Yarn Bombing in Austin TX

In October I had the chance to spend six days in Austin TX, a relaxed city full of live music, delicious food, and people on scooters. I spotted this knit graffiti outside the Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar.





The Alamo Drafthouse is a movie theatre that combines innovative programming (i.e. showing Hackers in "heckle-vision", which allows audience members to send text-message heckles that scroll across the screen) with food and drink brought right to your seat before and during the show. It's licensed, but no one talked or got rowdy during the movies the three times we visited. Basically, it's a great asset to the cultural life of the city, and a perfect place to be lovingly yarn-bombed.

Remember 2007?

As I recollect it, crafting in 2007 was dominated by the following:

• amigurumi
• knitted cupcakes
• the print version of CRAFT zine
  
• things made from felted sweaters
  

And so Warm Fuzzies: 30 Sweet Felted Projects by Betz White perfectly encapsulates this year. Some of the projects aren't really my thing, but White should be praised for her clear instructions, as well as the best felt cupcakes 2007 had to offer. There's also a pattern for a really cute apron featuring an owl applique (shades of 08's hibou-mania!).



2007 was also the year that my friend Dory expressed a desire to make mittens out of felted sweaters. We bought some thrift store sweaters and chopped them up, but Dory was disappointed with the results. She wanted to make mittens like some she'd seen in a Toronto boutique (probably preloved): complicated and structural with seams in weird places, not mittens made out of two hand-shaped pieces of felt.

Well, I don't know if you're still into mittens, Dory, but Warm Fuzzies has a four-piece mitten pattern:



Behold! I'm sure you could modify them to make them more complicated if you wanted. Wasn't "modding" all the rage in 2007 too? (I'm joking -- modding is still awesome, obviously).

decals are awesome

Most of the crafts I do are "difficult crafts" that require some skill and learned technique. But I still like doing easy crafts. The best easy craft there is a little something I call "putting a sticker on something." It's kind of like screen printing or image transferring, but much, much easier. I have been practicing the craft of putting stickers on things since early childhood. Here's a crafty tip: use a decal instead of a regular sticker for more professional results!

Recently, I customized my laptop using a decal I bought for $3.00 from Smoking Lily on Main Street.



The Apple logo looks cool and creepy when it's lit up, but I couldn't get a good photo of it.

Cost of customized laptop:
1 13" MacBook Pro: about $1600
1 heart decal: $3.21
= $1603.21

Oh, Wendy!

Book review: Custom Knits: Unleash Your Inner Designer with Top-Down and Improvisational Techniques by Wendy Bernard
(Stewart, Tabori and Chang, 2008)



Wendy Bernard starts the first chapter of Custom Knits by declaring: "I have knit piles of sweaters, and, I'll be honest, the ones that get the most wear are the near copies of the store-bought ones I have neatly folded in my drawers--ones that I have sort of road-tested and know I'll make use of." Knitted or not, clothing is meant to be worn, and Bernard wants you to knit garments that are destined to become favourites.

To this end, Bernard encourages a practical, somewhat methodical approach to choosing yarns and patterns. One page of Custom Knits is completely filled by a long "reality checklist" that asks questions like, "will this style suit my lifestyle" and "is this style too trendy, and do I care?" These are the questions I'm constantly mulling over, so it probably goes without saying that Bernard is my kind of knitter!

Bernard's rigorous approach is complemented by a good eye for classic designs and a well-fitted garments. As a result, Custom Knits is filled with updated, youthful staples: cute cardigans, shells and pullovers all made in the top-down seamless style. It's similar to Stephanie Japel's Fitted Knits, but the designs in Custom Knits are more conservative. Usually I like a bit of weirdness in a sweater, but this book is so well done I don't mind it at all. There's a couple patterns I really like, including this vest:



and the "ingenue" pullover (though I think it would look wretched on me):



Unusually, many of the patterns use cotton or rayon-blend yarns (since Bernard lives in southern California, and believes in knitting for the climate in which you live).

The garments are also well photographed and well-styled. Granted, there are an excessive number of "I'm wearing a sweater and underpants!" photos, but all the models look decent, professional, and perhaps most importantly, well-dressed. They look like people you wouldn't mind resembling, instead of looking like people in a knitting book. (Why are so many knitting books poorly styled?) It's particularly refreshing when you consider that Custom Knits isn't a luxury knitting title. Most luxury knitting books have great photos, but I privately suspect that cashmere would look gorgeous even on a camera phone. Finally, Bernard wins my heart for being honest about how these garments are represented, noting that the models in Custom Knits are not only styled and made-up by professionals, but that they are "trained to lean so that the garment hangs 'just so.'"

Right now, my queue of things-to-knit is pretty full, but Bernard is a designer I'm sure I'll return to in the future. Her website is knitandtonic.net, where you can find her blog, patterns, cute photos of her pets and even documentation of her knitting screw-ups. Like I said, the lady is my kind of knitter, and Custom Knits is a solid knitting book.

Mmmore mmmalabrigo

Now that my friend, the intrepid Brie, has received this present in the mail, I can finally show you all:



I used one skein of Malabrigo worsted. I used the Diagonal Lace Scarf pattern, created and kindly shared by Helena at Midnight Purls.

Malabrigo worsted is a dream to knit and it's so soft. I can't think of a better scarf wool.

I have my own pink Malabrigo scarf. It's variegated red/pink/burgundy, and uses Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's One Row Handspun Scarf pattern:



I also made one for Curtis a year ago (it's blue because he is a boy. And also because Curtis only wears blue, brown, black and grey). It's garter stitch knit on the bias:



Everyone needs a malabrigo scarf! Everyone!

Book review: Knit Tricks!

by Rebecca Wat, C&T Publishing, 2007

Knit Tricks! is all about exploring the "limitless possibilities of knitting smart, attractive garments using a simple rectangular form with little or no shaping." At first, I assumed that this meant Knit Tricks! was another knitting book for very timid beginners. But that's not the case. Knit Tricks! showcases Wat's techniques and vision, with very little regard for trends in either knitting or fashion. Like the back of the book says, "You've never knit rectangles like these before!"

An origami expert and a quilt designer, Rebecca Wat is the author of four books on quilting and fabric folding (apparently, fabric folding means using pieces of fabric folded origami-style in a quilt). Knit Tricks! is her first knitting book. Her designs seem clearly informed by her background in origami and quilting: she's fascinated by the possibilities of knitted fabric, but a little indifferent to the human body underneath. Knit Tricks! is decidedly high on novelty, offering interesting structures and unflattering fits.

For example, this top has an interesting neckline, and the side-to-side construction is unusual. It's hard to see in this photo, but there are faceted beads knitted into the fabric just under the collar. It's unique, but it's not especially flattering on the model:



Wat also likes to play with texture. Many designs are trimmed with fun fur, bobbles, beads and ribbons, though the effect is usually cluttered and inelegant.

Wat's best designs are her simplest. I really like the Big Cross Top, for example, which uses unusual construction but still seams wearable and flattering. This vest is another project that initially caught my eye:



The fit is strange at the side of the chest, I thought, but I liked the combination of the yarns. I'm a suckers for sweater vests that incorporate something a little different. Then I turned the page and saw why it fit so weirdly:



It's a vest and a bag!

The book encourages you to "wear it as a vest and then convert it to a bag if the weather changes." I want to like this idea for it's sheer ingenuity but I just can't. Bags and tops should not be interchangeable. The things I like in the fabric of a top--softness, a little stretch--are the exact opposite of what I desire in a bag, which should be sturdy and capable of absorbing ink from broken pens.

Wat has creativity and innovative energy to spare, but she needs to team up with someone who cares about how clothes fit. And someone who knows how to style a photo shoot. Because somehow, I don't think Wat actually intended for all her designs to be worn at the same time:



At least, I hope not, because these combinations are just strange. The fingerless gloves and tight jeans say "teenager" but the tops are decidedly more mature. That's ... a lot of look, as Tim Gunn might say.

This is the year to get Funkyzeit!

Halloween is less than two weeks away. That gives you just enough time to knit a pair of Bruno shorts:



It's a bit hard to see in the photo, but they are in fact knitted. All you need to add is an old Ben Sherman shirt with the sleeves torn off, a spray-painted fedora and a swackload of highlights!

Now that you've decided on a costume, may I suggest using this pattern from Patons Beehive book #138, Junior Styles for 6-12 years?*



You might need to make the legs a little shorter, but the waist seems high enough. Now dig our some yellow acrylic and get to work!

*(This booklet also contains multiple patterns for shockingly short mini-skirts and dresses. I know the 60s were a more innocent time, but I can't believe there was ever a moment when crotch-length skirts were considered appropriate for 6-year olds. I'd post a photo but it's probably illegal).