Loving...

I'm in love with:
-Babycakes NYC
-Treats and Treasures Archives, especially 10.06 because of her beautiful knit creations and simple patterns. She is truly a creative inspiration.
-Gaps new Ruffle Front Dress. I could live the entire summer (that's right, I'm already dreaming of warmer weather) in that dress.
-And, because it reminds me of Lover's new collection.
-Gingham Linen, and Liberty of London.
-Jeana Sohn
-Everything is Illuminated. A beautiful reminder to watch this film if you haven't already.
-Beautiful clothes. From là.
-Les Choristes. A stunningly beautiful and moving French film. We watched it in French class and I was blown away. Here are two clips. Don't let the French clips discourage you, there is subtitles on the film!
-Gladiator Sandals. In less than two weeks I will be going to London, England for the first time in my life, and surely visiting Topshop!

If anyone has suggestions for places to visit in London please pass them on. They will be much appreciated. Especially suggestions for places to eat, shop, and do on a budget!

The Piksi Hat

Sometimes it takes forever to get motivated about a project, and other times I am so consumed with inspiration it just flies off the knitting needles. This was definitely the case with the Piksi Hat. I posted last week about knitted hats and included a link to Piksi's beautiful hat close-up. Once I saw that close up I knew I had to try to make one of my very own. I double checked with Piksi for the ok, and then went to work! It is the best hat I have ever made for my head. I made tons of berets, and slouchy hats but they never quite worked with my face shape. It is nice to make items for myself that I know I will wear, and this one I haven't taken off! That, and it is darn cold here!

Shop News

The Etsy store will be open tomorrow, Saturday January 19th.
www.ericaknits.etsy.com

Edit: One pair is up! The rest will be up at 12:00 pm CST.

Hats!

I have a big thing for knitted hats at the moment. There is a really cool project created by the drink company Innocent from Britain where each winter they ask people to knit tiny little hat for their drinks in order to raise money for charity. There is a flickr group, patterns, and a video! Sadly, it is over for the winter and I'm a little behind on it, but the pictures and the patterns are still adorable. Krisatomic thought it was a great cause, too.
I fell in love with piksi's hat on her flickr page and I am in the process of figuring out the pattern.
Isn't it cute with that pon pon?

EDIT: Waste some time on Free Rice.
It's a word game and when you get the correct answer 20 grains of rice
are donated towards ending world hunger.
And it's fun! I'm at 1940 grains of rice!

Esty Shop Update!

I'm finally doing it! I'm opening an Etsy shop!
I'm in the process of putting everything together and I am aiming for my first shop update to be this Saturday, January 19th. I will keep the blog posted on the link and exact time.

Edit: Thanks for the encouraging comments!
I recommend listening to Newton Faulkner.

Kira's Cupcakes

Kira's Cupcakes Box Closed, originally uploaded by erica_knits.

These are cupcakes I made for my friend Kira's birthday last Saturday. It was all about the box. Note the out of place cupcake it is a Shazam symbol. It was decorated by my boyfriend, Luke.
Everyone thought the cupcakes were store bought just because of the box. Which is a Wilton cupcake box that I bought at Bulk Barn in Winnipeg when I was there last Thursday for a yarn sale and to pick up Luke. The birthday party was a great deal of fun. I brought over a great wine called Asti. It is a sparkling white wine from the Asti region of Italy. The reason I found it was because I asked the man at the Liquor Mart (all Manitoban Liquor is sold in specific government run Liquor Marts) what wine would go best with cupcakes. Strange looks aside he knew what he was taking about!

Transform your Dishes

I wonder if my boyfriend would do his dishes more often with these?
Found via Oiyi's Crafts.

Flickr Favorites with Flickr Toys

1. bekki loves kjoo, 2. a kiss to the austiran skies., 3. 309: 12.6.07, 4. woodland terrariums, 5. concept 002, 6. a la sha, 7. happy!, 8. a belated b-day gift for you!, 9. for finche, happy birthday!, 10. impulse6, 11. Ikea textile, 12. making myself a scarf, 13. Cardigan, 14. happy, 15. what berries?, 16. cushions, 17. wee trees, 18. holiday ornament swap 2007 - my ornament - owls!, 19. hoo hoo hoo!, 20. DSC_7652, 21. DSC_0779, 22. Super Mittens, 23. smocked java jacket, 24. beary christmas, 25. built-by-wendy #3964, 26. anna - katie snapped this right when i walked in the door, 27. the first, 28. Pine Street - Capitol Hill, Seattle, 29. my new friend, 30. back, 31. front, 32. ashleyg inspired girl in green, 33. ashleyg inspired ornament #7, 34. boris hanging out, 35. templeton hanging out, 36. boris and templeton found a whale bone

Chunky Knit Cowl Pattern

Chunky Knit Cowl Pattern
1 1/2 balls of Lion Brand's Wool Ease Thick and Quick (I used Fisherman)
A Size US 17 circular needle (12.75mm)
Yarn Needle (Used to sew in the loose ends)

Cast on 60 stitches, join with the circular needles and begin knitting in the round.
Rows 1-10 Knit all stitches.

Row 11 *Knit 3, Knit 2 together. *Repeat pattern until row is complete.
You will be left with 48 stitches on your needle.

Rows 12-22 Knit all stitches.

Row 23 *Knit 4, Knit 2 together. *Repeat pattern until row is complete.
You will be left with 40 stitches on your needle.

Rows 24-63 Knit all stitches. Or rather knit until you have reached your desired length. Mine is long enough to fully cover my shoulders and act as a hood.

Sew in ends of yarn, and block if desired. I preferred leave the top and
bottom unblocked so it would roll up just a little.

Notes on the pattern:
This was really fun to create. Of course, it was inspired by Sveta Dresher and the Sartorialist photo I blogged about.

I love it because it forms beautifully around the neck when worn as a neck warmer. I chose to give it shape at the bottom to create more interesting drape. Therefore, this pattern is a little more complicated than just knitting a tube, but worth it!

The reason I chose to use Thick and Quick by Lion Brand is because it was available to me in a pinch, and very affordable compared to other chunky yarns. It is a 20% wool and 80% acrylic blend, and it is very soft. I usually choose natural fibers, however, this time around I couldn't make it into the closest upscale yarn store in a city two hours away. Thick and Quick worked well and I was impressed with the results. I'm sure other bulky yarns could easily be substituted.

Here is the final result:
I can't wait to see your versions!

Dude Style

Luke.

Luke, Pike/Pine, Knitalatte11, The Sart, Hel Looks.
I love men's style. While they have less pieces to work with, these guys (and ornaments) all make up for it with exciting textures and accessories. Thanks to these guys I'm in a real lumberjack phase, I'm into buffalo plaid flannel, hunter wellies, wool sweaters, and beards.
Speaking of guys, Luke just introduced me to the board game Settlers of Catan which is so much fun. Also, it is really hard, I lost the two rounds we played very badly.

UPDATE: Yay Elly! Go here and read this.

Happy New Year!

Cupcakes Take the Cake
Letter Writing Alliance Kit
Vinyl Cafe (download the podcasts, it is the best talk radio ever)
Library card generator.