I have finished uploading the things I wanted up today, and I’m so excited to be sharing them with you.
Above the Watermellish logo you will find some little tabs which will direct you to the new features of this site.
I have combined two designs into one download – the Hearts and Stars Collection – to give you a little taste of embellishing. You can find this in the ‘Free’ tab.
I have added little sneak peeks of what is coming over the next few days and weeks in the other ‘Charts’ tabs.
I have uploaded two tutorials which will be the first steps in embellishing. (If there is a demand for these to be available as downloadable PDFs then I will load them in that format also.)
Keep an eye on this site over the coming days and weeks as I release all the charts I have been working on.
I have added a newsletter subscription box in the right menu. You can sign up to receive updates about the launch of Watermellish, sneek peeks of upcoming releases, and even competitions and giveaways! The first Watermellish giveaway will be drawn on June 1 and I will be giving away a $10 gift voucher to spend on any Watermellish charts. Simply subscribe to my newsletter between now and May 31 using the pink box named “Join the mailing list”. On June 1 my boys and I will randomly pick out one subscriber to receive this gift.
Just a side note, I will not be filling your inbox with dozens of promotional emails. I plan to send out an email only once or twice a month with news of what is happening and what is coming up. Bright and enjoyable emails to inspire and encourage your creativity.
I am working on a set which will be for sale on this blog. Based on the classic fairytale of the Gingerbread Man, I have made a set with the full compliment of characters from the story. The little old woman, the little old man, the pig, the cow, the horse, the fox and the deliciously fresh gingerbread man.
Here is my set in progress. I have the characters chasing the gingerbread man around a soaker I’ve knitted for my boys.
I used the Ladybug Loops pattern for the first time, just adding ribbed leg cuffs instead of knitting legs. It’s a nicely shaped pattern and I’m looking forward to my boys wearing it once I finally get this embellishing done. I have a few things happening all at once so my embellishing doesn’t get done as quickly as I would like.
Hmm, looks like the soaker could do with a little blocking. The back is giving away my tendancy to purl looser than I knit on the short rows. How embarrasing.
I can’t wait to show you the finished (blocked) embellishment. Of course all embellishing looks neater and sits flatter after a wash and block.
ETA: I have pulled this header because it was taking ages to load. I’ll tweek it and perhaps have a few versions of my header on a rotating basis.
As promised, I photographed the process of mounting my knitted/embellished header.
I measured my knitted header with a little bit of stretch, the way I want it to look when it is done. After witnessing my frustration at being unable to find the heavy board I had in mind for the base, my lovely husband whipped up a piece of plywood to my exact specs. Perfect! Add to that half a flanny flat (i’m chopping them up anyways to make into hankies for the upcoming winter cold and flu season) and I was ready to go.
I used some cheap strong wool and a darning needle to weave across the back, securing the header to the board. I covered the board with flannelette to help me wiggle the knitting around into the right shape as I go, and so the colour of the ply board wouldn’t show through the stitches.
I used ladder stitch to ensure that my stitches wouldn’t pull the knitting out of shape.
I used a quilting square to help me square up the rows and stitches and the ‘writing’.
All done and photographed, ready to be turned into a header.
April is here and Autumn is flying by. I am determined to have Watermellish fully up by season’s end, so I need to keep powering through my enormous ‘to do’ list.
I’d like to give you a little taste of what my charts will look like, and what my style is like. I draw in a very clear, simple, stylised manner. I like to capture the essence of a thing and convey meaning with as few lines as possible.
My ‘Gnome House’ set is currently in testing, and a small part of it is shown here:
A set of embellished mice will soon be scurrying across this blog, once they are finished with the testing stage:
And I am currently developing a set of sunflowers, designed to creep up the leg of longies:
As with all good things, life gets in the way and slows things down. I am pleased that my embellished header is almost finished after ripping out and re-stitching the watermelon four times. I think I finally have the colour right! Hopefully my next post will be next week with a brand new header and some photos showing the mounting process.
I’m working on the header of this blog, in duplicate stitch of course. The logo which is up right now is part of my chart for the header piece.
Can you tell why progress is slow and photos are difficult to take?
The yarn is Woolganics 10ply (discontinued, as all good things are, but at least the 8ply is still available) and the pink was dyed by myself using pink and yellow food colouring.
All that is left to do is to dye up the exact shade of yellow-based green and stitch the watermelon. Then I’ll block the piece and stitch it onto some board in a similar way to mounting a cross stitch or similar embroidery. Perhaps I’ll photo-document that process in case others want to mount a knitted artwork in the future.
I’m really looking forward to having a knitted/embellished header on this site.
This little girl was the first custom design I made for a tester. Shannon has executed it beautifully and really made it her own.
I will be offering a limited amount of custom designed charts when Watermellish is fully operational. I will also have some free charts, a diverse range of charts for sale, and some extra special limited edition charts.
I have nurtured and coddled this concept for more than 18 months, and now it is almost ready to be out in the world. It is with nervous excitement and exceptional pleasure that I can introduce…
Watermellish: delicious embellishment designs for your handknits.
Watermellish will be bringing you charted designs for duplicate stitch embellishments. Most of my designs will also include some other embroidery techniques. All techniques in Watermellish designs will be outlined in tutorials to guide you through them.
I have a group of lovely testers who are test-stitching my designs and tutorials, to ensure that my designs are the best they can possibly be.
I plan to have some designs and tutorials up here by the end of March, and to have the whole store up and running by the end of Autumn (end of May, for those of you in the northern hemisphere).
For now I will simply be sharing some photos of completed Watermellish embellishments with you to whet your appetite.
This little koala, nibbling on eucalyptus leaves, was a design I created and stitched for the darling daughter of my good friend. I knitted this dress with Woolganics and Yarn Cafe yarns using the talented Tikki’s Rainbow Dress pattern.
This little girl was created for a little girl who knows exactly what she wants. She asked her mummy for pants with rainbow stripes and pictures like baby Samuel’s pants, but with people. The soaker was made from Nundle 12ply yarn using the Ultimate Longies pattern from another talented designer, Shannon.
Next, I will present the beautiful work of some of my testers.
