For knitters: moving beyond the simple garter stitch...

Eugene here with another Pattern Profile Post!  

So you've picked up some needles and maybe a (oh it hurts to type this) cheapie acrylic* ball of yarn and have mastered knitting and purling stitches.  Where do you go from there?

Except for perhaps yo's (yarn overs) and various other increases; i.e. M1F, M1B etc, basically knitting is made up of two ways for creating your fabric - the good old knit and purl stitches.  Where you go from there is limited only by your tastes and desires to learn more.  This week, I will touch on a few of my favourite things (Cue Julie Andrews!)...

Techniques such as this gorgeous, feminine lacy pattern:

Lacework from Craftsy

Basket woven-looking Entrelac:

Photo from the cover of Explore Entrelac by Rosemary Drysdale

Or even 2-colour Brioche that still haunts my owner to this day (and eluded plenty of swearing inside her head while attempting, ripping out, and repeating those two things over and over). (Or so I'm told.) This Brioche is not for the faint of heart! :

#%$@!-ing 2 colour Brioche
Photo from Craftsy

However, if you want to try brioche, I recommend single colour which is much easier and will give you a delightful, squishy, bouncy fabric:

Photo from Pinterest

Finally, there is Intarsia Knitting.  Intarsia is making a "picture" pattern/design using two or more colours of yarn in your project.  

Simple:

Photo from diy.com

Or cranked all the way up to something that would make the meanest, toughest, angriest, hulk-of-a man rock in the corner and cry after attempting:

Photo from knitandfashion.com

Want to start things off a little more slowly but are sick and tired of squares or scarves?  How about socks, hats, sweaters, tea cozies, cup sleeves (all the rage at your Local Coffee Bar!), doll clothes, or or or or .... where was I?  Ahem.

Let Self-Striping Yarn do all the hard work and make your socks look Ah-mazing!
Photo from google.com


(Editor:  Pssssst! Eugene! Maybe mention we carry a few self-striping yarns in our shop!)

 You just did, Madame Editor! Now let me get back to my writing! 

Where were we? Ah yes...

Oh, hai there self striping yarn again!
Photo from https://aemmeleia.wordpress.com/2007/10/02/autumn-tea-cozy/  (Bonus free pattern!)

A selection of quick and easy coffee sleeve cozies made by moi...  Ok not really; by my owner.

So there you have it!  Hopefully your appetites are whetted and you are ready to go where no one (or rather yourself) has gone before! 

Till next week, keep your needles and hooks busy and try not to freeze if you happen to live in, or near the GTA! (Snow!)

*Disclaimer:  Nothing wrong with starting out on Acrylic yarn! When you want to move beyond it however, you will discover the sublime, dreamy, feeling of real wools, cottons, linens, alpacas, silks, etc etc and never want to look back! ;)

Thursday Pattern Profiles! - This Week: Cotton knits!

Now that Spring is hitting most of the Northern Hemisphere (ha!) the days grow brighter, temperatures rise a little bit higher and after a long cruel Winter, we tend to shed our layers.  Does this mean it's time to give up our favourite yarny craft? NO WAY!

Spring and summer yarn trends mean working with soft, drapey cottons and linens or perhaps hemp and bamboo yarns.  (All of which We're Twisted happens to carry, ahem!)

Why not whip up some adorable hats for yourself or your little ones?  Perfect for the beach or when playing outside...  (Click on the photos if you're interested in a particular pattern.)

Summer Fun Sunhat by Laurie Gonyea

Lovisa Summer Hat pattern by Chrissie Day

Summer Hat for Girls by Eva Unger

Sweet Summer hat by Vendula Maderska

Ok so this next one isn't a hat, but it's too adorable not to include... Imagine your baby;  toddling around in the garden, butterflies circling around her head and her laughing in delight, as she keeps cool in this little number... (work with me people!)

Cotton Baby Dress by Irina Poludnenko

There are 100s of ideas just waiting for you on Ravelry!  Until next time, this is Eugene signing off and reminding you to keep your needles or hooks busy and stay out of trouble...

2015 We're Twisted

Pattern Designer Profiles - Boho Knits

From April 2, 2015

For our first week, we are featuring Kelly McClure of Bohoknits.  Not only is she a fellow Canadian, but I discovered we share a lot of the same knitting related passions! (The ever-adorable Stephen West of Westknits, Tosh yarn, and tea drinking; just for starters...)

Introducing Kelly in her own words:

"Everyone has a story about how they learned to knit. My earliest memories of working with yarn was learning to "ball" it up for my mother and learning to make pom poms with my grandmother. My Mom eventually taught me to knit when I was about six years old and I taught myself to crochet in university. Now, my Mom is one of my most cherished test knitters. 

Bohoknits began about eight years ago when I was living in a camper van (by choice) and traveling across Canada. I knit my way from Ontario to BC, meandering around and exploring the country. Initially, I sold original knitted items at markets and eventually online, but they were so popular I quickly moved on to creating patterns and designs for other knitters and crocheters. 

Spending five years designing and working in a yarn shop in Canmore, AB helped me to develop the Bohoknits style. It's so cold there that I found myself constantly knitting just to stay warm! It was there that I connected with a fabulous hat company, Ambler Hats. We have been designing hats together for mass production for over five years and will hopefully continue for many more years. With them, I have traveled to Nepal where their hats are hand knit and worked with the women there, teaching knitting skills while attempting to overcome language barriers and enjoying the culture.

In addition to designing, I also hand-dye yarn in small batches, which will be available for purchase next winter. My background in Art History makes me uniquely suited to developing unique colours. I am now based in the beautiful Bloomfield, ON, where I am surrounded by inspiring nature and other talented artisans. Other obsessions of mine include reading, tea drinking, sewing, treasure hunting and exploring with my dog, Pilgrim."

Kelly's favourite pattern right now is the  Vegabond Hat, a reversible slouchy hat. However, if you are looking for a simple free pattern, she's been wearing her Timber Cowl a lot this winter!

Find Bohoknits on:

Ravelry     

Blogger

Etsy

Until next week everyone, keep your hands busy and those needles working!

Copyright We're Twisted 2015

Online Resources

Online Tutorials & Communities

Looking for free (or nearly free) resources regarding knitting or crocheting?

I've gathered some of my favs here in one handy spot!






The Crochet Crowd

The Crochet Crowd and Mikey will teach you how to crochet with a fabulous sense of humour thrown in.

Very Pink Knits

Staci Perry is a knitwear designer and teacher with 100s of videos on how to knit and crochet.

Leisure Arts

Video tutorials on just about any yarn craft you can think of! Watch them all and you'll be busy for days!

Want to put your spiffy new yarn to good use?

Craftsy

Craftsy has onine classes; most of which are on sale at any given time. These classes are yours to watch whenever your feel like it.  You can also interract with your "classmates" and instructor.

Ravelry

Looking for a gigantic online community to join?  Ravelry has millions of users,  and 1000s of groups.  You can also search for and download or purchase 100,000s of patterns at all skill levels.  You can even keep track of your ever-growing yarn stash online!

Copyright 2015 We're Twisted

Pattern Designer Profiles - Amigurumi with Amigurumi Food

Pattern Profile 2 - Awesome Amigurumi!  

Amigurumi is the Japanese art of knitting or crocheting small stuffed animals and anthropomorphic creatures, and has become a huge craze here in North America.  We're Twisted sells adorable "bundles" of multicoloured packs of cotton yarn made by Katia that are perfect for creating your very own creatures.  I stumbled upon this week's designer when researching this technique.  Anne's blog is as cute as her creations!

Amigurumi isn't for the faint of heart though; the majority of these creations are made with tiny crochet hooks and needles!

From her blog:  Hi my name is Anne. I am one of the many inquiring minds who are passionate about the world of amigurumi, specifically focused on food.
I am an illustrator who always had a particular passion for Japanese culture, from geishas, manekinekos and even bento lunches. A day like any other, I began to learn to crochet. I did not stay there ... I started researching a bit on the subject of amigurumis and I decided to start sketching mine little world of Amigurumi food.
Most of my creations are from sketches, drawings and doodles. From many drawings encourage me to grab the wool and start creating.
In this blog you will see this process, free patterns, collaborations, interviews with other amigurumis makers.
I hope you enjoy this blog, as I enjoy it everyday.

If you want to send me send me a message, a picture, a hug, or whatever, you can do it
amigurumifood@gmail.com

Some of her free patterns can be found here:

amigurumi

Photo by Anne of amigurumi food