Wishing You a Happy Christmas!
Every year I plan to do a bit more linoprinting, but some how I find a year has passed, and the last time I got out my kit was the Christmas before.
This is the card I made this year, and although it is a bit early for resolutions, I am definitely going to try to do a bit more throughout the year. Perhaps I may need to get a new tube of printing ink.
It has become my habit to linoprint my Christmas cards for my friends and family. This year some of them were of the "Nearly Home Trees" which are a distinctive clump of beech trees, that can be seen on the A30 just before the border with Cornwall. For anyone who lives where I live they really are a sign that you are nearly home, and we still play the game of who can spot them first.
At first I did not like my prints, as it does look like a steady rain is falling behind the trees, but perhaps for Cornwall that is fairly realistic. Below is a photo of the actual trees that I took a few years ago. I need to try and do more linoprinting, as it is really fun, and I will try and work on my accuracy of the cutting, and not snudging the prints, both of which I find difficult.
In the Spring my son and I did a linoprinting course, and was thinking at the time about printing Christmas cards. So over the last week or so I have had a go at this, using one of my old carvings and making a few new ones. I wasn't going to post about this, but if my friends and family do see this post they still don't know which card they will receive.
I had the idea of putting some cards in my Etsy shop, but think I need to work a bit more at my carving precision and printing, which as you can see is sometimes a bit smudgy. I printed straight onto the card, but see a lot of cards in the shops and fairs print onto cartridge paper and then mount this. Perhaps this would be better, as I have had to wash my hands between each print, and also then it would be easier to get the print nicely centred on the card.
I had a lot of fun doing this, and have some ideas for some more prints.
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| The robin's red breast was added with water colour |
Just a little reminder about my Christmas Pattern Sale on ravelry. All of the patterns below are 50% off if you use the code GINXMAS22, which is valid until Christmas Day. Or if you want to make a Christmas Love Heart, that pattern is free.
Christmas Sand Dollar Decoration
The final patterns that will be included in my sale which opens today include my Christmas Bird pattern. You could make your birds fair isle, or with a sparkly wool, embroider on them, hang them or even make wire legs. There are just so many choices.
My Tiny Elf Clog pattern is one of my Christmas regulars. I used to hang these little shoes on the tree every year, but now because of my greedy dog, they have to be hung up somewhere a bit safer, as she would definitely go for the chocolate.
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So just a reminder that you can purchase any of the patterns listed below at 50% off by using the code GINXMAS22. The sale runs up until Christmas Day. Just click on the names below to see the pattern, or you can look back through my posts of the last few days. The code will only work on ravelry, and once per customer, so remember to get all the patterns you need to make it a Woolly Happy Christmas!
The next group of patterns that I am including in my Christmas sale are a little bit left field. The seaside themed Christmas tree decorations include - Scallop Shell, Sand Dollar, Starfish, Little Minnows, and I have included my Spiral Shell.
It was 10 years ago that Mary Ann asked me to design a Christmas Sand Dollar pattern, to hang on her sister-in-law's ocean themed Christmas tree. I had a lot of fun with this design, which was helped by the real sand dollars that she sent me, which still decorate my bathroom.
So while not completely traditional, why not have an ocean-themed tree? Tomorrow I will be showing the last group of Christmas decoration that are included in the 50% off sale, and publishing the discount code. The sale starts on Friday and continues until Christmas Day, and there will be a few more not very traditional decorations.
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Some more patterns that will be included in my Christmas sale (which opens on Friday) are my three little Arctic animals: Arctic Hare, Baby Penguin and Polar Bear.
What I enjoyed about the Baby Penguin and Arctic Hare was photographing them in the frozen world of "Fluffy Dressing Gown".
The full list of patterns and discount code will be listed on Friday 25th November!
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I've decided to run a sale on some of my Christmas patterns, which will open on Friday 25th November, and run until Christmas. On Friday I will publish a discount code for use on Ravelry, which will give you a 50% discount on my Christmas patterns. Over the next few days I will be showing on my blog and Instagram the patterns that will be included in the sale.
So you will have some days to see the Christmas patterns. The code can only be used once per customer, so do remember to include everything you might want to make, and to allow yourself enough time to make any decorations before Christmas.
One of patterns that will be included in the sale is Christmas Tree Decoration. This is one of my favourite patterns, because you can use any oddments you have left from other projects to make a really stylish hanging decoration. You can also use your imagination with the decoration. It is the only pattern I ever tried out with the most advanced knitter at the primary school knitting club I ran. (I wonder if Ron continued with his knitting? He was quite a tough kid, and would sit knitting in the playground, and got no grief from the other children.) So if you know a beginner knitter, (or are a beginner yourself), who is learning how to decrease, this is an ideal pattern.
I mentioned before Christmas that I was selling at a few local craft fairs. Getting ready for these fairs I decided to make a few little hanging Christmas Robins, and am publishing the pattern I made up for these robins in all the usual places as a free pattern. Here it is on ravelry.
They are very little, so take just a few scraps of wool, but are great fun to make. When I first started writing knitting patterns, it was because I was really uncertain if it was alright to sell products made from other's pattern. For all my patterns I am quite happy for buyers to sell what they make in small quantities at local craft fairs, but not online or in a large volume.
I like to think that when I make a knitted animal I make it realistic. I don't go for a cute version. So in this case all I can only say that baby penguins really are this cute. Actually I think they may be even cuter.
This is my third polar Christmas decoration. The others were Polar Bear and Arctic Hare. I think I need to stop now, but I am really pleased with all these little animals on my Christmas tree.
Baby Penguin is really quick and easy to make. Just for once I am going to recommend a wool. I used Rowan Alpaca Classic Shade 00101 to get the fluffy grey look. I think any other fluffy wool would work. Some of my first penguins were in a non-fluffy grey, and they are cute too.
The penguins have gone off again to the icy land of fluffy dressing gown. But they just keep waddling away in different directions when I try to photograph them.
These baby penguins are tiny - approximately 4.5 cm tall, and each one take less that 2g of wool. So this is the pattern for you if you like quick makes, and I am planning to make a lot more from my ball of wool, and those ones will be heading for my Etsy shop. But it is not for you if you don't like working small.
The pattern is be available on ravelry, Etsy and LoveKnitting.
I have set up a discount code on ravelry if you buy any 2 of my polar animal decorations: Christmas Baby Penguin, Christmas Arctic Hare, or Christmas Polar Bear you will get £1 discount. If you buy all three the discount is £2. The code to use is POLAR, and this offer will run until the end of 2020.
Just a reminder that tomorrow you can still join in my Ginx Woolly Linx party for December. I would love to see what you have been working on.
I have become a bit hooked on the Philip Pullman's Dark Materials, being shown on Sunday evening. Perhaps I should have called the Arctic Hare Hester, and the Polar Bear Decoration Iorek. I am thinking of making my polar bear a suit of armour out of felt. You can see Polar Bear by scrolling down or find the pattern on ravelry by clicking here - Polar Bear.
Arctic Hare is tiny. I tried to weigh the wool I had used, and at first it did not register on my scales. So I would say he takes 1-2g. So this is a pattern for people who like quick projects and working small.
Arctic Hare pattern is available on ravelry, Etsy and LoveKnitting later today.
As I mentioned I am hoping there will be one more (not arctic but antarctic) Christmas animal pattern coming out soon. I wonder if you can guess.
Just a reminder that tomorrow you can join in my Ginx Woolly Linx party for December. I would love to see what you have been working on.
I've been thinking hard about a design for a new Christmas decoration, and have been pestering my family and friends for ideas - something original, but not perhaps not too unusual.
After a lot of thought I remembered a pattern I started back in 2014. I had the idea to make a collection of polar animals, and after getting quite far with two of them, the final animal stumped me. The project was put to one side, and sort of forgotton.
But now I have reworked my Christmas Polar Bear, and here he is. He is not large (about 7cm long). If you can find the right sort of wool, one with a bit of fluffiness it really helps make him look realistic.
Below are a few of my previous Christmas decorations with links to the patterns on ravelry if you click on the pattern name. The Christmas Tree decoration was quite conventional, but then I branched out with Christmas Birds, and a symbolic Scallop Shell.
One year I tried to start a new tradition - Christmas Elephants. The Christmas Sand Dollars were requested part someone who wanted a seaside themed Christmas, and even sent me some real sand dollars as a thank you. And my Christmas Sloth took so long last year, that I did not have him ready until January. Perhaps I was a bit like the sloth. The Tiny Christmas Elf Clogs are just a good place to hide chocolates.
Below are the original bears I made back in 2014. I'm not linking this photo to the pattern, as I have made a few alterations. I can not even find the instructions for the two little cubs, and am not even sure I wrote it down, but they are rather cute.
You can find the pattern on ravelry, Etsy and Love Knitting if you want to make your own little hanging polar bear.
Just a reminder that there is still plenty of time left to join in my Ginx Woolly Linx party for November. Click on the photo above or at the top of the page to find the party. I would love to see what you have been working on this month.
