FO- Augustine Aubergine: The Cutest Eggplant You've Ever Seen

Augustine had a lovely little frolic in the garden outside my office building yesterday. I must give credit to Yoelknits, since she suggested the name for this little cutie. There were lots of great names suggested, but I'm a sucker for the fanciful. Pattern: Aubergine, in Amigurumi Knits Yarn: stash yarn- the purple is acrylic, the green is superwash merino. Machine washable is necessary when making plushies that might be given to small kids. Needles: 3.25 mm dpns. Mods: Well, the limbs and face aren't part of the pattern. I embroidered the face on, although I'm not sure if I feel that the eyes turned out as well as I would have liked. I knit the arms by casting on 13 stitches onto dpns and working in the round for 1 inch. The decrease round was k2tog to the last stitch, k1. Next round: knit. Do the decrease round again, thread yarn through remaining for stitches. The legs were exactly the same, only I made them 2.5 inches before doing the first decrease round, and I angled the feet up by just adjusting the polyester fill inside. Augustine Aubergine is very excited to match the bearded irises! Notes: The actual needle size called for is 3.75, but I couldn't find mine when I was looking to cast on, and figured a slightly small and more densely knit plushie wouldn't be a bad thing. I still stand by the needle choice, I think it worked out well. She does sit up on her own quite well, and has a nice plump shape. The pattern was well written and error-free, and was a really quick knit. I should mention that it is designed to have no seaming, which is incredible! I stitched the bottom of the green leaves down, which has created some shadowing across her face, but otherwise I'm really pleased with it. She's going to make a nice little gift to a friend's little one!

Talk About Knitting on the Town....

You all really need to go and look at this incredible article from The Daily Mail- it features a group of ladies from Mersham, Kent who have spent years knitting the entire village! The pictures of the knitted buildings are compared against their real life counterparts, and the details are incredible. Go look!

Amigurumi Knits- Eggplant in Progress

I'll admit it- one of the major reasons I've wanted to learn to crochet is make amigurumi toys. Who can resist such cuteness? But my crochet skills are just not up to par yet, and I find that being such a beginner can be really frustrating-each time I haul out the hook, I have to spend time focusing on learning the basics (I just learned how to crochet in the round), and not much whipping up of crochet amigurumi creatures. Fortunately, us knitters now have a solution: Amigurumi Knits! I first heard of this book over on Orata's blog, and was immediately smitten- I've been eyeing Hansi's designs for a while, and here is the book version of collected cuteness. The book is divided into 4 sections, each containing related patterns: the first section has garden veggies (tomato, eggplant, carrot, peas in a pod, garlic, cucumber); garden critters (earthworm, praying mantis, ants, garden snail, spider); sea creatures (crab, octopus, jellyfish, anglerfish, sea star, sun star); and then three wonderful mythological creatures (kraken, jakalope, and nessie the Loch Ness monster). I'm a sucker for knitted toys- kids love them, adults love them. Cuddly softies are always a win. So, I cast on for the eggplant this weekend: (I apologize for it's dishelved state- I know the top looks like Bart Simpson's head, but I will wet block those leaves down when it's finished!) Although the instructions are simply for a gorgeous stuffed eggplant, I'm going to add a face and some limbs, give him a little personality. But I can't bear to call him Eggplant, I need a better name. Monsieur Aubergine? Eggy Purple? Anyone have any ideas? P.S.- Midas is coming along, it's nearing the finish line! I'll have a pictorial update next week, I promise.

Leyburn Love

Eliza and I had a little mini sock swap with ourselves- we each a) secretly picked a sock pattern from the other's Ravelry queue, b) knit one sock, and c) sent the one sock, pattern, and the rest of the yarn to make the matching sock. No more second sock syndrome!! Eliza chose the lovely Leyburn sock by Pepperknit:

(Look at that- a perfect fit!) Which is utterly fantastic. I love the gorgeous Koigu that she used-a lovely springy yellow. I'm so excited to knit the other sock with this scrumptious yarn! I got a kick out being sent Koigu from the States- Koigu is produced about 4 hours away from me, so it's pretty local, as far as Canadian yarns go! She also tucked in a cute little squid (who now doubt had very comfy ride to Canada with all that Koigu), and a CD mix of awesome tracks! Below is a sampling of a couple of the great tracks she included: The Blow- True Affection Of Montreal- Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games Awesome package. Thanks so much, Eliza!! P.S- I've been on a butterscotch kick lately- probably from making Eliza's Butterscotch Monkey sock. I recently made a vanilla and chocolate bundt cake, complete with butterscotch sauce (from scratch) and pecans. So. Damn. Good!!! I'm going to make this again, for sure.

A Chanel Masterpiece: Train De Nuit

Audrey Tautou is breathtaking as the new face of Chanel. In the ad, she travels on the famed Orient Express to Istanbul. Jean-Pierre Jeunet directed the latest in the line of legendary advertising commercials. Audrey's love interest is smoking hot too, +5 . The full video was released today on the Chanel website. CHANELN5.COM You must watch it! Look at that cinematography. Song: Billie Holiday - “I’m A Fool To Want You”

A Few Asian Fashion Knits

Having grown up with the intense love of all thing Asian, not a day would go by when I'd ask a classmate where she bought a certain article of clothing. I'd cry a little inside when I was told that this sweater or those socks were bought in Japan, or HK even. Soon, I just learned to admire from a far and find dupes here where I could. Enter the internet. Stumbling upon angiehearts.net was like walking into a my old classmates closets, it's the style that's nothing like here that I'm still in love with. Angiehearts is like walking into a Forever21 for the first time. Sure, the clothes may be the highest quality (what is?), but at prices like this it's prefect for that night out when you just need something new. ANYTHING NEW. While amassing a gigantic shopping cart/wish list, these two totally knitable designs caught my eye.

Beaded Wide Sleeve Sweater: Tube body, two large rectangles folded down for sleeves, cute beads and you are set. I have a turquoise top like this that's a clapotis dupe: The second knit I loved is something I'd wear on vacation, or to the beach as a cover-up. Knitted Irregular Hem Sweater and on it looks like... How cute would that look over a bathing suit? Perhaps even done in a slightly looser gauge and larger needles for better air flow would be best. I'd make the collar bigger so that it falls off one shoulder readily. Yup, sounds beachy keen to me :)