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.]

It feels like it’s too early to be thinking about back to school, but as I write this my daughter has just a couple of weeks of summer left! So let’s get in that school and fall knitting spirit by looking at some apple knitting projects.

If you have a 22 needle circular knitting machine, knitting an apple is one of the easiest things you can do. I have an apple pattern over at Our Daily Craft that will take you just a few minutes to knit and they’re a great addition to your fall decor.

Apple hats are a classic, and whether you want to knit a hat that looks like an apple or one with apples on it, we’ve got you covered. For hats that look like apples check out the rolled brim version from Emma Crochet Design 4 U, which uses worsted weight yarn and comes in sizes for kids of all ages; and the ribbed brim version from Hand Knit Hugs. This one also calls for worsted weight yarn and comes in four kids sizes. Both include a stem and leaf.

If you’d rather have apples on your hat, try the Red Apple Hat from Little Red Window. This one is sized from newborn to 2T and calls for four colors of worsted weight yarn.

How about apple socks? You’ll find Ariel Chang’s Apple Picnic Socks as a free download on Ravelry. These use three colors of sock yarn and come in three sizes. Stone Knits also a pair of stripey apple socks that show the inside of the apple. These also have three sizes but they use six colors total, with the main color being a self-striping yarn.

If you want a little apple accessory for the house, the apple potholder from Nifty Knitter Designs is cute and a great way to practice double knitting. It uses two colors and you’ll find the colors in the reverse on the other side. The pattern only uses about 50 yards of each color of worsted weight yarn, so it’s a great use for odd balls, too.

Once you’ve got your double knitting skills sorted you can also try the double knit apple scarf from Crow and Chai Shop. The Winter Apples scarf is shown in red and gold, but you can use whatever colors you like. There are apples, stars and random stitches in the design, which calls for DK weight yarn. There’s also a matching fingerless glove pattern.

Have you read?