefiting from our work. The charity itself is wonderful and everyone involved are so generous of spirit, time and resources that I find them totally inspirational. I know they are presently looking for more people to become host families, and if any of you are interested, or know someone who would be, please get in touch.

Our next collection (details to come) will be for another project The Chernobyl Children’s Trust is involved in too, so I hope we can rely on your continuing support.

Happy Knitting!

Chunky Basket Rib Hat

October 31, 2012 LeftFootDaisy3 Comments

Before you read on I feel I owe it to you to apologies in advance for the terrible photos, I keep taking more and they’re just not getting any better because of the glare of the sequins. A good few of you will have seen me wearing the hats by now so hopefully you know what they look like.

I’d been dying to use the sparkly, sequined, chunky yarn ‘Galaxy’ from Rico when it first came in last year and finally decided to make a hat (no surprises there). It’s fair to say I’m a little bit of a hat lover, obviously since having the shop they now tend to be of the knitted kind, but I love all hats.

My first hat purchase when I was about 13 was a vintage purple hat from the 1920’s which I absolutely adored – not sure what became of it. Since then there have been trilby’s, cloches, flat caps, beanies both bobbled and not,70’s styled huge hats, straw ones, berets and slouchie ones I JUST LOVE EM ALL!

It shouldn’t come as a shock to find out that I love knitting them too, their quick to knit and can be great way to show of the most intricate of patterns or ‘over the top yarns’ that you just wouldn’t make a whole garment in. There also ideal to give as a gift. Every year I think I have enough of them and then the madness sets in and I have to make more……….

So here’s my chunky beret in Rico Chunky Galaxy

Hat Size

To fit the average sized woman’s head, at least I think my head is of average size?

The blue hat is approximately 21cm/8.5″ high, whilst the purple one is 19cm/7.25″

Tension

14 stitches x 19 rows in stocking stitch

Abbreviations

k – knit

p – purl

st(s) – stitch(es)

s1 – slip stitch

k2tog – knit the next 2 stitches together

yf – move yarn forward to front of work

yb – move yarn to back of work

Materials

2 x 100g balls Rico Galaxy Chunky

The purple/green hat only took 1 ball whilst the blue hat used about a quarter of the 2nd ball

5mm & 6.5mm needles

Darning needle

Basket Rib Pattern

1st Row (rs) – Knit

2nd Row – Purl

3rd Row – K1 *s1 purlwise, k1: repeat from * to end

4th Row – K1 *yf, s1 purlwise, yb, k1: repeat from * to end

These 4 rows make up the basket weave pattern

Directions

Using thumb method and 5.5mm cast on 73 stitches.

1st Row – k1, p1 to last st k1

2nd Row – p1, k1 to last st p1

Repeat these 2 rows 2 times more and row 1 once more (you will have worked 7 rows in total)

8th row – k2, m1 to last 3sts, rib 3 (109 sts)

Change to 6.5mm needles and begin working basket weave pattern. The purple hat took 6 sets of repeats and the blue hat took 9 repeats.

Shape crown

Decrease Row 1 – k4, k2tog to end (91sts)

keeping pattern correct work 3 more rows

Decrease Row 2 – K3, k2tog (73sts)

work 3 more rows of pattern

Decrease Row 3 – K2, k2tog (55sts)

work 3 more rows of pattern

Decrease Row 4 – K1, K2tog (37sts)

work 3 more rows of pattern

Decrease Row 5 – K2tog (19sts)

purl 1 row

Final Decrease Row – K2tog (10sts)

Leave approximately 12″ of yarn, cut and thread through remaining 16sts using a blunt tipped darning needle to secure. Sew seam

Leave approximately 12″ of yarn, cut and thread through remaining 8sts using a blunt tipped darning needle to secure. Sew seam.

Is it possible to drown in wool?

October 18, 2012October 19, 2012 LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

Ok, so I probably mean suffocate, but you get what I’m trying to say.
As it’s full knitting and crochet season right now it seems like there’s at least one sizable delivery arriving in each week, and to be honest it’s hard work. There’s the lugging backwards and forwards of the sacks of yarn, as most of them still get delivered to the house. Then there’s the sorting, checking and recording of the yarn/patterns followed by what can only be described as a ‘nightmare’: the inevitable task of trying to find space in the stock room. While summer yarns present their own problems – cottons, linens and bamboos are firmer yarns so it’s difficult to squeeze extra on the shelves – in winter the yarns are bulkier, squidgier, and to be honest dangerous.

Today, I was stacking a pile of new yarn behind one of the doors in the stock room (it’s the only space I could find!). There was a protest made, the yarn tumbled down, closing said door, which I promptly banged into while being attacked by the falling yarn?????? Unsurprisingly, I gave in and packed up several sacks of yarn to bring home to store in the stock room here.

In the three huge sacks and one rather large box that I unpacked last week there were loads of goodies from King Cole including:-

Galaxy chunky is the same great yarn as the double knit version that King Cole released around this time last year but as the name suggests it’s a chunky weight and is available in the six shades pictured. To complement the yarn there are some great new designs, some of which would knit up in next to no time, great for gift knitting. In addition to the Galaxy Chunky we also bought a really lovely sapphire blue in the double knit version.

Sapphire, a beautiful baby yarn also arrived in. As did Glitz which is similar to the sapphire but in more adult/Christmas shades. I assume the red will be quite popular for little people knits. Both yarns have a little lame running through them for that little bit of a sparkle.

As you might expect there were new shades in Value Chunky, Wicked, and a few shades in another baby yarn Melody, which is very similar to Sirdar Baby Changes.

Last but not least is the beautiful 4ply Merino in eight scrumptious shades. This yarn has great meterage at 180 metres per 50g ball.

I’ll be writing another post over the next couple of days to let you know what’s in the boxes waiting in the hall to be unpacked now!

Happy Knitting!

Confessions of a Fibre Strumpet

Tag: gifts

Review: Petite Purls Knitting Magazine

Stash Dash Ready

Countdown Beginning……………..

Super Chunky Mistake Rib Cowl

New Crochet Magazine

Open the Box

Heart Decoration

Time for a Little Feedback

Chunky Basket Rib Hat

Is it possible to drown in wool?

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