Correct!

You guessed correctly - this month's design is a SEAHORSE!



Meet Flotsam the Fascinating Seahorse...

If you'd like to join in the fun of making your own seahorse - then come on over here to join us in my Ravelry group. We're a very friendly bunch, and love to see new members.

The pattern (untested) is available for free to those participating in the Monthly Challenge. I've had about 20 people already sign up to make him... and one is already finished (you're amazing Julie!)

Or if you prefer to wait for the fully tested version of the pattern, it will be available for sale in January 2013... which SOUNDS like it's a long way off, but is really just around the corner.

Easy guess...

There's still some finishing touches to be added... 

But here's a sneak peek at the December Challenge - Due for release tomorrow:

And you can probably guess what I'm making this time...

It's not as obscure as the Patchwork Stuffed Moose Head!

Winner Announced

We had so many entries for the Fishie the Plastic Bag Keeper challenge...





Just look at them all!

So many shapes and sizes and colours and styles...

But I do have a clear favourite.

This one stole my heart the first time I laid eyes on it:



So a huge congratulations to Jorel for her Scrappy Fish - I love how unique and quirky it is!

It has so much character...

Now Jorel will be able to choose what I should design for the next Crochet Challenge, which will be run in December 2012.

And before I go... here's a few of my other favourites up close.

Juanita designed some fabulous fins which she has kindly shared the instructions for . Love the eyes on this one, too:



Shhshh produced this magnificent Koi, and based her fins on Irish Crochet leaves:



Julie used a different style of fin to create a shark:



Grayhare added some serious BLING to jazz up her plastic bag keeper...



Lise went with a magnificent array of bold colours:



And I love the cartoony eyes on this entry from Esther:



Finally a CAT-FISH  from Wendy... love here interpretation of the pattern:



And the fully tested version of the pattern is now available for sale!

Quite a number of the testers have made a second one already - and are planning to make more as Christmas gifts this year...

Click here for more details about purchasing the pattern.

A Stuffed Moose Head???

Yes.

You heard correctly...

That patchwork piece of knitting I was working on:



Bucky is the November Challenge over in the Laughing Purple Goldfish Designs group on Ravelry. The pattern is available for free this month to all participants. Come and join in the fun!

(The fully tested version will be available for sale in December 2012)

I want to see a reindeer version.

Can you imagine it?

Instead of a wreath hanging on your front door this Christmas - you could have a Stuffed Reindeer head!

How awesome would that be???

It could even be Rudolph with his shiny red nose...

Preparing for November...

As you know, in my group over on Ravelry, we have a new challenge each month...

(Anyone is welcome to join in the fun - just pop on over.)

At the beginning of the month I offer a pattern for a particular project. Everyone makes their items, then posts photos when they are done. I choose my favourite - and the winner tells me what to design for the following month...

I've had so much fun working on these designs... and I'm really EXCITED about the upcoming November Challenge...

In the top photo you can see my swatching...

And in the photos below I have started on the piece... trying to avoid tangles!





So, I want to know what you think it is...

Because I think NO ONE will be able to guess correctly...

Go on and prove me wrong! I'd love you to!

And as a clue: here's a sneak peek of the sketch.

A Sneak Peek...

I've been having so much fun designing the project for our November Knitting Challenge...

Of course - it's a SURPRISE for now... but a little peek couldn't hurt - could it?

How about I sneak you a little bit of the sketch...

But that's all for now!

Winner Announced

Thought you might like to take a peek at the entries for the Frilled Neck Lizard Challenge...



The one that stole my heart was this one, by Deb:



I love how terrified the Poor Lizard looks... to be having his tail pulled by a toddler!

Turns out that Deb has a wonderful sense of adventure - and she has chosen a Most Unusual design for our November Knitting Challenge... but you'll have to wait a few more weeks before I can tell you about it.

Believe me - it WILL be worth the wait!

Fishie the Plastic Bag Keeper

The October Challenge has been revealed... and if you want to join in the Crochet-Along this month, you can join us in my Ravelry group here

It's a little unusual, but this month's pattern is a Plastic Bag Keeper shaped like a Fish. You store your bags in through the tail - and take them out through the mouth!



Mr Goldfish tells me that it looks more like an eel than a fish - and I think he might be right. It would probably look More Fishy if you added some fins...

In fact, you could have all sorts of fun with this pattern. Forget the fish idea - you could make it into a tiger, a pig or an echidna. Or anything else you can imagine. You already have the basic bag body - so you could embellish it any way you like.

Or just leave it plain. These colours are gorgeous on their own. Leave off the eyes and let the ripples of colour be the main feature... Choose colours to match your kitchen.

As always, the Challenge runs for a month. You can join in the fun HERE at Ravelry.

Winner Announced.

Look at all the Spectacular Kangaroos made from my pattern last month...

These were the entries for the August Challenge,

and the Winner will be telling me what to design for next month's Crochet Challenge!

So who was the winner?

Well - I couldn't resist the fluttery eyelashes on this beautiful entry:



So congratulations to "shhshh" over at Ravelry. Her kangaroo was a standout!



So tell me.

Was your favourite the same as mine?

Or did you fall in love with one of the other entries?



Of course this also means that the pattern is now available for sale - in PDF format for AU$4.50

Fancy the Frilled Neck Lizard

Woah!

Can you believe that it's time for another Challenge already???

Yep.

It's September.

And Daphne has requested a pattern for a Frilled Neck Lizard.

So here he is. Much more cuddly than those you would find in the wild! And a little more colourful too...

If you want to join in the fun, and make a lizard of your own - then come and visit my Ravelry group where we can all chat about the pattern together.

Announcing the Winner...

Time to choose a winner in the Flaming Lamborghini challenge..

There were some very creative bags on offer this month: Just take a look...

See the one on the top left... the Flamingo Bag? Loren knitted it out of PLASTIC BAGS! Yes. The entire thing is made from plastic. Even that striking flamingo...

And the one on the bottom left? T-shirts. Suzie knitted it using strips of old t-shirts. 

How clever is that?

Then you'll notice that the centre right one has a hole in it. 

A beautiful, practical, and intentional hole. 

Melba created that so that her yarn can stay safe and clean inside her project bag, 

while she is crafting...

Centre left we have the Icicle Bag. By changing the colour palette,

 Julie has entirely changed the feel of the bag... taking it from flames to icicles...

And look closely at the other two bags there... Jorel and Debbie have been quite sneaky. Instead of weaving in their yarn ends at the tip of each flame, they have left them loose as a bit of a design feature - creating a small tassel.

I love all these different versions, but I haven't shown you my favourite one yet:

Daphne has created the Africa Bag.

What amazing dedication to her theme... the yarn choices... beads... and the lining...

At first glance, it looks like some wonderfully intricate colour changing yarn has been used. But these are all individual solid colours, and it's Daphne's technique and timing with the changes that makes it look so awesome!

So a HUGE congratulations to Daphne...

and I will wait patiently to hear what she would like me to design for our next Knitting Challenge

(that part always makes me a little bit nervous - and excited at the same time)

Meanwhile.. the Flaming Lamborghini Bag pattern is now available for sale

PDF Knitting Pattern available for AU$4.50

Kiki the Kangaroo.

Ugh.

Sick kids have kept me away from blogging AND crafting over the last few days...

Somehow ALL FOUR of them are sick at once, and it's dragging on for days and days...

My friend Andrew suggested that it's much more efficient to have them all sick at once

- but I'm EXHAUSTED!!!

As you can imagine, there has been ZERO progress on the lining of the Hakelbeutel Bag... because I need two hands for that,

and you just can't do it while balancing a sick baby on one arm...

But enough of that... let's move on to the fun stuff.

Because today is the first of the month, and we all know what that means...

It's time for me to release the NEW CHALLENGE.

Come and join us here in my Ravelry group if you want to join in the fun! The pattern is available for free to everyone joining in the August Challenge.

Kreidawl was the winner of the Platypus Challenge - which meant that she could choose our next crochet design. She enlisted the help of her grandson, Master Almost Four - and he came up with the suggestion of a kangaroo.

So this one's for you Mr Almost Four: Kiki the Kangaroo

I hope that you love her as much as I do!

 

July Challenge.

Hello July!

I know that I'm a few days late, but it's time for My July Challenge. And would you believe that it's not a toy this time? Instead it's a bag. This fabulous, bright, chunky knit bag - which looks just a little like a Jester's Hat gone wrong...

Come and join us in my Ravelry group if you are interested.

Debbie was the winner of Our Dragon Challenge and so she had the fun of choosing the design for this month - an Olympic Inspired Bag...

I had to tiptoe around this theme a bit. You just have to be so careful with registered trademarks and the likes. So there could be no coloured rings, or logos, or anything which would clearly identify the piece with the Olympics.... Aaaargh!

So I started thinking along the lines of vaguer Olympic references... 

like the torch... and began to feel a little flame inspired instead...

Now are you wondering about the name?

Well, I was just starting out on the bag when I received some photos via email from my Dad. They were snapshots from his recent Malaysian holiday. Harmless enough, one would think!

But NO... here he is in a local bar drinking a Flaming Lamborghini. The entire length of the bar is in flames. And there he is, calming sipping his drink through the straw - as the flames dance up and down the bar. Who are you and what have you done with my real Dad???? 

It was all VERY bizarre!

So I've gone with a theme of fire and flames, and thrown it all together in this little bag,

which kind of has a bit of a jester thing going on too!



And if all else fails - you can always wear it as a hat!

Come and join in the fun.

You never know, YOU could be the one choosing the next challenge.

   

Winner Announced

I am blown away by all these FABULOUS entries for Our Platypus Challenge...

It was impossible to choose a winner,

 so I chose my Favourite Four - and then randomly selected one!

Congratulations to Kreidawh...

Now you get to choose a project for me to design for the next Crochet Challenge...

And the runners up:

 

Dawn:

Daphne:

and Wendy:

So tell me... which one would you have chosen, and why?

Ooooohhhh... and the PDF Crochet Pattern is now available for sale!

The downloaded pattern can be yours immediately for AU$4.50