{midweek refresh} tatyana yanishevsky
April showers bring knit flowers. And bloodshot aphids.
Tatyana Yanishevsky knits and creates these fantastic sculptures out of yarn, steel, resin, and glass.
So good! Keep reading for more beautiful flowers–and that bloodshot insect.
{diy or buy} textile baskets
As an avid DIY-er, I often find myself looking at something in a store or at a market and passing on it as I think to myself, “I could totally make that.” Sure, that’s probably true, but do I? 9 times out of 10, no way, Jose! That’s why I’m starting this new series: DIY or BUY, giving you options for making your own or buying new, so you can decide for yourself if you’ll actually make it or just go ahead and buy it. Enjoy!
This first edition of DIY or buy was inspired by Vanja Bazdulj’s fantastic felted pots. While I wouldn’t attempt recreating her wonderful artistic sculptures, there are some great tutorials out there for making a more simplified version of a textile bucket:
//1. I love the minimal quality to Between the Lines’ Folded Leather Basket
//2. Masha from Ornamelle made these beautiful fabric buckets. I love the leather handles! Pippijoe Diary has a great tutorial for making fabric buckets similar to this.
//3. These rope baskets are so great. The photo above is from Childerhouse, but Esther from Wholly Kao has a great tutorial for making these. Love it but don’t want to make it? Snag one of these beauties handmade by my super-talented friend Char from C-M-Y-S Design
Not crafty? Want some stylin’ storage without bothering to make it? Here’s some options for you:
//1. Simple felt buckets from Filzkraft on Etsy are modern and functional.
//2. Needed a felt basket for your kindling? Archiproducts has just the thing!
//3. Leave it to West Elm to come up with a fantastic felt storage solution. These Woven Felt Baskets come in 5 different sizes for all your storage needs.
//4. I love the clean and airy feel of these linen Eskayel Baskets from Alder & Co.
There you have it. 7 great storage solutions that you can either make or buy.
So what will it be? DIY or buy?
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Like what you see? Make sure you don’t miss a thing:
newbie knitted headband with Kollabora
Ok, so you all know my complete obsession with yarn. I just can’t get enough of it. So imagine my excitement when Kollabora sent me some supplies to make a cute headband for their learn to knit campaign. Unfortunately, there were some mail issues, so I didn’t get the supplies in time, but alas, the yarn finally came and here is my take on the Newbie Knitted Headband. (more…)
valentine dog sweater (free pattern)
Had enough of Valentine’s stuff yet? I hope not, because I have yet another project for your favorite furry Valentine. (more…)
knit labels
I had my first “commission knitting” project this summer for these fun little scarflets. I decided to go all out and make some fun labels because, after all, presentation is everything.
another loop pillow
via Sunderland Stitch & Salvage
During a routine Etsy perusal I came across this pillow that is very similar to the oh-so-tedious felted loops pillow I did a couple months ago. This version looks a little more friendly; rather than knitting a super long rope, the loops were made by pulling out yarn from the stitches and using a super soft and bulky yarn. No matter how it was made, I like it! Check out the other cool things in her shop!
Button Scarf (pattern)
I made this scarf a while ago, but then I wasn’t sure if I liked the fabric button…
…I’ve decided I do, and it’s blog worthy.
Like all the scarf patterns I’ve put on here, this one is also very simple. It is just a rectangle that is folded over and then buttoned through both layers. Refer to this handy diagram I made for you:
I did a seed stitch which is knit one/purl one on every row. That way you end up with an alternating pattern that gives it a nice texture. I used size 11 needles.
I got the fabric for the button at Sew To Speak, but if you have any sort of fabric stash, you’ll definitely have enough for covering a button. I must have had large ambitions of making lots of covered buttons with all the fabric I got for the sole purpose of this project.
If you’ve never covered a button before, don’t worry, its super easy.
I would suggest getting the buttons with the little teeth around the edges. The buttons without the teeth require another tool to put it together. Make your life simpler, have less tools! You can get the buttons at any fabric or craft store.
Then you just cover the fabric over the button, hook it under the teeth all the way around and snap on the bottom piece. Sew on the scarf wherever you like.
see? What’d I tell ya, easy peasy!
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Lucy donned her most festive attire to wish you all a very happy day o’ love!
Knit RSS feed pillow
Brandon and I are both sort of super nerds, so I thought this pillow was more than appropriate to celebrate my new found love of blogging and Brandon’s longtime love of all things web.
I started this pillow in the middle of the felted loops pillow and worked on it when I was especially frustrated with the other. I got the idea from DIY Maven’s crochet and cross stitch pillow. But rather than cross stitch the second color, I used the pdf she made as a color guide for knitting.
I learned a new knitting technique while making this: Intarsia Knitting, which allows you to knit with two colors without getting holes in between them. (good video tutorial, actually, the whole website is full of great videos for different knitting techniques…check it out if you’re stumped on something!)
The back is constructed in a similar fashion as the felted loops pillow with two halves buttoned together.
I figure I should make the back cute enough so if we ever need to hide our nerdiness we can just flip the pillow over.
The knitting was loose enough that I didn’t need to knit button holes, the buttons just fit through the stitches.
I can’t believe it’s already Friday! Enjoy your weekend, and thanks for stopping by!
Felted Loops Pillow
Finally! I finished it!
It ended up being a little lopsided and not quite as even and perfect as the picture in the pattern, but that just gives it character, right? I was also expecting to make an 18×18 inch pillow like the pattern said, but ended up with 12×12. I even had a couple extra feet of yarn rope, I don’t know how you would get an 18″ square pillow out of this! The loops would have to be so much smaller…
There was actually a lot of handsewing I had to do post felting. Looking back on it, I don’t think the “lattice” strategy of sewing the loops together was very effective. I ended up sewing most, if not all, of the inbetween spaces after it felted. Also for some reason, I made bigger loops in the corners, so they kind of stick out further than the rest.
I also bought some fabric the same color as the yarn and lined the pillow form with it to help camouflage specs of pillow showing through the loops. The back of the pillow is two felted pieces buttoned together. To make the buttonholes I simply cut small holes into the felted fabric.
Now I just need to find the perfect place to put it.
missed part I? check it out here
