DIY Upholstery Tutorial

Pie Knits, who has some super cute knitting patterns, has just posted a tutorial for DIY upholstery. She did an amazing job re-vamping this settee. I did a similar, but smaller scale, project once and it just about killed my wrists and hands. I love the result though.

Tutorial: Knitted Dish Scrubbie

I just came across this tutorial for a Knitted Dish Scrubby written up by Berlin's Whimsy. She uses tulle fabric combined with yarn for good scrubbing action. What a great idea and cute too!

Knitted Car Cover

I came across this photo of an amazing knitted Volvo car cover over in the flickr's The Knitting Club photo pool by secretagentmartens. You can read more about the Manifest festival that the art car was created for here.

New Knittng Pattern Love: Praying Mantis

I totally adore the creature knitting patterns of Seattle based artist Hansigrumi. They are completely cute and a little creepy at the same time. She has just completed a new knitted toy, a Praying Manits, which I love. Her work is so detailed and well crafted. I will have to make one of her patterns soon. You can purchase her knitting patterns at her etsy store.

Sewing Pattern: Twist-It-Up Bandeaua Top

I just came across the pattern for the cardi-wrap in an hour that I wrote about a while back and thought I should visit the Threads website again. They have a free pattern up right now for a super cute Twist-It-Up Bandeau Top that can be worn several ways. The pattern looks really easy and should be a fun thing to wear out on a summer evening.

They have a few other cute patterns up right now too in addition to this great sewing tips & tricks guide.

New Knitting Pattern: Sparkle Beetle

Metallic beetles fascinate me. Their beautiful colors and body structure are striking and sometimes creepy. I wanted to create a toy that captured that glitter and form, but also had a sense of humor. So, the Sparkle Beetle knitting pattern is born.

This knitting pattern uses 4 balls of Shine Worsted yarn by Knit Picks where a thin metallic yarn is held together with this soft cotton yarn so the beetle sparkles.

The beetle measures 12” long x 11” wide, from leg to leg.

The pattern is available in my etsy store, ansleybleu.etsy.com

Softie Awards Winners Announced

The 2nd Annual Softie Award winners have been announced. The Knit Carrot & Mandarin did not win in the picnic food category, but who could resist those cute mice! Thanks to everyone who voted for me.