Crafty Crafty Editor Says Goodbye

Lauren O’Farrell, probably better known by her monicker Deadly Knitshade, has worked fro the British craft website Crafty Crafty since 2007, but as all good things must end, she’s announced that she will no longer be a part of that publication.

O’Farrell says she will “spread my love of the handmade elsewhere,” and the Crafty Crafty site will be on hiatus as behind-the-scenes changes are made. If you want to keep up with her knitty adventures, you can finer her at Whodunnknit or follow her on Twitter. She’ll also remain active with Stitch London, the largest crafty community in the UK, which she co-runs. She says that site “is pegged to be the next big UK craft news site,” and she’s becoming the editor over there, so that gives you some clue of what her plans are after Crafty Crafty.

You can see more from O’Farrell in her book Stitch London, which I reviewed at About and recently gave away here. It will be interesting to see what happens with these two sites! In the meantime, check out Lauren’s farewell and a look back at some of her favorite posts from the more than 1,200 she’s written for Crafty Crafty.

[Photo by Lauren O’Farrell.]

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Clean and Crafty: Dishcloth Collection

Knitwear designers can get inspiration from almost anything when it comes to re-creating a color scheme, an image or a texture in stitches. Sometimes the inspiration isn’t always obvious in the finished project, but sometimes it’s more literal.

That’s the way it is with the Tin Ceiling Blanket from Purl Soho. Not just because the inspiration is in the name, but if you’ve ever seen one of these old ceilings you can see that the design of the blanket is quite similar to the pattern of the tin tiles.

This is also a good example of the idea that you don’t have to use fancy stitch patterns or lots of color to make a big impact with your knits. This single-color blanket (designed by Gianna Mueller and inspired by a washcloth and towel set designed by Sandi Rosner) is made completely with knits and purls, other than slipped stitches at the beginning of rows to make neater edges.

The pattern is written out row by row, but there’s also a chart, which means this project is a great opportunity to practice reading a chart where you can check your work against the written pattern if you need to.

It comes in two sizes, a crib blanket and a throw. The yarn used in the sample is an organic cotton sold by the cone, which is a great way to get a large quantity of yarn and have fewer ends to weave in. In fact, you can knit either size of the blanket with just one cone of yarn, which isn’t inexpensive but makes you a great, sturdy, heirloom quality but still washable blanket you’ll use for years to come. (Of course you can use any sport weight yarn you like to make this blanket.)

Check out all the details and grab the free pattern from Purl Soho.

[Photo: Purl Soho]

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