FREE PATTERN - Celebrate the new royal baby!

As the delightful news of the latest royal birth flooded the headlines, the world let out a collective sigh of blissful satisfaction - well, there really is nothing nicer than welcoming a new baby, royal or not, is there? Welcome Princess Charlotte! And our most heartfelt and joyful congratulations to William and Kate!

With all the debate and circumspection that surrounded this royal baby now put firmly to bed - she is a beautiful little girl and her name is Charlotte - we can fully concentrate on celebrating this momentous occasion in the best way that we knitters know how . . . by knitting something super cute to commemorate it.

Enter Milly. A sheep of magnificently modern proportions who has been the inspiration basis for this mini collection. You may recognise her from our Milly The Sheep toy pattern, which has always been such a popular and much loved free download. Helena and Tanya were inspired to encourage new parents or grandparents to pick up their needles and knit something fun for their own little prince or princess. Helena says,

"We wanted to make something which was tasteful but overall had that cute factor. The pattern in the tank top was worked out by Tanya to the last minute detail and it really shows with the intricate detailing on the sheep - I love the way the ears are worked into the pattern and the heart between the kissing sheep is such a lovely detail. Tanya has a great eye for fairisle patterns. The sheep mobile was really fun to design - love the fact you can customise your mobile with the new arrivals initials or make a more simple product with just a flock of little garter or moss stitch sheep. We went for a traditional snow and storm combination but they could be really sweet in petal or forget-me-not or in fawn for a slightly warmer addition to a nursery. We hope everyone has as much fun knitting the pieces as we did designing them."

The smallest size of the Milly Tank Top (3-6 months) takes just 2 balls of yarn - 1 in each colour. There are alternative colour choices included in the pattern, so you can be as gender specific as you like, as brave or traditional as you like - the choice is yours! Knitting a flock of dancing sheep for the mobile also takes just 2 balls of NSM and a small scrap of pitch black for Millys face.

Milly Tank Top and Milly Mobile is available as a FREE download from www.millamia.com and there is also a right royal 15% discount off all purchases for the next month. Use discount code ROYAL15 until June 2nd to save yourself a sovereign or 2!

(posted by Max)