designing a kingfisher
Oooh, look what just arrived yesterday: the new issue of Inside Crochet. And, hello, what’s that on p92? Yay, it’s my new Kingfisher design!
When Inside Crochet commissioned me to make a colourful design, I knew I wanted to make something British (as it’s a UK magazine, and as a salute to the lovely wildlife I left behind when I moved to Canada) and a kingfisher was the first thing that sprang to mind.
Now, if you’re American (or Canadian), you may be wondering why I made my sample kingfisher in such crazy bright colours. The Belted Kingfisher that you’ll see in North America is much larger and less colourful than the Common Kingfisher of the UK, which really is a spectacular sight!
It was quite a challenge to design with all those colours and the shaping, and I’ve developed a cunning new method to make the orange/blue stripe on the body match on both sides (as amigurumi-style stitches don’t stack on top of each other, if you crocheted both sides the same way, one side would slope up and the other would slope down). Yay for new techniques and methods!
Inside Crochet Issue 10 (October 2010) is out now, and you can buy it in stores in the UK, or online. It includes a nice variety of crocheted garment patterns as well as my kingfisher! As it’s a UK magazine, it’s written in UK crochet terminology (e.g. a single crochet stitch is called a double crochet). If that worries you, I’ll be releasing my Kingfisher pattern in my standard PDF format (and standard US terms), together with my usual step-by-step assembly pics, in 6 months’ time, so you can always pick it up from my shop next spring instead!
A couple of pattern notes if you do buy Inside Crochet and want to make my kingfisher:
- I’ve listed a couple of minor introduced errata on the Ravelry pattern page, so check there before you start, to avoid confusion – there’s some inconsistent terminology.
- Although the magazine photographers did a fabulous job of taking lots of beautiful photos on location, they didn’t take the close-up photos I asked for to accompany the assembly instructions. (I’d have provided mine if I’d known…) You can see most of the features in the photos, but the legs in particular aren’t clearly photographed from the side, and the wings aren’t positioned correctly along the body in their photos, so please take a look at my photos here, to supplement the pretty magazine photos, and if you do buy the magazine and have any questions about assembly, please email me!
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Ellen said
June just a suggestion here but could you not have it in your shop in both UK and American terms so for those of us that are in the UK do not have to translate back into UK terms please, pretty please.
Jana said
Follow up
June said
Yes ma’am! Sorry, it’s the weekend and I’m not usually online much – I hadn’t had a chance to look into this yet.
I’ve just checked for you; you can buy a digital edition from Yudu. If you scroll to the very bottom of the page you’ll see a box with all the individual issues in it, and a BUY button for each – you’d want the latest one (Issue 10).
I’m afraid you’d have to look into the details of how Yudu works: I don’t know if you can print pages, or you just have to view them onscreen. To give you an idea of how their reader looks, you can see the preview for Issue 10.
As far as I know, you can’t buy a physical copy of the magazine outside the UK. You could contact the publisher, KAL Media, if you want to be sure.
Or, alternatively, buy the pattern, hassle-free, from my shop next spring and make Martin a kingfisher for Christmas 2011 (or his birthday?) 🙂
Jana said
Oh! He’s just beautiful! I can’t wait for you to publish the pattern in US terms! How can I get the mag online? Does it have a digital subscription? Martin, my friend in the UK loves birds, and this would make an awesome Christmas present for him!
Lynne said
Well, that’s frickin adorable. You are so talented June!
Silverlotus said
Congratulations, June. And I”m glad to hear you will be releasing it yourself later. Yay!
June said
Thanks! I don’t like those magazines that keep the rights to the designs – that’s why I don’t often design for magazines; I prefer to keep control over my designs. It’ll be a nice spring pattern release for me 🙂
Laura said
It is beautiful. I am looking forward to the publication of the pattern. I am in US.
June said
Thank you! I’ll blog about it again when I’ve published it myself (the rights come back to me in 6 months) 🙂
Lisa Schwartz said
So when do we get to learn about the new technique for making the sides match? Looks like a really cool pattern. Just what I would expect from you. 🙂
June said
Thanks so much, Lisa! If you buy the pattern (either in the magazine, or directly from me in a few months) you’ll see the technique in action! And I’m sure I’ll be using the technique for future designs, now I’ve got it figured out 🙂