Review: Make Your Own Idea Book with Arne & Carlos

One of the things I love about the Arne & Carlos books is the way they are designed. There are so many fun pictures displaying some of their collections and the things that inspired the designs.

Arne & Carlos develop their ideas using idea books, which are part art journal, part three-dimensional Pinterest. These handmade smash books are glorious, holding sketches, swatches, ticket stubs and whatever ephemera they collect on their travels.

They share exactly how they make their idea books and what people might include in their own in their book Make Your Own Idea Book with Arne & Carlos: Create Handmade Art Journals and Bound Keepsakes to Store Inspiration and Memories.

While the book doesn’t really have anything to do with knitting, it’s possible to use idea books to gather knitting inspiration or pattern notes, and Arne & Carlos use them in developing knitting patterns, books and designs.

The first part of the book covers how they make their idea books, using a variety of papers sewn together and bound. Most of the materials are pretty simple to acquire, and you can easily make a bunch to store all sorts of ideas and inspiration.

The rest of the book talks about different ways you can use the journals, with pictures from their idea books to show how it might be done. Some of the many ideas shown include collecting ideas for knitting and crochet, gardening, geneology, hobbies, travel, weddings, holidays and more.

This book is so fun and inspiring and will make you want to make your own books (I have a simpler version on my blog) and fill them with all sorts of great stuff.

About the book: 168 pages, paperback with interior flaps. Published June 2016 by Trafalgar Square Books. Suggested retail $22.95.

Next Pattern:

The other day I saw a post from Pinterest about trends for summer and it said one of them was “cultivating whimsy.”

Well, I don’t know where Pinterest has been all this time, but we’ve been cultivating whimsy here at Craft Gossip for a long time. I love sharing projects that are a little different, things that make you smile when you see them, and will make you smile when you knit them and wear them or use them.

Such it is with the Tutti Frutti tee knitting pattern from Bea Creative Knits.

This cute little baby tee is worked top down in the round with contiguous shoulder construction to shape the sleeve caps. There are short rows for the neckline and folded hems with picot edging at the hemline, neckline and edges of the sleeves.

All of this would be great on its own, but then there’s the addition of a super cute fruit icon, which is added with duplicate stitch. There are a lot of options, including strawberry, banana, orange, cherries, watermelon, lemon, blueberries, kiwi, peach, dragon fruit, apple and pear, so it’s likely you can add on your favorite fruit.

It is offered in eight sizes, to fit a bust measurement ranging from 28-30 inches (71-76 cm) to 56-58 inches (142-147 cm). The design is meant to be worn with around 6.3 inches/16 cm of negative ease, but you can choose the fit you prefer. There’s also optional bust and waist shaping included in the pattern if you want to make it even curvier.

This is considered an advanced beginner or intermediate project because of all the skills involved, but it’s sure to be a lot of fun even if some of these techniques are new to you.

Grab a copy of the pattern for yourself form Bea Creative Knits on Etsy.

[Photo: Bea Creative Knits]

Next Pattern:

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