Welcome!
Alan Dart's diverse craft work has appeared in numerous magazines, he has written several books, and has taught knitwear design at art colleges whilst also demonstrating crafts on two children's television series. Currently his toy designs appear each month in Simply Knitting.
This site provides a one stop shop where you will find all Alan's designs, both old and new, together with news of forthcoming characters. Within the toy patterns page you can easily view, select, and download original pdf files from an ever increasing range of designs from only £2.50 each.
"Since my Noah's Ark pattern first appeared in Simply Knitting, and then subsequently in Irresistible Gifts to Knit, people have written to ask me to design some more animals to add to the collection when it becomes available from this site. Obviously I can't please everyone, but I have added four of the most frequently asked-for creatures - moose, kangaroo, koala, and skunk - to this version, which is exclusive to the website. Several of the yarn shades I originally used have now been discontinued, so I have chosen the closest substitutes available, but this is an ideal design for which you can use up oddments from your yarn stash, because each animal only takes between 5g to 10g and all are knitted in DK weight yarn. If this is too large a project for you to tackle all in one go, why not first make the ark, and maybe Mr and Mrs Noah, for Christmas, and then add one or two pairs of animals for each birthday, Easter, Christmas, and any other occasion when you would usually give a gift.
The Vampire Bat was featured in Simply Knitting last year under the title of Going Batty. Along with Jack O'Lantern, Maizey, and the Witch and Cat (the patterns for which are available from this website) he would make a suitably spooky addition to your Hallowe'en decorations, maybe suspended on transparent thread so he hovers over the trick-or-treaters, ready to pounce and get his fangs into their goodies. He could also be given as a gift to a bat enthusiast or to a fan of horror movies.
Do have a look on the products page at the pattern I am offering to aid the victims of the Haitian earthquake. Cora, a member of Ravelry (link on the Alan Dart page of this website), wrote to me recently to ask if I would consider designing a toy that could be knitted and sold to raise funds, so I have created Ada, who is a little creature native to Haiti, and she is wearing a dress in the colours of the Haitian national flag. This pattern is free to download, but I am hoping that you will either make a donation for the pattern, or knit up the toy to sell and send the money you receive, to one of the funds that have been set up to provide aid to those affected by this devastating disaster. I know many of you will want to do something to help, and the last page of the pattern can be printed on thin card to make four tags which you can attach to your toys and provide a bit of information.
I have also designed a pattern of Percy the Pigeon, a character who appears in a new children's book, Matty-boy and the Secret Pigeon Racket by Anita Hunt, part of the proceeds of which will be donated to an anti-bullying charity. You can download the pattern for free by visiting www.areyoubeingbullied.com and clicking on 'Get your own Percy' in the right-hand menu.More patterns released October
Happy toymaking!"