Astounding Knits!

I need and want this book about knitting. It's the kind of knitting I want to look at and read about. And then be inspired to make something cool. On Amazon you can look inside!

Some cool tutorials I've found over the past year or so.

First off, a giant list of the best tutorials of the year from The Long Thread.

Secondly, little mini tool boxes from Altoid tins!




Giant blob knit footstool from Pickles. I love these things and have probably posted about them before. Soon I will actually make one. Soon.



A couple men's shirts to other things. Someday I will have a sewing table again and I will sew some of these things. Maybe.

Shirt to skirt from label-free.



Shirtdress from clevergirl.org




Fabric envolopes. Be the sender of the classiest mail in the west. And some mini mail while you're at it.



Always have a toothpick handy. Toothpick pocket how-tos. I really like the one that includes a tiny mini toothpick protective cap.

Fibre Spectrum.

Nelson is known for being an artsy little city. Long before I visited I had a feeling I would find good wools and things there. And, well, I was right. I made a list of all the local yarn stores I had heard about and then set off to find them. When I came across Fibre Spectrum I knew my search was complete. This little storefront was pretty nondescript, but it houses the products of a local cooperative. They handspin and handdye and handweave and knit every item in the store from fibre to finished product. The store is long and narrow and is completely lit by skylights. The natural light makes everything even more beautiful. I spent a long time chatting with the woman running the store the first day. Then I bought a lot of things from her. Then I met a girl who graduated from the University of Guelph the same year I finished my undergrad. She recognized me and we talked for a few minutes. She wasn't a knitter though, and I has some serious shopping to do. I had to limit my purchases for financial and backpack space reasons. Mara and Chris think I am crazy. Then, I spent the entire night thinking about one skein I had really liked, but didn't buy, and had to go back the next day to pick it up and take pictures of the place so I will never forget it. O, and then I visited several of the women in the co-op at the Nelson Farmer's Market on the weekend. Yep.

When I wrote out the list of pictures for this post I had about 40, but I narrowed them down to just these few.



Baby Surprise Jackets!

Wall of handspun, handdyed merinos and corrydales and silks and everything you can think of. I pulled out every single one of them and inspected them all.

Did I mention all of the handmade felt in this place? So cool. I bought a little heart christmas ornament (well, it's bright blue and beaded) for Mara and Chris to thank them for their hospitality.

Handknit sweaters.

The weaving was pretty incredible too.

Yeah. Good day for wool shopping.

"We tend to get addicted to our activities so you better make sure you love what you do." Wilt Chamberlin.

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Etsy links.

Time to clear out the etsy.com links on my top bar. I was on a bit of a stuffed animal and footwear kick over the past couple weeks.

From Capow Art and Design, a cool little change purse modelled after an old-fashioned cassette tape.



MinitureRhino makes a lot of interesting items. I'm particularly drawn to their tree ring embroideries and their embroidered star maps.



A popular shop in the felt-sculpture world, hine makes all sorts of interesting pouches for the electronics in your life.



I always like owl art. Squishyfish makes it the creepiest.



Also right up there in the quirky stuffed animal department is Skunkboy Creatures. I would take one of each of there items, I just have no idea where I'd put them all.



Spirocreations makes way too many over-fringed belts, but they make really cool footwear. Unfortunately, footwear hand-sewn by someone other than me is sort of out of my price range. I"ll have to get more into boot making in the future.



Netamir's Designs. Ditto.

Too hot for this.

I can't remember where this came from, but I need to put it here.

Inspiration.

This is so beautiful:



I found it on one of the crafty blogs I follow for inspiration. Every time I finish a section or a bit of thesis I get to look at one. This prevents me from sitting around and daydreaming about all of my knitting projects at home. Uh, yeah, I do that. It's so strange how you can care so much about so many different things and yet some things just seem so much more fun to do. I suppose knitting is easier for me than this science gig since I've been actively practicing craft for so much longer. Not to mention, science still has that schoolwork vibe attached to it for me. I can't wait to be a free agent and just float around in the world for a bit.

For now, I'll type away and post pretty things. This particular blankie is made with a wide range of Koigu Premium Merino (KPM). The colourways are rich and beautiful. Imagine the possibilities with this stuff for giant granny squares which happen to be one of my favourite crafty items. A throwback to easy days in Warsaw at Nana's house. And possibly every summer weekend in Cottage Country, Ontario.



Okay, I'm out. Enough pretty internet pictures. I've promise myself that I'll send my Hypotheses, Predictions, Methods, and Results to Uta this afternoon for proofreading. Got to buckle down and show up, I just had to post this first.