For years now knitters have a had a secret love of the nose neighbour. Who doesn't envy the fine facial hair of a lucky moustache wearer if we're honest? Last year's S&B London Knit Crawl proved that fact to be irrefutably true.
So while it's still a bit nippy out there how about wandering over to Knitty and joining the moustached many by knitting up their Incognito Cowl.
Knitty have long tradition of knowing what the knitter wants and giving it to them for free. In this case a knitters quiet pining for a tash of their own prompted them to publish a pattern for a cosy cowl with an element of the sneaky 'stache.
The pattern is offered in two different levels of difficulty, tangy and mellow, so you can tash up even if you're a newbie knitter.
As Knitty say get out there and wear your ersatz facial hair with flair!
Who would have thought that frog innards could look cute or the periodic table could seem cosy?
Throw away your ideas of cold and clinical science as Discover Magazine take you into a world where knitting and stitching meet biology and zoology with their collection of knitted science.
Items features in their gallery include Emily Stoneking's disturbingly cuddly knitted frog with his organs akimbo, Karen Norberg's knitted brain and the Institute for Figuring's Crochet Coral Reef.
Lab-coated nerds with needles, we applaud you and your scientific stitching.
Crochet is an adaptable medium when it comes to creating curves. This has been proven time and again in the herds of amigurumi cuties that seem to be everywhere in the craft world these days. With the zoo of crochet creatures out there it's not surprising crochet is creeping into the art world on all fours too.
Shauna Richardson's Lionheart installation will feature three magnificent crocheted lions, 30-foot high and done in a taxidermy style case. They will dominate a Nottingham city location to symbolise Richard the Lionheart's association with the area as well as the region's production of wool.
The project was one of 12 picked for The Art's Council's Cultural Olympiad project. Winning out over 2,163 other ideas the project has been given the funding it needs to continue on the two-year course it will take to complete.
You can marvel at more of her crochet creatures on her website.
London-based label DIYcouture has launched a collection of couture clothing with a difference. Rather than all the ready-to-wear yawn-a-rama you can buy from any old designer label, DIYcouture gives you the patterns and know how to make your own garment.
The team call their patterns "ghosts that come into being as each person begins to build them himself with his own interpretations" in a bid to combat the trend of fast, run-of-the-mill fashion that has been relentlessly stomping off the catwalk and into the shops.
The patterns come in book form and run from hoodies to Grecian dresses. There's a handy hints page on finding your fabric to go along with your pattern purchase to make things super easy.
For a quick insight into crafting your own couture the site also features a handy 'How to' section showing you stitching, joining and pleating.
Be your very own designer label, dahhhhhling! You'll look fabulous.
You may remember the woolly garden wonder of the knitted shed I wrote about last year. Well the crafty sheddies are back. And this time they're going disco.
Sheddie, Sarah McManus is planning on sequinning an entire shed from top to bottom as part of her third year Fine Art student studying at Swansea Metropolitan University. Her recent project Tool Shelf shows a glittering example of shed innards gone sparkly and now she's taking the leap from the tools to the bigger picture.
You can help her if you have some spare sequins to shove her way. Give her a wave on the Shedblog or comment on her DeviantArt page to help her create a shimmering shed.
Back in days gone by they were a classy bunch. Graceful, debonair and chic; the dress of the 40s and 50s took a fair amount of putting together but was worth it for the finished look. Inspired by her grandmother's photos and vintage fashion photographs of the period, My Vintage Dresser was created.
Katie dreamed up the vintage pattern shop when her job became a bit unstable and has gone onto create a place where you can find a treasure trove of vintage fabulousness.
You can dig up retro goodness to your heart's content with a classic selection of sewing and knitting patterns. From 1960s pleated skirts from Vogue to P&B Wools patterns for fine tailored jackets, every pattern will have you itching to get your retro on.
Katie also teams them up with the opportunity to attend workshops covering everything from vintage hairstyling and makeup to where to source vintage and how to put it all together.
You'll be crafting yourself vintagey before you can say "Make do and mend".
Recently I have been mesmerised by the new studio Ghibli film Ponyo, the work of anime genius Hayao Miyazaki. Miyazaki's films are pieces of animated magic and well worth casting your eyeballs at. As Ponyo is a bit too new for a wave of crafty creatures to appear from its underwater depths I thought I would share this pattern for Totoro mittens I found while we wait.
My Neighbour Totoro is the tale of two tiny girls and a giant rabbit/cat creature that lives in the woods nearby their new house. It has inspired these amazingly cute Norweigan Totoro mittens by Ravelry's Brella.
The pattern is free to member of mighty knitting social network site Ravelry, so you'll need to sign in to get your claws on it. Signing up is free and the site is amazing so quite frankly if you're a knitter and not on Ravelry already you certainly should be.
There are also tons of other Ghibli goodies on there too. So go wild with your Mayazaki makings.
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