Showing posts with label accessories to knit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label accessories to knit. Show all posts

Monday 22 July 2013

Make Your Mark


Since I did a knitted book cover post on July 19, I felt I had to do a companion post on knitted bookmarks. Knitting your own bookmarks is actually a much more practical idea than knitting book covers. They'll be quicker to knit and more practical to use. They can be personalized by adding a favourite short quote or slogan or a name. They'd be a great way to try out a knitting technique that's new to you or to try your hand at design, because knitting a bookmark is like swatching with an intrinsic purpose. And the finished item will make a nice extra something to add to a book you're giving to someone or to put in a Christmas stocking. Here's a selection of eleven suggested patterns for you.

The first pattern, shown above, is the simple and elegant Flourish Bookmark, designed by Nina Casey. It's a free pattern.





If you are, or are knitting for, someone with a very classic literary and aesthetic tastes, Judy's Seashell Bookmark, designed by Judy Gibson, might be perfect. It has a very Edwardian look to me. It's a free pattern.





Those whose literary tastes are specifically geared to Jane Austen might prefer Marianne's Romantic Bookmark, designed by Carolyn Joan, which appeared in Jane Austen Knits' Summer 2012 issue.





If you're just looking for a pattern that will be perfect for a small amount of hand-dyed yarn that you want to use up, the Twisted Eyelet Bookmark, designed by Blythe Quelin, would suit that purpose. It's a free pattern.





If you'd like a cute and whimsical pattern, or are knitting for a small child, the Crayon Bookmark, designed by Ala Ela, might hit (and mark) the spot. It's a free pattern.





I love this beautifully crafted Squash Blossom Bookmark, designed by Bonnie Sennott, which got around the whole "bookmarks need to be flat but I want to include a three-dimensional element" dilemma by having the bloom peep from the top of the book. This pattern is a $4.50(USD) download.





If you want a flora or fauna-themed bookmark, but don't want anything sticking out of your book, the Magnolia Leaf Bookmark, designed by Evelyn Uyemura, might do. This pattern is a $1(USD) download.





If you have a little (or not so little) Harry Potter fan in your life, one of these House Bookscarves, which appeared in Laura K. Miller's Charmed Knits, might be the perfect gift. You can even knit a scarf in the Hogwarth house colours to which your Harry Potter fan feels more akin, be that Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, or Hufflepuff.





Maybe you'd just like to make the "bookworm" metaphor literal by making yourself a Slithers Bookmark, designed by Sunny Cannon. Of course Sliters is a snake, not a worm, but we'll humour you. This pattern is a $2.75 download.





If your sense of humour has a turn for the macabre, the Squashed Bear Bookmark, as designed by Amalia Samios, is a possibility. The attached pool of blood is optional. This pattern is a $3.50(USD) download. Samios has also designed a Squashed Rat Bookmark, but I found it just too gruesome to include.





The F--- Off, I'm Trying to Read Bookmark, designed by Edith Cummings, is for people who really hate to be interrupted when they're trying to read. I'd be inclined to do this bookmark in a yarn that's as close to a natural skin tone as possible, and to include fingernails in red or hot pink or what have you. This pattern is free.

If you haven't seen a bookmark pattern that strikes your fancy, you can always browse Ravelry's 262 English-language bookmark patterns, or just design your own.

Friday 19 July 2013

Booking Your Next Knitting Project


I came across the above photo on the net, and its sheer awesomeness made me decide to seek out other knitted book covers and do a knitted book cover post. You won't want to knit every book you own a book cover, of course, but it might be nice to make one for a gift, to make your journal or your chequebook or your daytimer look worthy of belonging to a knitter, to protect a beloved yet crumbling book, or to camouflage the fact that you're reading trashy novels from everyone on the bus, your children, or the Mother Superior of your convent.

And may I also suggest cotton covers? Because, though you may not be one to feel the heat like I do, I cannot imagine anyone wanting to so much as touch a wool-covered book in July (or in the height of summer whenever that is where you live). Please excuse me while I peel my arms off my desk. They got stuck while I was typing this.

The above book cover was created by Craftivore, and she provides details on the Ravelry page for the project. There doesn't, sadly, seem to be a pattern available, and it won't be easy to recreate it. Just look at that detail!





And this inside detail! I love the wit and the bookishness and the colour sense and the sheer level of craft and care that went into this project. I did not, as one might expect, find another book cover to equal this one, but I did find some quite attractive ones.





This sketchbook cover by Veronik Avery is really quite something. It's available as a download for $5.50.





This notebook cover by Jane Burns is also very eye-catching. This pattern is available as a download for £2.99.





This cat motif notebook by Julia Brice is simple but cute. I'd do the cat in an angora or a mohair. It's a free pattern.





If you're a Dr. Who fan, this book cover from The Fantasy Intellectual is for you. The pattern is free.





If you're partial to classic cables, you could always go with a pattern like this cabled one, which appeared in Carri Hammett's Ready, Set, Knit Cables: Learn to Cable with 20 Designs and 10 Projects.

And it would be easy to make your own pattern in any colour, pattern, texture or size you wish, since they are really just simple rectangles.

Tuesday 23 April 2013

Political Correctness in the Bag


In Toronto, where I live, plastic shopping bags have been something of a political sore spot recently. A three-year-old by-law mandating a 5 cent charge for plastic bags was revoked effective July 1, 2012, and in the following November a decision by Toronto city council to ban single use plastic bags entirely by 2013 was reversed when it met with strenuous opposition from the Ontario Convenience Stores Association. While the latter political move really was probably too draconian and impractical, at least for the present, I agreed with the mandatory 5 cent charge bylaw and thought it worked well as an incentive to get people to use cloth shopping bags. When the by-law was originally enacted, plastic bags became a much less common sight overnight, and I especially liked that I, who had been already avoiding the used of plastic bags for years, no longer had to tell cashiers "No bag... no bag... no bag... I don't need that bag," before they heard me, because giving out plastic bags was so routine that it was an autopilot task for them. And it reduced Toronto's landfill and waste disposal costs. But our illustrious mayor, Rob Ford, didn't seem to think fiscal and environmental responsibility was a good reason to continue to impose a slight inconvenience on his voters. No, I didn't vote for him, thanks for asking.

Regardless of what the plastic bag status is in your locale, if you want to avoid the use of the plastic shopping bags but are discouraged by the ugliness of the environmentally friendly cloth bags out there, you can always knit your own. There are loads of patterns on the net for such bags, many of them free. I like the one above, from the blog Homebaked Online, which is partly based on a Knitty pattern.





This one from Worsted Knitt is a good basic pattern. These bags will be useful for other things besides grocery shopping, such as heading to the beach. These bags can also be made in your favourite colour, or in a set of different colours to coordinate with your outfits — I know I need more than one bag to bring home a week's groceries.

And if you don't like those I've featured here, check out the selection of string bags on Ravelry.

Monday 15 April 2013

Bringing Back the Parasol


Summer is on its way, and with it, the inevitable heat and glaring sunlight. I can't begin to tell you how I dread it. I'm a cold weather person. I sunburn with heart-rending ease and my temperament, which is irritable at the best of times, can only be described as borderline postal during heatwaves.

Every summer I vow to singlehandedly bring back the parasol in order to provide myself with some relief from the sun, but every summer I fail to find one that looks anything that I could even pretend to be trendsetting. The only parasols available seem to be the white, frou-frou, lacy kind that are meant to be carried as a bridal accessory, or the paper and bamboo kind you find in Chinatown, and I'm neither a bride nor Asian. The lacy ones, besides being wildly mismatched to my completely non-lacy wardrobe, don't even look like they'd provide much protection from the sun, and with my luck, the Chinese characters on the paper parasols probably read something along the lines of, "This stupid white person doesn't know what her parasol says." The parasol, like any other accessory, does need to bear some relation to the other items one is wearing and carrying, and to one's lifestyle, if it's not to look ridiculous. I need something I can carry when I'm wearing clothes made from jersey, khaki, and denim.





But as always when I can't buy a suitable version of something I want, I start wondering whether I can possibly make it myself. Then I google the matter and find out. I found the beautiful lace parasol above, made by Maiya Mayhem from a heavily modified crochet pattern. It's a wonderful piece of work, but it looks more decorative than functional to me, and it is a little too ornate to go with my casual summer clothes.




Then I found this one, by blogger Mrs. Fife, who has generously shared her project notes on the project's page on Ravelry. Unfortunately, as incredibly impressed as I am with her work, again this parasol won't provide a lot of protection from the sun and is too lacy. And I could post more exquisitely knitted lace parasols, but I'm sure you get the point, and if you are here to look for a knitted lace parasol pattern for your wedding, have probably already found one. I think I'll skip to the one practical parasol pattern I found.





I very much like this parasol, which is a Knitty design from Spring 2007. It should provide decent shade and sunburn protection. It's simple yet polished in style, and, if made in a neutral colour, will complement my clothes and other accessories. Perhaps most importantly, it won't make me feel like some absurdist theatre version of Scarlett O'Hara (it's not like I even get what people admire in the original). I think I shall begin keeping an eye out for a vintage parasol frame that is worthy of this pattern. I am already dreaming of being able to walk outside in July without getting black spots in front of my eyes. And — dare I hope? — of fewer scoldings from my dermatologist. Sad little dreams, I know, but they are mine.

Saturday 12 January 2013

These Boots Were Knitted for Walking


If you're a frustrated cobbler who knows how to knit, there is a way to knit your own shoes: you can just cut the uppers off an existing pair of shoes, leaving a 1/2" or 3/4" strip around the sole, punch a series of holes in the strip, then knit new uppers using the holes as a base for your first row.

Alternatively, and this will not only be the easier route but probably make a sturdier shoe (I've read the knitted uppers can be a little floppy), you can simply knit pieces to match the existing uppers as closely as possible, and then super glue and lace them in place. You can find Ravelry member Kamillasvanlund's tutorial for the glued-on technique on here. Etsy seller Pretty Sneaky has a variety of great examples of "reupholstered" Converses in her Etsy shop (the two pictures above are her handiwork) and will also custom make them on order in any theme you'd like. She'll even do a custom wedding package for the groom and groomsmen in your wedding if you wish.





Some people knit new uppers for leather shoes as well, using the "cut the upper off and knit up from the remaining strip around the sole" technique. You can look at some instructional pictures here if my explanation didn't make any sense to you.





I am not sure how this espadrille-like pair was made as of course, since it used a flip-flop, there's nothing to stitch the new upper to. My best guess is that the new upper was glued on and that the braid hides the edges.

The adapted Converses look best — but the latter two executions leave... something to be desired aesthetically. I'd love to see what would happen if a really skilled designer took this idea and ran with it.

Sunday 30 December 2012

Some Baggage is Good Baggage


I'm not generally a fan of knitted bags. This may just be a matter of personal preference. I like smart and polished-looking bags with a good, definite shape that close securely and are easy and comfortable to carry, and few knitted bag patterns meet that criteria. They tend to look lumpy and shapeless and awkward, to be Boho in style with flowers and stripes, to call for the use of tacky novelty yarns, and to gape at the top, which leaves my stuff falling out or my wallet at risk for being stolen.

But there are some out there that I like. Tonight I did a search and found two (yes, just two) that I like enough to consider making for myself. The one above is a free Berroco pattern, and it's also on Ravelry.





This bag is actually commercially made, and priced at $200, but it's so cute I decided to seek out a pattern for something similar.





I almost immediately found this bag, which is pretty damn close to the one above. It's a free Michaels' pattern. It also has its own page on Ravelry. And you can probably make it for under $40.

But those are just my favourites. Feel free to leave links to bags that you like in the comments!