Ok, Christmas knitting and crochet season has officially begun! The blogs posted a bunch of adorable, kawaii-riffic patterns for everything from baby reindeer to Christmas lights this week, and it was awesome. Ideas like these make me want to cuddle up with a nice afghan, a few skeins of yarn, and a crochet hook for the winter. So, so cute.
Giveaways, Reviews & Sponsored
Craft-Inspired Holiday Cards & A Double Giveaway!
Normally I would avoid waxing so poetic about something that’s not handmade. When it comes to Christmas cards, your mailing list is long when you’re time is short (hey, it’s the holidays after all). I’m all about making the most of my gift creating time, and the really adorable crafting-inspired designs from Pear Tree Greetings are a creative way to incorporate the handmade spirit in your holiday cards. If you’re loving these designs as much as I am, you can enter below to win one of TWO $50 credits to Pear Tree Greetings and get your hands on some of these sweet cards.
How to Knit a Three Needle Bind Off / Knit Along Day 7
We’ve come to the end, my friends. This is the last tutorial day in the fall knit along. Since I know many of you are not quite at the finishing point, never fear! I’ve decided to extend the giveaway deadline through the end of the month to give everyone a fair chance (and Thanksgiving weekend if you’re in the U.S.) to finish your sweaters. Full and updated giveaway details are at the bottom of this post.
Knitting the Collar / Knit Along Day 6
I’ve said it before, but we are so very close to finishing our Remy Pullover sweaters! The last two steps, the first of which I’ll share with you today, are so easy too. You’re basically out of the woods on the Remy if you’ve made it this far!
Make the World Better with a Sweater! / Hands Occupied Sweater Party
One month from today, I’m partnering with one of my favorite local yarn shops, Nina, and Save the Children to help make the world better for kids this holiday season! And there’s going to be a Hands Occupied Sweater Party in the process! It turns out that Friday, December 12 is National Christmas Sweater Day, and Save the Children wants the world to wear a sweater (regular, festive, ugly or otherwise) and donate $5 to help fund their important work with kids around the world. I want to take that one step further by having a party that day to celebrate sweaters, the season, and raise money for a good cause. I think that we can easily raise $500 as a team, don’t you?
How to knit a raglan decrease / Knit Along Day 5
Surprise! It’s Friday, but due to an almost maniacal attention to detail on today’s post, I’m bumping Picks of the Week to tomorrow to bring you day 5 of the knit along. After the intense excitement level of last week’s arm attachment tutorial, today’s how-to-knit-a-raglan-decrease tutorial and pattern is probably the second most important tutorial of this entire bottom up sweater knitting series/KAL.
Ever had a Craft Fail?
We’ve all been there. We had an awesome idea (or at least saw one on Pinterest), we tried making it… and failed miserably. A new book just came out called Craft Fail that covers it all – everything from misspelled cross stitch to crochet mice that look more like rabid honey badgers!
How to attach sleeves / Knit Along Day 4
It’s sleeve attachment day! Today is the day your sweaters will start looking a LOT like sweaters, people! Despite how long this post is, attaching the sleeves really isn’t all that complicated. I just want to give you guys a thorough overview of the mechanics of how to attach bottom-up sweater sleeves. Since we’re dealing with math, words and photos (and a couple of animated GIFs, because I couldn’t help myself and do think they’re helpful), this post is long, but I think it really will help you understand sweater making! Let’s dive in, shall we?
Knit Along Day 3: The Other Sleeve
Last week’s installment of the fall knit along featured the pattern for the first sleeve for your Remy Pullover. This week is a bit of a repeat since it’s time for sleeve 2 of 2. There are a couple of variations you can do if you are a knitter who hates knitting things like mittens, socks and sweater sleeves. You know, projects that involve knitting things twice.
