"Fleece Dog" by C&T Publishing. First, this isn't a knitting book and second I'm basically terrified of dogs (well of all animals to be perfectly honest). But these little pups are so dang cute I just couldn't resist this book! I've used a felting needle exactly once, to make a nose on my Huggable Hedgehog. That was pretty fun, so I'm hoping I'll be able to make something that looks vaguely doggish using this book. You can use fleece or you can use dog hair to make these guys. The breeds in the book are kind of exotic (Shiba Inu? what's that?), but I'm going to try to make black labs, in honor of grand-dogs Lois and Walt and neph-dog Rudy. And black fleece will probably cover up any oddities in my technique. Anyway these are soooo precious, you'll want to make one even if you are a dogophobe like me.
"Charmed Knits": this is the Harry Potter project book. I have several major HP fans in the family so I had to have this book. Pretty cute! Of course there are some projects I'd never make (the Molly Weasley sweater which has crocheted sleeves, and I don't do crochet) but overall I thought the patterns were a lot of fun. I could def. see knitting the various sweaters for the big and little Potter-heads in my life, the socks are cute and the there are hats and mittens and scarves that are all wearable. The little HP sweater and Golden Snitch ball Christmas ornaments are really cute, my daughter would love those for her tree. I also like the wizard hat and the robe, but I'll have to be asked very nicely before I'd make those I think, though I imagine my little buddies would love them for dress-up. Oh the wand cases were cute too, and could double as sword scabbards for pirate play.
Runway Knits: wow these are gorgeous designs! In a world where size XL is a 40" bust, I may not be fitting into much in this book anytime soon (sadly, my boobage has significantly expanded over the last few years, along with the rest of me) However, I have others who would look beautiful in these and I can always dream. One thing I didn't realize, the designer is the owner of Karabella yarns, so all the patterns in the book call for this brand. I might have a little trubs finding it here in Spokane, but it's a good reason to take a trip to Seattle. Anyway, there are some really interesting details in these patterns, very unique! One cable pullover has bust shaping and detail created by the cabling, a cool idea. There are several shrugs which have cool shaping too and lots of jackets, sweaters, a skirt, dresses etc. Lace knitters will like a lot of these patterns. So if you are a friend or relative, and you are skinny, ask me to make you something gawjus from this book!
That is all for tonight
2 comments:
Oh wow, the fact that Rudy got a shout-out...well it means a lot to him. Especially with all the post baby neglect. And who knew there was Harry Potter knitting book...Ryan sure didn't and he's Pres. of the fan club. Maybe he'll want to come to Stitch-n-bitch after all. I'm sure he could knit a mean Griffindorf scarf:).
Have you ever tried modifying a small pattern into a larger one? I think you could make the majority of patterns in the Runway book fit you.
You could either use a yarn & needles to produce a larger gauge, or modify the existing pattern. For instance, if 6 sts. are equal to one inch, add additional increments of 6 sts. until you reach your desired measurement. Follow the pattern as normal, but when adding or subtracting sts. in shaping, figure in your extra sts.
If the pattern has a very intricate design, this may be too tedious to try; otherwise, why not?
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