Lark Crafts

It’s officially Fall which for us yarn-y types, which means the fun begins! Sure, we knit & crochet year ’round, but it’s when the first chill creeps through the relentless-wall-of-heat-that-is-the-summer, that we can really curl up and enjoy stitchin’! To wet your needle-wielding whistle, why not start with a staple accessory to keep your topper toasty and your outfits outstanding? Yes, you chicks with sticks and dudes with…ummm…dowels; I’m talking about the beanie. They’re fun to make, and everyone needs one. Sounds like a win-win to me!

Here are 8 hats for man, woman and child, that can be whipped up fast and worn immediately!

The Urban Jungle slouchy beanie is crocheted out of Simply Soft, using the puff stitch. You can nab the pattern for free over at Caron.com. Oh, and if you need a little how-to help with the stitch pattern, check out my video tutorial here.

The Ice Core Cap is a great, 1st time hat pattern for you newbies or a “need it now” project for stitchers

with experience. It’s knit in simple, 2×2 rib stitch and in chunky, organic camel yarn. Do you dig it? I knew that you would. This pattern along with 30 other classic, eco-aware projects are available our book, AwareKnits (Knit, Purl, Save the World-UK Edition). Find it here.

The Puffalump beanie is for the bi-stitchual amongst us. Using a double-strand of worsted-weight yarn, the main body is crocheted in a bobbled stripe pattern. The brim and crown are each knit, by picking up stitches around both sides of the crocheted pieces. Get the pattern on my website, here.

The Urban Planner is the knit version of the aforementioned, Urban Jungle. The yin to its yang, as it were. It’s another design I got to do as part of my partnership with Caron. The pattern’s available on their website, along with another of my video tutorials showing how to seam it up. This hat uses the Blackberry stitch and variegated yarn, which you can find here.

Mary-Kate, is more of a beret than a beanie but hey, let’s not mince words in the name of crafting, ok? M-K is made with a large hook using yarn with just a little shimmer. This project, along with its companion wrist warmers, is nestled amongst more crochet goodness in, Pop Goes Crochet.

Shady, utilizes double-strands of yarn to blend colors taking then from black, to variegated, to green. Then, a simple rib pattern gets a twist at the crown for a little, unexpected texture. Get Shady, here.

Stitch.Rock.Love,

The Artist Through Her Work

The Artist In Her Own Words

Sim Luttin is a contemporary jeweler who lives and works in Melbourne, Australia. Her current work, Melancholy Series, poetically explores notions of beauty, nostalgia and passing time.

Luttin’s jewelry pieces question how the creation of objects can guide or replace memory. As intimate objects, Melancholy Series alludes to forms found in nature, while deliberately abstracting them in order to de-familiarize the familiar.

Luttin’s latest collection embodies pathos, and evokes strong feelings of melancholy through an almost alien or foreign lens. Sim Luttin

The Artist At Work

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From quilting to felting to scrapbooking, Trice Boerens is a designer who can handle it all. Over the years she has created for a variety of companies, including her most recent book with Lark, 45 Quilt Blocks: Flowers. We were lucky enough to get a minute of her time this week to find out more about the woman behind the designs.

Trice, how did you get your start crafting and quilting?

My Mother was pretty handy and she had me convinced that she could do anything. A female MacGyver with a 60’s bubble-cut, she once restored a torn page from library book with glue, wax paper, and an emery board. Each year when spring rolled around she felt that it was her duty to make Easter dresses, and with four sisters that meant a lot of fabric scraps. I claimed the scrap pile and started making crazy quilts. Not crazy quilts, but crazy quilts. Free-form, asymmetrical quilts made from cotton, eyelet, jersey, or polyester (depending on what we saw in Seventeen magazine that year). Sidebar, on my To-Do List is: “Write a proposal for a quilt book titled Insane Crazy Quilts.” Is that offensive? I hope not because it practically writes itself!

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So, you ask, where can I find a beautiful meeting place for geometry, yarn, and colorful ocean life? Look no further than the incredible Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef!

The brainchild of sisters, Margaret and Christine Wertheim of the Institute For Figuring, this ever-evolving crochet reef started as an homage to the Great Barrier Reef near their childhood home in Queensland, Australia. After years of creeping growth, the oceanic masterpiece overtook the sisters’ living room and branched out to many spacious homes in exhibitions worldwide. According to their website, the crochet reef has become possibly one of the globe’s largest community art projects. Click “Continue reading” for a how-to guide on hyperbolic crochet, info on becoming involved in the project, images of the crochet reefs, and a video TED talk from Margaret Wertheim (one of the project’s originators).

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Hey there–thanks to so many of you for your enthusiasm for (and participation in) our Glee Twitter Party with Vickie Howell. We loved hearing about your crafty ideas, your Glee opinions, the results of your “which Glee character are you” surveys, your savvy answers to Glee trivia questions, and your amazing Halloween costume ideas that include Glee. (I now feel that I simply must try to create an Emma costume).

We know it was a fast hour of Twitter chatting, and we shared a lot of projects and links with you–it was tough to keep track of everything! With that in mind, here are some links to a few of the projects and topics we covered–hope you enjoy

“Glee Party: Is this the real life? (handmade books)” (from Eco Books)

“Glee Party: soooo sorry.” (from Make it in Minutes: Greeting Cards)

“Glee Party: Scrunch Earrings a la Mercedes” (from Leather Jewelry)

“Glee Party: Wash Away the Slushies” (from Soapmaking the Natural Way)

“Glee Party: Episode Appetizers” (Deviled Eggs from Homemade Living: Keeping Chickens)

Oh Glee, Oh My: Glee-Inspired Cake Finds

Glee Party: Pep in Your Step (from Not Another Teen Knitting Book)

Glee Party: Rachel’s Preppy Sweater (from Not Another Teen Knitting Book)

Glee Party: Beret at Play (from Hip Knit Hats)

Cheerios know best: everything’s better with (lots of) pompoms! (from Fabric Remix)

Take a break from lunchroom food with knitted treats! (internet finds)

Stuck biking it to school? Make a cool bike bag! (from the Feisty Stitcher)

Undecided on Rachel’s socks and shoes look? (trendspotting)

Ever tried socks and pumps, a la Rachel? (from Joy of Sox)

And…some Glee-inspired Etsy treasuries:

General Glee

“Emma in the Autumn”

“Emma Pillsbury: Back to School”

“Glee: Season 1”

“Radio Gaga”

“I Was a Cheerleader…Way Back When”

“Football Fanatics”

“Retro State University”

“Pom Poms and Pretties”

Our giveaway of the complete set of Lark Jewelry 500 series books last month generated the most comments — more than 450 — of any post in the history of the Lark blog. But conspicuously missing from that giveaway were seven other books — non-jewelry titles in our 500 series that nonetheless are great titles from the Lark Jewelry & Beading team!

So hold on to your hat pins: We’re now giving away a fantastically diverse bundle of seven 500 series books: the newly released and incredibly beautiful 500 Judaica, along with 500 Metal Vessels, 500 Enameled Objects, 500 Knives, 500 Beaded Objects, 1000 Glass Beads, and 400 Polymer Clay Designs.

How to enter for a chance to win the bundle? Leave a comment on this post by 9 p.m. EST on Monday, October 4. Any post is fine, but you’re welcome to leave a comment letting us know which of these books you’re most excited to own — and why. One winner will be selected at random and announced on Thursday, October 7. Click here for the official rules. And good luck!

To celebrate the release of Sew Tina! with fabric designer Tina Givens, we’re throwing a little eparty! And you get the goods: three free projects, a chance to win a copy of the book (and other treasures), and a months worth of Tina – welcome to the first stop on her official blog tour!

Read on for the blog tour schedule!

Sew Tina! Blog Tour:

9/24 Lark Crafts.com
9/27 A La Mode Fabric
9/29 Quilters Buzz
10/1 Sew Baby
10/4 Sew Chic
10/6 Sew Mama Sew
10/8 Hazelnuts
10/11 Mama’s Pocketbook
10/13 House on Hill Road
10/15 WhipUp
10/18 Quilt Dad
10/20 HodgePodgeFarm
10/22 Pink Chalk Studios
10/25 Fat Quarterly Blog
10/27 The Jolly Jabber

What a lineup! At each stop, you’ll hear from Tina (of course!) and get plenty of chances to enter to win the book.We’ll check in along the way and keep you posted on all the fun happenings. Also, here are three free projects to get you in the mood.

Make the Olly the Owl, the Skull Cap, or the Duvet Cover & Sham… Or all three!

Oh, and did we mention a giveaway? We did! Enter for a chance to win a copy of Tina’s brand new book (Sew Tina!) and a bundle of goodies from Tina (including fabric and stationery). Leave a comment on this post by 9 p.m. EST on Friday, October 29th. Any post will do, but you’re welcome to leave a comment letting us know which Tina fabric is your favorite. One winner will be selected at random and announced on Tuesday, November 2. Click here for the  official rules: http://www.larkcrafts.com/uncategorized/sweepstakesrules/.

This giveaway has ended. Thanks so much for all the fabulous comments! Stay tuned: the winner will be announced on Tuesday, November 2.

Drum roll, please…. the winner is Lauren, who said “love the bedding set (especially the pillow!)” Congrats, Lauren. Sew Tina goodness is on its way!

As this week’s beading bonus, I selected the Helixa Necklace from Sarah McConnell’s One Big Beautiful Bead. I just love the elegant rope made with a Russian spiral technique–it’s something I’d like to try my hand at.

If this is something you’ve been wanting to learn, too, click right here for the free instructions as a PDF.