Category: Knitting

I’ve been spending a lot of time with my friend Heather lately, and though I’m a bit embarassed to admit, much of that time is spent admiring her wild dreads. Completely envious am I, the girl with medium-length curly brown hair that fluffs up into an afro at the slightest hint of humidity. No, I could never even dream of getting away with a bold look like that, but right here infront of me, Heather not only pulls it off, she totally rocks it.

After hanging out for a few days in sucession, I noticed that she had worn the same plain, dreary tangle of a headband every single day (Not that I have anything against that; It really did look fine and I’m sure she washes it and what not.) I just figured that maybe she would like some difference, a small change of pace every now and again. Options never hurt anybody, right?

So I pulled out the .pfd file saved on my harddrive for Lacy Hair Tamers from the Interweave Fall 2004 issue. I figured there was just enough of my varigated lavendar cotton yarn to finish the headband out, and there’s even a good deal left over for accents on some future project. It knit up like a dream, coming together in the space of one day. I decided to forgo the blocking, wanting it to remain a bit stretchy to accomidate one’s head without slipping off.

After handing over this simple creation, Heather thanked me gratefully and wore it the very next day. I think I was even more pleased than her, though; Almost no one I know likes having their picture taken, but she was willing to model her new hair accessory and show off her awesome dreads.

Thanks for the inspiration, Heather!

Yes, at long last, you can stop thinking for yourself and simply follow the pattern I wrote out and used for my lovely tofu pin cushion! Happy day! Now that I’ve taken all of the brain work out of the process, you no longer have any excuse for your reluctance to make one and I expect to see lots of smiling blocks of tofu in the very near future… Knit lots tofu friends and take pictures for me!

Sides (Make 2):

Using size 7 (US) needles, CO 12
Starting with a knit row, continue in St st until you have worked 13 rows even.
BO

Front and Back:

CO 18
Beginning with a knit row, work 12 rows of st st.
Purl the following 2 rows.
Starting again with knit, work another 14 rows in st st.
Purl the following 2 rows.
Work 12 more rows in st st.
Purl the following 2 rows.
Knit 14 additional rows in st st.
Purl 2 more rows, and…
BO!

Bored to death yet? Sorry, but it’s just a cube! The real fun comes when you give it personality with a face. On front and back piece, choose one of the shorter sides (a section of 12 st st rows) and embroider the details. You could also wait to do this until you’ve finished stuffing and assembling, but I personally find that it’s easier to do it beforehand.

Assembly:

Now, lining up one side piece with the main body, right sides out, so that the shorter / longer sides match up, whip stitch all the way around. Repeat with the other side, but leave the very last piece unattached. There should still be an opening here where the front and back meet up.

To get my tofu to hold its shape better, I used blocks of foam, as opposed to just regular batting. You could probably use plain old stuffing if you can’t get your hands on any rigid materials, it will probably just be slightly lumpier. Who said tofu had perfectly straight edges anyways? So if using foam, measure the dimensions of your tofu (Sorry, I forgot to write it down) and cut your block to shape. I had to use two pieces glued together because it was a relatively flat piece, so don’t be afraid to do so yourself.

Insert the stuffing material into the opening in back and whip stitch closed the remaining two sides closed. Stick with lots of cute little pins, and take your new friend along to start your next project!

When in doubt, always go back to the tried and true. After a slow weekend with no projects and nothing but boredom threatening at every turn, I found myself flipping through Stitch and Bitch Nation, one of my absolute favorite books around. Okay, let's face it; Anything by Debbie Stoller is probably one of my absolute favorites.

I thought that the wrist cuff by the name of "The Bead Goes On" looked pretty cute and simple, while still having some attitude. It's not honestly something I could see myself wearing, but… Well… As embarrassed as I am to admit it, the approach of June makes me instantly switch into the holiday-gifting mind set. Yes, I do start that early! I always procrastinate like crazy, and it takes so long to make to figure out what would truly be appreciated and then make it… With a solid 6 months to alternate between obligation crafts and things I want to make for myself, it makes the whole ordeal so much more tolerable and even enjoyable! I really do love making things for other people, but not when I have to rush throught them and do a hap-hazard job, just so I have something in hand on the 'big day.' It's just gotta mean something, and it's got to be from the heart. That's what I thought when I saw this pattern, as something my little cousin would get a kick out of.

While I love making intricate designs through knitting by use of lacey patterns and things, I hate intarsia. It almost never works out well, and my piece is either lumpy and irregularly shaped where colors cross, or I somehow screw up the pattern, but don't want to go through the pain of tinking all the way back to fix it. Using beads for the first time was a really fun adventure, and I think I'll have to do much more of it in the future! The only slightly annoying bit was pre-stringing on all 172 beads at the very beginning… Just to discover, 3 rows away from the end of the design, that I had somehow miscounted and was now about 11 beads short. Augh!! No matter, I just cut and restrung, reattatched, and moved on. All ended well, despite the fact that a 3-needle bind off on #0 needles is like performing brain surgery under a microscope…

Now, the real trick is stashing this little goodie until the colder months… Without forgetting where I put it!

When I first started knitting this, I might have admitted to feeling a bit silly – After all, what kind of crazy person knits sweaters for apples?

But I soon saw the benifits once my red Fuji apple was comfortably nestled inside.  Now, whenever I pack a lunch to take to school, I don't need to waste plastic wrap on these guys; I've got a reusable cover!  So it's nice on the environment, on top of looking cute (Which is probably its most prominent feature)!

It was knit with my favorite dirt-cheap acrylic stuff on #9 DPN.  The pattern called for 8's, but I didn't actually have any, so I figured that Fuji's [My favorite!] were rather large anyways.  The cozy did come out a little bit too big, but it still functions as intented just fine.  It might be more like an apple pouch for different varieties… But who cares!  Still cute!

You can get the free pattern so kindly rewritten at craftster.org.  It was originally brainstormed in Knittorama, but my experience with that book has been… Less than rewarding.  Thank goodness someone took the time to make it work in the round.  Why on earth would you knit this thing flat by choice?!  I don't think I really want to make anything else from that particular text until it has been amended, thank you very much.

Knit with cheapo Bernat Super Saver acrylic, and the only change I made was that I knit a couple extra rounds near the middle to elongate it a bit more. I thought the original looked a little too round, but hey, that’s just me.