Jean Greenhowe review

This week I was planning to blog about some of the charity knits I do; but as usual nothing goes to plan. My cousins baby daughter was due to enter the world mid October, this week they had a little boy at 2lb 11oz. So the charity knits are now in the UFO (unfinished objects) bag and I have to knit some clothes and a gift for the big brother.

As I have nothing new finished I thought I would bore you all with some of my older projects and a review of some Jean Greenhowe.

Baby from "little gift dolls" with 2 from Christmas special

There are so many pattern books available that even I don’t own them all (not through lack of trying) but if you are undecided then you can try the free patterns listed on her website here http://www.jeangreenhowe.com/patterns.html

As I have previously mentioned (I think) knitting toys as gifts was what got me knitting again as a teenager. I was babysitting and would make toys for the children and any younger children I knew as it saved money at Christmas.

topsy-turvy Cinderella from Christmas special

I first got started with the” Little gift dolls” booklet, these are great as they all have the same basic pattern you just knit different extras for each doll. The jelly babies at the top of the page show the basic pattern done in one colour the instructions tell you when to change colour when knitting the other characters.  Most of the dolls can be made with odds and ends of wool left over from other projects, I only ever bought wool for the skin colour and it lasted for loads of dolls.

These dolls are great for beginners as you progress through the body quickly so you can see the progress. Also many of the accessories are quick to knit so you don’t get bored. For more experienced knitters you can mix and match the accessories patterns to create your own characters. I found some of these in my UFO( unfinished objects) bag a few years ago and started to sew them up to use as prizes for the  toy tombola we had to raise funds for our toddler group.

Many of the booklets contain smaller projects which are good for beginners and those of us who just want something quick to make, but she also has created a number of patterns for larger toys. The clowns are very popular and I have seen a number of them over the years even though I have never knitted them myself.

Last year I knitted two of the topsy-turvy Cinderella dolls from the Christmas special booklet. I was only knitting one but as usual someone sees it and asks if I can do one for them too.

I didn’t add all the accessories due to a time limit as this was a gift and I always get a bit slow and fed up when it comes to sewing everything together.

The knitting booklets section on the website is great as when you click on a booklet it will show you images of all the projects it contains. This means you can end up like me with a project list as long as your arm just from one booklet. Prices online vary from £3.50 to £5 for the booklets depending where you buy them.

I have not been given any payment or incentive to write this review, I have done so as I own a number of patterns and enjoy knitting them