PlanetJune by June Gilbank

It’s time to present another commissioned design: Giant Panda!

This pattern is a little later than scheduled, both because I’ve been sick and because I wanted to take some extra time to really perfect this design. Some designs come easily, and some take extra time and care to get just right. With an animal as iconic and well-known as the Giant Panda, there were a few criteria I knew I had to include in my design; every crocheted panda I’ve ever seen is just a basic toy bear shape with black circular patches added around the eyes, and that’s not the way I wanted to go.

My panda needed realistic shaping – the sloped back of head and neck, the iconic comfy seated pose – as well as some clever colourwork to give the shaped markings around the shoulders and realistic, symmetrical eye patches. I also had to strike the right balance between including all the features I wanted and making a pattern that isn’t ridiculously complicated to follow. With all those factors to juggle, I ended up making three complete pandas before everything came together perfectly!

In the final design, there are only 8 rounds of follow-carefully colour changes, and the pattern includes lots of tips – specific to this pattern – to make the colour changing easier and ensure you’ll get a beautifully tidy result. I’ve introduced a few new simple but effective shaping techniques too that are built right into the crocheting – I think you’ll enjoy how easily they come together when you make your own panda…

I should mention that the bamboo my panda is holding is not included in the Giant Panda pattern – it’s taken from my Lucky Bamboo pattern, which you can buy separately. However, the Giant Panda pattern does include the modifications for turning the standard Lucky Bamboo pattern into the freestanding panda-sized bamboo stalk you see pictured above with my panda.

(Btw, my newsletter is going out later today with an exclusive discount coupon for the Lucky Bamboo pattern. I’ll be re-sending that update to new subscribers on Monday, so sign up this weekend and you won’t miss out!)

If you pledged towards the Giant Panda commission, you should have already received your copy of the pattern, and the panda’s bamboo as a special commissioning bonus. Otherwise, if you’d like to make a panda of your own, you can now pick up the Giant Panda crochet pattern from the PlanetJune shop!

If you’re not quite ready to buy though, how about queuing Giant Panda on ravelry so you don’t forget about it?

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What could be better than my 9 amigurumi dinosaurs? How about 18 amigurumi dinosaurs?!

Click image to enlarge! The 9 new dinos are on the left in this picture, with the original 9 on the right.

This project has been a long time in the making; I kept getting requests for more dinosaur designs, but a lot of dinosaurs look fairly similar and I didn’t feel comfortable with the idea of changing a few parts and calling it a whole new pattern – that doesn’t seem fair to my customers! – so my Expansion Pack (EP) idea was born.

What’s an Expansion Pack?

• An Expansion Pack (EP) is an add-on to an existing PlanetJune pattern.
• The EP lets you modify or add to the original pattern to create something else.
• You cannot use the EP alone – you must also purchase the original pattern in order to be able to complete the pictured items in the EP pattern.

I put on my research hat and investigated all kinds of dinosaurs to find the most interesting types to add to the collection, and now I’d like to introduce them to you…

Meet the New Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs Set 1X, L-R: Amargasaurus, Kentrosaurus, Pentaceratops

• Amargasaurus was small for a sauropod, at only 33 ft long. It could easily be recognised by its impressive neck and back spines. It was a herbivore and lived in the early Cretaceous period.
• Kentrosaurus was 17 ft long – only half the size of its better-known relative, Stegosaurus. It was well-armoured with a spiked tail and shoulders. Kentrosaurus was a herbivore and lived in the late Jurassic period.
• Pentaceratops was a 28-ft long relative of the Triceratops. Its name means ‘five-horned head’, but its large elongated neck frill was even more impressive than its horns. It was a herbivore and lived in the late Cretaceous period.

Dinosaurs Set 2X, L-R: Dimorphodon, Kronosaurus, Spinosaurus

• Dimorphodon was a member of the Pterosaur family. (Pterosaurs aren’t actually true dinosaurs, but flying reptiles that lived in the same time period.) Dimorphodon was a small pterosaur, with only a 4 ft wingspan, but had a large head, a puffin-shaped beak and a long tail with a diamond-shaped tip. It ate fish and lived in the Jurassic period.
• Kronosaurus was a huge 30-ft long member of the Plesiosaur family. (Plesiosaurs aren’t actually true dinosaurs, but aquatic reptiles that lived in the same time period.) Kronosaurus was a short-necked plesiosaur from the early Cretaceous period. It lived in the sea and ate cephalopods.
• Spinosaurus was 40-50 ft long – even larger than a Tyrannosaurus Rex! A long crocodile-like skull and the spines which formed a sail on its back made Spinosaurus instantly recognisable. It was a carnivore from the middle Cretaceous period.

Dinosaurs Set 3X, L-R: Protoceratops, Iguanodon, Panoplosaurus

• Protoceratops was a small herbivorous dinosaur, at only 6-8 ft long. Unlike its relatives (including Triceratops and Pentaceratops), it had no horns, only its ridged neck frill. It lived in the late Cretaceous period.
• Iguanodon was a herbivorous dinosaur from the early Cretaceous period. It was 30 ft long and weighed 4-5 tons. It could walk on all four legs or run on its back legs. Its name means ‘iguana tooth’ (as its teeth resemble those of modern iguanas).
• Panoplosaurus was a 23-ft long ankylosaur from the late Cretaceous period. It was a herbivore with a heavily armoured back, a row of spikes along each side, and extra-long shoulder spikes. Unlike the related Ankylosaurus, it did not have a tail club.

EP Pricing Info

These expansion pack designs keep about half of the original pattern, and the other half is new, so I’m charging only $2.50 apiece – half the price of the original. And it gets even better if you buy a multipack set: only $6.50 for a set of 3.

The multipack EP sets correspond to Dinosaurs Sets 1, 2 and 3, so I’ve called them Dinosaurs Sets 1X, 2X and 3X to make it clear which EPs match up with which original set. And, for this launch week, you’ll only pay $6 each for any (or all!) of the three 3-pack expansion packs – a real bargain for 3 new dinosaur patterns! (No code required – the additional discounts are already set up in the shop, for this week only.)

Original Dinosaur Re-releases

All 9 of the original dinosaur patterns have now been given their makeover. If you log into your PlanetJune account, you can download the new versions of any dinosaur patterns you’ve already purchased, for no additional cost, for the next 2 weeks. (If you order any dinosaur patterns from today onwards, you’ll automatically get the updated versions.)

18 dinosaur patterns – all in the new and improved format!

Future Plans

As I moved further into designing the Expansion Packs, I realised that the dinosaur I’ve had most requests for – Velociraptor – wouldn’t be possible here: in order to make a raptor, every component of the closest pattern (T rex) would have to be rewritten, which means it’s not an EP; it’s a whole new pattern! So, although 18 dinos is already an impressive collection, if these EPs sell well, it may not be a completely crazy idea for me to design Dinosaurs Set 4 (and maybe even Set 4X?) before I call this range complete

Handy Links

• If you’ve already bought the original Dinosaur patterns, you can pick up the new Expansion Packs (individually or in sets) from the Expansion Packs section of my shop.
• If you’d like to pick up any original Dinosaurs + EPs, you’ll find each relevant EP as an add-on for the original patterns and sets, in the Prehistoric & Mythical section.
• If you’d like to add any of the 9 new dinosaurs to your Ravelry queue and/or favourites, there’s a link from each individual pattern page in my shop.
• If you’re admiring the colours of my dinosaurs, they are all made from Lion Brand Vanna’s Choice yarn – it has the best range of beautiful colours, and nothing in the range clashes with anything else, so you can’t go wrong.

Oh, and if you’re intimidated by the thought of crocheting the thin spikes on some of the dinos, don’t worry – those will be the subject of my next video tutorial, coming later this week! And then I may just need to collapse for a little while and recover from this mammoth project…

I really hope you love my new (and improved) dinosaur collection!

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When I launched my new PlanetJune logo last March, I took the opportunity to completely redesign my pattern stylesheet at the same time. You may have noticed that all my patterns released since then have a subtly different look from my older designs.

My game plan is to convert my entire back catalogue into the new format, and, at the same time, add any tips and clarifications that I think would improve the patterns – after all, I’ve come a long way in my 6 years of pattern design, and I’d like my older patterns to include my new-found wisdom!

An easy way to tell old from new – the new editions have my yarn planet logo at the top of every page.

The improvements are all functional, to make my patterns easier to use, easier to print, and easier to understand. Here are the improvements you’ll see in the re-releases (and all new patterns since April):

Design and Layout:

• The layout has much less wasted space, so each pattern is an average of 1 page shorter, saving on paper if you decide to print them.
• My new page size is designed to print perfectly onto both letter and A4 sized paper.
• I’ve updated the font to be cleaner and more readable, especially if you’re reading on-screen.
• The design is intentionally clear and simple so you won’t waste ink printing decorative borders, coloured backgrounds, etc.

Terminology:

• Abbreviations list gives UK/Aus equivalents for all stitches used, to prevent confusion.
• Invisible decrease: all patterns will now say invdec instead of sc2tog (except in places where a sc2tog stitch is specifically needed).

Size: The finished size will now be included in the patterns.

Added tips and links to tutorials: I’ll link to my relevant tutorials in any pattern that would benefit from a specific technique, e.g. any patterns with colour changes will link to that tutorial.

Clarifications: Any areas in the patterns that I’ve had several questions about over the years will be revised to include additional explanations. I’ll also re-edit all patterns to check for anything else that can be clarified.

Improved photos: Especially in the older 2007 patterns, some of the photos aren’t up to my current standards. I’ll be reprocessing those to be brighter and clearer.

Get the re-releases – free!

Of course, if you’ve happily used the existing versions and had no problems, you won’t need the updates, but I’ll offer them to all my customers, so you can save/print a copy of the latest version.

As I have 124 patterns to reformat, the thought of trying to create all those new editions for one grand re-release day was hugely intimidating. Instead, I’ll be re-releasing them in manageable batches over the coming month, starting next week. Look out for my announcements, as, for 2 weeks following each batch announcement, you’ll be able to download the new version of any of the patterns you’ve already purchased, at no extra charge, directly from your PlanetJune account!

If you’d like notification reminders, as well as posting about them here, I’ll always announce them in my monthly newsletter. And, to make sure you don’t miss out, I’ve also set up a special mailing list: Crochet Pattern Updates. This list is just for pattern re-release announcements. If you sign up for it, you’ll get a short email notification every time a new batch of patterns has been re-released (no more than one or two emails per month until the reformat project is complete).

Once all 124 patterns have been reformatted, there’ll be another 2 week window for you to download all your previously purchased PlanetJune patterns in the new format, so you’ll be able to download any you missed. (That window will also be announced in both newsletters.)

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This is a big project for me and it’ll take many more months to complete, but re-editing all my patterns has been one of my long-term goals – it was just waiting for my logo and new stylesheet to be completed so I could make all the updates for each pattern at once. I’ve been working steadily through the list whenever I’ve had a moment over the past few months, and, although I still have a long way to go, I think it’s well worth my time to revisit all 124 of the pre-logo patterns to make them more useable, so they’ll hopefully answer any future customers’ questions before they’re asked!

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I’ve had to reshuffle my plans a bit this month, as I polled my Ravelry group and discovered that mid-November (my intended release date for this year’s festive pattern) was far too late, so here we are, a month earlier, and it’s time to announce my Christmas design, complete with a launch week discount…

My Pine Cone Collection crochet pattern includes 6 different pine cone designs (3 thin and 3 round). Each cone is worked in one piece, with a clever, easy-to-memorize stitch pattern that results in highly realistic pine cones with perfectly offset scales.

I’m very happy with how realistic these pine cones look in any shade of solid or variegated brown (I used 6 shades of Red Heart Soft and Bernat Satin for my cones; the exact shades are also given in the pattern) and I just couldn’t stop making them once I got started. Once you grasp the concept for the scales it’s really simple, with no counting involved, so they make a perfect TV-watching project where you don’t have to concentrate much on what you’re doing.

Make them in any colour(s), and pile them in a bowl or vase, make them into a wreath, hang them from your Christmas tree, or string them into a garland.

Of course, pine cones don’t only make lovely Christmas decorations – especially in natural colours, they can be used as decoration throughout autumn and winter, or for natural woodland-look decor at any time of year.

If you are thinking about Christmas, wouldn’t they’d also look wonderful in bright and/or sparkly yarns as tree ornaments, or grouped together into wreaths or garlands? (You’ll have to use your imagination a bit here: apparently mid-October is far too early to find Christmas trees in South African shops!)

Pine Cone Collection includes the complete patterns for the 6 different sizes of pine cones pictured, 3 thin and 3 round, with sizes varying from 2-4″ (5-10cm) tall. The pattern also includes modifications that will enable you to make cones of any size, with the same overlapping scale pattern.

Thin cones: A (long), B (medium), C (short)
Round cones: D (small), E (medium), F (large)

If you like it, please don’t forget to favourite/queue Pine Cone Collection on Ravelry:

This week only, you can pick up the Pine Cone Collection pattern with a special launch week discount. (There’s no code needed; you’ll see the special price automatically in the shop.) I love my bowl of pine cones – I think they are perfect for fall/winter decor – and I hope you’ll enjoy the pattern too!

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Amigurumi Acorn was one of my first free patterns, from 2007. I created it before I came up with the idea of donationware patterns and I’ve been meaning to add it to my donationware library for a long time. I wanted to show that this popular pattern is far more versatile than just the cute smiley acorns I originally made, so I’ve made a second example set of acorns to showcase the more realistic look you can also easily achieve with this pattern:

Cute acorns and realistic acorns – both from the same pattern

To bring the pattern up to standard before adding it to my shop, I’ve revisited and updated the text, and reprocessed the photos to be brighter and clearer. If you’d like to donate for this sweet pattern, I’ve also included lots of additional bonus info in the PDF version:

• Eye positioning tips
• How to invisibly stitch the acorn to the cup
• An unwired (child-safe) twig pattern (you can see this on my realistic acorns, below)
• Suggestions for use, and bonus tips

My new realistic acorns have a child-safe wire-free twig (bonus pattern only in the PDF)

The improved Amigurumi Acorn pattern is perfect for an autumn wreath or other fall-themed decor; I hear that some people even have an autumn-themed Christmas tree! Although the worsted weight acorns are about 2″ tall, you can miniaturise the pattern with finer yarn or thread and a smaller hook and make adorable acorns that are closer to life-sized.

As always, the basic pattern is free for your use, but you’ll get the bonus tips if you choose to donate for the PDF version. I hope you’ll enjoy it!

Go to Amigurumi Acorn crochet pattern >>

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Today I have a new PlanetJune Accessories donationware pattern for you: the Frosty Windows Scarf. With a pretty but easy-to-memorise stitch pattern, you can work up this scarf in almost any yarn. Once you’ve crocheted a couple of repeats, you’ll fly through it – it’s a perfect pattern for handmade gifts or for stashbusting!

Work it in any weight yarn – although I’d recommend DK weight (#3 light) or heavier for a snuggly scarf – with an appropriately sized hook. As with all my accessory patterns, this pattern has both written instructions and stitch diagrams, and it also includes full instructions for increasing the length and width if you’d like to make a wrap or shawl version!

As always with my donationware, the Frosty Windows Scarf pattern is free for your use, but if you’d like to send me a donation towards it (completely optional), you’ll receive the nicely formatted and easy-to-print PDF version of the pattern as a thank you. As a bonus, the PDF also includes some additional exclusive info:

• Step by step photo tutorial for the ‘tr2tog over next 5 st’
• How to calculate how much fringe you’ll need
• Step by step photos for making and attaching the fringe

I hope you’ll enjoy crocheting this scarf for yourself, and maybe you’ll make a few extras as Christmas gifts for friends and family?

Go to Frosty Windows Scarf pattern >>

Crochet Along with us!

Please share photos of scarves you’ve made from this pattern in the Accessory-Along CAL in the PJ ravelry group. We’ll be crocheting accessories from now until the end of the year, so you have plenty of time to join in and make even the largest, most ambitious accessory projects – or maybe multiples of the faster ones to give as gifts…

You can find all these patterns in the PlanetJune Accessories section of my shop.

Please join us at the Accessory-Along thread in the PlanetJune Ravelry group if you’d like to crochet a Frosty Windows Scarf – or any other PlanetJune Accessories – along with us!

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With the Accessory-Along crochet-along about to begin on October 1st, this was perfect timing for me to launch my latest PlanetJune Accessories design, the Rippled Lace Rectangular Shawl. Two harmonising shades of yarn undulate together to create a beautiful gossamer-fine shawl with airy lightness and amazing drape.

The lace pattern has a 2-row repeat, so you’ll pick it up in no time and be able to enjoy crocheting without having to worry about a complicated pattern. The clever stitch pattern is worked continuously from 2 balls of yarn; there’s no fastening off between stripes, or lengths of stranded yarn to worry about hiding. You can even omit the edging and the shawl will still look good!

My lace patterns are designed to be worked with normal-sized hooks into the spaces between stitches, which means that, after the foundation row, there’s no hunting for those tiny fine loops to work into, and they are a pleasure to work.

As always, I include full instructions for modifying the size of the shawl in both length and width – you can make it as narrow as a scarf, or as wide as a blanket, and the length is only determined by how long you want it (and how much yarn you have available).

My shawl uses an entire 400m/50g skein of the main darker colour, and 86% of the contrast colour skein – you can see that it’s very long and a shorter version would still be ample for most people. I used a laceweight baby alpaca yarn (KnitPicks Alpaca Cloud in Foxtrot Heather and Iris Heather) which is surprisingly warm, even with such an open lacy design – I’m really going to enjoy wearing this!

The Rippled Lace Rectangular Shawl is a versatile pattern; here are a few modification suggestions to get you started:

• Use contrasting colours of yarn to punch up the ‘wow’ factor of the rippled stripe effect.
• Work the design in a heavier yarn (fingering weight/sock yarns would look lovely) to give a more substantial shawl with more warmth and coverage.
• Omit the edging, or edge with a third colour, and you’ll be able to make the most of your 2 skeins of yarn in the shawl body.
• For a faster project, make a narrower scarf-width version.

I hope you’ll enjoy this shawl as much as I do! You can buy the Rippled Lace Rectangular Shawl pattern individually from my shop, or buy it as part of a custom set of any three PlanetJune Accessories designs for a bargain price.

If you’re not quite ready to buy though, how about queuing it on ravelry so you don’t forget about it?

If you’d like to make this shawl, or any of my other accessory designs, I hope you’ll join us in the PlanetJune Ravelry group for the Accessories crochet-along. The CAL officially starts on October 1st, but if you can’t wait to get going, feel free to start crocheting early!

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It’s amazing how quickly time flies – it’s been over a year since my last AmiDogs design (the Basset Hound who accompanies my amigurumi Columbo) but, thanks to my Commissions system, it’s time to add to the collection with my 20th dog crochet pattern, AmiDogs Rottweiler.

With 19 dog breed designs under my belt, I thought I must have a pretty good idea of how to design a dog crochet pattern by now, but it was still a challenge to capture the Rottie’s essence. I had to set it aside for a while and work on something else until I figured out the subtle changes in shape that would make the design work. I think I finally nailed it though

Here are the other 19 AmiDogs breeds:

Don’t forget, if your favourite(s) are still missing, you can commission them! I’ve just added the most popular requests to the commission options, if you’d like to pledge towards any of them. If your favourites aren’t on the list, please submit your requests (through the form on the Commissions page) so I can consider adding them in the next design review. I no longer create new AmiDogs designs without a commission, so this is the only way to get your favourites made from now on.

If you know someone who loves Rottweilers, you can pick up the AmiDogs Rottweiler pattern in the shop right now. Or, if you’d like to add several dogs to your pattern collection, I recommend my AmiDogs Custom Set – you can choose any 3 dog breeds for a bargain price.

Thanks to everyone who commissioned me to make this design! Next up on the commissions list: the Giant Panda (I’ll be collecting pledge monies tomorrow) – yay!

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Here’s my latest commissioned design – say hello to my Sea Otter!

This pattern is a little later than scheduled, I’m afraid; I just wasn’t able to write up the pattern until I got over my bronchitis enough to have a clear head. Turning the new techniques I use to create my designs into clear and easy to follow instructions is impossible when my brain isn’t fully functional. But hopefully you’ll agree that it was worth the wait

I’ve wanted to make a sea otter for years – they are truly adorable. Have you seen pictures of a pair floating together, holding hands?! Awwww!

Sea Otter fun facts

• Sea Otters are both the smallest marine mammal and the largest member of the weasel family.
• Their fur is the densest of any animal and traps a layer of insulating air bubbles within it to keep the otter warm in the cold ocean waters.
• Sea otters almost never leave the ocean. They float on their backs to rest, groom and sleep.
• Their diet is shellfish and crustaceans. They often use a rock as a tool to crack open the hard shells.
• They have special kidneys that allow them to drink sea water and process out the salt!

To help with my design, I made a list of essential sea otter features:

• Sea otters have small sensitive front paws that let then catch their food by touch.
• To aid in swimming, their back feet are large, flat and webbed, and their tails are broad and strong.
• Their colour varies from beige to very dark brown, and the fur on their heads lightens with age.
• They have a diamond shaped nose and small ears. They can close their nostrils and ears when underwater.

I hope the sea otter’s playful nature has come through in my design – especially in the back feet! I think sea otters really need to have something to hold on their tummies for maximum cuteness, so I’ve also included a bonus pattern to make the simple clam you can see in my photos – you can make the closed and/or open (empty) version.

If you pledged towards the commission, you should have already received your copy of the pattern. Otherwise, if you’d like to make a sea otter of your own – or a pair to hold hands – you can now pick up the Sea Otter crochet pattern from the PlanetJune shop!

If you’re not quite ready to buy though, how about queuing Sea Otter on ravelry so you don’t forget about it?

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Posy Blossoms is my latest donationware crochet pattern for you! What began as an idea to make a tiny basic flower shape expanded until I had a set of seven different sweet miniature flowers with two leaf designs. As they all go together perfectly, you can mix, match, stack and combine endlessly to create floral embellishments perfect for any situation.

Make them in your favourite colours, or themed colours to match decor or occasion. (Thinking ahead, don’t you agree that dark green leaves with white and/or red blossoms would make beautiful winter/Christmas decorations..?) You can make each blossom in one or two colours, and stack the smaller blossoms on the larger ones in the same or contrasting colours.

Each tiny component takes only minutes (or less!) to crochet. The sizes vary from approx 0.75-1.5″ (2-4cm) diameter when worked in worsted weight yarn, and of course you could miniaturise them further with finer yarn and an appropriately smaller hook.

Use a single flower to embellish a hairclip, stitch two or three to a bag or purse, or combine your favourites into a larger posy for a brooch or pin. Stitch them around the neckline of a t-shirt or cardigan, embellish a photo frame, decorate your amigurumi, create floral crocheted jewellery… The only limit is your imagination!

Above and below, you can see one example of how I used this pattern (3 x blossom A with the optional knotted centre, plus 1 x double leaf I) to make a sweet forget-me-not posy hair clip:

As always, the pattern is free for your use, but if you’d like to send me a donation towards it (completely optional), you’ll receive the nicely formatted and easy-to-print PDF version of the pattern as a thank you.

I hope you’ll enjoy this pattern – I can’t wait to see how you use it! I’m hoping we’ll see a huge range of embellishments, accents and decorations, all made using unique combinations and colour schemes.

Go to Posy Blossoms pattern >>

Crochet Along with us!

The new PlanetJune Crochet-Along is an extended BotaniCAL, taking us through from now until the end of September. The botanic theme, chosen by the members of my ravelry group, covers all my flower, plant and fruit patterns, so this is the perfect chance to start creating with my new Posy Blossoms pattern, and to be inspired by how other people are using it!

PlanetJune Botanicals patterns – find them all in the Flowers & Plants section of my shop.

(By the way, although the Ravellenic Games have now ended, the Team PlanetJune roundup and prize drawing will be later this week, as there’s a 24 hour grace period for posting projects to the finish lines and I don’t want to omit anyone from the roundup post or from receiving their contest entries.)

Please join us at the BotaniCAL thread in the PlanetJune Ravelry group if you’d like to crochet Posy Blossoms – or any other PlanetJune Botanicals – along with us!

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