I’m loving how this new pattern turned out, you guys! It’s an easy crochet tote pattern, perfect for summer. Roughly 16x16x8 inches, it holds a ton of stuff for the perfect summer day hitting up the farmer’s market, the library or the beach. This chunky bag is an awesome & fun way to use fabric yarn if you’ve never tried it, and the pattern is great for beginners!
How-to
Chicago Yarn Crawl!
It’s the Chicago Yarn Crawl this week, dudes! This year, I only had a chance to Crawl for one day, hitting up 5 of the many stores participating. But I made sure to snap a few pics of their yarn and supplies to make you all jealous of the amazing yarn stores we’ve got here in Chicagoland. ;) The Yarn Crawl is divided into regions, and I focused on Region 1, the yarn shops within Chicago’s city limits.
Yarn Swatch Wall Art
Since I apparently can’t get yarn off my brain at any given time, today’s DIY wall art idea is inspired by the yarn swatches you’d knit to test the gauge of your yarn before casting on a new project. This would make a great gift for any knitting lover in your life – it’s back to school time, does your kid’s teacher have a yarn addiction? Or maybe their librarian… ;)
How to Make a Pom Pom
Pom poms are super fun. And DIY ones, where you can see the threads of yarn, are extra cute. You can do things like make them look like smiley faces or pieces of fruit if you know what you’re doing – you don’t even have to be a knitter or crocheter to become a master pom pom maker.
Mini Harry Potter Sweater Pattern
Try your hand at the most famous knitting in all of the Harry Potter universe, the Weasley Christmas sweater.
Chevron Sunglasses Case Knitting Pattern
What says summer knitting better than a quickie little sunglass case pattern? Grab a nice little ball of yarn leftover from one of your winter cowls, a couple of needles, and you’ve got yourself the perfect single-sitting beach knitting pattern. Or if it’s a rainy day, pop in a movie and you can make this start to finish in an hour or two. AND you can immediately use the finished case since it’s still summer. Like I said – summer knitting perfection. ;)
How to Make Fabric Yarn
A couple weeks ago, I shared how to make yarn from an old t-shirt, and based on the number of times I’ve seen it pinned, you guys were into it. The thing with t-shirt yarn is that one t-shirt doesn’t yield all that much yarn. I mean, the cross-body phone case pattern I shared took most of one t-shirt’s worth of yarn to make. But what about when you’re thinking about projects on a larger scale? That’s when I recommend you try your hands at making fabric (a.k.a. jersey) yarn. It’s super easy, and if you get your hands on a set of jersey sheets at the thrift store, you can upcycle that into yarn using the same technique I’m about to share. It’s so easy and the effect fabric yarn has on knit and crochet projects is something I’m LOVING right now!
Twinkle in Your Eye Sunglasses
This DIY is so simple, easy and fun, you might just be tempted to make five pairs for yourself and one for each of your friends. Inspired by the glint in a hollywood cartoon smile and the twinkle in a mischievous eye, these cheeky sunglasses will add a pinch of fun flair to your summer wardrobe!
Why I Learned to Knit Left-Handed
A weird thing happened out of nowhere last fall. Weird, but super exciting! I got three emails in a span of two weeks from magazines wanting to work with Hands Occupied in 2014. Finally last weekend, months after those initial emails, I opened my mailbox to find a surprise. A hard copy of my first magazine feature in “the UK’s bestselling knit mag,” Let’s Knit! Visit the full post for a piece I wrote for them on the time I thought I’d never knit again.
