KARABOUTS

a day at the track

Mike and I were fans of the Animal Planet show "Jockeys" so we decided to make a jockey doll.  Today we took our jockey to Belmont Stakes, the racetrack that will host the third and final leg of the Triple Crown in about two weeks.

Our jockey stopped by the stalls.

Then he checked on his horse.

He finished the day by watching a couple of races from the stands.  

We got a lot of attention from the "real" jockeys.  These three guys were pointing and smiling as they rode by where we were standing.

It was a good day.



 

Year of the Rabbit

This is the Chinese year of the rabbit. Or more accurately the year of the hare, since China has seven native species of hares, but no native species of rabbit (Wikipedia told me this!).  A rabbit year is a placid year, very much welcomed and needed after the ferocious year of the tiger.  In honor of the year of the rabbit, Origami USA offered a class on how to fold John Montroll's origami rabbit during their March fun folding session.  I made a rabbit in class, then came home and folded up a few more to send to my nieces and nephew.  If you want to make a rabbit to celebrate the new year you can find the pattern in Montroll's book Mythological Creatures and the Chinese Zodiac in Origami available on Amazon.com.

I had such a good time at the fun folding session that I decided to join Origami USA.  Because I'm now a member I get their magazine, The Paper.  The Autumn issue of The Paper had a pattern for this Northern Cardinal by Roman Diaz.

Roman Diaz's designs are ingenious and elegant and since every crease has a purpose, they are fun and satisfying to fold.  You can find more of Diaz's interesting work here.  I've ordered his book so expect to see more Diaz models showing up on this blog.

I'm looking forward to the big Origami USA convention the end of June.  It will be held at F.I.T. here in New York City.

Adventures in Entrelac

I recently learned a new crochet technique called tunisian entrelac.  This technique creates a checkerboard pattern.  It's fun and not hard to do once you get the hang of it. To practice I made myself this scarf.

The scarf is my customization of a pattern for a pretty wrap by Allison Cohen.  I love how the variegated Alchemy Migration yarn forms blocks of color.

As soon as I leaned this new technique, I decided to incorporate it into a Karabouts doll.  Mike had done a sketch for a jockey doll (we're addicted to the Animal Planet show "Jockeys") so I figured entralac crochet would be a great way to make the diamond pattern on a jockey silk.

Here's Mike's sketch:

And here's one of my early attempts at working out a jockey shirt pattern with some yellow and blue crochet thread I had on hand:

Once I got a pattern that I liked, I put it on a doll.

I'm really excited about this guy, not only because I get to use my new skill of entrelac crochet, but also because he STANDS UP ON HIS OWN!!!!!!!!!  I've been working on figuring out a way to make our dolls stand for some time now. 

Here's a close up.

It's like magic - only it's really more like lead fishing sinkers in his feet!  Hey, whatever works...

Let it snow

We're having a snow storm today in New York City...

so I thought it would be a good day to blog about my first attempt at making crocheted snowflakes. 

I was inspired to make snowflakes by my friend Johanna who sent us a crocheted snowflake with her lovely handmade holiday card.

I'm not sure which pattern Johanna used, but I used this free pattern I found on the blog Attic 24.  I made half a dozen snowflakes out of some natural wool I had in my yarn stash. Since I learned about starching from my crocheted lampshade project, I decided to starch my flakes.  

Below is a comparison of a blocked and unblocked snowflake.  You can see from the photo how starching and pinning really brings out the beauty of the crochet stitches.

My snowflakes look great on the tree...

but once the tree comes down I think I'll hang them on my windows so that I can enjoy them all winter long.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Crocheted Lampshade

Mike and I found a floor lamp at Bed Bath and Beyond that was around 15 bucks because it had no shade.  We brought it home and I decided to crochet a shade for it.

I started by crocheting a big circular sort of thing with a hole in the middle.  I used Lion Cotton yarn.  I alternated rounds of single and double crochet.  On the single crochet rounds I increased the same way you would if you were going to make a crochet ball.  When I was done it looked like this.

Next, I cooked up a stiffener.  I used regular old cornstarch and water.  I mixed about 8 tablespoons of starch into 2 cups of water and cooked it until it got thick, shiny, and translucent.  

I poured the starch into a bowl and let it COOL DOWN (very important!!).

Then I threw my crocheted circle into the bowl of starch and worked the starch evenly into the cotton yarn with my hands.

Next, I rolled the crochet circle in a clean towel to get rid of the excess starch.  When I was done it looked like this (it grew quite a bit).

Then I stretched the crocheted circle over a big bowl (covered with saran wrap) and let it dry.

Once the shade was dry, I attached it to the top of our lamp with the existing hardware and flipped the switch!

The Birthday Suit

You thought our dolls were all about the outfits?  We'll here's a fellow with no outfit at all!

I tied chinese button knots to make his nipples.  I improvised the fig leaf. I like how the leaf turned out.  Hopefully I can remember how I made it!

Karabouts hits the road

This past weekend I flew to Manchester, New Hampshire for the 2010 CGOA Chain Link Conference.  The conference had vendor booths with yarn, roving, books, knitted and crocheted items, needles and hooks, and much more.  It was like a mini-Reinbeck.  There was a display of amazing projects from the design competition.  There were classes in all kinds of knitting and crochet techniques. There were knit and crochet fashion shows. You name it, the conference had it.  Hundreds of people attended including many stars of the crochet world. I made lots of new friends and had a wonderful time.

I took three Karabouts dolls with me. Here they are hanging out in my gigantic hotel room. I used Mike's Hilton Honors points to book the room and somehow ended up with an executive suite!

When I got to the conference I met up with my CGOA mentor, Susan Lowman. Susan was a huge help to me during the weekend.  She introduced me to people I wanted to meet, made sure I found my way around, and she even let me squeeze into one of her sold-out classes.

Susan is incredibly talented.  She's a crochet technical editor, teacher, and pattern designer.  
The pattern for the beautiful crochet necklace Susan's wearing in this photo is available here.

In Susan's class I learned to do something called "wiggly crochet."  Here is my version of the coaster Susan designed for us to make. 

I love this technique. Now that I've learned how to do it I'm going to make this amazing rug, also designed by Susan. 
If you want to make the rug too, you can find Susan's pattern book that includes the rug at Annie's Attic. It's currently on sale for $3.95!

Next year's conference is in Minneapolis.  Anyone want to go with me?  The dolls were good roommates and they got a lot of attention, but they didn't talk much in the evenings.

 

 

 

 

Karabouts means business

Our business cards are in!

Next week I'm going to the 2010 Knit and Crochet Show in Manchester, New Hampshire.  I wanted to have business cards to give to people I meet at the show so Mike and I got busy and designed these.

We ordered 100 of each design from NextDayFlyers.com. NextDayFlyers did a great job.  They are also cheap.  They will print 100 cards for just $10.95.  What a bargain.  

I'm excited about the show.  If anyone out there is going, let me know.  We can meet up and I can give you a business card!  

 

What I'd look like in a knit bikini

Okay, well maybe not EXACTLY, but it would be hard not to look great in these fabulous summer knits designed by my super-talented friend Heather Dixon (aka Army of Knitters).

Heather left her job as a knitwear designer for Urban Outfitters to launch her own line.  You can find Heather's beautiful summer collection here.   

If you'd like to see the collection knitted up, go to Annie and Company on the upper east side (1323 Madison Avenue).  Heather's collection is currently on display in their windows.

(I swiped this photo from Jenn's lovely Yarn 365 blog.)

Hop on over and buy Heather's patterns and find out what YOU look like in a knit bikini!!!

Something Pretty