Exmoor Stars is a collection of three blankets, inspired by the Exmoor night sky as seen from the wild and windy moorland.

One of my favourite dog walks is on the top of Countisbury Hill, I can see the hill from my bedroom window and watch the changing colours throughout the seasons. In the early summer the hill is covered with foxgloves, all 3 of these blankets are inspired by the colours of the flowers and hill.

INTO THE WEST

Cassiopeia is the brightest star in the night sky. I am fascinated by stars; my aim was to design a kaleidoscopic star blanket.

Gloriana was originally published for a sweater pattern in 2011.

Elsa was originally designed for a cardigan pattern which published in 2011.

Eldora was originally published for Queenies Motif Club, run by The Natural Dye Studio in December 2012

Dolores was originally published for a cardigan pattern in 2013.

Cloris was originally published for Queenies Motif Club, run by The Natural Dye Studio in October 2012

Cleopatra was originally published for Queenies Motif Club, run by The Natural Dye Studio in April 2012

Alyssa was originally published for a cardigan pattern in 2013.

Delphine was originally published for Queenies Motif Club, run by The Natural Dye Studio in July 2010.

Erica was originally designed for a scarf pattern which published in 2010.

Eglantine was originally published for a cardigan pattern in 2011.

Circe was originally published for a shawl pattern in 2009.

Ariel was originally published for a mitts pattern in 2011.

Snowflake was originally published for Queenies Motif Club, run by The Natural Dye Studio in November 2011.

Ruby was originally published for a shawl pattern in 2013

Rose was originally published for a wrap pattern in 2012

Molly was originally published for Queenies Motif Club, run by The Natural Dye Studio in June 2012.

Tinuviel was originally published as a shawl pattern in 2012

Tansy was originally published for a wrap pattern in 2011.

Siena was originally published for Queenies Motif Club, run by The Natural Dye Studio in August 2011.

Martha was originally published for Queenies Motif Club, run by The Natural Dye Studio in June 2010.

Mararbella was originally published for Queenies Motif Club, run by The Natural Dye Studio in January 2010.

Mae was originally published for a wrap pattern in 2011.

Lydia was originally published for Queenies Motif Club, run by The Natural Dye Studio in May 2012.

Lorna was originally published as a shawl pattern in 2013.

Grace was originally published for Queenies Motif Club run by The Natural Dye Studio in December 2010.

Lily was originally published as a blanket pattern in 2011

Etoile was originally published for Queenies Motif Club for The Natural Dye Studio in November 2012

Lilah was originally published for The English Country Garden CAL on Ravelry in 2010.

Jonquil was originally published for The English Country Garden CAL on Ravelry in 2010.

Hawthorn was originally published for The English Country Garden CAL on Ravelry in 2010.

Dulcie was originally published for a sweater pattern in 2011

Enid was originally published for Queenies Motif Club, run by The Natural Dye Studio in August 2010

Ermintrude was originally published as a blanket pattern in 2012

Emily was originally published for Queenies Motif Club, run by The Natural Dye Studio in February 2011.

Elizabeth was originally published as a collar pattern in 2008.

Ayla was originally published for Queenies Motif Club, run by The Natural Dye Studio in August 2012.

Crab Apple was originally published for The English Country Garden CAL on Ravelry in 2010.

Daisy was originally published for The English Country Garden CAL on Ravelry in 2010.

Clementine was originally designed for a scarf pattern which published in 2009.

Bella was originally published for Queenies Motif Club, run by The Natural Dye Studio in December 2011.

Begonia was originally published for The English Country Garden CAL on Ravelry in 2010.

Anemone was originally published for The English Country Garden CAL on Ravelry in 2010.

Phil’s Blanket

Tansy was first published in The Knitter issue 33, it is warm elegant wrap made using The Natural Dye Studio’s Dazzling 4 ply yarn, a mix of Blue Faced Leicester Wool and Silk which gives it warmth and a beautiful drape. It is made out of 120 motifs, using 4 variations of the same motif pattern. The first 2 rounds of each motif are the same, ro...

The lollipop trees design was inspired over 25 years ago by a drawing done by one of my children when they were very young and are very reminiscent of the small stunted windblown trees found along the Exmoor coast.

My grandson Bert loves toy windmills. He has a rainbow one on the balcony, just outside his bedroom window which spins in the wind.

Pixie dust was a result of experimenting with mitred square layouts.

Baby Lollipops was made as a gift for my great niece Isla who was born in September 2019.

When I was a teenager my parents had a house in the South of France on the Cote d’Azur.

When my daughter first told me, she was pregnant in December 2016 I decided that I needed to make my first grandchild a granny square blanket. I’ve made 2 blankets using this pattern, the first is in readily available yarn and the second in very special hand dyed yarn. This pattern is written for readily available yarn

My first grandchild was due to be born at the end of August 2017. The bump is called Wigglytuff and named after a Pokemon character. I’ve designed and made this mobile to hang over Wigglytuff’s cot.

I love seeing all the colours of the spectrum together, so I started experimenting to see if I could use them all together in the right order, Zigzag Crochet Blanket is the result.

Marsh Violet was inspired by the colours of the Marsh Violets that grow on Exmoor.

Gigi was inspired by glamorous ladies of the Edwardian age, it was named after Gigi a character played by Leslie Caron in the 1958 film of the same name.

Cecily is Mobius cowl, a Mobius is a joined circle with a twist in it, the cowl was made with scrap yarns, you can choose a selection from your stash or follow the yarn recommendations below

YOU WILL NEED…

Scrumptious Bubbles was designed to showcase a new collection of Fyberspates Scrumptious 4 ply yarn colours.

I live on the north coast Exmoor, where the Bristol Channel opens up into the Atlantic Ocean. The Bristol Channel was called the Severn Sea in Tudor times, which I think is a much more romantic name. I’ve lived by the sea all my life and watched it change throughout the seasons this blanket was designed to reflect the sea, its the colours and m...

JRR Tolkien is one of my favourite authors, Tinuviel is the original name of Luthien, an elven princess from his book The Silmarillion.

One of my favourite dog walks is on the top of Countisbury Hill, I can see the hill from my bedroom window and watch the changing colours throughout the seasons. In the early summer the hill is covered with foxgloves.

One of my favourite dog walks is on the top of Countisbury Hill, I can see the hill from my bedroom window and watch the changing colours throughout the seasons. In the early summer the hill is covered with foxgloves.

One of my favourite dog walks is on the top of Countisbury Hill, I can see the hill from my bedroom window and watch the changing colours throughout the seasons. In the early summer the hill is covered with foxgloves.

Isabella was inspired as an experiment using a ripple to see if I could come up with a design that used the triangle motif and colour.

Serafina was originally inspired by the flying witch Serafina Pekkala who is a character in the children’s book Northern Lights (The Golden Compass), she helps Lyra the book’s heroine.

Pampelonne was first published in Inside Crochet Magazine 2009.

Bessies is one of the blankets featured in “Into the West” crochet blanket book.

Catalina Comet is the third blanket of my Exmoor Stars series, which celebrates our very dark night skies

I live on Exmoor which is a designated international dark sky reserve; the reserves are classified as public or private areas that possess an exceptional quality of starry nights

I live on Exmoor which is a designated international dark sky reserve; the reserves are classified as public or private areas that possess an exceptional quality of starry nights

Spyro is one of the patterns featured in my “Madder Triangles” e-book.

I’ve wanted to make a ripple blanket, but struggle with crocheting straight rows, they involve counting stitches, which I never get right however hard I try, so I decided to make a ripple with motifs.

In 2012 we went on holiday to Italy and stayed in a village called Lecchi. While sitting under olive and pine trees in the Tuscan sun I played with colour and triangles.

Icarus is inspired by wings and the Greek myth of Icarus and his father Daedalus.

Plankton was subconciously designed, I tend to watch mindless tv when I am crocheting, I had a pile of scraps I didn’t want to throw away so I made little lace triangles and crocheted them together in a semi random pattern.

Stargazer is my second blanket based around the layout of the Zodiac and the first blanket of my Exmoor Stars series.

Belladonna was designed to showcase the stunning collection of colours dyed by The Little Grey Sheep and is snuggly colourful warm winter scarf

The Zodiac blanket was designed for a blanket club which was run by The Natural Dye Studio in 2015.

Harlequin was designed to show case “John Arbon Textiles Knit by Numbers DK”.

Cornucopia was designed as a colour experiment; it is named after the mythological “Horn of Plenty” which overflows with fruits and flowers.

Kissing Circles crochet blanket design was an experiment to see if I could make a blanket that was just made of circles and nothing else.

I challenged myself to make a crochet kaleidoscope and this is the result.

Myrtle is named after Myrtleberry which is a house in the middle of the East Lyn gorge near Watersmeet, Exmoor.

Ariana is inspired by hot spicy exotic desert colours; it is named after a coastal city in Tunisia.

Dolores was inspired by Dolores Umbridge from the Harry Potter books.

Virginia is designed for warm summer nights and named after Virginia McKenna, who set up the “Born Free Foundation” after staring in the film Born Free.

I live on Exmoor which is a international dark sky reserve, so up on the moor on a moonless night, you can feel surrounded by stars and can see for ever into galaxy.

Florence was made as a baby blanket for a friend. Florence’s Mum knew she was having a girl, but didn’t like pink and her favourite colour was orange, so the design is predominantly orange with a tiny bit of pink, just because……

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is inspired by the night sky and made with lots of different coloured stars.

Lorna Doone was inspired by the character Lorna Doone from the novel of the same name, written in 1869 by R D Blackmore.

Mabel was inspired by the Ohio Star quilt block and was originally designed for a crochet/yarn club which ran during 2012.

Ermintrude is named after the cow that starred in the BBC children’s television programme The Magic Roundabout in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Ermintrude always had a flower sticking out the side of her mouth; the flowers on my blanket remind me of hers.

Lula is a fun and quirky scarf, a perfect stash buster to use your leftover scrap yarns.

Rita is one of the blankets featured in “Into the West” crochet blanket book.

Anna is a long sleeved collared cardigan/coat, it was named after Anna Karenina, the heroine of the book of the same name, designed to be warm and snuggly perfect for a cold winter

Kiki is one of the blankets featured in “Into the West” crochet blanket book.

Iris is named after the ancient Greek goddess of the rainbow.

Dorothy is made using block motifs, square and triangle. It has a loose fit and is written in 2 sizes.

Starry Night is one of the blankets featured in “Into the West” crochet blanket book.

Lily is named after my mother; she died in 2007 so this blanket was made as a tribute to her. Although she was a seamstress she also knitted and crocheted. She loved colour so I used as many bright colours as I could find, I’m sure she would of loved the blanket.

Elsa is a stunning waterfall cardigan. It is made using block motifs, square and triangle, and in 2 different crochet hook sizes to graduate the drape. It has a loose fit and is written in 3 sizes.

Miranda is a loose fitting lacy summer top which is intended to be worn over a camisole. It is made using block motifs –square and a triangle.

Millicent is a loose-fitting cardigan with 3/4 length sleeves and a waterfall front.

Dulcie was designed as a elegant sweater to flatter larger ladies.

Posy was inspired by a summer flower garden; it is designed as a small shoulder warmer perfect for cool summer nights.

Circles is one of the blankets featured in “Into the West” crochet blanket book.