Anatomical Macaw, a bright and vibrant bird to embroider

Macaws are members of the parrot family with long, elegant tails and vibrant plumage. They’re big birds that can live for up to 60 years among the green canopies of the rain forests in Central and South America.

Anatomical Macaw draws on various species of the macaw family, taking artistic liberty with colour and facial features to create an embroidery design that is bright and vibrant. The detail on the face is particularly enjoyable to stitch.

The PDF embroidery pattern is available to download instantly from my Etsy shop.

Embroidery on knitting, an innovative approach to pattern

The inspiring and colourful designs – pages and pages of them – are what initially draw you into Embroidery on Knitting. Swedish textile designer and 10 gruppen member Britt-Marie Christoffersson has spent much of her life researching and innovating “knitwork” and her experience and attention to detail are evident in her latest book, the printed element of the third part of a decades-long project to “explore the technique, tradition and development of hand knitting”.

“Fascinated by colour and form and in creating patterns” since her teenage years, Britt-Marie focused on the technique of knitting in part one of her project. The swatches she created were exhibited in Swedish museums in the late 1980s and early 1990s and led to Swedish Sweaters, a book of new knitting patterns based on old designs. Part two “set out to show how one idea gives birth to another” and culminated in Knitting: A Handwork to Develop, another exhibition and book in the late 2000s.

It was after a move from Stockholm to a new town, however, that she became interested in the possibilities offered by embroidery. Seeing strands of different-coloured yarn threaded under blanket stitch on the edge of a tablecloth from the needlework collection of “Alva, the chairwoman of the local secular sewing circle” sparked the idea of embroidering on knitted fabric.

The samples that fill the pages of Embroidery on Knitting are a selection of those that made up the third instalment of Britt-Marie’s project, an exhibition of squares and garments that she intends to donate eventually to the Halland Art Museum, “which has been building up an archive of handknitting”.

Each chapter of the book begins with an embroidery stitch – from simple back and blanket stitch to the more complex spider web stitch and Ghiordes knots, and on to weaving, couching and finally conceptual embroidery – followed by examples of how to use the stitch to create a multitude of different patterns.

Britt-Marie’s work is detailed and precise, and shown up-close and in full colour in Embroidery on Knitting. Her innovative approach is evident in the vast number of patterns she is able to envision from a single embroidery stitch, through colour and stitch placement. Despite providing so many visual ideas, she encourages readers to “follow your own path”.

Like any creative work, having the correct tools and supplies makes things a whole lot easier. A slouchy cardigan and various cotton yarns from my stash gave a good idea of the feel of embroidering on knitted textiles, but not a great result. Britt-Marie uses mostly 2-ply wool and stocking or garter stitch to knit her ground “fabric” and soft, pliable yarns for the embroidery.

With Covid-19 radically changing the way we live and work – and the way we dress as a result – many are questioning a return to restrictive clothing as well as the ethics of fast fashion. The pandemic has once again brought the human rights violations and environmental issues in the production of cheap, mass-produced fashion to the forefront. Taking this and how we will live and work in the future into account, “perhaps the most significant shift many experts predict, post-pandemic, is one of attitude”.

Knitted clothing is comfortable; it’s warm, soft and usually breathable. The slow knitting movement has been gaining traction and there are more and more eco-friendly yarns available nowadays. Embroidery on Knitting is also filled with ideas on how to embellish and customise your newly knitted or existing clothing, and upcycle items that may not have been made in a sustainable way to give them a second life. In this way, Britt-Marie’s collection of timeless work is not only an inspiring read but also a timely release.

This book was supplied for review by Blue Weaver, an independent book company in Cape Town, South Africa. All opinions are my own.

Zodiac, which star sign are you?

Leos are outgoing, Virgos loyal and Pisces intuitive. Which star sign are you?

The zodiac is tied to the annual path of the sun across the sky and the constellations through which it travels every year. Each of the 12 star signs – Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces – originate from the groups of stars along the sun’s path. And astrology uses the alignment of the planets on the day you were born to determine your sign and, as such, the character traits you’ll exhibit most strongly.

The 12 symbols in Zodiac represent each of the star signs and the pattern uses Dandelyne’s mini hoop necklaces as an easy gifting option. The individual symbols are really quick to embroider and come in two different sizes, along with printable gift cards for two different hoop sizes. The gift cards have notches for the necklace chain and three positive personality traits for each sign. And the colours on each card are those associated with that particular sign of the zodiac, giving you options when it comes to thread choice.

Zodiac is an easy pattern that can be used over and over again to make fun, personalised gifts once you’ve stitched your own star sign. It’s available as a PDF pattern for instant download from my online shop.

Leaping Fish, a free pattern for World Embroidery Day

This fish was originally a little design in a book of vintage Anchor transfers. I’ve enlarged it, used some fun and interesting stitches to create fins and scales, and brightened it up with fresh thread colours.

The design is in celebration of World Embroidery Day on 30 July, which started in Sweden in 2011 and has been growing steadily since then. The day is intended to highlight embroidery and be a day “filled with creativity for the sake of peace, freedom and equality”.

There’s been a surge in people wanting to learn how to embroider during Covid-19 lockdowns around the world and hopefully this free pattern will encourage even more to pick up a needle and thread and start stitching.

The PDF pattern is available to download for free. Share your work on social media to spread the word using the hashtags #WorldEmbroideryDay and #kfneedlework so I can see your work. Or you can tag me @kfneedlework. Happy stitching.

Micro Monograms, for small projects and little details

The idea behind Micro Monograms was to come up with alternatives to satin stitch while still getting that solid monogram of stitching.

Satin stitch monograms are beautiful, they’re smooth and elegant and extremely pleasing on the eye. But satin stitch isn’t always that easy to do, it takes practice and patience – it can also be quite time-consuming to do compared with other embroidery stitches. Micro Monograms gives you a number of different options as replacement stitches.

The design can be embroidered as a complete alphabet or broken up into individual monograms. And the stitches used to fill each letter are fairly easy to swap around if you prefer doing one over another. The pattern includes a tip on how to do this.

The individual letters are less than an inch in height making them ideal for smaller personalised projects, little embroidered details and creating dainty monograms. They also fit perfectly into Dandelyne 1.6-inch (4cm) mini hoops.

The PDF pattern for Micro Monograms is available as an instant download from my Etsy shop.