Mini Magical Friendship Ponies (free pattern)

The cartoon My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is surprisingly awesome. It's clever, has a good sense of humor, and features six strong female characters, each with her own very distinctive personality. On top of that, the art style is adorable - the characters were designed by Lauren Faust, who previously worked on The Powerpuff Girls and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends.

You can make your own little ponies too, either for the little one in your life, or for yourself :) Though you do have to attach all the pieces at the end, each piece is knit seamlessly. The ears and wings are flat garter stitch, the legs are based on i-cord, the head and body are in the round, and the body is shaped with short rows. Then, finish it all off with some embroidery and an innovative way of making soft fluffy hair. Ponies are rather top-heavy, but they can easily stand up on their own with the help of some light wires hidden in the legs.

Mini Magical Friendship Ponies

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Twisty Wristband - Free pattern and tutorial!

Twisty wristband

This wristband is a small, quick project designed to teach you a few techniques to spice up your knitting. The provisional caston and three-needle bindoff are fantastic tools for knitting seamlessly. Throw in a few cool cables, and you've got a fun afternoon project.

This pattern is written with the instructions of each section first, and the explanation immediately afterward. If you don't understand the instructions, then keep reading, but if you already know the technique, you can move on to the next section.

Yarn: About 20yds of DK-weight yarn (shown: Debbie Bliss Rialto)
Needles: US6 (4mm) needles
Supplies: Waste yarn, crochet hook (optional), yarn needle, third needle for three-needle BO

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Mawata Pulsewarmers - Free pattern

If you enjoy the look and feel of handspun yarn, but haven't learned to spin, knitting with mawata (silk hankies) is the perfect option. Silk hankies are a lightly processed form of silk - each layer of 'hankie' is a single silkworm cocoon which has been stretched out over a frame. Since each coccoon is made up of one continuous strand of silk, these hankies can be stretched out into strands and still retain enough strength to be knit with.

In order to knit with the silk mawata, take a single layer from your hankie stack - a single layer is very thin, and you should be able to see through it. Stick your finger through the middle of the sheet, creating a hole, then stretch it out with your hands. You can spread your arms apart to break it up initially, and then go over it inch by inch to make it thinner and more even.
For a step-by-step photo tutorial, check out this Knitty article.
If you hear ripping sounds as you attenuate your hankies, don't worry! - Remember, you're stretching out one single, very long strand of silkworm fiber. You have to rip the strand in some places in order for those fibers to slip past one another and create a thinner yarn. You will still be able to knit with it.

You can buy silk hankies from online markets such at Etsy, or places which sell fiber for spinning or felting. To get you started with knitting with mawata, here is a small, delicate project - a pair of these pulsewarmers will take less than 10g of hankies. Use them undyed for a classic, delicate look, or experiment with dyed hankies for a funky pair of colorful wristwarmers.

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Kyuubey in crochet amigurumi (with instructions)

Would you like to make a contract?

It's Kyuubey, everyone's favorite cuddly satanic messenger!

If you don't know who Kyuubey is, he's from the brilliant anime Puella Magi Madoka Magica, currently on hiatus due to the tsunami. Even if you haven't seen much anime, this show is absolutely worth a watch. If you grew up on Sailor Moon, Cardcaptors, or other magical girl series, watch this one and your mind will be blown. Cute little pigtailed magical girls, with fluffy mystical animal companion, and elements of Faust, secret codes, suicide cults...
(more photos on Ravelry)
I'm a total crochet novice - I can't read crochet patterns, much less write them, but it's not hard to make your own Kyuubey. If you're familiar with the basic amigurumi techniques (single crochet, increase, decrease, slip stitch) you can make this. You stuff it as you go along; there's no sewing up involved.

You will need: A crochet hook, a yarn needle, stuffing, and yarn in four colors: white, pink, red, and gold (very small amounts of the last two), and some black yarn or thread for the mouth.
You can work this in any gauge, so long as the hook matches the thickness of the yarn so that the stuffing doesn't come through.

Read on for the how-to!

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Belle Bow - Free Pattern!

This is a fun little design I whipped up for scrap yarn - I used some of my handspun, a lovely batt from my friend CCSmile. She did a Beauty and the Beast Spinalong, so this is Belle's hairbow.

The bow is worked on small needles in the dense linen stitch so that the bow will maintain its shape - if you work it too loosely, it will be floppy.
I'm a child at heart, so this bow is "me-sized". As written, it will work as a normal-sized bow for an adult or an oversized bow for a child. You could easily adjust it to be child-sized, either by reducing the gauge or by casting on fewer stitches and knitting fewer rows.

Yarn: Approximately 30 yards of DK-weight or light worsted yarn
Needles: US3 (3.25mm) DPNs, US3 (3.25mm) straights (optional)
Materials: Yarn needle and an elastic hairtie

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iTouch Jumper free pattern (iPod/iPhone sock)

Here's the pattern for my iPod jumper/sweater/sock/cozy (blogged previously). It's quick and takes, if my scale is to be believed, less than 10g of sock yarn, so it's perfect for scraps. It's easy to customize to fit your device - I made mine to fit my new (4th generation) iPod Touch, but with some adjustments it can be made to fit any generation iTouch or iPhone, or any similar device. Play around it with; you can 'try it on' as you go to ensure a good fit.

A fingering weight yarn with a good elasticity is important, so yarns with a large wool content are recommended. Smooth yarns are also better than fuzzy ones - I did my first one in Wisdom Poems, which is a fuzzy singles yarn, so when I tried to use the camera it ended up with a halo all around my photos ;) My second one was done in Knit Picks Essential kettle-dyed, a much smoother yarn.

The "jumper" starts with an invisible cast-on, is worked in the round for a while then worked flat across the back of the iPod, then joined in the round again, and finishes with a grafted bottom, leaving room for the USB cable and headphone jacks. Then stitches are picked up around the screen hole for increased stability, and finally stitches are picked up for the screen cover. Read on for the pattern.

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Mark's scarf from RENT: knitting on commission (with pattern formula!)

I got an exciting project started this week - my sister is paying me to knit her a scarf for her boyfriend's birthday. They are both huge musical theater nerds, so my sister asked me to knit her Mark Cohen's scarf from the musical and movie RENT.

It's a simple enough scarf; striped stockinette in navy and white with a fringe. Lucky me, I found two colors of Knit Picks Main Line (75% cotton/25% wool) on clearance - Blueberry and Ivory. It's a nice yarn, would probably be great for garments. Sad that they seem to be discontinuing it. But I digress.

I really enjoy trying to copy knits. I get a real sense of accomplishment knowing that I have untangled someone else's pattern, using only my eyes and my knitter's experience. Sometimes I get it right and sometimes I just get it close, but I really enjoy it. My Golden Compass mitts for instance.

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GIVEAWAY - Win the first issue of Handknit Heroes, the knitting comic book! Free!

This giveaway is now over. Thanks for entering!

The moment you've been waiting for... I'm holding a giveaway! I have acquired a brand-new first issue of Handknit Heroes, sealed in the bag and ready for you. And I'm giving it away to one lucky blog reader!

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Alethiometer Mitts: Free Knitting Pattern

Alethiometer Mitts

These fingerless gloves were inspired by the mitts Lyra wears in the Golden Compass movie. Last winter I improvised a pair with my handspun yarn, and now I've written up a pattern from my notes for anyone who's interested.
They are especially warm because of the flap that wraps around your fingers, and doubly so in the bulky wool/alpaca blend that I made the purple pair out of, Knit Picks Cadena.

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