Wednesday, 25 July 2012

"Oh I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside"


My recent family trip to the seaside, closely followed by a school trip to the Sea Life Centre in Brighton, put in mind that I should branch out a little from the insects and try my hand at some sea creatures, or maybe I should say beach creatures.

The knitting patterns for these sea creatures are available on Ravelry. 

I have a special offer running on Ravelry, where you can buy any two of my seaside patterns, including my popular spiral shell, and get a £1 discount. I also have a few of my seaside sets for sale for non-knitters in my Etsy Shop.

I have a few more sea creatures in the pipeline, which I am still working on.

I have tried to photograph them below so that you have to look quite hard I hope to see which are knitted and which are real. 


I have been working on the patterns for a while, and am pleased with the way they have turned out. The scallop shell can be knitted as one half, or as two and sewn together and stuffed. I thought it might be nice to make into a lavendar bag. 

Hubby suggested fashioning two shells into a bikini, but soon told him what to do with that idea. Scallops seem to come in a huge variety of colours and patterns, as you can see from the black shell that we found on a beach in Cornwall. So anyone who knits one could really let their imagination go wild.


This version of the starfish has a bit of embroidery, but this is optional. As usual I have tried to go for realism. I have put a page on my blog on how to sew a french knot, as I love using this stitch. I seem to use it a lot, and people think it is difficult, so hope I have shown how simple it is.


This is the underside, which my son says is where a starfish's mouth is?


I have a few more sea creatures in the pipeline, which I am still working on.

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57 comments:

  1. Fay25 July 2012 at 14:39

    They look fab!

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  2. nicole25 July 2012 at 14:46

    how fabulous! they're so realistic!
    super work!
    xo

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  3. gardenglut25 July 2012 at 14:59

    I love your starfish! They are so cute!

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  4. Unknown25 July 2012 at 15:35

    Wow! gorgeous and so creative!

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  5. Jill25 July 2012 at 15:42

    OH wow! They really are amazing! they do look so real!

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  6. edward and lilly25 July 2012 at 17:38

    Wow!! Love them!

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  7. erin25 July 2012 at 18:37

    oh my gosh, they're incredible! you're right I can hardly tell which are real and which aren't!

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  8. Deb (Two Cheeky Monkeys)25 July 2012 at 19:50

    After just spending a week at the beach, I can say that your creations look as good, if not better, than the real thing creatures I saw!

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  9. Trudy26 July 2012 at 00:49

    Ginny, your sea critters are fabulous!! Love the striped shell. Thanks for sharing on Ravelry : -)

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  10. Peli26 July 2012 at 11:52

    these are amazing!!!!

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  11. Cas26 July 2012 at 20:57

    wow they are amazing! what a special talent you have :)

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  12. Jackie @ Fred-and-Cissy27 July 2012 at 00:59

    I love them!

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  13. Linda27 July 2012 at 01:49

    Oh my goodness! I thought these were real, you are an amazing designer!
    Take care
    Linda

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  14. Leah27 July 2012 at 01:50

    Those are fabulous! Incredibly realistic. Well done :)

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  15. Sarah ~ Crafts from the Cwtch27 July 2012 at 02:04

    They are wonderful! :)

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  16. Kim Sonksen27 July 2012 at 02:34

    Be.Still.My.Heart.
    Those are A-freakin'-MAZING!!!! Love just how realistic they look. Fantastic work

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  17. Anonymous27 July 2012 at 02:50

    Hi Ginny lovely to 'meet' you, thanks for visiting my blog!
    Wow I love your sea creatures, they are fantastic and your little insects are brilliant too, very clever. :)
    Vivienne x

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  18. HillyT27 July 2012 at 03:56

    Beautiful, they make me think of my days at University!

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  19. W-S Wanderings27 July 2012 at 04:42

    They are spectacular! What a fun addition they would be to the children's nature table.

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  20. Anonymous27 July 2012 at 05:17

    These are so very good. They'd look amazing as decoration in a beach hut :)

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  21. Wool Diaries27 July 2012 at 05:53

    When I first saw them I thought they were real ones. Those are awesome

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  22. Traci Sumner27 July 2012 at 06:25

    Those are amazing!

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  23. bookworm-Mary27 July 2012 at 06:47

    Cute sea creatures!! They looked so real!

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  24. Unknown27 July 2012 at 06:48

    Those look amazing. So lifelike

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  25. Anonymous27 July 2012 at 07:46

    They are so stunning! Great job!

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  26. Maria27 July 2012 at 08:12

    Wow! They are amazing!

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  27. stitchin' girl27 July 2012 at 08:13

    These sea creatures are sooo cute!! I especially like the star fish with the little pearls.

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  28. AllyB27 July 2012 at 11:25

    I love the scallops! These are fabulous, I'll have to try my hand at some sea creatures soon. Thank you for sharing them.

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  29. Minding My Own Stitches27 July 2012 at 12:17

    They are awesome. I like the starfish especially. When we were in California last year we had the opportunity to feed the starfish, so that indent in the centre of the bottom - that's the mouth. There are some cool YouTube videos showing them eating :)

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  30. Marie/Underground Crafter27 July 2012 at 14:18

    Wow, these are great! They will be wonderful reminders of a great time at the beach :).

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  31. Unknown27 July 2012 at 15:02

    How fun!!!! love them and they definitely look like they came off the beach.

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  32. WonderWhyGal27 July 2012 at 15:59

    oooh, I can hear the ocean calling me.

    Those are awesome!

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  33. Gracey is not my name....28 July 2012 at 17:29

    Those are fantastic!

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  34. K28 July 2012 at 21:06

    WOW, Ginx! These are really beautiful. Just very, very good. Hear! Hear!

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  35. Charlotte Helle28 July 2012 at 23:17

    Wow! They look great! I love the yellow starfish. The white polka dots are perfect!

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  36. Suz29 July 2012 at 03:57

    These are awesome - very realistic!

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  37. Highland Monkey's29 July 2012 at 10:31

    They are brilliant, what a splendid idea, never seen knitted shells before. I had to look twice!

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  38. Hannah29 July 2012 at 10:38

    What a great idea! Thanks for sharing

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  39. Wendy29 July 2012 at 11:25

    Wow - they are amazing. I also think the french knot is amazing (very versatile) and possibly my favourite stitch.

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  40. Fiddly Fingers29 July 2012 at 11:31

    How realistic are these? I would imagine a tremendous amount of work went into them. Well worth it though, they are a credit to you. Fantastic! Love your husband's comment, that's just the sort of thing mine would have said!!!! It made him roar when I read it out to him :)

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  41. Anonymous29 July 2012 at 12:29

    I had to look twice to see which were real or not. I think they are really lovely. A fantastic job. Well done. :)

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  42. Bev Newman29 July 2012 at 12:51

    Amazing work! I've adapted a starfish pattern in the past to make star keyrings and found them very fiddly to make, Your creations are very life like

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  43. Kat Shenton29 July 2012 at 13:34

    Stunning!

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  44. Free Spirit Designs29 July 2012 at 13:36

    wow i looooooooooove these! the striped shell is my fav but all look amazing :) x

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  45. April's Homemaking29 July 2012 at 15:05

    These look wonderful, what a great design!

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  46. Ali29 July 2012 at 16:47

    What a fantastic design, they look amazing. Ali x

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  47. Anonymous30 July 2012 at 01:10

    Fantastic! I love the starfish :)

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  48. Tickled Pink30 July 2012 at 01:24

    Wow, fabulous. Really difficult to tell which are real and which aren't! What a brilliant idea!

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  49. Helen30 July 2012 at 01:57

    They are fab :) very effective x

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  50. Handbags by Helen30 July 2012 at 10:54

    Fab idea. They look sooooo good. Who would have thought knitting could look so realistic!

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  51. Susie30 July 2012 at 13:01

    These are awesome! As a former biology teacher, these really appeal! So creative! WOW

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  52. Miriam30 July 2012 at 17:54

    These are fantastic - what a neat way to capture and create inspiration

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  53. ACraftyKnitter1 August 2012 at 06:21

    Those are amazing! Are you going to publish the pattern?

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    Replies
    1. Ginx Craft1 August 2012 at 10:17

      The patterns are already published on Ravelry. You can link there through the pictures in the left sidebar.

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  54. Sil1 August 2012 at 18:14

    You are amazing!

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  55. KraftyKaren2 August 2012 at 12:31

    These are so lovely - I especially love the starfish

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  56. Martha2 August 2012 at 15:59

    Absolutely fantastic! how clever and unique! never seen a knitted sea creatures like these!
    the starfish and the shells beat everything.
    they are the best creations in the whole Hand-Made Monday episode this week!
    well done!

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