MetaFilter posts tagged with knitting

The Ugly Side of Crafting

orange swan — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 10:13:28 -0800

Crafting can be great. But beware: crafting can also go spectacularly wrong. Fortunately for the benefit of those of us who might become so proud of having made something, anything, all by ourselves, that we are oblivious that the result is an aesthetic travesty, there are websites making a valiant attempt to document the legion of ways in which crafting can get totally out of hand. Before you pick up those needles or scissors or fire up the kiln or soldering iron, check out: Glitter Gone Bad; Handmade Gone Wrong; What Not To Craft, Homemade Hilarity; and Kraftomatic. The sturdy souls at CraftFail (previously) deserve special credit for documenting their own crafting mishaps, and Regretsy (also previously) and Etsy WTF will help you choose wisely from among Etsy’s hand-crafted wares. I can’t begin to warn you about all crafting’s pitfalls, but I will give you a few pointers. Knitting your own toilet paper is extremely time-intensive and hard on your plumbing and municipal sewage system, so I recommend you don’t do it. For that matter, it’s probably best to avoid all toilet-related crafts, even the commemorative “I just potty trained my kid” craft. Think twice before you choose to let Edward Cullen leer at you while you’re peeing. And TMI is always TMI, no matter what the medium or how painstaking the needlework. Much as I respect the skill and ingenuity that goes into food-related crafts, I’m always struck by their sheer pointlessness. But hey, not here to judge. If it makes you happy to dress up like a burger, go for it. Do use consideration when making gifts for others. If you can kick your substance abuse problems through crafts, great, but I strongly advise against slyly replacing your loved ones’ drugs or cigarettes with homemade substitutes, however lovingly made or well intended. And please do be extra careful about what crafts you inflict upon your children. This yarmulke will not make your son’s bar mitzvah “fun” and “edgy”, regardless of how good-humoured your Egyptian friends are. And if your child is used as billboard, expected to play with a Knitler, or an anthropomorphized vibrator, or even simply subjected to a sewing project gone wrong, the long-term consequences may be serious. In general, the results of all your hard work may not be what you envisioned: your plastic bag jewelry may be less than elegant; your attempt to hide the cigarette burn in your scarf may make the scarf look worse; your significant other may never wear the sweater you made him or her; and your clown paintings may give people clown phobias. None of this is meant to discourage anyone from crafting, of course! It’s just a word to the wise, etc.

The renaissance of Latvia's ethnographic mittens

bewilderbeast — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 21:15:29 -0800

Knitting colourful and intricate wool mittens is a Latvian tradition. To welcome guests to a NATO summit in Riga in 2006, hundreds of knitters from around the country made 4500 pairs of mittens. The mittens were photographed individually before they were given away and arranged into galleries according to the region they came from. No two pairs are the same.

The Needlers and the Hookers and the damage done

orange swan — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 09:26:57 -0800

Crafters may look like a close-knit group, but the reality is that there are armed camps within crafting. Knitters and crocheters brandish their respective tools and claim their craft is easier to learn or more versatile, while those who are bistitchual remain determinedly on the fence. For the uninitiated/uncrafty, here’s an explanation of the difference between the two. “Wooly Bullies” [sic], a documentary, explores the animus between the Needles and the Hooks. When Sandi Wiseheart of Knitting Daily dares to mention the “c” word, she gets many comments from knitting readers who, while stressing that they have nothing against crochet, just don’t want to see it in their ~~backyard~~ magazine. When Kim Werker, editor of Interweave Crochet, tries to talk to the Knitting Daily crowd about crocheting she gets even more negative feedback. Part of the problem seems to be that while knitters contend with the “old lady’s pastime” stereotype, crocheters are up against the much more negative “granny square and toilet paper cosy” stigma. [shakes head in sorrow] Crafters, can’t we all just get along? and make stuff?

Wind powered knitting

johnny novak — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 02:43:48 -0800

Wind powered knitting

No leather, but lots of lace

mediareport — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 20:43:31 -0800

Near-psychedelic mandalas made of lace - the newest exhibit at Lacis Museum of Lace and Textiles. Previous exhibits include an impressive variety of styles of lace, historical fashions and related equipment.

Silly String

Extopalopaketle — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 10:16:20 -0800

Yarn Bombing. I guess it had to happen eventually. Graffiti with yarn some say. Keeping trees, benches and what have you warm and fuzzy.

Keeping the rest of your hands busy

mippy — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 02:59:22 -0800

So you've spent the holidays playing games, but now you have to be back at work. How to get your gaming fix during commutes and lunch-hours, whilst keeping up with that resolution to Learn Something New this year? Well, you could make a Sack-Boy. You can keep your portable games device warm with a Zelda cosy. You can knit up a Pacman scarf or a Space Invaders bag or socks if you're feeling retro. Or you can make a pocket ninja, an invincibility star to get you through the afternoon, a maqgnetic Katamari ball to spring-clean that desk, or a friendly companion cube. (and if you're too cack-handed to knit, you can sew a friendly cube with the pattern here and tutorial here!)

High Craftibility: crafting with old vinyl records, cassette and VHS tapes

orange swan — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 17:17:21 -0800

Audio visual technology changes so fast that if you’re of a certain age you’ve been left holding the bag of cassettes, VHS tapes and vinyl records. What will you do with these AV artifacts if you no longer want to play them? Have no fear; you can have lots of crafty fun with your real audio. You can make a cassette tape mini journal, a cassette wallet or cassette coin purse, or a mini cassette lamp. If you’re into melting stuff, you can make a sculpture, such as this skeleton, from the plastic. The tape can be crocheted or knitted into items like totes, evening bags, Barbie halter dresses, or baby booties. If you’ve got old VHS tapes kicking around, the boxes can be turned into storage cases, or a chair. You can crochet with VHS tape as well, and make some purses. We had a vinyl record craft post a few weeks ago, but here are some additional vinyl record crafting ideas. You can make clocks from them, regular or Dali-style. Vinyl records can be used to make books or journals, tote bags or purses, or earrings. They can also be used to make silhouette cutouts, serve as a canvas for paintings, or made into wall art. And what a relief, huh? You thought you’d have to smuggle those New Kids on the Block or K-Tel compilation albums to the nearest thrift store in the dead of the night.

These shoes are ripe for crafting

orange swan — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 14:41:02 -0800

While you may not be the shoe hoarder some people are, you have shoes in your closet you never wear and you'd like to know what to do with them. Are they just boring? In that case you could just experiment with new ways to lace them, or find a way to make them light up when you walk into a room. Or you could draw on the shoes with markers or sharpies. You could also paint them, going with the theme of your choice: Art Nouveau, Picasso, Day of the Dead, or any of the ideas here. You could cut motifs from fabric and glue them on to your lace-ups, cover your flats with new fabric, bling up a pair of strappy shoes with glitter, or embellish your flip-flops with some yarn. Is the old upper worn out? Knit or crochet a new one. Want to get where you're going faster? Make custom roller skates, or modify your bicycle. Do your shoes hurt your feet? Put them on your face instead as a wrestling mask, or turn them into an iPod case. Your shoes could also become a birdhouse, a planter, a centrepiece, or an integral part of a coat rack, bookends or leg lamp. If you're really not up to crafting, here are 11 non-crafty ways to recycle old shoes. But what fun is that?!?

Because bra burning is so passé

orange swan — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 08:38:47 -0800

Got a stack of bras you don't know what to do with? Charities will accept secondhand bras in good condition, but if you're in the mood to be creative there are bra crafting ideas on the net. You could make a bra wristlet, and then make a sleep mask out of the rest of the bra fabric, earrings out of the hardware, and a toy out of inserts. You could make a lavender sachet out of a bra and use it to perfume your lingerie drawer. One seemingly popular idea is to make a cute and feminine evening bag or, as one woman who wears a 36F quipped in a comment, luggage. If you're an especially sassy member of the Red Hat Society, you could make a purse that matches your hat. Some people even make hats out of the bras, though perhaps not every woman would care to so obviously wear a bra on her head. If you're a breast cancer survivor and want to avoid buying expensive and uncomfortably heavy prosthetics, you could knit yourself a pair of tits and go right on wearing your favourite bras. You could also make an art installation: a 5' bra ball. Here's a list of 28 things to do with old bras. And yes, I realize this post will make many of the men of MeFi want to get a lot of puns/juvenile comments off their chests, but titter away. You're probably just jealous you can't make such cool crafts out of your jock straps.

One person's old news can be another's person art form.

orange swan — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 11:21:49 -0800

Perhaps in your non-Metafilter time or during the occasional power outtage you indulge in that charmingly antiquated past-time of reading a newspaper made out of actual paper. But, once you've read it, you're left with blackened hands and the necessity for putting that fragment of a dead tree somewhere or other. Aside from putting it in the recycling bin, which is responsible but kind of obvious (and therefore would not necessitate a MeFi FPP) what can you do? One option is to make handmade paper. If you're an outdoors type, you could make organic flower pots, some kites, or a dory. If you're more of a fashionista or home decorator, you could make a purse or a bead necklace, weave a basket or placemats, or make a bird. If you're a spinster, you could make some newspaper yarn as student Greetje van Tiem did for her Design Academy Eindhoven graduation show. The yarn can be woven into carpets, curtains and upholstery. Here's a tutorial on how to make the yarn. Then there's always papier maché. Besides the classic pinata, you could make a water buffalo, Halloween items (Boo!), a box, a bowl, a piggy bank (you can use the Wall Street Journal for that one), John Lennon, Hugh Laurie, or any of the items in this papier maché resource site's endless artist's galleries. There's too much there for me to offer any kind of representative sample, but I do feel strangely drawn to this piece. Here are lists containing 10, 20, 80 more uses for old newspapers. But if you've got a crossword puzzle fiend like my mother around, just make sure she gets a chance to do the puzzle before you begin crafting, or you might get guilted, disowned and/or spanked.

Can you make yarn from beard hair?

betaray — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 08:52:54 -0800

Scandinavian Grace's beard cap has inspired the internet. Now plans are available to make your own bearded cap. Have a large head? No problem! Skeleclavas lack a beard, but make warming your head a little more hardcore

Just one more row...

jacquilynne — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 18:27:05 -0800

The Last Knit. Yes, it's a one link YouTube post -- but it's a one link YouTube post about knitting, and that makes all the difference.

Craft Time!

honeyx — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 15:26:20 -0800

With winter's cold touch around the corner, some of us may need a little something to keep us busy by the fireside on those chill winter evenings. With the abundance and variety of craft blogs to be found, everyone from the novice to the expert should be able to find inspiration (and even great tutorials!) for a fun and cute project. Enjoy!

Fiber in your diet

GrammarMoses — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 06:33:52 -0800

Up here in the Northern Hemisphere, it's time to break out the sweaters. Wool too itchy for you? (It is for poor Simon Cowell.) Cashmere and alpaca are easier to wear; a surface comparison shows why. But you can also steer clear of animal fibers altogether and opt for fabric made from wheat. For that matter, while you're at the greengrocer, also pick up some bamboo (1, 2), soy (1, 2), bananas, corn (1, 2), pineapple, milk (1, 2, 3) and rice. (Vegan yarns previously in AskMe.)

ravelry.com is a knit and crochet community.

jragon — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 11:23:53 -0800

Ravelry is a knit and crochet community that my wife tells me is stirring up a lot of excitement lately. I'm not a knitter but I was impressed by the screenshot tour and the handy "check your place in line" tool.

creative fun

nickyskye — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 17:38:00 -0800

Toy art: tribal scooters, spider car, little animal robots out of broken electrical parts, a color changing house designed by a 14 year old boy, of wood, wind-up, MunkyKing, Ugly Dolls, out of beer cans, with balloons, Cute Things, artoyz, toys from trash, tiny knitted dolls clothes and accessories, vintage and retro at Tick Tock Toys.

Knitting for Geeks

orange swan — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 17:29:42 -0800

The Top 10 Geekiest Yarn Creations If you've ever felt knitting was in danger of getting too sexy these days, the people at Threadbanger have provided an antidote. They've compiled a list of the ten geekiest projects on the net, which include an Atari 2600 system (on which you will never max your Pac-Man score), a knitted Hogwarts (though it appears to actually be crocheted and needlepointed), and a scrollbar scarf. And if anyone wants a crocheted yoda hat and matching light sabre, I am not taking orders.

Naughty Knots

jacquilynne — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 08:47:06 -0800

Naughty Needles Knitting. Knit yourself a Pony Hood or become a Furmaid. If you're in Kansas City, you can stop by for the all-knitted burlesque show. [Some images on the site NSFW]

Elaborate Yarn Scam

booksherpa — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 13:05:23 -0800

Blue Moon Fiber Arts, an independent Oregon-based online yarn store, has a sock yarn club that knitters can join and receive a bimonthly shipment of sock yarn and other goodies. They have run it before with great success, and it has grown in popularity to the point that they have a waiting list to get in. When they started it up again for the new year, their bank decided they were running some sort of scam because that many people couldn't possibly be interested in sock yarn. Wrong. You don't mess with knitters. This is a group that has raised over $275,000 in the past year for Doctors Without Borders just because a popular knitblogger asked them to. Not surprisingly, the knitbloggers are pissed. There's already a knitalong underway in protest.

This ski mask gets extra points for thoughtfully including a faithful replica of this man’s weeping cold sores.

dobbs — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 09:58:20 -0800

The Museum of Kitschy Stitches - A gallery of notorious knits.

Knit on, with confidence and hope, through all crises.

GrammarMoses — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 12:20:07 -0800

EZ does it. "Unventor" of the Möbius scarf and the Pi Shawl, "ur-geek of knitting" Elizabeth Zimmermann will be honored at the University of Wisconsin's Design Gallery in the retrospective exhibit New School Knitting: the Influence of Elizabeth Zimmermann and Schoolhouse Press (opening Oct. 27). "EZ" has been called "the Jerry Garcia of knitting: jolly, kind, unconventional, endlessly creative, often quoted, and much-loved by countless people." More than all those things, however, EZ was an Opinionated Knitter who urged her fellow needlepersons to think critically and inventively about their craft; in her 1999 obit the New York Times said she "brought a penetrating intellect and a sculptor's sensitivity to revolutionizing [this] ancient art." Plus she was funny. The Wisconsin knit camp she founded is now run by her daughter, Meg Swansen (heir to the throne in more ways than one); it was featured in a Wisconsin Public Television segment that aired last December (warning: RealPlayer format; transcript here).

Knitting Zombies

jonson — Mon, 18 Sep 2006 20:36:09 -0800

This old post aboutknitted brains got me thinking, they'd be a delicious treat for some knitted zombies, like the cast of Dawn of the Dead (or Shaun of the Dead). For those of you non-zombie *but still made of wool* types, there's this fine selection of knitted foods.

Death by a Thousand Knits

jacquilynne — Mon, 14 Aug 2006 18:46:03 -0800

Sock Wars: Assassination by sock - a much more productive way to find out who is really the world's fastest knitter.

The treesweater

arcticwoman — Sun, 09 Apr 2006 17:56:33 -0800

The Treesweater Tonight while I was out on a smoke break, I looked at the tree and thought, “Man, that is one sad tree. It looks cold and wet and pathetic. It needs a sweater!” Make your own