Pretty Pots

That's the name of my new pattern - Pretty Pots - the latest in quite a few patterns for containers lined with plastic canvas. My Square and Round Nesting Boxes use simple shapes, an understated stitch pattern and plain colours for effect.

With this pattern, I've used a much thicker variegated yarn and the stitch pattern gives added texture too.

The inspiration for this design came from a lovely ball of chunky yarn that I found in Dunelm Mill (I always have trouble saying that out loud).

Hayfield Spirit Chunky (155 m / 100g) is a variegated yarn that comes in some lovely colours; the one I chose was shade 408, Sundown but there are lots of others. Now I don't normally work with thick yarn but I thought it would be a new experience for me and I have to say it turned out to be a lot of fun. Once I'd got the idea of seeing how many different pots I could knit with this one ball of yarn, there was no stopping me. Mind you, things were a bit tense when I was working on the last and biggest pot; I ended up with just a few metres of yarn left.

As you can see, I used contrasting yarns for the inside of the pots. As well as looking good, this meant that the chunky yarn went further. Both the outside and inside of the pots are knitted in the round and the bases have a pleasing spiral pattern.

I have a tendency to add buttons to things whenever possible and this pattern was no exception. Each of the pots has a button in the middle of its base, although I have to admit that this makes the tall, thin pot a bit unstable.

The sizes of the three pots are fairly random. There are three small ones which I've filled with knitting and crochet stuff (I love my Clover Amour crochet hooks - fantastic to use and colourful too).

Then there are two medium pots and one big one which is wide but shallow (owing to the whole running out of yarn thing). Here are the medium ones.

All the pots are lined with plastic canvas so they're sturdy and keep their shape well. As I say, I planned the sizes at random so was rather pleased to see how some of them fitted together. I think this combination would make a nice gift (it's the large pot, the smaller of the two medium ones and the middle one of the smallest size).

I hope you enjoy this pattern. I look forward to seeing picture of lots more pretty pots.

Pretty Pots

Not long after finishing these I discovered that there's a DK version of this yarn. Bet you can guess what's coming next ...

I went for some autumnal colours this time; this is Casper and, having enjoyed seeing how much I could knit with one ball of yarn, I thought I'd repeat the exercise but this time knitting little pouches and purses. I haven't actually started knitting yet but I have had a few ideas so watch this space.