Monthly Archives: December 2014

Pattern Spotlight: Baby Louis

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I don’t know about you, but when I make a stuffed animal or baby doll, I like the final product to look as if it wants to steal my soul.  There’s no better present for your kid to open on Christmas Morning than a doll that a possibly (definitely) possessed newborn-sized, anatomically accurate baby doll.

(My husband is creeped out by all dolls-or at least most.  He freaks out when he goes through the old boxes of stuff in our basement and he comes across my old American Girl doll, so I can only imagine how much he will like this one.  Sorry, Tristan! I hope you weren’t planning on sleeping tonight!)

Anyway, meet Louis, the crocheted baby doll that was weirdly popular on Ravelry this week.

louis_medium2[1]He has eyes that open and close, and a mouth that you can put a pacifier in.  (Which is touted as a selling point, for some reason.  I think it just makes him creepier.  Think about crocheting a mouth separately and then sewing it into the face…)

start_medium2[1]Sure, this doll is firmly in the Uncanny Valley, and is definitely going to tell your kid to murder you in your sleep, but I have to hand it to the lady (or gent) who designed him.  From a technical engineering standpoint, he’s pretty impressive.  To crochet a doll that human-like is pretty crazy.  So, hats off to them.

But, while the designer was asking if they could design a nearly-human baby doll, perhaps they should have asked if they should.

(No.  They should not have.)

Mmm… Beer

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My husband is a big beer enthusiast, and I am, too (although I’m a little less knowledgeable than he is).  We love visiting Seattle’s awesome microbreweries, and he even makes his own (really delicious) beer from scratch.

He knows all about the official styles of beer, varieties of hops and IBUs.  He reads brewing magazines and learns about the different techniques that are used to make each beer special.

I like pretty labels.

I know, I know, stereotypical girl, right?  But, sometimes I can’t help it.  Take, for example, Red Hook Brewery’s winter ale, Winter Hook.

RH-winterhook-6-pack-icon1I don’t even like winter ales, and I still want to buy a six-pack.

In case you can’t see it very well in the picture, the packaging is covered completely with Fair-Isle designs.  See?

winterhook-30[1]I’m sure it’s all done by computer, but the attention to detail is fantastic!  There aren’t any half stitches or other weird mistakes.  (The little skier is even done to look like a sewed-on applique!)  Someone on their design team is a knitter.

So, let’s raise a glass to knitting (or at least knitted designs) being used out in the wild!  It’s a trend I really like, and one that makes me smile a little more when I’m walking through the grocery store.

Where else have you seen knitting used in advertising?

Inspiration: Advent Calendars

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When my brother and I were little, we each had tiny Christmas trees that we used as advent calendars.  My mother (or maybe my grandmother… sorry Mom, I can’t remember which) had made us both these long wall-hangings with 24 little pockets for the days leading up to Christmas.

On the day after Thanksgiving, my parents would pull out the trees, wall hangings and an old cookie tin full of miniature ornaments.  My brother and I would spend the afternoon taking turns picking out ornaments and carefully putting each one in each pocket.

Every morning in December, we would add a single ornament to our trees.  The first week, the trees always looked a little sad and bare, but by the 10th or so, they started looking quite festive.  And by the week of Christmas, it was hard to find a free branch to add the day’s ornament to.

I’m not sure what happened to my little tree and wall-hanging, but I still have some of those miniature ornaments (a bunch of them are hanging on my tree right now!), but I still remember that particular holiday tradition fondly (especially the excitement my brother and I felt when we started having trouble finding space for our ornaments!).

Interested in making your own advent calendars?  Try one of these beautiful ones (although, it’s probably too late to make them for this year!)

Mini Stocking Advent Calendar by Alison Stewart-Guinee

IMGP1939_medium2[1]Smitten (a Holiday Garland) by Emily Ivey

Smitten3_medium2[1]Countdown to Christmas by Kate Heppell

advent1_medium2[1]

Inspiration: It’s Way Too *#^@ing Cold

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We are firmly in the SECOND cold snap of the winter, here in Seattle.  Seattle, where I was promised damp, cloudy, and 40s for most of the  year.  Seattle, where I moved to get away from the excessive cold of the Midwest, and the ridiculous hot of the South.  Seattle, where I expected to wear nothing but wool sweaters and flannel shirts for 90% of the year.

It is currently (at 11:30 in the morning) 27 degrees.  27!

And, there’s snow and ice all over outside.  (In November!)

It’s not right.  It’s not fair.  And I don’t like it.

All I want to do is roll myself up in a big wad of roving and go into hibernation until the temperature is back in the 40s.

Unfortunately, that’s not really approved of by society in general, so I suppose I must make do with the next closest thing.  Thrummed knitting.

Thrummed knitting involves working little tufts of roving into your knitting (traditionally mittens, but right now I would consider murder if it meant I could get my hands on a thrummed sweater).  It’s a little futzy, but not terribly so.  And, you end up with knitting that’s completely lined with glorious, fluffy wool (think of shearling, but knitted, not leather), and dotted with cute little heart-shaped stitches.  I can’t think of anything better than walking around with my hands (and feet) swaddled with woolen goodness.

Try these mittens, for some traditional thrummed action:

Yarn Harlot Thrummed Mittens by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

Outside:

2895409293_91de82094a_z[1]Inside (I know, right?!):

2873388824_e07708cb94_z[1]Or, if you’re like me and have ice cubes instead of toes, these slippers would be fantastic:

Cadeautje by Ysolda Teague

cadeautje_medium2[1]Now, I’m off to go see if I can fit another sweater over the one I’m already wearing… Wish me luck!