cosmicpluto knits!

fo: escargot

I don’t often knit from other patterns, just because I’m so busy trying to work on my own! But I needed a new hat for the random cold snaps we’ve been having amidst weirdly mild weather, so when I saw this hat in the latest issue of knitty I grabbed a lovely single skein and got to it!

Pattern: Escargot from knitty
Yarn: Jill Draper Makes Stuff Hudson in Steel, leftover Malabrigo Rios and Tanis Fiber Arts fingering weight

I found the brim a bit roll-y and insubstantial as written, so I picked up stitches on the inside with a smaller needle and knit a bit of a brim lining. It’s super cozy, and while I normally have a really hard time actually wearing hats I think this one will get a lot of use.

cozy Carter cardigan

A couple of years ago when I went to TNNA in Columbus, I met Stephen West for the first time. Impressions? Sweet as anything, tall, has some wild trousers!

I was exhibiting some of my pieces in Ysolda’s booth that year, among them the Carter Cardigan. Stephen tried on my original, waist shaping and all, and of course looked smashing (as he always does). Photographic evidence!

Stephen knit up another for himself (proooobably omitting the waist shaping) and he’s awesome enough to let me share some of his photos with you. Here’s his Ravelry project page.

Thanks Stephen!

purple cables

It’s the perfect time of year for cables! They’re so fun to knit, too.

Thick, squishy warm socks out of Dream in Color Classy, in Purple Rain.

With the leftovers from the socks, I whipped up an earband this week – I just LOVE those cables, and this should hold me over until I make a new hat! Not that it’s actually been cold out or anything, it’s supposed to go up to 6C tomorrow.

Patterns for both the socks and earband are mine, and will be published soon.

happy new year!

How was your new year’s? Me, I made a delicious vegetarian moussaka for dinner, dipped homemade peppermint patties in chocolate for gifts, and hit up not just one but two parties! (Let’s ignore the fact that I only spent half an hour at each one.)

2011 seemed to be a bad year for a lot of people I know – and I had my share of ups and downs too. Focusing on the “ups” though, I got a great new apartment, a wonderful boyfriend, and I finished lots of great knits!

This one came off the needles way back in November, but I don’t think I ever blogged finished photos of it! I just love this cardigan. It’s knit out of Ultra Alpaca, and it’s a bit fuzzy after some wear but it’s sooo warm and cozy.

The pattern is my own, and will be coming out for sale soon! I have some big hopes and plans for 2012, and while lots of other people are doing the “12 sweaters in 2012″ thing, I have a bit of a challenge set for myself – to design and release 12 sweater patterns in 2012!

I’m cheating a bit – some of the sweaters have already been knit up, and are nearly ready to be released anyway. But hey, the final few steps are the hard ones – photographing, editing, general tidying up before a pattern can be sent out into the world.

I’ve decided not to do this as a pattern club or anything, since I like the idea of being able to decide what you want to purchased based on each pattern alone. The other thing I’d like to do more of this year is blog, so I’ll be writing lots of posts along the way! (I hope.)

Anyway, I hope you all had a great holiday, and thanks for supporting me in 2011 – here’s to a bright new year!

a secret xmas gift

If I see you in person, you might’ve heard me talk about this project – but since my handsome fella reads my Twitter and Facebook, and sometimes Flickr and this here blog, I couldn’t really talk about it online at all!

I saw this pattern ages ago, and since we’re both big fans of Futurama I decided I just had to make one for Christmas.

Presenting…Bender Bending Rodriguez!

I super-sized him by using Berroco Vintage Chunky, though I did have to go down to a 3.25mm hook – apparently I crochet pretty loosely! The fabric is really nice and solid though, which is what I was going for. I’m not a big crocheter but I do know my way around pretty well, and I found the pattern pretty easy to follow despite the lack of actual instructions!

I made a pile of pieces.

I also decided to make a wire armature for inside him, so that the arms and legs would be posable – it didn’t turn out THAT amazing, but it’s pretty good for my first one! I made a skeleton out of thick beading wire, then wrapped it with some fiberfill and masking tape.

I cut circles of cardboard and laminated them with packing tape, and also taped down some little bags of decorative floral sand to make weights for the bottom of the feet.

He looked a little weird with a finished body but no arms or legs!

I crocheted the footcups and weighted them, then wrapped the wire legs in roving before sewing the top of the legs to the body. Pretty much the same thing with the arms. A bit of embroidery for his door, and the segments of his arms and legs, and I was pretty much done! Not that it wasn’t a lot of work – it was. But the end result was totally worth it!

He got into a lot of trouble around my apartment. I think he discovered the whisky shelf.

He can be pretty helpful though!

And he dressed up really nicely for Christmas!

And the reaction when the boyfriend opened his present? Amazing. He had no idea! Of course, he was appropriately impressed by my mad crafting skills. I’m a little impressed with myself!

happy holidays!

My presents are almost done, I’ve done lots of baking to take up to my parents’ house (though my oven seems bent on ruining a lot of cookies), and the house is reasonably clean. Bring on Christmas!