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.]

Next Pattern:

Clean and Crafty: Dishcloth Collection

Many times when I write these posts I will say something like “you can use any yarn you want” or “this would be a great stash-busting project.” That’s just how my mind works. And my stash, too, since I probably have sweater quantity of two or three yarns at most, but tons of singles and odd balls and leftovers.

Blankets are generally a really good way to use up those bits, but in this case, I think you’re going to want to plan it out a bit better.

Looking at photos of the Color Study Blanket from Purl Soho, it looks like it’s made with two yarns held together, and that block in the center is worked with one of each color from the adjoining sides to make a mixed up color.

But that’s not actually how it’s done. This is three separate colors (four, really, with the neutrals in the corners) chosen form a yarn with an expansive palette so they play off each other. The project calls for a worsted weight superwash wool, which is a great choice for a blanket that’s both warm and washable.

This pattern was originally designed by Laura Ferguson and was updated by Hiromi Glover. It is worked in one piece in garter stitch intarsia, which is a great way to learn the intarsia technique if you don’t already know it. It comes in crib or throw sizes.

Despite the introduction to this post, I am going to go ahead and say that, yes, of course you could do this blanket with scraps or odd balls or even just choose five colors that don’t blend together so easily. But I really do love the look of the color play, and I think it would be worth your time to find colors that play well together to get a similar effect.

This pattern is available for free from Purl Soho.

[Photo: Purl Soho]

Next Pattern:

Have you read?