Knitting Green Blog Tour

Welcome to stop #6 on the Knitting Green blog tour! Like all of the other designers before me, I'm quite pleased to be a part of this book and tour. Knitting Green, by Ann Budd, is a great collection of practical and useful projects mixed with informative essays. Flipping through the pages, I found several projects I want to make, which to me is a good sign! Hmmmm, what should I make first??

The Caterina Wrap?

or the Eco Vest?

 

The bike basket, one of my patterns, is made of jute and lined with oilcloth. I'm jazzed that it made the cover!

Many people have asked me who makes the the purse handles, but I'm afraid I don't know. I got them at Brooklyn General, but there was no label or info on them at all, I swear! I'm not just a flake who forgets to write things down. I ordered the beautiful oil cloth from purlsoho.com.

 

The Save the Streams Slippers is also mine and I'm quite pleased with it. The shape is slick and easy to create. It makes use of scraps and tidbits and you can embellish with needle felting, embroidery or keep it simple. I want to make a whole pile!

The blog tour is almost over, but check out the rest of the stops here.

Then head out to your local book store to get your copy of Knitting Green! If they don't have it, check to see if they can order it for you. Most small book sellers are more than willing to special order at no additional cost.

New Book: Knitting Green Conversations and Planet Friendly Projects

I'm excited about this new book by Annd Budd called Knitting Green. (Ok... secret's out, I'm biased because my knitted Bike basket is on the cover, woo hoo! My first cover project!!)

By making things ourselves, we automatically help the earth (I think) because we're not supporting huge, mass-marketed, smog-spewing machines. And by buying patterns like these, you're putting more money into the hands of smaller designers, like me, which feels good, right? I hope so. I also hope that this book will help consumers (like me) learn more about sustainable materials and practices.

Take a look at some of the books projects below. The bike basket is knit using jute twine, lined with a beautiful oil cloth from Kokka Fabrics and finished with yellow purse handles and tabs to snap to your handlebars. I really didn't want to send ithis project in because it looked so cute on my bike! I also did a cute slipper pattern that will fit practically any foot in your family and makes good use of those leftover bits of yarn. You can see photos of the slippers on the last page, below.  Click here for more book information and to pre-order. The book will be available in May!

Knitting Green

Sewing = My latest obsession.

I didn't do all that much of it in Brooklyn, because it seemed to take up too much space. Also, my sewing machine was a bit too heavy to keep dragging out all the time. In a perfect world, I'd have a room big enough to have the machine set up and ready to go at all times. Of course there would also be a gorgeous collection of threads on the wall to choose from, stacks of beautiful fabrics organized by color and magical 'infinity' bobbins that never need re-winding, but let's get real!  Most of the time, my fabric is a mess or I don't have enough for what I want to do. Plus, I usually give up on the pattern early and do my own thing, only to realize that the pattern contained some important information/steps I should probably have paid attention to. (This coming from the girl who writes patterns for a living, duh.) Needless to say, I have a lot of unfinished sewing projects in my possession. These sewing disasters are far less forgiving than my pile of knitting 'mistakes' which can easily be pulled out and re-knit. It's definitely important that I keep hangDesign it Yourself Clothes by Cal Patching on to them though, despite the fact that I will NEVER actually finish them.  

Lately, the sewing bug has hit me. Perhaps because in Maine, I've been able to spread out. Or perhaps because I have a sewing machine here that can do more than just a straight stitch plus a mom who works at a bookstore and gets me awesome craft books and doesn't seem to mind me taking over the dinning room table for weeks on end... 

 

It started with Design-it Yourself-Clothes by the wonderful designer/maker/teacher (and my friend)  Cal Patch.   As someone who has wanted to make her own clothes for like, forever, I was really excited to get this book. I started with the first project, a skirt, and have already learned so much about darts, seams, translating paper pattern to fabric, thinking three dimensionally and on and on. It's such a cute book. The photos are light, airy and inspirational. Her voice is encouraging, humorous and extremely approachable. With each turn of the page, I couldn't wait to get started.

One day I decided to make the little elephant from Last Minute Patchwork Gifts:

Then I got One Yard Wonders and launched into a holiday making frenzy!

I made the car caddy & the origami tray seen on the cover for my mom.  For my six year old pal, Eleanor, I made an apron that turns into a little bag!

 

But perhaps the BEST thing to happen in my sewing life... stumbling upon an unfinished project left by my Great Aunt Wilma: a very "late seventies" cloth quiet book. She had all the pieces cut out, labeled and organized in envelopes. The pages were ready to go and all I had to do was attach everything, which in my opinion, was the easier and more fun part. Thanks Wilma!! There were enough materials to make two books, so I gave one to Eleanor's sister Clarissa, who is the perfect age for it!! From what I hear, it was a hit!