Vegan Craftastic: June 2009

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Because I'm Awesome

Wow, I just realized that I've been wearing my shirt backwards all day, I rock! I have on this blue floral empire waist top and I just noticed the tag in front. At least I had a light cardigan over it so hopefully nobody noticed :)

Sunday, June 28, 2009

And the Sock Yarn Goes To....

Affectioknit! Congrats and thanks to everyone who entered!!!

Have a great Sunday,

-Kala

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Saying Goodbye With Cupcakes

Yesterday was a special night at my Tuesday knitting group, we had a farewell party for one of the ladies who is leaving us and moving to Indiana. So of course we had to have a proper send off full of all sorts of delicious food! I pretty much always bring cupcakes, this time I brought my standard chocolate with chocolate frosting and I tried a new recipe for strawberry cupcakes from the book The Joy of Vegan Baking. I'm really happy with how they came out, they have a nice strawberry flavor throughout because of the puree in the batter:

And while I was baking and decorating I wore my awesome new Pirate Cupcake Apron that I bought from Dog Bone Art's Etsy shop:

And of course there had to be gifts! I got her a few things but I'll show the knitting part of the gift, I made 2 Minnesota Dish Cloths:

I like how they came out but as with all knit/purl designs it can be hard to tell what you're looking at if you're not told before hand what the design is :)

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Monday, June 22, 2009

Oh Canada Sale!

I'm finally offering shipping to Canada in my shop on most items so I'm having a sale to celebrate! Quite a few items are on sale and clearance so be sure to check it out. And don't forget to enter the sock yarn contest, it's open to Canadians as well!

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Saturday, June 20, 2009

Sock Yarn Contest!!!

***Contest is closed for entries, thanks!***

I recently came into a couple of skeins of the same color of Comfort Sock and thought that it would be fun to give one away here on the blog! Comfort Sock is Berroco's contribution to the world of vegan sock yarn and I really love the new colors that they put out, I'm working on a pair of plain vanilla socks in the Cosmopolitan colorway.

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So would you like to win a skein in the Beach House colorway? All you have to do is visit my Etsy shop and then leave a comment here on this post telling me what your favorite item is. Make sure I have a way of contacting you if you win, either leave your e-mail address (youATwhereverDOTcom) or your Ravelry name - just being signed in to blogger is not enough, I've had to get a hold of people that way before and it's a pain. If I know you (either in real life or online) then don't worry about it, I'll know who you are :) For an extra entry, post something about this contest on your blog with a link here and let me know you did it. The contest ends Saturday, June 27th and is open to those in the US and Canada, Thanks!!!

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owie!

Tetanus shots suck. Seriously. I know I'm a baby to complain but I don't deal with pain well and my arm is super sore today. Yesterday I went in for my long overdue tetanus shot, I finally gave in because it's a requirement for school. Bleh! The clinic was in NE Minneapolis, close-ish to Holy Land and Crafty Planet so of course I indulged in some deep fried goodness and crafty joy! Shane got this for me as a prize for my trauma (have I mentioned that I'm a big baby when it comes to needles?). I don't know how to do cross stitch but I love the subversive stuff and can't wait to get started.

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Thursday, June 18, 2009

Book Review: Socks from the Toe Up

My husband Shane's birthday is coming up soon and I recently placed a present-filled order on Amazon. I also got a little something for myself: Socks from the Toe Up by Wendy D. Johnson. I haven't been too excited about socks the past few months, I think I had a bit of designer burnout, but lately footwear is creeping back into my mental queue.

Since I'm always up for new techniques, this book seemed perfect - I've never knit toe up socks before. First of all, the book itself is beautiful, the photography is crisp and bright and the styling is very modern and lovely. Those things are super important to me, if the pictures suck, I have a hard time being inspired.

The book starts with loads of techniques and information to get you started - several different toes, many types of cast ons, how to knit socks on different types and numbers of needles, lots of heels, and several bind offs and edges. The next section is a collection of basic sock patterns that looks great for learning new skills or for use as starting points for your own designs.

Then we get in into the gorgeous patterns which are organized by type: lace, textured gansey, cabled, and sportweight. My favorites right now are the Lace and Cable Socks, the Bavarian Cable Socks, and the Serpentine Socks. These are all gorgeous but I think I'll start with a basic sock to get my feet wet (ha!) in the toe-up world. Overall, I would totally recommend this book to all sock lovers, especially those who are new to toe up or who already love toe up and want a lovely book of patterns to choose from. So do any of you have this book? What are you knitting from it or look forward to knitting from it?

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Angry Apple Cozy!

Does your apple need protection from thieves and other villians? If the answer is yes, then the Angry Apple Cozy is just the man you need. This tough hombre means business - and has the mustache to prove it. With this guy on your side, nobody will come between you and your apple a day. I worked this guy up last night and I'm really pleased with how he came out. And of course I'm sharing the pattern! Here's the Ravelry Link.

Angry Apple Cozy

This fun and easy to crochet cozy is worked in the round in a continuous spiral - except for the mustache. The cozy doesn't take much yarn so feel free to stash dive for this project.

Yarn: 1 Skein of Knit Picks Shine Sport in Cherry

1 Skein of Knit Picks Shine Sport in Fedora

Hook: US F (4mm)

Gauge: 3 ½ sts/inch in sc in the round

Dimensions: When flat, the opening is 4 ½” wide and the cozy is 3 ½” tall. The Angry Apple Cozy fits a medium sized apple – the lovely model shown is my favorite apple, gala.

Abbreviations: ch = chain, sc = single crochet, sts = stitches, inc = increase (2 sc in one stitch), fo = fasten off

Instructions

Body:

With Cherry, ch 2
6 sc in 2nd chain from hook
Inc in each sc – 12 sts
*Inc, 1 sc* repeat across round - 18 sts
*Inc, 2 sc* repeat across round – 24 sts
Sc for 2 rounds
*Inc, 3 sc* repeat across round – 30 sts
Sc for 11 rounds
FO

Mustache:

With Fedora, ch 10
Work 2 rows of sc
FO

Finishing:

Weave in all ends. Sew the middle of the mustache to the body of the cozy, leaving the ends of the ‘stach free to blow in the wind. Embroider eyes, eyebrows, and mouth using Fedora. Put your Angry Apple Cozy to work!

This pattern is for personal use only, do not sell any items made from this pattern or unlawfully re-post it without my permission. Don’t make me send the flying monkeys after you!

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Who needs a door?

Not me apparently. At least, not for $420. Ok, so I had to take the car of doom into the shop again. Yes, it just came out a few weeks ago and had all sorts of stuff fixed for around $500. This time it's the drivers' side door, it's not latching some of the time unless you slam it and kind of jiggle it funny. So we went down to the auto body place we went before and I really didn't think it would be an expensive fix. After looking at it, they said the door is sagging a bit (I suppose that happens as you get on in age, ha ha) and needs a new strike plate and hinge. $420! Not even close to being worth it for me, as long as it can eventually be safely closed by messing with it, I'm not paying that much to get it fixed, not with school expenses coming up. I only need my junker to keep running until I'm done with school (about 1 year from August) and I start working so we can afford something that isn't such a doom magnet.

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Saturday, June 06, 2009

Mini Golf!

As long as it has the word "mini" in front of it, golf is a lot of fun! Not that I've played real golf but I can't say that I'd ever want to. Yesterday, Shane and I went mini golfing at the course in Como Park, "Putt'r There" - awesomely cheezy name. It's right across from Como Town, the kiddie amusement park that looks like it has all sorts of rides and whatnots. This was the first time we'd played at this course and I really liked it, it even had a windmill (although it would have been better if it moved):

It was really cheap entertainment too, if you play the whole 18 holes, it's just $5 per person, not bad at all. Dinner was had at Holy Land in NE Minneapolis, I loooove Holy Land, the falafel is so good!

Thursday, June 04, 2009

Have a Heart...

...Or a set of five! These cool heart cards are the newest addition to my Etsy shop and I just love how they turned out. They're blank inside so they're perfect for any occasion or for "just because" love notes. I love getting those :) The Anatomical Heart cards are available singly or as sets of five!

Tuesday, June 02, 2009

Anniversary: Part One

Yesterday was our first wedding anniversary, yay! I can't believe Shane and I have been married a year, the time has just flown by crazy fast. This first post will be about some of the things we did and ate, the next one will be about me showing off my gifts because I'm annoying like that :) First, we went bowling at Sun Ray which was really fun and we juuuust missed a group of 150 kids who were there in the morning for a field trip. We saw the buses pulling out just as we got there, close call! We both kind of suck at bowing but neither one of us is competitive, especially with each other so it was fun. And I won :)

After a fair amount of wandering around Uptown (what the helllll are they doing to Uptown by the way!) we had dinner at Ecopolitan. For those who aren't local, Ecopolitan is an all organic, raw, and vegan restaurant in Minneapolis that serves all sorts of yummy goodness. I was hesitant for a long time about trying it out because I though raw food would be bland and gross, but I was sooo wrong and we've gone back several times. On this trip, I got the Not-Cho cheese plate:

And Shane got the Pesto Pasta:

Yum!

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