Crafty's Free Knitting Patterns : Breaking Free from the Summer Blues of Knitting

I was recently contacted by the folks at Craftsy who came across my blog and discovered my love of knitting. Craftsy has recently redone their pattern search to put a whole bunch of awesome free patterns into an easy search page, and asked me if I'd like to have a look and share my thoughts and a link to the free patterns page with you, my awesome readers. (scroll to the end of the post for the link!)

Searching for Knitting Patterns is Easy 

The search interface on the Craftsy site is easy to use, and lets you choose what category of item you'd like to make, such as an accessory like a headband or clothing like a sweater, and choose other options below for the type of pattern and who the item is made for, making it easy to find a free pattern for your next knitting project.

Fun Projects to Try!

I've been in a big of a knitting slump lately, so I jumped at the chance to go and browse some patterns and hopefully kick-start my knitting bug in time to get some Christmas presents on the go (August is not too early to start planning and creating, especially when it comes to knitting!) Here are a few of the new to me patterns I found on the Craftsy site that I might be casting on soon!

Fall Down Shawlette Pattern  

Madalyn Rae Baby Afghan Pattern 

Thatched Cottage Zip Up Case 

Get Free Knitting Patterns 

So there you have it-Craftsy is easy to search, has lots of free knitting patterns and hopefully the few patterns I linked to above are enough to intrigue you and get you knitting!

FREE KNITTING PATTERNS

 Happy Knitting! Feel free to share your favourite patterns in the comments - I always love more inspiration!

♥ Craftzilla

Lately...Knits, Crafty Stuff and Getting Back into the Swing of Things

Lately I  :

...got this fun package full of knitting patterns from my mom. I'd picked out some I'd wanted to copy but ran out of time to do so during my last visit. I'm excited to get knitting some new mittens!

... am getting back into the swing of things after being off for a few weeks..trying to wrap my head around all the things I have to do for my placement, school and work in the coming months. I think I need about 800 different lists to keep track of it all.

...was back at Brownies for my first meeting! I got asked who's mom I was about four times and received one hug from one kid who decided that would warm me up (it sure was cold in the gym!)  Ate popcorn and watched some of Diary of a Wimpy Kid with the kids- super fun!

...finished up some new knits for sale at a local shop (hat modeled by Beth, one of the owners)

  ....worked on a picnic bag carrier to go along a custom picnic blanket order in my shop. I'm pretty pleased with how this turned out!

.... sold my first set of these cute pin sets in my shop - there are some more available if you need a cute heart pin for Valentines Day.

... started sitting on a cultural board for the city. I went to my first meeting this week, and am hoping to be involved in some cool things this year (and have a reason for attending all the cultural events I already do)

...have been feeling a bit sad - my grandma's at that point of her battle with cancer where it's winning. In case you had forgotten,  cancer sucks. I'm hoping to get up there for a visit very soon to see her.

...could use a new robot foot. I think I've done something to a tendon or something in my foot, and walking has been a bit ouchy. I ordered some new shoes and am trying to rest up, stretch and wear some comfy shoes, so hopefully it starts feeling better soon.

What have you been up to lately? I'd love to catch up!

♥ Craftzilla 

Knitting Awesomeness: Nintendo Knit Machine

Maybe I'm becoming geekier the longer I live with Zen (who has quite the Nintendo collection) but when he showed me this Nintendo Knit Machine prototype from back in the day, I'll have to admit to thinking it was totally awesome. I mean, who wouldn't want to use a Nintendo to easily control your knitting needs? I admit, this has got me intrigued to explore some knitting machine or loom possibilities, especially for knitting larger items like scarves or blankets! 

♥ Craftzilla

Quick Peek: Knitted Commissions

I've been busy working on some more knitted  products for a local business, Grey Rock Co, who sells ethical and fair trade products. Remember the sneak peek of this knitted scarf I showed you awhile back? Well here's a few of the finished projects,  the finished scarf, as well as a pair of warm and cozy grey wool boot cuffs, modelled by Beth, one of the co-owners of the store. ( image credit )

For those of you who aren't local, check out their website for some awesome fair trade product information, look books (it is Fair Trade Month, after all) or their Facebook page  for some awesome outfits, outfits of the day and styling of one clothing piece different ways.  

I'm off to cast on some new knitted items!

♥ Craftzilla

Literature Inspired Knits

When looking around on Knitty the other day for some knitting inspiration, I noticed there were a lot of knits around that were inspired by literature. I've always been a voracious reader, and pairing my love of reading with one of my other loves, knitting, is definitely right up my alley. I collected a few of my favourites for you to enjoy!

Middlemarch 

This Middlemarch sweater from Knitty is fantastic--it's nicely shaped, and the lace detail is amazing and pretty. I love the reasoning behind the creation of this sweater: "Named for George Eliot’s great Victorian novel, this sweater marries Rosamond’s longing for novelty and fashion with Dorothea’s practical and egalitarian edge. Structural and feminine, it features an avant garde approach to lace."

                                                         

Pride and Prejudice

The second edition of Jane Austen knits also came out this summer, and the pattern for Miss Bingley's feathered head wrap is so cute--it's the perfect head wrap for a character like Miss Bingley as she was busy scheming against Jane in Pride and Prejudice.

Anne of Green Gables 

I mentioned the other week that I did a re-reading of all of the Anne of Green Gables books, and this hat inspired by the lush countryside and walks along Lover's Lane (the pattern is even called Lover's Lane) may make me do a bit of a nerdy dance. I love the colour too!

Little Women 

This knit inspired by one of my favourite books ever, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, is an amazing hooded shawl, called Jo's Pride. If you're not familiar with the book, Jo's pride is generally referred to in the book as her hair, which she cuts off and sells at one point in the story to help her family. At any rate, I definitely wouldn't mind keeping my head warm with this hooded shawl!

♥ Craftzilla

Work in Progress: Knitted Loop Scarf

Lately, I've been working on some knit designs for a local shop, so have been getting to work with pure wool which is quite a treat! Currently I'm working on some loop scarves, and I really love how this maroon one is turning out--the texture and bulk of the scarf is to die for (in my opinion) with the seed stitch I'm using. I might need to make one for myself afterwards to cozy up in!

♥ Craftzilla

Knitting Fail to Knitting Win

Sweater back

I've been working on this sweater forever --I've basically had to reknit a lot of it, since the front pieces and sleeves ended up not matching and I had to fix them. ( Pro Tip--knit pieces like sleeves and fronts at the same time so they always match!)

Anyways, the other day I finally finished all the pieces of the sweater (back, sleeves and fronts) and started on the ribbing when I realized I WAS OUT OF YARN. This is a knitter's nightmare, to get this far and run out of yarn, especially out of a yarn that you bought so long ago that it's NO LONGER EVEN SOLD.

Luckily, there's a happy ending to this story, as I went on a trip to my local craft store, Len's Mill, and found a replacement yarn to make the edging for the sweater as well as to let me sew the whole sweater together. It has enough of the same colours as the original yarn in it that it doesn't look too odd on the edging of my sweater, and just enough different colours to add a fun design feature to my sweater. I love the edging now, and am working hard when I have a spare moment to get this sweater done before the cold weather hits.

Wish me luck!

♥ Craftzilla 

ApoCALypse Project 1- Mostly Done

I won't lie, I was pretty excited about Project 1 for the Apockycal craft a long, but life definitely got in the way of my knitting this month. In fact, so much in the way due to moving that I couldn't quite find where I'd put this project for a good part of the month. At any rate, I've finally unearthed my knitting needle roll from a box and am finishing it up. I just have to block it and sew on some fancy fabric to make it even more awesome, and I'll be ready to store a bunch of my knitting needles in there. Have a look at the Project 1 wrap-up to see some more of the completed and on the go projects, as well as check out Project 2.

♥ Craftzilla

Things I Made and Saw: Decorating, Skirts & Quilting

I've been having a pretty low key weekend here, and have mostly been trying to organize a few things around the house including putting up some pictures and finishing up some sewing. We also had a few friends over, and had some tasty food like burgers and home made chocolate pudding.

I finally am making some progress with hanging up some of embroideries and other art around the house:



I also finally hung up my set of embroidered hoops in my bedroom, along with my collection of dream catchers. I recently finished the green one, and the others were given to me as gifts.



I've been wanting to get back into making some clothes for myself again, so decided to practice making a skirt or two in a smaller scale with some larger scraps of fabric from my stash. I think this one turned out pretty cute:



Knitting a long skinny scarf for a custom order:



I'm also making good progress on quilting the baby quilt I'm working on:





And as always, a sleepy puppy by my side:



♥ Craftzilla

Get Involved with ApoCALypse - Knit Along with Us

I wanted to let all you knitting fans out there that I have three  posts up on the ApoCALypse Craftalong blog  this week on one of my favourite topics, knitting! This week I'm talking about knitting needles, in particular:

1)  how to pick and choose the right needles for you, 
2)  how to pick the right type of knitting needle for your project and
3)  one on how to figure out what size those mystery needles are  and hhow to convert needles from other countries to the size you need for a pattern (particularly focused on Canadian, British and US sizes)

We're ramping up for the first of many awesome craft-alongs, starting with a knit-a-long that is beginning in June. In order to get ready, Kelly from Living Apockylypse and Margot from Newfoundlander at Heart and I are posting some fun posts about knitting, such as a how to choose the right knitting needles for your project, the right needles for you, how to pick the right type of yarn and weight of yarn for your project.

Our projects include a spiffy needle roll, market tote and infinity cowl, as well as a few other fun projects.

For updates and to get involved, you can follow @apockycal on Twitter, hop on over to the ApoCALypse blog to sign up to be a participant and visit us on our Ravelry group page!

♥Craftzilla

Knitting Needle Gauges - Inspiration

I was doing some research on knitting needle gauges for a super secret and soon to be announced project, and came across some amazing and unique knitting needle gauges that I thought I'd share with you all today. 

In case you're not a super geeky knitter like me, a knitting needle gauge is used to find out what size your needles are if they aren't clearly marked, or if your pattern calls for a US size of needle and all of your needles are UK or Canadian sizes. 

I'm always misplacing my gauge, and knitting needle conversion charts drive me a bit batty, so I'm on the hunt for a new and more adorable knitting needle gauge, so enjoy! 

Owl Knitting needle gauge

Vintage Bell shaped gauges

Sheep Knitting Needle Gauge- bamboo

Owl Knitting Needle Gauge

Sterling Silver Knitting Needle Gauge necklace

     

Happy International Women's Day: Beyond the Stats

When I thought about all that I wanted to say about International Women's Day and why it's an important date to recognize, I was a bit lost on how to sum up everything that I wanted to say about how great it is to be a lady, the specific challenges and barriers faced and how we can move forward to make things better.  I ended up heading to the resources page of the IWD, and found this video that sums up everything I want to say as well as my thoughts on how we can start to truly love ourselves, feel fulfilled in our lives and inspire the next generation of girls to be leaders where we have been scared or held back.

source

So sure, there's statistics about how women are still not equal in terms of education, employment, leadership position, wages and health, but to most people, statistics are a detached thing that exist, but which don't have a lot of obvious impact on their day to day lives, nor are there obvious ways that one person can change things for the better.  I came across the video below on the IWD site, which is a promotional video for the documentary Miss Representation, a documentary about all of these kinds of issues with some specific suggestions about what one person or a group of people can do themselves in order to make their lives better and more meaningful, as well as how to improve things for other women and girls and your community as a whole.

The suggestions to rise above the stats suggested in the video really spoke to me, although they almost seem like they should be obvious. In order to highlight them and remind myself of what I'd like to do to make myself happier and healthier in mind and body, I've reproduced them below.

1) Get Healthy

• Be Conscious of Your Media Consumption, online and off
• Take a Media Break
• Focus on Achievement over Appearance

2) Value Yourself

• Find out What makes you happy
• Appreciate your Uniqueness
• Celebrate your accomplishments

3) Be a Role Model

• Personify the characteristics you hope to see in the world around you
• Be a mentor to others 

4) Get Involved 

• Volunteer in Your Community 
•  Boycott Harmful Media
• Use Your Voice to Create change, Online and Off 

5) Be A Leader

• Don't be Afraid to Step into Leadership Roles 
• Encourage and Invest in the Leadership of Women
• Remember that you are the Lead Character of the Story of your Life 

Tonight I'll be celebrating International Women's day with my favourite group of ladies as we knit, chat, create and support each other at our local yarn store and hopefully talking a bit about International Women's Day and how we will go forward in the next year to make ourselves healthier, happier and more successful in our own right.

♥ Craftzilla 

Yarn Bombing

A friend posted this amazing yarn bombing adventure on Twitter earlier and I thought I'd share. Overnight, an entire pier in London Salburn (Correction, Saltburn in the North of England --see the Facebook page here--thanks for the correction!)   was yarn bombed with tons of Olympic themed knits. Click here to see the entire slideshow -it's pretty amazing and appeared there overnight.

Often called yarn bombing or yarn storms, these kinds of installations can be small or large in scale, involve newly knitted or re-purposed pieces of knitting and can serve different purposes such as beautification, sending a message or just as art installations of knitters coming together.

I didn't get to see this one in person, but an artist in Cambridge, Ontario (which is about 20 minutes from here) got a group of knitters together to yarn bomb a local bridge--didn't it turn out amazingly? (and was even featured on the Knitty blog, which is where these photos are from)

I was also happy to discover/remember that a crafter out in Alberta, Canada started an International Day of yarn bombing last year, likely to coincide with the week of activities for World Wide Knit in Public Day which I think could be a fun thing to celebrate in some way this year.

I was also excited to find this lovely bike cozy made by another local artist, Janet Morton (read more here) , who has a studio in the same building where I used to have mine (she has a pretty sweet knitted Christmas tree hanging from the ceiling in her studio that  I love as well!)

So many adorable ways that people have be-cozied and  brought a little art and life to outside spaces- love it:) 

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Have you ever made or seen a yarn bombing installation in your home town or celebrated International Yarn Bombing Day?

♥ Craftzilla 

Inspiration to Hat - A Knit Adventure

I love knitting challenges, and when Julie from Tri-ing to be Athletic messaged me on Twitter about wanting a knit hat, I was excited to agree!

Inspiration from Urban Outfitters:

source

I found some pattern inspiration for the lace stitch in the hat here

In progress


Finished (although before blocking)



Delivered to its new home! Doesn't Julie look great?