Flagel Knitting Files

Of course knitters, in their inevitable push to use knitting to make just about anything, would come up with a way to deal with bad hair days.  Here's a few free and very affordable knitted wig/hair-like patterns. To start with, Louise Walker is a very talented English photographer and knitter.  Although she's just finished art school she's making a name for herself by using both of her refined skills.  One of her more unique creations is the knitted wig.  Here's a couple of examples of this work.  Louise designs, knits and then photographs her wigs.   According to her website  (check it out for more photos) these Woolly Heads are inspired by famous and/or classic hairstyles from the past and are a nice change from the usual winter hat.  But I think they might make for very interesting Halloween costumes as well. Or how about an Elvis wig for the male in your life who just can't wait for his own hair and mut...

So my 50% completed sushi project is now complete.  (There's happy, happy cheers going off in my head.)  It has been in process since, well to be honest I don't remember, but it has been a long time.  It was listed in my WIPs (works in progress) page in October and stood incomplete well before that time.  John had urged me to continue to be motivated in this type of food after the pork lo mein with noodles.  And thanks to his nudge, I finished the project this weekend. This pattern is again from Susie Johns.  Part of the trick for the Maki is finding ribbon the right size, and I was not totally successful in this.  My ribbon is a bit too small or my rolls a bit too big, either way it isn't quite true to life Maki , but then any knitted food will have to take some license.  The centre of my Uramaki is a bit small, but the soy paper (ribbon) is perfect in size!  I'm not sure what the yellow centre is, perhaps yellowtail.  The ...

It's back to quirkiness and time to step away again from the cuteness for a while.  But as you see I'm someone who slips from one to the other without much effort so anticipate this back and forth to be my new normal. A dramatization of me in the midst of my startitist frenzy Yarn barf .  I'm willing to bet you hadn't thought of putting those two words together, had you?  It just so happens yarn barf can be a reoccurring pain for those of us who use yarns that come in a skein instead of a hank.  (No pun intended regarding the current Noro virus, well maybe a little pun.) Skeins of yarn wound by the manufacturer These are hanks which need to be wound into balls  If you look closely at the picture on the right you'll see the start on the millet yellow skein at the centre right of the photo.  Its start can easily be seen coming from the centre of the skein onto the violet skein to the left.  Easy to find, right! ...

I have been busy knitting quirky stuff lately so the writing has been minimized.  In fact, I've just finished a knitted pork and lo mein stir fry in yarn all packed up in a take out box (the box wasn't knitted).  The pattern was taken from Susie Johns' book:   Twenty to make Knitted Fast Food.   My finished version includes the multi-coloured pork, tan mushrooms, spring onions along with green and red pepper slices. And this is what I was hoping to make it look like, a photo of a real plate of pork with lo mein noodles.  If you want a recipe to make the real thing click on the link. Back to the knitting.  The noodles are very easy to knit; one just knits an I-cord .  The video is four minutes long, but if you watch just past the first minute you'll see the essence of what needs to be done to create it.  And to get the characteristic twists and turns of a noodle, I just wet the I-cord and wrapped it around a pencil to dr...

Scientists seem to be a relatively large, identifiable group of knitters.  Many of these knitters are working on adding or already have a Ph.D. as a part of their name.  This subgroup of knitters bring an entirely new, complex and interesting context to the knitting realm.  Here's a peek at some of what they do. Want to add a molecular design to a sock or sweater, check out the patterns at  ChemKnits .  This chemist has put down on graph paper no less than 20 different natural amino acids.  (As if I'd know if they were natural or not.)  The symmetry of Asparagine speaks to me.  Here it what it looks like: Apparently poor asparagine is not an essential amino acid but it plays with sugars in such a way it causes the crispiness of French fries, potato chips and crusty baked breads.  Ah, that's why I was drawn to it, it helps create one of my most favorite food groups! Or maybe your thing is neurons found i...

It isn't unusual to have someone post a photo like those found in this post on any one of the chat rooms I follow.  For instance, this is a sleeve one knitter made and asked  if we could see a mistake.  I'll put the same question to you.  Do you see any problems on this sleeve?  I've enlarged it so that you can take a good look. I think the knitter hoped we wouldn't find anything; unfortunately, her fellow knitters are anything if not brutally honest.  A number of people responded that, yes, there is a mistake in the fifth cable from the top of the photo (each cable creates a small oblong circle down the center of the sleeve) or the seventh from the bottom.   That particular circle has two extra rows in it making that cable bigger than the rest and distorting the cable below it as well.  The challenge for the knitter is whether she should take out that last one third of the sleeve and re...

Knitted Mr. Edless Two normal posts in a row now demands time to continue the quirkiness/weirdness factor.  This horse head conjures up reminders of the movie  The Godfather , yes you do remember that scene, right?  And all of us of a certain age remember Mr. Ed, the talking horse in a TV series from our childhood.  Put the two together and you have Mr. Edless here.  This model can be used by the more refined gangster to send the message wanted without all the consequential mess. Becca Compton from the U.S. not only posted some additional  great photos  (just click on Next ), she also shares a  free pattern  to knit one for yourself.  So join the dark side and knit up a Mr. Edless for your least favourite person. Or how about knitting up this poor kitty? Although I could find the image and the cat is definitely knit, I couldn't locate any more about this poor soul. You're on your ow...

So it is official, Pantone has announced the colour for 2013 - swatch number 17-5641 Emerald. According to Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Colour Institute, green is a colour abundant in the natural world but also respected and loved around the world.  “Green is the most abundant hue in nature – the human eye sees more green than any other colour in the spectrum,” says Eiseman. “As it has throughout history, multifaceted Emerald continues to sparkle and fascinate. Symbolically, Emerald brings a sense of clarity, renewal and rejuvenation, which is so important in today’s complex world. This powerful and universally appealing tone translates easily to both fashion and home interiors.”  Frankly speaking I'm not sure I get the entire renewal and rejuvenation thing from this colour, (yes I know green connotes life) but saying it brings a sense of clarity does make sense.  This particular green is not overstated or fussy; it should be able to fit i...

I didn't skip the Holidays this year, I have decided just to not write about it in detail.  There were cookies made, good if not gourmet meals (IMHO) prepared, most not prepared by me and lots and lots of family time and gifts.  I will list here only those relating to knitting, but know there were plenty more I could mention. I asked for is this book (yeah, I know do I really need another knitting book with over 40 already listed; yes I do).   Amigurumi Knits: Patterns for 20 Cute Mini Knits by Hansi Singh was a gift asked for and received.  Check out the link above to review the vegetables, insects, sea creatures, and crytids (like the jackalope).  The thing that intrigues me most is the Black-Devil Anglerfish;  I just love the appendage with what looks like a light at the end in front of that monster-like mouth.  Plus there's a great looking earthworm, I'll have to knit a whole slue of them.  This book alone will keep me busy f...

Let the weirdness continue with yarn taxidermy.  The idea of hanging the head of a dead animal on a wall to enjoy (??) has never held much of an appeal to me.  But I was intrigued with these realistic looking taxidermy done in yarn. Shauna Richardson is an artist from Leicestershire, UK.  She has specialized in something she calls crochetdermy and has recently made quite a reputation for herself.  She uses crochet to sculpt realistic life-size or bigger-than-life looking animals.  She has received critical acclaim with her work  receiving worldwide media coverage and selling into collections across the globe.  In 2009 Shauna won ‘Artists taking the lead’ part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad with the ‘ Lionheart Project’ .  (Click on the project link to see all three lionesses of this huge project.) I also encourage you to check out the photo below to get an idea of the size of  this project.  It took Ric...

I want to declare the need for more quirkiness in 2013 with more quirky knitting and more quirky knitting topics.  And I can't think of anything much more quirky than possum yarn; can you? Before you leave, give me a minute to explain.  The opossum those of us from North America are most familiar with is not the creature that creates possum yarn.  An opossum is a North American phenomenon remotely related to the possums found in Australia and New Zealand.  In fact if you really want to know the nitty gritty about the differences between an opossum and a possum click here .  There may be more detail than you want, but I know some of you enjoy thoroughly understanding such things. An Opossum An Opossum with the kids on board Note the North American opossum has a hairless tail, one of the biggest characteristics that separate them from the possum; unfortunately, it also causes them to appear a lot like a large...