Greetings to you!
Observant readers may have noticed a few changes to my website recently. The “Patterns” heading has changed to “Designs” and if you hover over this heading you can scroll down to look at patterns, kits or greeting cards.
I’ve made greeting cards for many years using stamps and collage and love these quick projects. But I have to admit, that I do not have much time to make cards these days. Oh, wouldn’t it be wonderful to have some greeting cards featuring knit and crochet? Ta-dah! Here are my first five designs for greeting cards. I hope you like them!
Love and Hearts greeting card
I designed “Love and Hearts” Fair Isle especially for a greeting card. It features some traditional Fair Isle motifs as well as the word “love”. I knitted it using Shetland Spindrift yarn from Jamieson’s of Shetland. This yarn is produced from the fleece of Shetland sheep, shorn, dyed and spun in Shetland. It is available in 240 colours; I just used three of them. The background is Natural White, one of the natural colours of Shetland sheep. The reds used are Crimson and Maroon. I really enjoyed designing and knitting this one, so others may follow!
Kairouan greeting card
The Kairouan greeting card features a hand-knit throw that I designed a few years ago. Paul Klee’s painting, ‘Before the Gates of Kairouan’, was the inspiration for my design. I love the combination of colours that he used and found the perfect colours in Tapestry, a variegated yarn, from Rowan Yarns. The colours in this yarn are muted and change gradually, echoing the mood of the painting. And the mitred squares are in keeping with so many of Paul Klee’s paintings.
Magic of the Circus greeting card
The Magic of the Circus greeting card features one of my designs for a hand-knit bag. The stripes and rings in agate samples, seen at the Natural History Museum in London, were the inspiration for my design. I tested out some ideas using modular techniques; the hexagons reminded me of circus tents. I think of circuses as being bright, vibrant places, so, I used a colourful variegated yarn from Noro (Silk Garden Sock).
Granny Stripes greeting card
I teach various crochet classes at a local vintage and craft shop called Squirrel. I crocheted a length of Granny stripes to yarn bomb their shop sign to help publicise the classes. Simple, but jolly, and extremely eye-catching! I used many bright colours of Golf mercerised cotton from Lang Yarns.
Christmas Stocking greeting card
Ok, I’m a bit out of season here! I had my first batch of greeting cards printed in November. My knitting group and Squirrel bought most of them. The Christmas Stocking card features a red felt stocking, with crochet decorations. I worked the crochet using Quattro from Lang Yarns.
All these greeting cards are beautifully printed on thick 340 gram, sustainably sourced paper stock. There is a light satin coating on the outside; the inside is left uncoated, making it easier for you to write your own message. Each card comes with a white envelope, all in cellophane wrapping.