What better way to tell someone they are the object of your desire than with one of knitting's favourite scandal patterns, a lovely red licorice knitted thong?
Dawn Payne's free pattern for the 302 Calories knitted thong appeared on Knitty, the free patterns website of which the mere mention will light up the eyes of any knitter in the know, back in 2004 but it seems to resurface every Valentine's Day with shedloads of folks looking for something to knit for the one they love.
All the knitted thong requires is a pair of chopsticks, a couple of packets of strawberry licorice, a backwards loop cast on and a bit of sticky knitting. Sweet, simple and slightly disturbing.
Pass on a pair of purled pants this Valentine's Day. Go on.
Did you start a huge project for your beloved way back in '09 that hasn't quite reached the final stages? Or have you just failed to make (or buy) anything yet and are beginning to panic?
Fear not, as embroidery is one of the quickest, yet most effective, ways to whip up a special present for a special person. In many ways, the simpler the pattern the more effective if will look, and I think this Valentine's pattern by Andrea Zuill is a great example. You don't really need a pattern as such: just imitate what she's done here or make your own variant with a message of your choice. But her full tutorial can be found here.
The first thing that springs to mind whenever I hear the term 'papercut' is the noise of drawing in air through your teeth and much wincing. Happily not all papercuts are the hurty kind and someone who is proving that in papery spadeloads is artist Peter Callesen.
Peter takes paper, glue and, I would imagine, a very sharp knife, and turns your everyday sheets of A4 paper into fabulous fragile works of art. The pieces have a fairytale quality like characters or scenes from stories emerging from the page. The artist says he uses the A4 sheets because they are so commonplace. Taking something we see every day and snipping and gluing a whole world out of it.
Dazzling, ephemeral and fiddly to make in the extreme. Probably best kept away from open flames too.
Sure you wander out with your iPod because you love music but if you really really love music a tiny electronic device doesn't really tell the world. If you really want to shove your love for harmonious melodies out there then adding a piano key bag to your accessories does exactly that.
The full Piano Key Bag tutorial appears on Craftster where the justifiably enthusiastic creator of the bag, atomikpop, talks you through the whole thing from handle to lining. The bag brings together knitting skills, some sewing up and the finding of almost painfully cute buttons to set the whole thing off.
She even suggests it could be knitted in the round for those of you who, like me, run for the hills whenever anything involving a needle and neat sewing up rears its ugly head. Love it.
Huge woolly jumpers are often lurking quietly in draws soaking up the smell of moth balls and lamenting the fact that they will never escape to be worn at fancy parties. It's a sad tale that happens in many a crafty household. But wait. There is a way to give giant jumpers a second life.
Craftser member Frithalouise show you how to turn the humongous into something hot and handmade in a matter of hours. Wielding a sewing machine, some scissors and a bit of clever work with pins (avoiding stabbing yourself is a necessary step) jumper becomes sassy little dress.
See the full how to here.
New life for the drawer-lurking jumper and a new outfit for you. Everyone, but the moths, is happy.
Those of you sitting on the cutting edge of technology (ouch) will no doubt be drooling into your keyboards watching adverts for Apple's shiny new iPad. Flying in the faces of those who prattle on about knitting being an art more apt for grannies and people who really should get out more, Lion Brand have released a pattern for a knitted iPad cosy before the product is even released.
The cosy pattern is adjustable too in case the iPad drastically changes in size when it hits the shops, and it's easy enough for even the least knitterly iPad user to stitch up. If anyone does find themselves in a bit of a tangle Lion Brand also have their own iPhone app.
You'll have to sign up to Lion Brand's website to get the iPad cosy pattern. No big hardship as the site has thousands of free knitting patterns to make it worthwhile.
We're sure you can knit it is less eye-aching yarn than the yarn pictured above. Knitting is all about being innovative. The parallels with knitting and Apple are endless.
Not bad for an 132-year old handknitting yarn company, eh? Yes, we're here, we're knitters and we'll have cosy iPads and know how to use them. Be very afraid, stereo-typing craft sneerers.
There are probably about eight billion things that we should be eating every day. According to various scientific/government/nutritional findings we should probably just give up our jobs and sit at a table chewing our way through our five a day, our handfuls of seeds, our fish oils and our fibres. It's all a bit nuts really. Are cinnamon maple pecans on the list? Who cares. They're yummy.
The cinnamon maple pecan recipe on Craftzine does involve a bit of butter and a fair amount of tasty maple syrup. Surely those can be overlooked when they're not really the main ingredients. It's all about getting those important healthy elements into your diet, right?
If the 'what not to eat' army do come around shaking their heads you can always give them a few to try. You're very likely to convert them to the 'what's nice to eat' side of the force.
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