Knitting and Crochet

Tutorials, Yarnbombs

MFYBAL Week 2


Quick links: MFYBAL overview, weeks 1, 23, 4, 5, 6.

Welcome to Week Two!

We hope you’ve been able to introduce yourself in the group forum and are ready with your pattern, materials, and measurements. It’s great to read your introductions and chats–keep them coming! We had fun following you back and checking out your social media feeds. Some of you’ve done some pretty sweet yarn bombing.

Remember, you can do everything in this yarn-bomb-along at your own pace. Simply follow along with the weekly posts as you come to the next step (linked at the top and bottom of every week’s page for reference). If you are ready to start the pattern but aren’t quite sure where you’ll put your monster feet yet, you can still crochet the toes this week. Next week we will use the measurements.

Beginners, did you get a chance to brush up on your skills? We posted a thread in the group forum for beginners’ resources. Feel free to check out the resources there and post anything else you find useful. Since the monster feet pattern is for advanced beginners, we’ll jump right into it this week and assume you know the basics of crochet.

Crochet warmup

It’s always a good idea to read through a pattern from the beginning. At the very least, be sure to read over the stitches and techniques used. Check that you’re familiar with the standard US terms and abbreviations we’re using at the end of the pattern.

The Craft Yarn Council is a great resource for needle arts at all levels. Here are some helpful resources:

As we work through the toes in our video below, we’ll show you how to half double crochet (hdc), then how to increase (inc) and decrease (dec) using hdc. Remember to use the internet! Anytime you need help with a term, search YouTube with the term plus the word crochet and look for a video that works for you. Or, post your question in the forum and we’ll help you out.

Making the toes

Each toe is a partial sphere that’s crocheted in the round as a spiral. You can find many ways to begin crocheting in the round and a million tutorials on YouTube. We like to start crocheting in the round with a magic ring (also called a magic loop, magic circle, adjustable loop). Use your preferred method; the important thing is to use a method that creates a tight ring so there’s no hole where stuffing can poke out. Here is a simple magic ring photo-tutorial Jill made for her favorite way to do it.

Once you’ve got your magic ring, follow along with this week’s video tutorial below. After a short recap of week 1, we crochet a toe together, explaining all the stitches involved along with a few pointers. Both newbies and experts can sit back and make a toe along with us.

See you online!

Remember to post your projects and questions in the forum and online using #MFYBAL. We’d love to hear, why do you like to yarn bomb? If this is your first one, what made you interested?

xxxo,

Lorna & Jill

@KnitsForLife

Quick links: MFYBAL overview, weeks 1, 23, 4, 5, 6.

Projects

Repurposed Old Navy Yarnbomb


If yarnbombing is a waste of time and materials, then why don’t aerosol artists get flack for not touching up house paint jobs instead of painting street walls? Because art. True, yarnbombing is more temporary and removable. But even Scotch Guarded yarnbombs don’t seem clean after a good wash and dry. Unless they’ve been indoors. And that’s just where our Old Navy truck yarnbomb was all through the holiday season. So when the Old Navy team asked us to repurpose the yarnbomb into memorabilia for the office, we put every usable scrap to work. (more…)

Yarnbombs

Old Navy Bumper Cars Yarnbomb


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You’ve seen our epic yarnbomb of a 1950’s Chevy truck in Old Navy‘s San Francisco Flagship store (up til January 2015). Now get ready for the second epic yarnbomb: three yarnbombed bumper cars in Old Navy’s New York 34th St Flagship store.

How awesome is Old Navy to choose yarnbombing to celebrate #OldNavyStyle in a season full of fashionable knitwear for the people! We were so stoked that they asked us to do this second project on the same block with the Thanksgiving Day parade. It’s our little Miracle on 34th Street. Forget Santa’s lap–go snuggle your derrier into one of these vintage babies this Christmas. (And I know you want to but sorry, they don’t move around.) Be sure to tag us in your pics (@knitsforlife @thedappertoad @oldnavy) so we can see you!

For those of you who are interested in learning to step up your work to more ambitious yarnbombing projects, get your scroll on and I’ll tell you a bit about our process. It’s basically three steps: design, construction, and installation. But first, the pics! (more…)

News

Photo tour of our new fiber art studio


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Earlier this summer my sister, Jill, and I moved into a new art studio space at the Claremont Art Studios in San Mateo, California. I’ve been meaning to share Jill’s great photos of our space for a while now, so here we go. If you still want more, we love studio visits! We have an open house every first friday of the month. Contact me to schedule a visit.

This is where the magic happens. (more…)

New Patterns

New Crochet Pattern: Snake Yarnbomb


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We love yarnbombing street art that transforms everyday objects into surprising characters. While we expected kids to love these crochet yarnbombs, we were surprised how much these characters took adults out of their daily doldrums by adding a little fun to their lives too. Now with this yarnbomb crochet pattern, you can help fill the world with whimsy and bring a smile to the faces in your neighborhood. Purchase this Snake Yarnbomb Crochet Pattern on Ravelry, Etsy, or Craftsy.   (more…)

Yarnbombs

Story Time Yarnbomb at the San Mateo Library


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A few months ago I tried out my new Addi Express knitting machine on a few bike rack worm yarnbombs. The Very Hungry Caterpillar yarnbomb from the popular children’s book was so loved by patrons at the San Mateo Public Library, that when it recently got shaggy I knew I had to replace it. My sister Jill and our new intern, Magine, dreamed up a new installation to span all 6 bike racks with characters from kids books. That required we expand our search to include any tube-shaped character, and we found 5 more! So, pop quiz: how well do you know your kids lit? The answers are in the photo titles of this Flickr album. (more…)

Yarnbombs

New Buttmunches Yarnbomb: Monster Benches at the Ferry Building


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When my sister, Jill, and I aren’t working on publishing new knitting and crochet patterns or a commissioned installation, we do what we love most: yarnbombing. If you haven’t checked out our new zine called Fuse that’s all about what yarnbombing it is and why/how people do it, get with the program here!
Ever since our big Squid Tree yarnbomb in San Mateo, we’ve wanted to design a new character-based yarnbomb in a great spot. We got the perfect chance when CCTV-America asked to film us installing a yarnbomb for their new show about creativity called Full Frame: introducing our newest monster bench yarnbomb we’re calling Buttmunches!

(more…)

Projects

We Knit a Window Display for our Local Yarn Shop


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I wanted to share one of the things Jill and I worked on lately. We have an EPIC project going up next week, but in the mean time I’ve managed to squeeze in another fun job.

Downtown San Mateo’s local yarn shop, Nine Rubies, is wonderfully supportive of local crafters and yarnbombing, so it’s no surprise they recruited us to spruce up the huge front window for the holidays.

If you’re in the Bay Area, Nine Rubies just might convince you to get out of the house on Black Friday: they’re offering 40% off everything! Check out the details on their Facebook page here. (more…)