PlanetJune Blog: Latest News, Patterns and Tutorials

The Halloween CAL in my Ravelry group is in full swing – I’ve never seen such a variety of pumpkins, and we’re only halfway through the month! This is going to make for a really fun roundup post 😀

I decided to join in with the CAL this time, because I’ve been meaning to try something unusual for a long time, and this is the perfect opportunity…. Meet my darling blue pumpkin (we’ll come back to the unusual colouring a bit later):

As a designer, you don’t often get to experience your own designs in the same way as anyone else does: you remember most of the pattern and how the construction works, and don’t have to follow many of the instructions to make another one. I made my Pumpkin pattern in 2008 and haven’t made one in 3 years, so it was like a completely new pattern to me; I’d completely forgotten it. To my surprise, I discovered it’s actually a really good pattern, simple but very clever – no wonder it’s so popular 😉

Anyway, back to my pumpkin: I didn’t think a spooky face would really fit his baby blue colouring, so I tried for a cute pumpkin face (I think it ended up looking a bit like a Pokemon, but I like it!)

Now, why would I make such a silly-coloured pumpkin? Because this is no ordinary yarn: it’s glow in the dark yarn!

(Bernat Glow In The Dark was unfortunately discontinued a couple of years ago, and I can’t imagine why they don’t re-release it every Halloween; it’s perfect for Halloween decorations and trick or treating costumes! I was lucky enough to recognise it in the unlabelled bin at the factory outlet sale before I left Canada, and grabbed all I could find. Sadly, there was nothing in yellow, orange or green, hence the baby blue and white pumpkin.)

But this makes it totally worth the unusual daytime colouring:

GLOWY! How cool is that?!

An aside: it’s actually very difficult to get a photo of anything glowing in the dark! I managed it in the end by setting up the camera on the tripod, focussing manually on the pumpkin, then draping blackout fabric over both the pumpkin (inside my old light box frame) and the camera before I took the shot. Before I quite perfected this technique, I ended up with this ‘ghost pumpkin’ photo:

…which I think is pretty cool too!

If you’d like to join in with the Halloween CAL, it’s going strong on Ravelry and we’d all be happy to see you there! 2.5 weeks of seasonal fun to go…

Let’s get this out of the way first: I was given a copy of this book to review. But I’m not being compensated for this review in any other way, and the following is based on my honest opinions!

Overview

Microcrafts: Tiny Treasures to Make and Share, compiled by Margaret McGuire, Alicia Kachmar, and Katie Hatz, is a craft project book that includes 25 miniature craft projects that use a variety of different methods and materials – and each project is no larger than a spool of thread!

I love tiny craft projects – they can be fast to make, use hardly any supplies, take up no space to display, and have a huge cuteness factor just from their size alone! So I really looked forward to seeing this book, and I wasn’t disappointed.

It’s a hardcover book, with very nice, understated styling. It’s fun just to flip through – the photos are large and clear (larger than life-size!) and the projects are well-displayed. Project instructions are broken down into numbered steps, with illustrations, templates, and tips. It’s all well laid out and easy to follow.

Embroidered felt pendant and a felted planets mobile

The included projects cover a range of styles and difficulties, from the very basic (nutshell boats, miniature paper bunting) to more technically demanding (tiny books, miniature macrame), and a range of materials including paper, felt, fabric, polymer clay, and more. Every project is very different, and there are some original concepts that I haven’t seen anywhere else before, so you really get your money’s worth, and plenty of scope to spark your imagination.

Miniature books

My Experience

I fell in love with the miniature houseplants and macrame hanger but, not having a mini plant pot or access to any live plants, I decided to make all the components myself. I followed the Macrame Hanger (p44) instructions (see below). I also liked the Wire Plant Stand (p45) idea, but not the look of the finished stand, so I came up with my own very simple version. And this is the real beauty of the Microcrafts projects – they are based on such simple concepts that they lend themselves to customizing.

If you’re not already familiar with macrame, the Macrame Hanger is one of the most advanced projects in the book. I’ve never tried macrame before, or any knotting craft other than basic friendship bracelets, so I really put the instructions to the test. Each knot had an illustration that, after a few seconds of study, allowed me to complete it successfully. The concise instructions did leave me puzzled at a couple of places: how thin exactly is “thin cord or embroidery thread or string” and how do I “hide the ends of the knot”, for example, but I think I was overthinking it: I used size 20 crochet thread, as I had it on hand; it looks a little finer than the example, but it still looks great – the exact thread thickness obviously doesn’t matter.

I only found one mistake in the directions: the instruction for the 4 cords that hold the plant hanger says to make them 1/4″ long – that’s far too short. From the picture I assume that should actually be either 1″ or 1 1/4″, but the exact length is something you can decide to look good with your pot, so it doesn’t really matter; I just continued until mine looked long enough.

As for the macrame, it might have been easier to practice the knots at full scale before going micro, but it worked! My plant hanger looks exactly like the picture (above), so I must have followed the instructions correctly:

Genius idea – as you can see, any kitschiness you may associate with macrame totally vanishes on this scale. Isn’t it adorable? Oh, hang on, maybe you don’t appreciate the scale without anything for reference… Here you go:

This is a super-sized pic – in reality the entire pot is less than 1 inch (2.5cm) diameter!

I was inspired by the polymer clay projects in the book to create my plant pot and a tiny succulent garden from FIMO. I love how this project turned out, and I had a lot of fun making it 🙂

Peeves

I’m happy to report that I don’t have any major gripes about this book!

The introduction to Microcrafts says that microcrafting is “all about putting odds and ends to good use”, however, a few of the projects are a bit limiting because they rely on specific products in order to make them. For example, the fabric buttons project requires a fabric button covering kit; and I was very intrigued by the temporary tattoos project but was disappointed to find that it requires “clear temporary tattoo inkjet waterslide-decal paper” – you can’t get much more specific than that, and I didn’t feel it really fit with the “odds and ends” claim.

This only applies to a couple of the projects though: the bulk of the Microcrafts projects use basic craft supplies (paper, felt, yarn, glue, string, etc) that you probably already have in your craft stash, or could easily buy from any craft supply store.

And I was surprised to see a book about tiny crafts that doesn’t include a shrinkydinks project – such a missed opportunity! Note to the authors: that’s my suggestion for Microcrafts 2, ladies 😉

Final Thoughts

Microcrafts: Tiny Treasures to Make and Share is a great concept, and well-executed. There’s a wide range of projects ranging from very simple (fun to make for or with kids) to more advanced projects that any crafter will appreciate. The various contributors provide a variety of styles and materials used in the projects, so you’ll definitely find at least a few that appeal to you, and the others may just provide a spark of inspiration to create your own original microcrafts!

If you appreciate cute and tiny, and enjoy crafting, you’ll love Microcrafts. It’s a must-keep addition to my craft book reference shelf!

Today is my first Thanksgiving as a Canadian, and I’m not there to celebrate it… But I am thankful that I’m a Canadian citizen and I’ll always have that, wherever in the world I may be. As it’s not a holiday here, I’ll catch up on some PlanetJune admin instead, and give away some free stuff – yay!

Review and Win contest

September’s ‘Review and Win’ winner is Judy C, with her Kingfisher review:

I LOVE the kingfisher that I made from this pattern and am getting a lot of compliments on it. I followed all instructions for the neatest color changes and now I do have a self-standing, perfect kingfisher of my own! All instructions are clear and easy to follow. I highly recommend this pattern-especially for bird lovers like me!

Congrats Judy! I’ll email you to find out which pattern you’d like as your prize 🙂

To be entered into this month’s draw for a free pattern of your choice, just write a review of any product in my shop.

* * *

PlanetJune Affiliate payments

The end of September also marked my first quarterly payments to my affiliates: you’ll all have received your earnings in your PlanetJune account by now, and thank you for referring new customers to my shop!

If you’d like to join the PlanetJune Affiliate program too, you can earn 5% of the value of any orders that are placed using your unique ID code.

Some of my affiliates have yet to generate any sales through their links, so I thought I’d offer some advice in case you’ve done something wrong and are missing out on your commissions:

• You can link to any page in my shop (not the blog)
• Don’t forget to generate your own unique URL for your links from the Affiliate Marketing Tools page (you can find it under My Account when you’re logged in)
• If you’ve put a banner on your site, remember to use your link to my shop

All your links should look like this (except not split onto 2 lines): planetjune.com/shop/index.php?main_page=index&referrer=PJ_1234567890

1. They link to a page in my shop
2. They include your unique referrer code (in this case, PJ_1234567890 – yours will be different!)

And a little tip: a lot of people ignore adverts, so you’ll probably have more luck if you e.g. post about something you’ve made from one of my patterns (with a photo), and link to that pattern using your unique link – that’s what my most successful affiliates have been doing, anyway!

If you have any questions about the Affiliate program (or anything else), please feel free to email me.

Although it may not look like it from the new PlanetJune Accessories collection cover pictures, I had a really hard time getting those photos – it actually took 6 photoshoots to get enough decent photos to release the collection. That’s 6 sessions of dressing up nicely and doing my hair and makeup, and 6 sessions of getting strange looks as I posed, feeling like an idiot, in various locations near the river…

It’s spring here, not autumn, and if you look carefully you can see huge palms, giant cacti, and other unusual foliage in the background of my photos, which doesn’t exactly set the autumnal scene I had in mind… Plus my two winters in a row this year, together with months of being stuck in the house with my busted rib, has left me with an even paler than usual complexion (if that’s possible).

It’s a world away from the carefully controlled lighting and scenery I use for my amigurumi photos! For the whole time I was trying to get these pics, I was blessed with bright endless sunshine every day, which meant I was often either squinting in the sunlight, or hidden in deep shadow. When there were a few clouds, by the time I got dressed up and on location, the clouds had all mysteriously vanished. And the wind! The wind here is so strong that it has its own name (‘The Cape Doctor’, as it supposedly blows away all the pollution). My lacy scarves and shawls would not stay put, and my carefully-styled hair whipped across my face and into a mess within seconds.

I was about to throw out all the rejected photos (500+!), but I thought these few were a good demonstration of a tiny fraction of what I went through, so I made them into a little animation for you:

Hahaha! It’s a miracle I ever got any half-decent photos, with winds like this!

And by the way, for anyone who thinks you can’t block acrylic yarn, look at the drape of my shawl! Blocking works miracles on ALL yarn.

Don’t forget you only have until this Sunday to take advantage of the launch week discounts on the new PlanetJune Accessories collection (details in the previous post) – and thank you so much to everyone who’s already bought some (or all) of my new designs! I hope you’ll enjoy crocheting them as much as I enjoyed designing them, and a lot more than I enjoyed modelling for them 😉

It’s been a long time coming, but I’m so happy and proud (and a little scared) to announce that the second PlanetJune Accessories Collection is finally ready! Don’t forget to read to the end to take advantage of my launch week discount codes!

The detailed patterns include full written instructions, photos, illustrations, and large, clear charted stitch diagrams where needed, and, as always, are backed up by unlimited support by email, should you have any questions.

So now, please allow me to present the PlanetJune Accessories Fall 2011 Collection! (By the way, there are lots more pictures of each design, if you click through to the individual pattern pages.)

The Diamond Flowers Scarf/Wrap can be worn as a shoulder wrap to show off the stunning diamond flower pattern to the full, or as a lacy scarf. Take advantage of a beautiful sock yarn colourway to make yours look spectacular! I used a bamboo sock yarn for mine, so it’s beautifully silky and soft against my skin. This pattern includes two complete versions: the standard width (as pictured), and an increased width option that allows you to make a wrap of any width.

The elegant Climbing Eyelets Triangular Shawl is worked upwards in rows from the bottom tip, which means the size is infinitely customizable – from a cute and tiny child-sized version to a giant oversized shawl to snuggle into, you’ll just keep crocheting until it reaches the size you want, then add the simple border. 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. I made mine long enough that it covers the gap between the bottom of my shirt and top of my pants when I’m sitting at the computer (like right now)!

The Banded Lace Wrap continues my ‘easy crocheted lace’ trend from last year’s popular Gossamer Lace Wrap. Wear it as an elegantly light and lacy shoulder wrap, or as a frothy lace scarf (the layers make it surprisingly toasty as a scarf!). It’s easy to crochet in any width you want, from a skinny scarf to a full-width rectangular shawl. Although each pair of bands uses an 8-row repeat, there are only three different stitch patterns to memorise, so you’ll be flying through it in no time.

I think the Reindeer Antlers speak for themselves! For an instant cute costume for the kids (or a costume party for adults), crochet these reindeer antlers and ears. All you need is a wide plastic headband and your crochet supplies. Make this lighthearted design and everyone will want to try on the antlers and be instantly transformed into a real-life amigurumi – how can you resist?

And finally, my Chunky Elegance Rug Trio is three crochet patterns in one! Not just resized doilies, this trio of rug patterns has been specifically designed for comfort: they are soft and cozy to sit or stand on, and there are no large holes that your foot could slip through to touch the cold floor. Each round is different, to keep your interest up as you crochet! The pattern includes coordinated designs in 20″, 30″ and 40″ (50cm, 75cm, 100cm) sizes.

There is one more pattern in the making that was intended to be part of this collection, but I didn’t want to delay the launch any longer. The ‘missing’ design will be my next donationware pattern, and it’ll be perfect to make a few as quick stocking-stuffer gifts, so remember to look out for it nearer to Christmas 🙂

*****
Launch Week Discounts! These discounts are valid on all my Accessories patterns, not just the new collection (excluding last year’s Scalloped Scarf pattern as it’s donationware, so you set your own price anyway).
These automatic discount codes are valid until this Sunday, October 9th.

Buy any PlanetJune Accessories pattern, save 5% with code PJAC05
Buy any 2 PlanetJune Accessories patterns, save 10% with code PJAC10
Buy any 3 PlanetJune Accessories patterns, save 15% with code PJAC15
Buy any 4 PlanetJune Accessories patterns, save 20% with code PJAC20
Buy any 5 or more PlanetJune Accessories patterns, save 25% with code PJAC25

You’ll find all the PlanetJune Accessories patterns in my shop.

*****

I really hope you like the new collection – I’ve worked so hard for the past couple of months to make it as good as possible. Please let me know what you think in the comments and, if you have requests for future accessories designs, ask away!

The best part of a Crochet-Along, for me, is getting to see all the photos and seeing what people have done with my patterns. And I have to say, with the Fruit-Along, the creativity and photo staging of all the participants has been really impressive! I think you’ll enjoy this roundup 😀

Before I get to that though, I wanted to let you know that the PlanetJune ravelry group is finally developing a life of its own, beyond posts from me. Members are choosing and running their own monthly CALs, suggesting new pattern ideas, asking amigurumi questions, showing off their FOs, and more! I’d love to see more of you joining in – I think it’s going to be a really fun and useful hangout now the activity level is increasing.

The first member-chosen CAL starts today: a Halloween CAL for October. Join in on Ravelry and have fun photographing your Halloweeny crochet!

And now see the results of September’s CAL, the Fruit-Along! (To make it faster to write this post, I’m just crediting the participants by their Ravelry usernames)

jukatca & theMarkofSMB

silverlotus & theMarkofSMB

Lightblue & CrochtColorJunkie

Fatals-attraction & petrOlly

klopferli & petrOlly

MissMaro & KOKOXIE

muscidae & theMarkofSMB

jukatca & CrochtColorJunkie

AliciaLee418 & jukatca

Aren’t they all wonderful?! If you’d like to have some fun photographing your projects too, come to the PlanetJune group on ravelry and join in the next CAL 😀

One year ago today, I launched my first PlanetJune Accessories collection. I designed my patterns to showcase what I consider to be the beauty and variety of crochet, and also as teaching tools, with full written instructions, technique explanations and tips, photos, illustrations, and charted stitch diagrams.

The customer feedback I’ve had has been so positive (check the reviews in my shop to see!) that I’ve been eager to find time to create another set of designs. Over the past couple of months, I’ve been working hard so that I’d be able to launch my second collection today, on the anniversary of the original launch. For the past couple of weeks I’ve been Accessories-obsessed, stressed to the eyeballs, with no time or energy to spend on anyone or anything else, just to try to get this collection ready to launch by the end of September.

Um, does that seem stupid to you too? Why am I torturing myself by working myself into the ground, just to meet an arbitrary deadline?!

You may not appreciate this (I didn’t, and I’ve been through it before, so I really should have remembered), but there’s a ridiculously large amount of work that goes into creating a collection of patterns when you do it all yourself. Designing, crocheting, pattern writing, testing, stitch diagram drawing, phototography, modelling, editing and layout – the list goes on, and every stage is time-consuming if you want to do it right and produce a high quality product. Then multiply it all by 5 or 6 and try to work on them all simultaneously without losing your mind….

This process has made me think seriously about the way I’m running my business. I have a lot of ideas, and a lot of things I want to create and accomplish. But there’s only one June, and only so many hours in the day. I set myself big goals and push myself far too hard to reach them – I don’t want to get sick again, or burn out.

So that’s why today’s post is to announce that I will not be releasing a new PJ Accessories collection today: I’m going to take a few more days and make sure I do justice to my new designs. I’m really excited about them, and I hope you’ll love them too!

Here’s a little taster of what you can expect:

Look out for the new PlanetJune Accessories collection, coming soon, with launch week discounts! If you want to make sure you don’t miss them, sign up for my newsletter – I’m going to hold back my September update so I’ll send out the newsletter, including the discount codes, as soon as the collection is ready.

And now, I think I’m going to stop working (for a few minutes, at least) 🙂

The one thing that really upset me about not selling eyes for amigurumi any more was not being able to offer my bestselling Amigurumi Accessory Kit – it was so popular with amigurumi makers, and made such a nice gift for a crocheter or as a starter kit for someone who’d like to try making amigurumi.

So, I’ve decided to try a test run of a new and improved Amigurumi Accessory Kit.

It’s back – with a huge selection of goodies for amigurumi-making!

As before, it includes the bestselling PlanetJune exclusive amigurumi tools (check out the reviews on their product pages – linked below – and you’ll see why they are absolute essentials), and a selection of commonly-used eyes.

The new kit includes a selection of larger clear eyes than the original kit. As clear eyes have a smaller black pupil, you usually need to use a slightly bigger eye than you would with an all-black eye to get a cute look. Now, instead of only three sizes, you’ll be able to experiment with eyes in every size between 6mm and 15mm, and get a better idea of which sizes to buy in future. (By the way, if you’re looking for more eyes, I won’t be selling them again except in this kit, so I recommend you visit Suncatcher Eyes when you need to stock up.)

My new Amigurumi Accessory Kit includes:

• 1 Detail Stuffing Tool
• 5 Stitch Markers
• 2 pairs black 6mm safety eyes with washers
• 2 pairs clear 8mm safety eyes with washers
• 2 pairs black 9mm safety eyes with washers
• 2 pairs clear 10mm safety eyes with washers
• 2 pairs black 12mm safety eyes with washers
• 2 pairs clear 15mm safety eyes with washers

Whether you’re just getting started with amigurumi, or want a selection of the best accessories conveniently to hand, the Amigurumi Accessory Kit is a great deal at only $12 (the separate components would cost $15 if bought alone, plus you’d need to pay for two shipping charges – for the exclusive tools from my shop and for the eyes from somewhere else).

As I said at the start of this post, this is a test run to see how popular the new kit will be, and I currently have limited stocks, so please don’t wait too long if you’d like one (or more). Also, tell your crocheting friends! If the kit sells well, I’ll add it to my permanent product list.

You’ll find the new and improved Amigurumi Accessory Kit exclusively in the PlanetJune shop.