Posted by Lesley on Nov 26, 2009 in
events,
hats,
knitting,
toques 
Orgrimmar Baby Toque of Awesome
Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with friends and family and other goodies to be thankful for. Lucas and I baked some fantastic pumpkin pies (If I do say so myself) to take over to my parents’ house and we celebrated our first Thanksgiving back in the states in three years.
This, unfortunately, is the time of year that’s not a lot of fun posting-wise on my craft blog. Mostly because I’m hard at work on gifts for family and friends and… well… I can’t post some of them because I know that they will or might read my blog and then their gift is no longer a surprise. It’s hard because I get so excited when I finish a project and can’t wait to show it off, but alas… I must refrain. For example… today while hanging out with family I managed to finish another baby hat. This one was not for my nephew, however, and instead for some friends that play World of Warcraft, and who are about to have their first child any day now. They’re both awesome, and I wanted to make them a little something.
The cleverly customized WoW item tag to go with it
It’s nothing fancy — just a two-color striped baby toque with a ribbed trim, but it’s the tag I created to go along with it that’s more fun. Firstly, I used orange and red, which the mom-to-be told me were “Orgrimmar colors.” (Excuse me while I geek out a little bit.) These colors were sure to make any orc parent proud! ;) The tag explains the toque’s beneficial stat boosts when worn by the little recipient. I thought it was clever. I even called it the Orgrimmar Baby Toque of Awesome. If I were a better knitter who wasn’t afraid to try fair isle/stranding methods for doing multiple colorwork, I’d have knitted a Horde logo on there instead, but… ya. Still on my to-do list. Do you like the handmade tag? :)
Wait, I said gifts completed that I can’t share on my blog, right? Whoops. Ok so the baby toque I could share because it wasn’t a surprise, but then later this evening after we got home from Thanksgiving festivities, I completed the gift I’ve been knitting for Lucas for Christmas. And THAT gift I can’t share here… yet. Just know that I’m soooo stoked that it turned out and proud of all the work that went into it that is now complete. And it looks fabulous. I’ll definitely share it after it’s gifted, though!
The rest of this holiday weekend will be spent trying to trim down my Christmas gift making to-do list by casting on a project that will be gifted to my mom, and actually pulling out some paint for a gift for my brother and sister-in-law. Stay tuned! Enjoy your holiday :)
Posted by Lesley on Nov 15, 2009 in
crochet,
hats,
patterns,
shop,
site news,
toques 
Newborn nephew Will sporting one of my ultra cool new baby Cthulhu Toques!
It was only a matter of time before my crochet Cthulhu toques spawned pint-sized versions for children. Due to many requests, I finally sat down and put together the youth version of my pattern. I’m now selling child-sized Cthulhu toques in my Etsy shop AND am offering the youth pattern included in the same PDF as my original adult sized version… at no additional cost for the pattern! Now my Cthulhu toque pattern is like having 2 patterns in 1! You can either buy the pattern, which includes adult and child instructions OR you can purchase adult or child-sized Cthulhu toques already handmade by me in my Etsy shop. Just in time for the holidays!
The new youth sizes includes instructions for creating a newborn, toddler, and child sized version of the Cthulhu toque. Now you and the child or children in your life can be in matching style together! The model in my picture is my brand new 2 week old nephew, and he’s sporting the toddler version, which is why it’s a bit big. But aren’t they both adorable?! As I said, I’m selling the child-sized toques individually in my Etsy shop, so if you love the Cthulhu toques but don’t have the crochet know-how, I can make one for you :)
The new baby version of my Cthulhu Toque. Get yours now!
As of the time of this writing, I’ve sent out a mass email to everyone who has purchased the Cthulhu toque pattern from me in the past via Etsy or Artfire and sent them a complimentary copy of the youth sized pattern update. Going forward, new purchases of the pattern from Etsy or Artfire will receive the updated PDF that includes both adult and youth pattern instructions. I also uploaded the new PDF to Ravelry and sent out a mass message to those who had purchased it via Ravelry to get them the new copy. If I somehow missed you, please contact me immediately with your name and email so I can ensure you get the updated version!
Adding youth sizing to my pattern is not the only update that I’ve made to my most recent version; I also updated the pattern to include tips and blocking instructions specific to the design to help you get the most out of the pattern and get it to look just right.
New and Improved pattern now available! Includes both adult and child versions plus blocking instructions
Want to buy the new and improved Cthulhu toque crochet pattern? Check it out in my Etsy shop! Want to buy pre-made Cthulhu toques already crocheted by me for yourself or a loved one? Get the adult version or child’s version now!
Enjoy! And thanks for your business :) Hope you had a great weekend!
Tags: Cthulhu, patterns
Posted by Lesley on Oct 27, 2009 in
events,
family,
hats,
knitting,
patterns,
toques 
photo copyright to Lesley Karpiuk
I’m here for just a quick drive-by (or surf-by?) post to show off what I’m currently working on! On the needles today is a lovely lace-edged toque with my even more lovely Nova Scotia yarn that I purchased over the summer when I was in Halifax with Lucas celebrating our anniversary. I know this picture doesn’t do the yarn or the pattern justice (and I’m quickly learning that lace doesn’t look quite right until after it’s blocked) because I took it at work instead of at home with my good digital camera, but I think you get the idea. I’m finding the yarn to be just delicious — if you don’t remember, it’s the Tanis Fiber Arts yellow label DK weight yarn in Spearmint, and I purchased it at the Loop Craft Cafe in downtown Halifax. The color is gorgeous and the yarn is so nice to work with. It was my first hand-dyed hank of yarn and I don’t own a swift so Lucas and I did our best — it turned into a huge pile of mangled mess, but in the end we managed to get it wound into a cake. Whew! It was totally worth it.
Tanis Fiber Arts yellow label DK weight in Spearmint, photo © Lesley Karpiuk / pinktoque, taken on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia on the Cabot Trail.
The pattern is the Lace-Edged Hat from Julie M. Hentz at Head Huggers, and I really think it’s turning out pretty. I featured it over on the Knitting Under the Desk blog last week, and my favorite part of the hat is that there’s enough excitement with the simple lacework for a brim instead of the typical ribbed brim to make the hat interesting, but enough stockinette to keep me in my comfort zone, too. The best part is that once you do all of the lacework, you’re home free, since it starts from the brim and works to the crown. I highly recommend it! I can’t wait to finish it and post a better photo of me wearing it.
Also recently I’ve been working on a pattern en masse as Christmas presents for family and friends. Remember all of the jam? I’m also knitting Christmas ornaments to go along with the jam packages, so photos of that will be coming shortly. I’m nearly halfway finished on the lot!
In RL news, my baby nephew is due any day now and Lucas and I are moving into a new place this weekend, so it’s a busy week! I can’t wait to meet my nephew and snap some photos of the baby things I’ve knitted for him over the last several months. You can be sure photos will follow :) Take care!
Tags: baby, yarn
Posted by Lesley on Oct 13, 2009 in
crochet,
hats,
patterns,
toques 
Well… I take that back. Ok, so we did make some no-sugar-added blueberry jam this weekend to complete our jammin’ adventure with 24 jars! 10 jars of peach, 7 jars of grape, and 7 jars of blueberry. That means plenty to send off to family and friends as gifts this season and plenty leftover for me to pair with peanut butter for lunch.
It’s getting chilly out and I can smell Fall again. This normally wouldn’t be so extraordinary except I’ve lived without a true Fall for the past three years. I had almost forgotten my favorite season; Calgary’s summers usually crash landed right into Winter, and I realized this past week that I really missed the season of cooler sweatshirt-and-long-sleeved weather with beautifully changing golden and red leaves everywhere. That little nip in the air along with a fresh hockey and football season has brought back one of my favorite things about Fall; cuddling on the couch watching [insert hockey or football game here] while I knit. I recently have had a lot of Cthulhu Toque orders crop up, and I realized that it’s probably due to the cooler weather rolling in. It’s about time to start thinking about toques and scarves and all of that gets me energized to pull out the yarn and needles (or hooks) and get to work.
Speaking of my Cthulhu Toques, I’ve got plans in the making for a toddler sized (due mostly to the several requests I’ve received) version as well as a few other little surprises. I just hope I can find enough time in the day to make and do all of the little creative plans I’ve got in mind AND get a head start on my Christmas gift knitting. Stay tuned!
Have you noticed the cooler air? Don’t you think your head would be a heckuva lot warmer if you were being snuggled by the tentacles of the mighty Cthulhu?! Of course you do. Be sure to check out my Etsy shop and get your awesome Cthulhu Toque before the weather gets too cold! Are you a crocheter? You can also just purchase the pattern…
Rawr!
Tags: canning, crochet, Cthulhu, hats, jam, toques
Posted by Lesley on Oct 8, 2009 in
crafts,
dogs,
family,
hats,
oliver,
pets,
toques,
winston 
Take Two! I have a few days off this week so today Lucas and I used this gloriously dreary day (outside) to spend the afternoon inside canning. (AKA finish Christmas presents.)
This go around we decided to try making a peach jam. A few weeks back when we made concord grape jam we used fresh grapes from my grandma’s garden. Since we didn’t know anyone who had fresh peaches in the area, we just picked up some *gasp* frozen unsweetened 100% peaches at the grocery store. Yes, we’re lame I guess, but we were itching to can more jam and the produce section wasn’t looking too… healthy today.
Once again we used the SUREJELL brand of low sugar/no sugar pectin and combined the recipes and tips we found on various websites online to come up with what we thought would make the best peach jam. We used four pounds of frozen peaches, which we thawed completely, and 2 cups of white grape peach juice for sweetener instead of sugar. After a little help from the food processor and some hand blender thing we found in my mom’s cabinet, we threw all of the peach goop and juice onto the stove to boil. Once we got a rolling boil going, we added in the pectin and 1/4 cup of Splenda. That really was it. So far so good and all 10 jars we managed to get from it sealed properly. Now we’ve got 17 jars of fresh jam between the grape and peach to give away as part of our Christmas gift packages we’re doing for family and friends this year. Awesome!
Also today I finished yet another knitted object for my upcoming nephew — can you believe that he’s due at the end of this month?! In true fall style I whipped up a pumpkin toque and figure that even if he’s born after Halloween that the pumpkin would be an appropriate icon for the in-between Halloween and Thanksgiving period. I hear my brother and sister-in-law aren’t big fans of hats that look like vegetables, fruits, or flowers… too bad for them, eh? Since baby William isn’t here yet, I used (big surprise) Oliver and Winston as models. I think the toque turned out pretty darn cute, don’t you?
Tags: canning, jam, peach
A hat turns Schnauzer Schweater
So while I’ve been less than post-y lately, there have been a few little projects being snuck in between all of this job search madness. I am officially teaching 2nd grade starting tomorrow (covering an extended mat leave) and I’m happy to start being productive, teaching kids again, and reeling in a little cash for my family. The whole unemployed status sucks, and it was starting to get to me. Hopefully this position will keep me busy for awhile and there will be some other prospects on the horizon when it’s finished. We’ll see!
my invites ready to be filled out
So I spoke of a few little projects, and the first of these is designing the invitations for my sister-in-law’s upcoming baby shower that I’m hosting. Well, hosting at my parents’ house. I’m delighted to have the honor of getting to throw her shower and I just didn’t like any of the pre-packaged baby shower invites out there. The obvious solution was to make my own. I went to Michaels and purchased a set of blank print-your-own cards to work with. The ones I chose come in sheets of two per page and are around 8.5″ x 5.5″; ideally meant as RSVP card inserts in a wedding invite but turned into fabulous baby shower invites instead. My inspiration came from a birthday card layout by Laurie’s Scraps and I designed the stitched car embellishment and tag for it myself. I may have to do a little mini kit to give away the car embellishment later. It was fun to make! Holly loves the invites and they were mailed out today. Here it is close up:
The baby shower invites I designed for my sister-in-law
My Schnauzer Schweater!
And now on to the topic project: the hat that turned into a dog sweater. I was feeling a little stressed out with all of the employment searching these past few weeks, and a little bummed when I applied to so many places and got so few calls back. Nothing seemed to be promising and I knew I just needed to knit a little something to keep me sane while waiting by the phone for decisions and callbacks. I thought that a plain vanilla newborn baby hat with a ribbed cuff would be the perfect simple, soothing knit. Except I didn’t gauge properly and somehow after doing the ribbing and starting the stockinette I realized that the hat would actually fit my head… not a good sign when the hat size is supposed to be sized for a brand new baby. *sigh* Jokingly I put the hat around our schnauzer, Winston’s neck, and suddenly the ribbing looked like the perfect turtleneck and the hat began to look more like a sweater. A schnauzer schweater, as I like to call it. So too-big baby hat has officially turned into a schnauzer schweater. Say it with me now, schnauzer schweater! This time with emphasis… SCHnauzer SCHweater! The real test is if you can say it five times fast. Ok I’m done, but it would be a great tongue twister, don’tcha think?
Enough pictures already.
So I’m sorta making this pattern up as I go along — I cannot guarantee that it won’t turn into an epic failure but I’ll be sure to keep you posted, and if it turns out halfway decent maybe I’ll even post it here for all to try! Don’t hold your breath, though, little Winston looks less than enthusiastic about the prospect. I’ve decided that no matter how the schweater turns out, it’s at least exactly what I was looking for — something very plain and repetitive. I’ve been trying it on Winston as I go and while it works, I know if I did this again I’d make a few changes. All a part of the creative process, I think, and this process is fulfilling my needs at the moment.
Tags: schnauzer, schweater, sweater
photo copyright to Lesley Karpiuk
So we’re finally settled (mostly) back home in Indiana. The move from Calgary, AB Canada to Indiana was a long one, but well worth the drive. It was quite an adventure with Lucas and the two boys — three long days of long hours in the car. You’d think anyone would go crazy being cooped up in a vehicle for such a duration, but I tackled my very first sweater on the trip and completed a set of baby mittens, too!
My future nephew is due in October, so I’ve been on a bit of a baby knitting kick lately. I’ve made bibs, spit up rags, toques, and now mittens and a baby sweater. The mittens were super simple and super quick and I love the result. A friend of ours suggested that they were mittens for Vulcans based on the way I posed with them, haha. Live long and prosper… warmly! The mitten pattern I chose was [Ravelry link] this one, “Baby Mittens” by Sassystitches.
Live long and prosper... warmly!
The baby sweater was the big project that took most of my time on the trip. I chose the very simple 5 Hour Baby Boy Sweater by Jesse’s Branch Charity Crafts. [Ravelry link]. I love the great little garter ridges on the yoke area and the matching garter trim on the jacket body and sleeves. I’ve never knitted a sweater before, so it was probably a good thing that I chose a baby-sized sweater to familiarize myself with the process. I knit starting with the yoke and went back and forth, increasing in a regular pattern, doing the cute little garter ridges until it was time for the sleeves. It got a bit complicated for me at this point because I had a lot of separating to do. Thank goodness for having a full interchangeable Knit Picks set, because I used extra short lengths of cables to hold stitches while I worked the sleeves. I think I would’ve rather knitted the sleeves in the round via magic loop now that I’ve gone through this pattern once, but I was worried about trying to modify an unfamiliar pattern on my first try. I should also admit that the “5 hour” of the 5 Hour Baby Boy Sweater actually took me more like 12 hours, but I chalk that up to my inexperience in knitting sweaters and the fact I was trying to spread the project out over a long car ride and taking my time. And, well, I’m also a pretty slow knitter! I blocked the sweater after we arrived and I think after adding the little car button as a finishing touch, that it turned out really well.
Speaking of little car buttons, I picked up a small pack of them and used them on my Modern Cabled Baby Bibs, too. Don’t the buttons add an adorable little boyish charm?
photo copyright to Lesley Karpiuk
I recently had a few more people purchase my Crochet Cthulhu Toques so I barely had time to get settled in Indiana before I was busy crocheting away to complete the orders. While I’m job searching, it sure felt good to have orders to fill! Cross your fingers that something comes along soon… I’m starting to get antsy! :)
Tags: baby, Cthulhu
Recycled Wallpaper QP by pinktoque
I’m baaaaaaack! Hopefully you liked the Recycled Wallpaper mini pack freebie given away yesterday :) Today as promised I’ve got the coordinating quick page to give away, too! It’s 3600 x 3600 pixels (12″ x 12″) and 300 dpi. It uses a little from the Recycled Wallpaper pack and then I added some other random stuff as I went. It’s a little pink, but pink is a very good color :)
Download the Recycled Wallpaper QP here!
Don’t forget that unless otherwise specified, my digital scrapbooking elements are for personal use only. Be sure to check out the TOU included and let me know if you have any questions. I hope to make some more new stuff in the near future, as time allows. Right now I’m back home in Indiana for a brief period this weekend in order to interview with the school district I taught at before I moved up to Canada. Cross your fingers! If I get a job offer, Lucas and I will pack up the boys and we’ll be on our way.
And of course, finding out last minute (Wednesday) that I was going to need to take a plane to Indy the next day (Thursday), one of the most important aspects of the packing wasn’t which outfit I was going to wear for the interview, or my teaching portfolio… but what knit projects I wanted to take with me for the flight! Haha. Ok so I’m probably exaggerating a lot (It took a long time for me to decide on an outfit, and I spent several hours touching up my portfolio), but it was a very important part of the packing. I had to figure out the patterns I wanted to take and wind some yarn for those projects into cakes to pack in my carry on. I’m going to be working on Danido Crafty’s Bebeh Earflaps Hat and the Modern Cabled Baby Bib by Andrea Pomerantz. I’ll let you know how it goes! :)
Have a great weekend, and wish me luck!
Tags: baby, interview, teaching
Posted by Lesley on May 22, 2009 in
crochet,
hats,
patterns,
toques 
On sale for just $3!
That’s right, my Cthulhu Toque pattern is FOR SALE! :D It’s available for the low price of just $3.00 now, so if you’ve been wanting to make one of your very own, now is the time. I promise it’s easy, even for a beginner, and you’ll love the super cute results.
Where Can I Buy the Pattern?
Ravelry
Etsy
Artfire
You can purchase from whichever site is easiest and most convenient for you :) You’ll love the way Cthulhu looks innocently over the top of your head as he noms on you. I cannot be held responsible for any problems resulting from your new abundance of coolness and popularity once you go strolling down the block wearing one of these on your head. Note: If you purchase from Ravelry you will be able to instantly download the PDF pattern from the site after purchase; If you purchase from Etsy or Artfire, you will receive your PDF pattern via email within 24 hours of purchase.
All the Details
Materials
* 1 skein of worsted weight or sport-weight wool or acrylic, green
* Size I or H hook (or size to obtain gauge. Size I for sport-weight, H for worsted)
* Safety eyes, buttons, felt or black embroidery floss for eyes
* Darning needle
* Stitch marker
Gauge
Approximately 4 single crochet stitches = 1″ in worsted weight.
Stitches and Terms Used
* chain (ch)
* single crochet (sc)
* double crochet (dc)
* slip stitch (sl st)
* half double crochet (hdc)
See how easy it can be to sport your very own crochet Cthulhu toque? But Lesley, I don’t know how to crochet! Well that’s easy – you can also purchase a completed toque, already handmade by yours truly in case you don’t have the skills to make one for yourself. It’s never been easier to get your hands on a one-of-a-kind creation that will make you the talk of the neighborhood. For serious.
I have another pattern I’d like to complete and release sometime next week, but until then enjoy your Cthulhu toques and thanks for your business :) Have a great weekend! Updates coming soon on Lucas and I’s Father’s Day sock projects…
Tags: ArtFire, Cthulhu, Etsy, patterns, Ravelry, toque
Posted by Lesley on May 21, 2009 in
commissions,
crochet,
hats,
toques I had an order for one of my Cthulhu crochet toques to fill this week and whipped up a new one to ship off yesterday. I’m really proud of how well it turned out, and especially how well the pictures turned out. So another shameless plug… check out the cute new pics:
copyright Lesley Karpiuk
copyright Lesley Karpiuk
copyright Lesley Karpiuk
Want to buy a handmade Cthulhu toque? Check out my Etsy shop! But wait, do you already possess the skills to crochet yourself? Then just buy the pattern ;)
Tags: Cthulhu, Etsy, toques
