Hello Spring! New book and two new designs to share!
- Irene Strange
- Mar 10
- 3 min read
It's been a while since I wrote a new blog post or sent out a newsletter, and one of my goals for 2026 is to get better at sharing updates, behind the scenes moments and crochet news - after a busy year of new collaborations and secret projects it feels so nice to get back to creating patterns that inspire me in the moment!
So, what have I got today for a sort of show and tell? Let's see!
First of all, have you seen the new Crochet Peppa Pig book? The lovely team at David & Charles invited me to help turn some of the fun characters from Peppa Pig's world into cuddly crochet toys, and of course I said yes!
The book has patterns for all of Peppa Pig's immediate family, even adorable baby Evie Pig and many of Peppa Pig's friends - there are over 20 patterns inside! Re-interpreting the flat 2D style from the cartoon into 3D shapes was an interesting challenge, and every detail needed to be just right. I hope the fans of Peppa Pig will enjoy crocheting their favourite characters! Find out more about the book and where to find it over at BookmarkedHub , as well as all the other crafty books David & Charles are publishing this year.
NEW PATTERN RELEASES
In February, I released the pattern for the Limoncino Wall Basket. Limoncino means Little Lemon in Italian, and this little project turned out exactly how I imagined it. Unsurprisingly, I was inspried by all the different lemons I saw when visiting my crochet friend Ilaria from Airali Design in Italy, last spring. There were lemons everywhere, and so different too - some were practically giant!
And, for one of the samples I tried 100% wool yarn that can be felted down at home in the washing machine. I have to admit I am a little bit in love with the texture this technique produces. The basket shrunk to a really nice size with thick firm walls and a lovely fuzzy finish. It made me think what else can be made this way (there will definitely be more projects I will shrink in the future)... watch this space....
The pattern is written in US or UK crochet terms, with plenty of step by step photos, as always. I've refreshed the pattern layout to include a bit of info on inspiration behind the project, and to have a printer-friendly single page version of the instructions at the end - I will try to do this for future projects too.
If you want to make a happy and bright lemon for your wall too, you can find the pattern on Etsy, Ravelry and in my web shop (US crochet terms and UK crochet terms).
Now we are in March, and all the beautiful cherry and plum trees are in bloom! If you follow me on Instagram you may have seen all the endless blossoms I post in my stories, they are just too pretty not to share! (Find me - @irenestrange on there)
So, to welcome in Spring, I made the Blossom Pincushion, inspired by cherry blossoms, of course! After some thought I decided to call it a pincushion, mostly because when you add a bunch of dressmakers pins to the centre they look just like the stamen on the blossoms - but it can be used as a trinket dish for rings, stationery organiser or anything else that needs tidying.
I'm really craving quick fun project at the moment, and this one only takes about an hour and a half - very fast, compared to my big cuddly animals! The finished pincushion is around 12cm/5in wide when made in Heavy DK/Aran weight cotton (90m per 50gr) with a 3.5mm hook. (But beware, they are a little bit addictive - I made 4 in one day, trying out different colour combinations!)
Find the pattern on Etsy, Ravelry and in my web shop (US crochet terms and UK crochet terms).
To celebrate the release of these new patterns I've set up a Coupon Code BLOSSOM for a 20% discount on all patterns, if all work well it will stay active until end of day on Friday, 13th of March, GMT time.
I have so many new ideas I'd like to explore this year I don't quite now how to get through them all, but this year is already off to a good start. In the works are new owls, frogs, maybe another penguin, and more projects for the home - I hope all will work out how I imagine. So, that's all from me for now - I wish you all a peaceful, creative month full of crochet, yarn and all good things! Happy crafting! Irina x
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