Garden Flower Fairies

I mentioned a little while ago, when I had made my wild flower fairies, that I was also going to make some garden flower fairies. Here they finally are. While my other fairies looked a bit like elves in the woods, these fairies do rather look as if they are older ladies, off to a wedding. Perhaps I have made myself.

I am not going to say the garden flowers they represent, but thought you might like to leave a guess in the comments box, I will reveal each fairy, with their own flower, over the next few weeks. This is just for fun, as there is not prize. But you can get a better look at their hats, here is a back view, which might help you spot the flowers.

Just a reminder that there is still time join in my Ginx Woolly Linx party for July. 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.

A Flutter of Fairy Folk

Forget-me-not

Spring is in the air here in England, and with flowers appearing I just thought I would put all my fairy folk together, for a bit of a fairy gathering. What to call a party of fairies? After a bit of research I decided a flutter sounds nice. These are all knitted and adapted from my Mermaid and Flower Fairy pattern.

I do like it best where I have managed to photograph them in a natural setting. Most of these fairies have already found new homes, although one or two are still in my shop. There is such variety in nature that I have only once or twice repeated a design. I am already thinking of a few new ones: primrose, blackthorn, or honeysuckle.

So if you have a flower or tree that means a lot to you, please get in touch and I will have a go at making it.

Holly

Dandelion

Oak Tree

Lily

Apple Blossom

Stitchwort

Bluebell

Lavender

Cherry Tree

Snowflake

Mermaids

Christmas Fairies

Pohutukawa (New Zealand Christmas Tree Fairy)

Echinacea (but photographed on a sunflower)

Daisies

Dandelion

Meet Dandelion. She is not very seasonal, I know, but I have some more fairies (some of whom are a bit more Christmassy), and am going to feature them all over the next week. Hopefully there will be a new one to see each day. I started off thinking I will make angels, but they have ended up being fairies again. 

My problem has been photographing them, as the light does not seem good before I go to work, or when I get back.

 

For some reason I keep humming Barry Manilow's Copacabana. Can't think why! She just looks like a bit of a show girl to me. She is off to Etsy later today, where I have had a bit of a run of sales on my fairies recently.

More Phone Cosies

Wild Rose

Wild Rose and Guelder Rose

I promised you more phone cosies, and have been busy stitching away. I have had such fun deciding what flowers to do next, and then researching them.  Thank you for all the suggestions. I now have a few more ideas in the pipeline. 

I have tried to stick to wild flowers, and have been a little bit influenced by the flowers in my favourite flower fairy books. I have a fairly good knowledge of wild flowers. Lots of long walks as a child. But it is still useful to do a bit of research to get them just right.

These are a selection of the books I have used. The book in the centre called Our Country's Flowers I found in a secondhand shop. It dates from Victorian times, and is full of beautiful old plates.

Guelder Rose and Bumble Bee

Shepherd's Purse

I've gone slightly off theme with my final cosy: the Monarch Butterfly below. Someone on ravelry asked me if I had considered a knitting pattern for Milkweed, a favourite flower of the Monarch Butterfly. I think it is beyond me to knit, so I decided to embroider one on this cosy. The new cosies are for sale in my Etsy Shop.

Monarch Butterfly on Milkweed

The basic knitting pattern for the cosy is now available for free on ravelry. It is a pretty simple knit, but this will save anyone working out the sizing. The bits that I think are quite cool is that I have used a stretchy cast on technique, which makes the top easy to get your phone in and out, but also keeps it nice and safe. The bottom of the cosy is grafted, so it has a lovely smooth finish.  I have photo tutorials on my blog for both these techniques.

Some More Fairy Folk

As promised a few more fairy folk for my shop. Meet the Oak Tree Fairy, my first boy fairy. Do you like his little acorn hat? Perhaps I should call him an elf or pixie rather than a fairy. 

Many thanks to my husband who so patiently held him in place while I photographed him. Goodness knows what passers by thought we were doing in the bushes.

Next is the Echinacea Fairy. She is the main reason for my not posting these fairies sooner, as I have been hunting around my neighbourhood for a yellow echinacea flower for her photoshoot. I think it is a bit early for them here, so she has had to make do with a sunflower. As I also couldn't find any sunflowers locally I took this photo between the aisles at my local garden centre. Hubby was my lookout guy! But as you will see from her little embroidered bag, she is definitely an echinacea. All these fairies are for sale in my Etsy Shop.

Finally I have photographed the Lavender Fairy again, as at last the lavender in my garden has some flowers.

The Bluebell Fairy

This is the new flower fairy that I have had in mind. I suddenly realized that although there are plenty of bluebells around now, they will probably be over quite soon. 

She is off to my Etsy Shop. I was going to stop knitting fairies for a while, but was so pleased to have some sales, and three of my little girls have headed off to the States.  For this fairy I have added a cream silk drawstring bag, which is hand embroidered. There are some more fairies in the pipeline, and I am in the middle of working out how to knit some little breeches for some boy fairies.

Her dress is a little different from the other fairies, and is bell-shaped like her flower, and I have sewn on her little hat, just to make sure she doesn't lose it.
 

Here she is in front of The Harebell Fairy poem by Cicely Mary Parker, which is what the bluebell is called in Scotland. There is also a Bluebell poem, but I don't have that book.

I don't often put pictures of myself on my blog, but I just love this one which was taken a few years ago of me and my children in a bluebell wood. I try to get us to skip through bluebells each spring, but it is getting harder and harder, as they get older and a bit more inhibited, so it is often just a nice country walk these days. 

I have also been making some little pincushions, which are also going to head to my shop. I will probably put them all in a separate post, as there is a selection of flowers, but I thought I would give you a peek at the bluebell one.

The Bluebell Fairy takes a dive! Hubby's idea of a joke.

Stitchwort and Lavender

Meet Stitchwort and Lavender!

Meet two more of my little fairies. I delayed putting them on as I was trying to photograph them with their flowers. Unfortunately the lavender in my garden is a small sad straggly plant with no flowers, and I set off to a wood and tried to take Stitchwort with her flower, but the pictures were just awful.  So here they are anyway, and a Stitchwort flower that I photographed in Devon a few weeks ago. There are still a few more fairies in the pipeline.

Sorry, very short post this week, as I am getting ready for the craft fair tomorrow. Have a look at Ginx Craft on facebook for more information.

A small selection of my fairies and mermaids are available to buy in my Etsy Shop.