All buttoned up

I absolutely love buttons, I think it comes from memories of my visits to granny and looking through her huge button collection. I'm always on the lookout for new and unusual buttons and as you can see from my jar I now have quite a few!

Adding unusual buttons to the things I make is my own way of personalising my work and adding my own stamp. Check out my latest additions to my collection - the green swirly one on the left and the adorable red loveheart! Very cute. Not sure what I'll use them for yet... but for the moment I think they look lovely in my jar. But watch this space!

Have you got a button collection? Or do you know a good purveyor of unusual buttons? Let me know, I'd love to hear about your own button bonanzas. Val x

Doing it doggy style!

This is Dotty, my miniature Yorkshire Terrier, soaking up the sun with my daughter's Border Terrier Toby. Dotty is adorable, she comes everywhere with me and I love her to bits. But being so small she does feel the cold. So when I saw a pattern for a jumper for her, I just couldn't resist!

And of course, I didn't want her best pal Toby to feel left out, so when I saw this hat and scarf combo, I knew it would look very cute on him. Especially with the little holes for his floppy ears to pop through.

Not sure he's as impressed as Dotty was though! Look at his face!

Fancy a winter warmer for your four-legged friend? Give me a shout! love Val x

A head start for winter

Autumn is definitely my favourite season. There's nothing nicer than wrapping up for a walk through the leaves with my dogs Dotty and Sally, and I love coming home to a roaring log fire.

So now the random heatwave is over, (what was that all about?!?) I've flung my flip-flops back in the wardrobe and I'm thinking about cosy knits. Last year I loved making these cute beanie hats. The chunky wool is just heaven to knit with and they are so toasty warm. My favourite part was customising them with these gorgeous big buttons I found. (More on my button collection later!)

I've already had a few requests from friends asking me to make them one. So I better get cracking, because knowing this crazy weather it'll probably be snowing next week.

Fancy a cosy winter warming hat? Give me a shout! Love Val x

Meet Looby Loo

I'd like to introduce you all to my latest creation, Looby Loo!
I've just finished making her today and absolutely loved putting her together. Platting her hair was great fun and I also like the way her clothes are detachable, and check out her knickers, aren't they cute...

As a little girl, I had a knitted dolly called Kate that my mum made for me, and I passed her down to my own daughters.  So I've always wanted to recreate that special dolly that a little girl would love and keep forever.  I learned loads working on Looby Loo and I'm already planning to make a little friend for her so watch this space!

P.S Would you like a special dolly for a little girl you know? Let me know! Val x

Welcome to Very Valerie!

Hello!

If you are here, then chances are you love knitting as much as I do. I'll be honest, I've never done a blog before, but my daughter talked me into keeping this online diary of my work, because she thought it was time I shared my knitted creations. And I thought why not! So thanks for popping by to see what I get up to - I hope you enjoy following my knitting adventures with me.

Keep on knitting!
Love from Val x