30% off sale!

* * * inventory sale - 30% off * * *

Yes, I confess, I still store some of my "stuff" in my mom's house: my boxed up wedding dress, the family baptismal gown, and several storage bins of my knit & felt patterns!

Well, my mom is moving on to greener pastures and it's time to pare down, for all of us, and that includes me.

For a short while, to reduce some of my inventory, I am offering a 30% off sale on almost all booklet patterns (not PDFs). So if you need a pattern or two for yourself or as a holiday gift for that knitter friend, well, now is the time.

Come check out my Etsy Shoppe to take advantage of this limited offer and shop ALL my patterns, kits, tools and more!

Design Update: Yes, I have started designing again and it feels good! Stay tuned. New 'KNIT ONLY' and 'NEEDLE FELT' patterns rolling out this fall and winter!

Happy knitting!

part 2: how to fill a carton of eggs!

striped and embellished woolly eggs

Hope your hands have been busy knitting and felting a carton of eggs by now.

When creating a basket or bowl full of eggs for myself or a client, I usually like to knit and felt at least a dozen eggs in various sizes, colors and embellishments. Here is the formula I like to use: 2-3 striped versions, at least 4 solids in various colors and sizes, 2-3 highly embellished beauties, and 1-2 polka dot-like versions using needle felting, felt applique or buttons. This creates a bowl with plenty of variety and interest.

I like to also knit my eggs with 3-4 colors in mind and adding a good feltable cream as a perfect neutral color, like Cascade 220 #8010 Cream. Then I can use the same yarns when embellishing my eggs, such as in needle felting squiggles and curly cues, roving-like polka dots or even using the same yarns for simple embroidery stitches like French knots.

Do you have a hard time picking out colors? I suggest finding a piece of cloth or upholstery fabric with your favorite colors in it. Then take this fabric swatch to the yarn store with you and use it to pick out coordinating yarns pulling the color combinations from the fabric. Another idea is to take the sofa pillow and create a bowl of eggs that coordinates with your living room color scheme. And finally, when in doubt, take a child along with you and have them pick out 3-4 colors that love. You will be surprised how many compliments I have received from the color combinations of eggs or ornaments that I have created from my kid's color selections.

Remember to have fun playing. You can't make a mistake with knitting Woolly Eggs

FYI, Part 3: how to stuff a woolly egg.

Happy knitting!

woolly eggs egg-stravaganza!

woolly eggs

Let the Woolly Egg season begin in all its wonder!

In the next couple of weeks, I will share a few of my favorite woolly egg decorating tips and ideas, plus a few fun ideas for decorating the good ol' hard-boiled kind too. But let me start with the pattern in general.

The pattern consists of instructions to make both a Grade A Large-size egg using worsted weight yarns and a Grade A Medium-size egg, using sport or DK weight yarns. It is basically the same pattern with the differences coming from the yarn weights and needle sizes used. FYI, I still have a few Woolly Eggs Kits consisting of worsted weight yarns still available for sale in my Etsy shoppe.

The pattern instructions are quick and easy, only 30 rounds of knitting! You can knit an egg in 15 minutes plus or minus. Everyone knows though the real fun is in the embellishing: no two eggs EVER need be the same! But more on the embellishing later.

I have improvised my Woolly Eggs pattern slightly since it was printed. That is, I have cut out a few rounds to make the egg less long-looking. This is a recent change I have been playing with and I like the end results. I knit the egg according to the pattern, but when it comes to Rounds 9-23, I only knit 10 rounds instead of the called for 15. I really like the shape of this new size egg.

Remember to play with stripes and bigger blocks of color to create a variety of eggs. The key word here is PLAY. When doing stripes, remember to knit at least 2 rounds for a stripe, otherwise the stripe 'disappears' in the wash and melds too much into the other stripes. A two-round rule stripe is a good one to keep, unless the color yarn is dark and the overall desire is super thin. A one round dark stripe will show up but be fuzzy, if you know what I mean. When creating stripes I carry the yarns up rather than cut each one. Unless you choose to have several colors then cutting them is okay too, just a little more work in the end, but still well worth it.

FYI, Part 2: how to fill a carton of eggs.

Happy knitting!

NEW! woolly eggs kits!

woolly eggs kits

For a limited time I will have Woolly Eggs kits available on my Etsy shoppe for sale. Just in time for a little Springtime cheer!

Each Woolly Eggs Kit includes the pattern and yarns you need to make either 5 solid-color or striped felted eggs or a mixture of both, your choice. The yarn colors are those displayed in the photo. The yarns are all 100% wool in either DK or worsted weights. Once knitted and felted, the eggs will create a medium-sized egg, about 3-4 inches long from base to top. Size 8 double point needles are recommended for the DK weight and size 10.5 for the worsted. The needles are NOT included in these kits.

The pattern includes instructions for knitting and felting the eggs as well as lots of embellishing ideas to decorate your eggs, such as needle felting polka dots or squiggles, simple embroidery and beading and more! No two eggs ever need be the same!

I am starting a series of Woolly Eggs posts on knitting and embellishing. Check it out!

FYI, Woolly Eggs Egg-stravaganza.

Happy knitting!

entering the true easter season

woolly chick with eggs

Wishing you a very

Happy Easter!

warmest knitting regards,

Marie

No Dyes. No Mess.

grade A woolly eggs

Woolly Eggs! They can come in all sizes: Grade A small, medium or jumbo, depending on the yarn weight you use, that is. The above eggs are smallish in size, measuring about 2-1/2 inches long after felting. They were knit using Cascade 220 sport weight yarns with size 8 double point needles. I am loving this yarn for how it felts and the wonderful color choices!

While these eggs were still wet, I stuffed them with my own Woolly Stuffing. Wool stuffing, like wool yarns, has a memory to it, thus holding it's shape better and longer than traditional polyester fiberfill. 

Create a dozen eggs in various colors, stripes and embellishments. Then place them in this cute egg carton I found on Etsy. The egg carton holds 12 eggs beautifully!

easily holds a dozen woolly eggs

You can also purchase these cartons with a blank front, not shown. How fun to print your own creative label for the front, a whimsical greeting card!