Let's start with some knitting ...

Although I plan to talk about lots of other stuff in this blog, I thought I would start with the bread and butter of my life – the knitting.

I’ve been designing knitting patterns and publishing them on Ravelry for quite a few years now. If you visit my designer page you’ll see there are hundreds of free patterns to download, ranging from blanket, scarves and shawls to toys and the purely decorative (what do you mean, you don’t want to knit a rainbow?). There are also quite a few crochet patterns but ‘Frankie’s Knitted and Crochet Stuff’ is a bit of a mouthful.

Instead of charging for my patterns I ask that people consider making a donation to the Children’s Liver Disease Foundation which is a small charity that funds research and supports children and their families. Every day two children in the UK are diagnosed with a liver disease, making it more common than childhood leukaemia. Most liver diseases are life-threatening, the causes are unknown and there is no cure. Treatment involves a lifetime of care and medication which can include liver transplants. So far generous knitters and crocheters (is that a word?) have helped me to raise over £14,000 for this very good cause.

So, back to the knitting. This year I'm publishing a series of patterns as a sort of knitted calendar, in the form of mini quilts. Here's the first month's pattern.

This is the January Quilt. A friendly looking snowman, complete with jacket and a battered hat.


Each little quilt is only about the size of a postcard and, as you can see, they can be hung on a mini hanger. I've added a button down sleeve to the back so that the quilt can be changed at the start of each month.

The next quilt is all ready to go and will be published on 1st February.


This would be a good time to mention my Ravelry Group where you'll find lots of friendly people, comparing notes as they work on their patterns and generally chatting. Some are going to turn their little quilts into bigger projects - perhaps blankets with the addition of some plain blocks - but lots of people are still at the 'I want to do this, just need to find the yarn and the time' stage.

I also made a fabric mini quilt from my original sketch which I've sent to my daughter. Whether or not she gets another one each month remains to be seen.

Is it just me or does this snowman have a bit of an evil look? 

By the way, the little clips holding the quilt on to the frame are Clover Mini Wonder Clips. I got mine at Cotton Patch. I had been planning to use mini wooden clothes pegs but they were too big.

So, that's my first blog post. Is there anyone out there reading it?