May your weekend be sweet and wholesome.

Banana cupcake mix and vegan cream cheese icing, both recipes taken from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. Everyone should own this book.

The hook and the needles.

Pattern: Knit and crochet top, improvised. Due to the colour and proximity to the holiday season I’m calling it Holly.
Yarn: Lily Sugar ‘n’ Cream worsted-weight cotton, 220g

I rarely have the patience to knit or crochet for myself, but the mental puzzle of constructing the image in my head and combining the two crafts, along with the hefty gauge (4 stitches to the inch for the body) made for a surprisingly quick and compulsive project for the upcoming summer. I’ll tinker with the design and consider writing up instructions if anyone’s interested.
Hope you’ve had a great weekend!

That old fence.

Inject a little bit of spring to your wardrobe with this quick-to-crochet butterfly hairpin.
Coming from the knitting side of the fence, I’ve written this pattern with those new to crochet in mind—which means crystal clear descriptions of the stitches and techniques involved.

I use the word ‘techniques’ loosely here, as I’m kind of self-taught when it comes to crochet. I tend to just wing it even more than usual, as crochet is in one way more forgiving than knitting: the stitches are self-contained. None of this having to worry about keeping everything on the needle, no making sure you work your way around all the stitches or cover the holes made by short rows—you can just pick up stitches wherever you feel like it, weaving in ends as you go. Gotta love that.

So if you’re scared to try crochet, please don’t be. I’ve made the butterfly clip, and the cupcake toy, available as free ravelry downloads, and I will do my best to answer any questions you might have along the way.

Knitting tends to be more forgiving on the human body—it drapes and curves and stretches more readily than crochet, which is awesome for anything sturdy or with inbuilt texture and structure. I’m trying to make peace with the distinction, and use each craft to complement each other rather than compete.

On the knitting front, I’ve released my two assymetrical cabled sock patterns together as a small e-book, so if you’ve purchased one of these already please contact me for a special deal on the set.

Happy Monday!

1. willow granny square II, 2. yellow and grey necklace, 3. Yellow Door, 4. salem common, 5. Dark Friday turned sunny inside! (C365:130) [May 17, 08], 6. yellow octopus fabric, 7. yellow bicycle meditation, 8. Silver Dollar Pancakes, 9. golden geometrics

Hope your day is a sunny one. x

You've got red on you.

shaun of the dead

Originally uploaded by cakeyvoice

I’ve never been into Halloween (I know it’s huge in the U.S. but it’s not a tradition I grew up with at all), but found myself re-watching Shaun of the Dead on October 31st, of all days.
I actually couldn’t think of a better way to spend the evening.

Knitting-wise, the Sock Knitters’ Anonymous group on ravelry is holding their monthly Sockdown knitalong, and one of November’s pattern choices is a mystery mosaic sock designed by the very talented Star Athena.
Sign up here if you want to join in the fun!