Day Two: It’s All About You - KCBWDAY2

Well, today I'm writing about myself - which for some reason always feels a bit strange. I can't tell you how long it took me to compose and publish the "Bio" page on my blog, for example!

When I'm not crafting, I can often be found doing other creative things. I have been working as a Web and Graphic Designer for a few years now - you can even take a look at my online portfolio at www.catcodes.co.uk if you like. I also love drawing and painting in one of my sketchbooks or writing letters when I have time - yep, good old snail mail. I suppose you could say I like being creative in the kitchen too, as I do like to cook and bake if I have the energy and ingredients handy!

Some of my readers may already be familiar with WildCat Designs, the knitwear accessories label I started after finishing my degree in Textile Design - I run an Etsy shop under that name and a "sister" label, WildKittens, too.

When I'm out and about (I like to walk or cycle around Edinburgh, the city I live in - it's good excercise, especially as it's not at all flat!), I enjoy taking my camera or my cameraphone and recording things which catch my eye. I confess to being somewhat addicted to Instagram!

I'm a big fan of traditional old-school "analogue" film-based photography too, and have been known to mess about in darkrooms, not to mention experiment with my vintage Cosina or Diana F+ toy camera (hello, double exposures!).

When I was younger I spent some time living in Europe so I got to see lots of wonderful places as a child, something which has fuelled my love of travel and learning about different cultures. I even learned to speak fluent German, pretty good French and even a wee bit of Flemish!

To see more posts on today's theme, just search for #6KCBWDAY2 on twitter or google 6KCBWDAY2.

Cute Clay Creatures

I found this rather wonderful little film about the work of Designer Camila Prada.

It provides an interesting insight into her process and materials
- as well as a lot of cute ceramics!

Find out more about the pandas and more of Camila's cute ceramic creatures here.

All the Pretty Things

Image via Flickr

Life has been somewhat of a whirlwind lately, so I'm taking a much-needed moment to slow down and contemplate the things that inspire me. Pretty patterned tiles and ceramics have been a feature in recent weeks so here are some of my favourites.

Image found on Pinterest

Image via Flickr

Image via Decor8

Pretty cups via Tumblr

I do hope you liked these pretties and wish you a happy Friday - enjoy your weekend!

Sunday Treat

It's February (already?! Where did January go...) so I figured it's time to unveil the next part of my 2014 Desktop Calendar Project.

You can download the freebie desktop wallpaper calendar I've designed for February 2014 - click here to view (then right-click on the image and select "save image as..."). This is optimised for 1024 x 768 screen resolutions. (I'm happy to make other sizes on demand - just email info {at} catcodes {dot} co {dot} uk to request it!)

...Romance is in the air...

If you're looking for a little romantic inspiration, I happen to have a section in my WildCat Designs Etsy Boutique entitled "Be my Valentine" featuring some scarves with a heart pattern I designed. I can vouch for the fact that they are not only cute, but super cosy as I made (kept!) one for myself and love wearing it.

P.S. As love is in the air this month, and I'm feeling generous, I've extended the Super Scarf Sale! It will now run until Friday 14th February, giving you a chance to snap up a brand new scarf - or treat your Valentine.

Hello 2014!

Welcome in, 2014! I wonder what adventures we'll have together...

I do hope you all had a lovely festive period and are feeling refreshed 

and rejuvenated, ready to start the new year with a smile :)

A new year brings new beginnings and mine is no exception. This year I have decided to design a year's worth of monthly calendars - which I will make available to download for free from my website!

It's taken me a little bit longer than I'd intended to get the project kick-started but here is my contribution for January 2014 - click here to view (then right-click on the image and select "save image as...").

Note, this desktop wallpaper is optimised for 1024 x 768 resolutions.
I hope to produce more options in the coming months!

The image is intended to be used as a desktop calendar, but you could always print it out onto cardstock, if you prefer.

Incidentally, the website is my new portfolio site featuring my web & graphic design work - feel free to have a browse! The address is www.catcodes.co.uk.

Spooky Style

I LOVE Halloween! It's a great excuse to get all ghoulish :) Plus I suppose it helps that I like all things skully/piratey/stripy... not to mention the fact that I love a good zombie flick!

Last year's Zombie Pirate effort!

There's some great Halloween-inspired stuff out there at the moment.

Like this Tatty Devine batty necklace -  I love the fact that it's glittery black perspex!

Perfect for any aspiring Batgirl or Batwoman. Other highlights in their collection include the awesome "Aaarrghhhhh" necklace and for the gents, there are some ghostly cufflinks!

Continuing with the bat theme...how about these!

Bat printed tights by Tattoo Socks

Or perhaps skulls are more your style?

 

Skully ring by Datter Industries

Cobwebby wonders:

Spiderweb necklace by Stars & Scars

Spiderweb earrings by Cherryloco

...not forgetting decor for a spook-tacular Halloween party!

Lacy spiderweb bunting by Pobblyboo

Wishing you a ghoulish ghost night for Halloween! 

[insert evil horror-tastic laugh here]

Winter is Coming!

It has certainly been feeling a little autumnal round here lately. So I thought it was high time I did a little WildCat Designs update. Cosy knitwear ahoy!!

Etsy shop

I have been updating my WildCat Designs Etsy online shop in the last couple of weeks - this is definitely the best place to see the full range of knitwear accessories I have on offer for autumn/winter. There are some brand new designs for 2013, along with some of my best sellers!

Custom Orders

If you're interested in commissioning something special for a loved one this winter - or fancy getting a bespoke handmade piece made especially for you - please do get in touch, I am happy to discuss custom orders. Should you wish to do this, please feel free to email enquiries {at} wildcat-designs {dot} co {dot} uk or contact me directly through one of my online shops.

WildKittens

I also have a collection of felted Merino lambswool scarves for kids, along with cute hand knit baby gifts and PDF knitting patterns.

Find out more by visiting the WildKittens Etsy store.

If you want to find out more about my WildCat Designs label, my dedicated website should tell you everything you need to know. (P.S. there's a bit about me & my designs on my new blog bio too, for the curious!)

Where to Buy WildCat Designs

You can find my WildCat Designs creations online:

Etsy (WildCat Designs)

DaWanda (offered in three language flavours) - EN - DE - FR (€)

Bigcartel (£)

WildKittens Etsy shop

Graphically Minded - 4KCBWDAY3

 Day 3 - Infographic

Today's task was to create an infographic or some kind of visual way of representing information relating to your beloved craft :)

As a Graphic Designer, this topic really appealed to me, rather unsurprisingly. I have been toying with the idea of creating an infographic of some sort for a while now and this seemed like a perfect opportunity to give it a whirl.

I'm a big fan of using an infographic to visualise statistics, facts and numbers... partly because I think it's so much more engaging than looking at some random digits, but also because (confession alert) I'm a bit of a geek. I'll happily pore over stats for my etsy shop or the Google Analytics for this here blog!

I was also curious about the readership of my crafty blog so I had a little look and made a nice bar chart with my findings:

It's funny how pleasing it can be to see some dull old figures rendered as a colourful little diagram!

Wool Week 2012

In the world of knitting and for those who appreciate natural fibres in general, Wool Week is a definite highlight in the calendar. It also seems to coincide nicely with the time of year when one's thoughts naturally turn towards all things woolly and cosy. So you might say it's the perfect timing!

Image via Deadly Knitshade (on Instagram).
I've loved following some of the fun projects which have been going on as part of the general Wool Week merriment - particularly the "Clickety Click on the Clickety Clack" aka a whole carriage of knitters collectively creating a knitted super-sized Union Jack, in the time it takes to travel by train from London King's Cross to Edinburgh Waverley and the whimisical "Woolly Golf" run by Lyle & Scott.

Image via the Campaign for Wool (on Instagram).
I also spotted a lovely freebie Rowan knitting pattern - it's for a cute gadget cosy made in Felted Tweed, a cosy blend of Merino & alpaca wool. All you need to do is sign in or register to download the PDF.

A sprinkling of inspiration

Hello! Hope you're all having a nice weekend. I thought I would break my post-Knitting & Crochet blog week blogging hiatus by sharing a couple of things which have been inspiring me recently.

I'm a big fan of recycling and upcycling. I also like kitties and good design... so I had to try hard not to "squeee" when I saw this!

Image via Atomic Attic

Atomic Attic creates these wonderful pet beds made from recycled iMacs - so they're nice & colourful and the light shines through them too. Doesn't that cat look really rather content in it?

Birds + lego + art = awesomeness. If you don't believe me, for proof, see below:

Image via Laughing Squid

- thanks to the North East Craft Mafia for highlighting those! There's a whole series of British birds built by Lego enthusiast DeTomaso Pantera, including a woodpecker, blue tit, kingfisher, goldfinch and even a puffin.

3KCBWDAY6 - Skillful knits

Day Six: Improving Your Skillset

Hmmm... wasn't quite sure where to go with this topic, as I feel I have covered the "things I'd like to learn/could improve on" subject in previous years here and here. Admittedly though, there's always something new you can learn, improve upon or a new approach to something (such as a different cast-on method) to try.



However, I am happy to say that I have learned many aspects of the knitting skillset over the years and I truly appreciate why it is called a "craft" - both from a hand knitting and machine knitting perspective. I'm glad that it's something I have persevered with, as it is so much more than just a hobby to me, at certain points it has in fact been my livelihood as a self-employed designer.



Knitting definitely has its benefits (certainly for me at least) and I have found the meditative quality of the rhythm and repetitive motions comforting on many an occasion - when things seem a little overwhelming, I find it really does help to sort out my emotions and thoughts, as well as being an activity that I like to do to help unwind (pun intended) before bedtime.

I think if there's one thing I'd like to do more of, it's to write more of my own patterns. I have written several patterns - for machine and hand knits - so "improving" is one thing, but it's more about having the courage to just do them sometimes, and put them out into the world. I haven't actually published very many of them but I would like to build on my pattern library in the coming years.



As someone who has read and knitted from rather a lot of patterns in one capacity or another over the years (some of them better than others!!!), I like to think that I have a pretty good idea of how to create a clear, easy-to-follow pattern and accompanying set of instructions.

3KCBWDAY3 - My crafty heroes

Day Three: Your Knitting or Crochet Hero

In the first year of Knitting & Crochet Blog Week, I talked about knitters whose work I enjoy. Of course, this is a somewhat similar idea but today I'm going to talk about people whose work I am inspired by and admire. It's far too difficult to whittle it down to just the one, so I've chosen my top 5 (in no particular order)!

· Kate Davies

I really love the beautiful designs of Kate Davies and one day hope to make her "owls." If you're a fibre enthusiast, I highly recommend her blog, needled.

· Anna Hrachovec

You may well have heard of knitter extraordinaire, Anna Hrachovec, of Mochimochi Land. I'm a huge fan of her creative and whimsical world of knitted critters and characters, not to mention her wicked sense of humor! Below you can see a tiny pigeon I knitted from one of her patterns :)

· Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

I've long been a fan of the witty fibre-infused banter which can be found on Stephanie's Yarn Harlot blog (and books, for that matter.) - read and enjoy - 'nuff said.

· Carol Meldrum

I was lucky enough to work with the lovely Carol during my time at Rowan. As well as being a published author and workshop tutor, you can find her Beatknit designs here. I also think her book of Knitted Icons is a lot of fun.



· Stephanie Dosen

I have adored the creations of Tiny Owl Knits for a while now. You may be familliar with the incredibly popular Beekeeper's Quilt Stephanie designed and created - I do love seeing all the different colours of "hexapuffs" people have been knitting.

I look forward to reading about everyone else's crafty heroes!

3KCBWDAY1 - Colour Lovers

Welcome to Day 1, year 3 of Knitting & Crochet Blog Week! (3KCBWDAY1)

Day One: Colour Lovers

Colour. Truly one of those things which (in my humble opinion) makes life worth living. As you can see below, I even seem to have a full colour wheel within my stash!

Although I appear to have an abundance of different colours overall, I am definitely drawn to certain colours, with a real fondness for rich, jewel-like hues and in particular teals, cobalt blues, evergreens, ruby reds and wonderfully saturated shades of purple...

...not to mention aquatic colours and vibrant fuschias. I've even been known to buy yarn simply because I loved the colour! Case in point: this ball of Noro Iro :)

When it comes to making a new knit, the part I deliberate over the most after choosing my pattern (or inventing it!) is the choice of colour. Suffice to say that one of the reasons I love certain brands of yarn, aside from quality and availability, is their selection of a wonderful range of colours.

As far as playing around with colour combinations (something which I really do enjoy), I know from my time working as a Design Consultant that many knitters have an inherent fear of straying from the original colour a pattern has been knitted/photographed in. Fortunately I don't seem to have any such issues and mix things up with merry abondon! Above, as an example, is my recoloured take on Dauphine (currently still a WIP; it's kind of hibernating if I'm honest!).

My Sketchbook Project - Part 1

Good news - I did indeed manage to finish my sketchbook on time for the Sketchbook Project (but only just!). Now that it's done & dusted - and has safely arrived at its new home in the Brooklyn Art Library (yay!) - I thought I'd show you a little bit more of it.

I really enjoyed working on this project because I treated it as a kind of fun exploration of pattern and texture via drawing, painting and collage. It so was nice to do something that was about inspiration and an exploration of creativity (and not about making a product for sale, for a little change).

If you haven't come across the Sketchbook Project, it's an annual art project open to everyone worldwide which encourages people to get creative with a standard sketchbook.

The brief is really up to you (there are suggested themes, and my chosen one was "It's winter where you are" but I used it fairly loosely and really as more of a starting point!) and the final submissions go on tour, eventually being housed at the Brooklyn Art Library in New York.

For more information, and to see the dates of the 2012 Sketchbook Project world tour, visit the website.

Classic Cola Craftsmanship

Images via Creative Review
Cola and craftsmanship...those are not two words you'd perhaps ordinarily expect strung together, but then again, I have personally always viewed the curves of a traditional glass Coke bottle as a true design classic.


I recently read about the making of an old-school Coca-Cola sign back in 1954, intended for display in London. The details of the design and construction of their first neon sign for the city's Piccadily Circus are described and recorded in a book which was featured in a recent installation at the Design Museum, celebrating the company's design identity and 125th anniversary.


There can be no doubt about the craftsmanship which has gone into the making of it when you see the design drawings.


I also believe that there are some really nice elements of graphic design and typography at play here too.


See the Creative Review article here for the full story.