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.
"There's a new kid on the block this month, and she's arrived in her drum majorette costume to lead the parade with patriotic panache! This little red hen comes from Rhode Island, and is dressed in stars and stripes, but you could easily personalise her to fit in with the colours of your team or band by simply choosing different shades. Or you may just want a mother hen to accompany the free Chick and Egg pattern - in which case you could simply omit the clothes and cast on 9 stitches for the comb instead of 5 to make a longer version. Because this is another brand-new pattern, that is exclusive to the website and not available anywhere else, as usual it costs just a little bit more than the ones that have previously been published in magazines or as leaflets.
The Dachshund is another from my Perfect Pups collection and uses one shade of standard double knitting yarn for the main parts, with just a touch of Snowflake to make a furry lining for his collar and scraps of DK from your yarn stash to add the detailing. To make a long-haired version, simply use a double knitting wool/mohair mix, or even use a wool DK and then brush the work afterwards with a wire teasel brush to create the effect of fur.
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 August
Happy toymaking!"