I never intended for this to be a blog of *just* knitting, so first, I have some music to share with you. If you’ve already heard them, consider yourself blessed. If you haven’t yet, I’d like to encourage you to check out Of Monsters & Men.
From Wikipedia – Of Monsters and Men are a six piece indie/folk band from Iceland… are the 2010 winners of Músíktilraunir (a nation wide battle of the bands competition).
I first heard their single Little Talks on Siruis Alt Nation a few weeks ago and the first few notes alone blew my fragile little mind. I’ve since been listening to them essentially on repeat. I dug around online for some info at the time, but found nothing beyond a few YouTube videos and reference to Little Talks. WELL MY FRIENDS, you are in luck! Inspired by this post, I decided to look them up again and see that their EP Into the Woods was released on iTunes in late December. I’ve already downloaded it and think you should do so as well, if it’s your thing.
For now, enjoy along with me:
Despite my insistence that I’m not just all about knitting, I am kind of all about knitting right now, so I also want to share some old projects. I pretty much got into knitting to be able to make stuffed monsters. My best lady friend decorated her baby girl’s nursery with Uglydolls and we frequently discussed hosting a monster birthday party, so I figured it was time to learn. This yellow guy was literally my fourth knitting project ever, so don’t be intimidated. Details, later. For now, just pictures.
Working from the legs up to the head. Its like a pair o knit pants!
I followed patterns from Rebecca Danger, and they’re super easy to follow even if you haven’t knit in the round before. In fact, it’s how I learned how to knit in the round. That’s an iPad underneath for size comparison. HE’S HUGE!
Still eyeless, but almost complete.
I’ve since made a few more stuffed things and I’m absolutely positively loyal to Lion Brand Hometown USA yarn for any stuffed toys. When knit with size 10 needles, you get a nice tight stitch that doesn’t allow any stuffing to show through. It’s super easy to work with, creates a great soft huggable product when complete, and is washable. It also comes in a huge range of bright colors, great for any stuffed toys.
Hanging out with Cooper, for size comparison
I enjoyed knitting from the beginning but working up these monsters is what absolutely sold me on being a Knitter. I’m so torn on my decision to not sell them through Milkshed though. The short explanation – if you stumble across this and desperately want a monster, I’d be thrilled to make one for you, but it’s not something I’m planning to regularly offer. The material costs and time sink are not insignificant. I made a few for the holidays and was proud to give them to their new little owners, but I much prefer to spend the bulk of my time refining my bowls and pods. If you’re interested, email me though. We can chat.
I’ll definitely talk in more detail about the process of making monsters/stuffed toys when we get to Toolshed #4: Knitting in the Round. You can also check out my Ravelry Page for more details on the modifications I made to Rebecca Danger’s already awesome pattern.
Finally, (Not so F)AQ should be up soon, I think.
milkshed 