In our last class, we bring in an iced cake, and decorate it.  We did the basket weave around the sides of the cake, and picked a border for the top and bottom.  I chose the e-motion border for the bottom, and the reverse shells for the top.  There is a LOT of icing on this cake!  We had to pile up more icing on top of the cake so the flowers would sit up, and we could position them at an angle.  I wanted a lot of green leaves to add to the color, so I went a little crazy with the green…but very satisfied how it turned out.  Even though these flowers ARE edible, I’ll have to pass on crunching into them. 

Step One: Cut the longest piece of paper you can find into approximately one-inch strips – then tape 3 or 4 pieces together to make them even longer. OR, you could buy paper strips from a craft store to make the task a little easier.

Step Two: Fold the strips in half and line up the ends. Cut the ends so that it makes the paper easier to work with.

Step Three: Line up the ends so that they’re a little off – one half is about 3 inches longer than the other. Crease the fold so that you don’t loose this ratio.

Step Four: Create a basket weave bottom by sliding the two loose ends of each strip into the folded end of another strip.

Step Five: The last strip of the basket weave will have to be pushed through an existing weave like a stitch.

Step Six: Fold the top-right strip behind and to the right to form a triangle.

Step Seven: Now fold that same piece forward and down to form a pyramid.

Step Eight: Now fold this strip forward and to the left to get back to a pyramid. You will have to feed this strip through the top of your basket weave. If you pick it up and bend the triangle backwards a little bit when you do it it makes it a little easier to feed it through.

Step Nine: Repeat this step for the remaining 3 strips coming out on the right side of the star – then flip the project over and do the same thing 4 more times on the back. Then fold the left over strip straight up in the air from where it comes out of the weave.

Step Ten: This is where I had to add another strip of paper to keep going. Set your star on it’s side so that it is standing up. Take the strip on the right (the one that I added paper to in this photo). Hold the tip of this strip with your thumb on top and index finger on the bottom and rotate the strip counter-clockwise. Keep the top part with your thumb on top always.

Step Eleven: Slide that underneath the strip to the left (make sure to keep the original top still facing up)

Step Twelve: Pull the loop tight to make a point (I tucked the ends of my strips into the triangle point so that the 3d point would stay tight, but if it’s easier you can just cut your ends off).

Step Thirteen: Repeat on the remaining 3 strips sticking out on this side. Turn the star over and repeat on all 4 strips on that side.

You’re all finished! One tip is that if the tape from where you joined the paper together is showing on a particular fold, undo that last step and move the tape back some so that it is hidden.

Merry Christmas!

Now that it’s getting cold I need something to keep my neck warm while I’m cycling. Normally I love a nice long scarf but that is very impractical on a bike and would almost certainly get caught up in my wheels and lead to disaster! So, I decided to make myself a cowl instead.

I’ve been loving the Drops Alpaca so I decided to try out some other Drops wool. I went  for the Drops Alaska. It was nice and reasonably priced and it was lovely and soft and a pleasure to work with. I loved the colour too!

I decided to make the pattern up  which could have gone horribly wrong but it turned out really well. When I first started knitting my Mum gave me a little book with lots of stitch patterns in it and looking through reminded me of a cushion cover I knitted in a basket weave pattern so I was inspired to give that stitch another go.

I’ve put the pattern below incase any  one wants to give it a go.

Materials
7mm circular needle
2 balls of Drops Alaska

Pattern
Cast on 14o stitches. (I used a long tale cast on for a nice loose edge and because I think it looks pretty).
Join to work in the round
R1: knit all stitches
R2: [K5, P5) repeat 14 times
R3- R6:  repeat R2
R7 [P5, K5] repeat 14 times
R8-R711: repeat R6
Repeat R2-11 three more times so that you have 8 squares in total.
R82: knit all stitches
cast off loosely
Block out then admire your pretty cowl!

For the first time in a few years I decided to stay in tonight because a) I’m getting up early to play frisbee on the beach with my dad and sister, as is holiday tradition and b) I felt like poop and didn’t want to be surrounded by little tipplers two nights in a row.  Black Out Tuesday and the band Leadfoot at Keegan’s Pub last night was a good old time and, judging by the amount of Killian’s Irish Red I drank, all the fun I need for a few days. Leadfoot rocked the socks off of everyone last night and I can’t wait to see them play again. This sums up the night pretty well……

SO, what am I doing on this Thanksgiving Eve? Catching up with homework and crocheting. Yaaay!

I am obsessed with CraftGawker. And when I say obsessed I mean I wake up every morning and while I’m trying to shake off the sleepies I pull up the app on my phone and fulfill my daily dose of gawking. There just isn’t enough free time for all of the cute ideas I come across… So when I strolled upon the image of an adorable boy wearing an adorable crocheted cardigan I couldn’t help but open up the link. Low and behold it took me to what is now my favorite blog by the cutest couple in the world, Katie and Reuben at House of Humble. Reuben had crocheted a cardigan using the basket weave stitch and I knew I had to do something with it.

About a month ago I was wandering the yarn aisle at Michael’s craft store and came across this lovely yarn (the label ripped off after I got it home and I can’t remember what brand it is…) and have been saving it for the perfect project. It’s unbelievably soft and fuzzy. And the color is a pretty plum purple.. one of my favorites =)

I went on YouTube and found a simple video by mikeyssmail that teaches you step by step how to do the basket weave.  Needless to say I’m going to use this snazzy plum yarn to make myself a cozy headband for the cold weather creeping in on us! It shall be my little side project while I’m banging out all the things I’m making for everyone else. Pictures will follow =D

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Gobble till you wobble!

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE!: I finished my headband =)

Surprisingly I finished it a lot faster than I thought I would. I am in love with this basket weave stitch and will be using it again, for sure! The headband turned out more than fantastic and will be keeping my ears warm throughout the frigid Chicago winter.. Wanna seeeee??

It’s a very simple pattern and I think you should try it out and make beautiful things for yourself =) Happy crocheting!

It's actually not bad for my first scarf and does look nice. Plus, it will go well with my winter coat.

The first pattern I designed was a scarf (yes, I may have been knitting for under a year, but I have designed a pattern already). It’s just a simple scarf with a cable running down the middle with a nice stockinette and garter stitch along the edges for my mom for a holiday gift.

First pattern I designed and my second scarf. It looks great and the colorway was awesome for this pattern.

Scarves are great for gift giving. I decided that since I was making a scarf as a gift for my mom, it’d be cool to do the same for the rest of the family. Dad’s is a basket weave in a gray and black variegated yarn from Knit Picks (like the colorway for Mom’s scarf, this one is also discontinued). My sister’s is bright pink in a raspberry stitch. Both came out great and I’m really happy with them.

All of the scarves I've made laid out together.

A close up of the scarves together. (I left mine out because I'm not sure where I put it away for the summer, haha)

So am I done with scarves for a while? Nope. A work friend got some great yarn from Knit Picks for me to make a scarf for her. The colorway is called Nevermore in their Wool of the Andes Swish Tonals in worsted weight. The scarf is a pattern I created called “Dueling Cables” that has two cables running down the center twisting in opposite directions with stockinette edges along both sides. I can’t wait to get started on it

This colorway will look awesome in the pattern and is definitely a good fit for Emily (who I'm making the scarf for)

Here’s a Trademe order of a Lalaloopsy doll cake.

The girl loves orange cakes, so I managed to make a 12″ x 8″ orange cake with orange buttercream filling and icing.

Unfortunately I made this cake in a hurry and by the time it’s done it was night time, and as it’s too big to fit in my normal cake boxes, I needed to wrap this up gently with glad wrap and didn’t manage to take a day-light photo (which I’ve now stuck to as natural-lighting makes the photo look sooo much better!)

These photos will have to do… (the side of the cake was actually basket-weaving, but the lighting wasn’t very good)

Here’s the feedback:

Absolutely fantastic cake, You did an amazing job, thank you. Highly recommend to all  

Today I am stuck in  the house post “Irene”,  happy that we really didn’t sustain any damage. I am going to work on a couple of motifs from my new 150 Knit & Crochet Motifs book looking for inspiration. See you tomorrow with our yarn of the day.

Knit/Crochet Hybrid Hat

Frankenmittens

Kids Cowl/Neck Warmer

Enjoy!

I was attempting to not re-use fabrics so early in the process of piecing the Farmer’s Wife blocks, but I liked the way these three looked together in my pile of fabrics. Now, I did not use templates, nor did I paper-piece this. Why bother? Strip piecing accomplishes this block far faster than either of the two methods.

Farmer’s Wife QAL – #010 Bowtie

Heyyy, Ne’Sha` back with another fashionably yet frugal friendly post. This Spring & Summer we teach you how to be fashionable but frugal at The UCB. Refer to all the posts in ‘The UCB Frugal Style Guide’ for cheaper, chic trends. However, this time around I’m talking (Austin Power’s Voice) “Groovy Trends Baby”. Lol. I’m sure everyone has noticed by now the trends of Spring 2011 but in case you missed it, seventies inspired fashion has come into 2011 making a huge splash! That’s more of understatement, everywhere you look we see cross body bags, wedges/platforms, chunky heels, flowy tops, rompers, etc. While straight leg jeans are slowly fading away, bell bottom jeans are jumping on the scene!

Rachel Zoe rockin’ her 70′s look

I think it’s a wonderful trend. As does Rachel Zoe, on her site Rachel Zoe she showcased twenty seventies inspired pieces and boy are they hot to trot! This summer, my good friend Tamisha Monet and I, will be in our seventies chic afro-centric threads. But don’t call it a comeback because these were some of our fashion styles before the started trending. Here are a few of the seventies inspired pieces Rachel Zoe has on her site, but I’m adding a “Twist”! I’ll show you the pieces from RZ’s (Rachel Zoe) site along with pieces I found at Forever 21. They’ re less expensive and friendlier to your pockets!

Splurge

R. Zoe Joie-Top Flowy $168

Save

F21 Chiffon Flowy$19.80

Splurge

R. Zoe One Piece Wonder $375

Save

F21 Fabulous Jumper $15.50

Splurge

R. Zoe  DknyWoven Wedges $150

Save

F21 Weave Basket $26.80

Splurge

R. Zoe Hippie Chic Shades $360

Save

F21 $5.80

Splurge

R. Zoe Happenin’ Headpiece $22

Save

F21 Floral Headpiece$ 16.80

Splurge

R.Zoe Mah-Jor Maxi $158

Save

F21 Strapless Knit Dress $22.80

Rachel Zoe twitter is @RZRachelZoe

Until next time @FabBeauList Over&Out

Later Loves!!

…finally catching up after a couple of hectic days.  (oh – and a lovely shot of my metal flower garden at my desk at work)

Stats:  classic Talbots flats (“always a classic”, right?), kind of a basket-weave/natural color with thin brown leather trim.  Purchased on sale, in Milwaukee, about 4 years ago.

I love these shoes!  They’re perfect with jeans, shades of white/cream, skirts, pants, shorts…and a nice diversion from my normal black ballet flats.

I don’t have any special life events associated with these (need to create some memories), but I love them just the same

Cake Decorating Final – Piano Cake

Thanksgiving Fondant Cake with Marzipan Cornucopia

Basket-Weave Side with Royal Icing Flowers

Baby Shower Cake – Hearts & Animals

from head to toe, we’ve got you covered for spring (if it ever shows up, ha)!

feel free to e-mail, message us on facebook, or give us a shout @ (416) 551-8100. our store hours are: tuesdays 2PM – 6PM & wednesdays thru sundays 12PM – 6PM. see ya soon @ 165 augusta!

- gidget (wee, my first blog post)

Here's my cardboard sheet with some of the designs I learned in class.

My husband, Chris, and I aren’t the mushy, romantic types.  So when Valentine’s Day came around this year, there wasn’t much surprise involved.  ”Honey, what would you like for Valentine’s Day?” he asked me.

“Hmmm.  I’d really like to take a cake decorating class!”  I told him.

So, I scoured the Internet for cake decorating classes in Southern California.  As my best friend will tell you, I’m really into researching things.  When I get an idea in my head I have to look at all the options, read all the consumer reviews, and spend some time thinking it all over.  And that is exactly what I did.  I found an offering for a three-hour “crash course” at Do It With Icing in San Diego given by the President of the California Cake Club, Linda Bills.

Did I mention that I live about two and a half hours from San Diego?  Well, that didn’t stop me.  I called up my friend Cory, who is a local, and asked her if she’d join in on the fun.  Oh, and we had lots of fun!  The class took place this past weekend, and I adored every minute of it.  But let’s be honest, I am definitely NOT a natural.  I’m telling you guys, this stuff is a little tricky!  Linda was a knowledgeable teacher, and her 43 years of experience with cakes made me stand back in awe.  In just three hours she taught us to make dots, stars, rosettes, daisies, zig-zags, ropes, and basket weaves.

Here's my very first attempt at a basket weave.

The class taught me two things.  First, this definitely isn’t going to be a cake walk (pun intended!).  Even the very basic designs are much harder than they look.  I am going to need patience and perseverance to improve my humble skills.  Second, I’m actually interested in tackling this hobby!  I’m so glad I signed up for an introductory class to test it out.  I enjoyed the crash course so much that I found some classes closer to home!  I’ll be starting a five-week beginner cake decorating class at Jane’s Cakes & Chocolates.  I’ll have to wait until mid-April for the class to start, so you can bet I’ll be looking for another quick weekend class to do in the meantime.

A big thanks to Chris for a great Valentine’s gift and getting me started on a new hobby.  I might also need to pick up a new workout routine to work off all the cake!  :)

- Basket weave images

- Emulsion Lift

- Emulsion Transfers

- Silhouette Images

This cake was for my niece Karla. She was very specific on what she wanted her birthday cake to be. She said she wanted a white cake with pink and purple flowers.
I covered the bottom tier on fondant, then frosted the top tier and did the basket-weave technique.
I made Royal icing roses, primroses, daffodils, lilies and apple blossoms. I made those four days ahead, so they would be nice and firm.
Enjoy

I have finished my first stash reduction quilt.  Well its a bag, but it is made entirely from stash fabrics and supplies.  I was able to use up scraps of batting that were too small for quilts, and create a pattern as I went. 

I have been thinking about a tropical getaway, so I wanted this bag to look like a woven tote you might pick up at an island market.  Just the thing to make for spring.  I am still working on the pattern, but will post when I have it done.

Inspiration: Alexander McQueen Spring 2011

[Images: http://www.style.com/fashionshows/complete/S2011RTW-AMCQUEEN]

I think it’ll look cool combining the side basket weave with a faux hawk or a side updo like these:

This girl and her sister (Charlotte&Melissa) from youtube show how to do the hair basket weave:

How to: Trendy Basket Weave Hair – Chic and Unusual look Part 1

How to: Trendy Basket Weave Hair – Chic and Unusual look Part 2

I’m currently working a a scarf for a guy friend of mine for Christmas. Sorry for the crappy picture, this is the best I can get with my phone in my dimly lit office.

I’m doing a basket weave stitch for the entire length of the scarf in a charcoal grey merino/acrylic blend from Caron. I love this yarn.

What do you think?

This is a patten by my good friend Corrina.  I actually own two of these towels hand made for me by Corrina! They are wonderful and soft. My 3 year old loves them because when she dries her hands and face the towels don’t fall off!

Kitchen Towel in Basketweave Pattern

by Corrina

Skill Level: Easy
——————————————————–
MATERIALS

Two 2 oz balls Lily Sugar’n Cream Cotton Yarn
in your choice of colors

Size 7 knitting needles

1″ button or whatever size works for you
Needle and thread to attach button

For this towel, I used two different colors of
variegated yarn–starting with the first 10 rows
of the darker color and then alternating every
two rows.  This is a good way to use two different
balls of yarn or you can do stripes and use lots
of colors.

——————————————————–
Cast on 65 stitches

Bottom edge Knit 10 rows
—————————————————–
Pattern

Row 1   k5 (p5 ,k5) 5 times, ending with p5, k5
Row 2   k5 (k5, p5) 5 times, ending with k10

Rows 3-8  Repeat rows 1 and 2

Row 9   k5 (k5, p5) 5 times, ending with k10
Row 10 k5 (p5, k5) 5 times, ending with p5, k5

Rows 11-16 Repeat rows 9 and 10

Repeat rows 1 thru 16 four more times
——————————————————
Decrease rows

Row 1  (p3, p2tog) across
Row 2  (k3, k2tog) 10 times, end k2
Row 3  (p3, p2tog) 8 times, end p2
Row 4  (k3, k2tog) 6 times, end k4
Row 5  (p2, p2tog) across
Row 6  (k1, k2tog) across  = 14 stitches remaining
———————————————————
Top Tab with buttonhole

On remaining 14 st, knit 36 rows

Buttonhole

Row 37  k5, (k2tog) twice, k5
Row 38  k6, increase 2 stitches, k6 = 14 st

Row 39 k2tog, k10, k2tog
Row 40 k2tog, k8, k2tog
Row 41 k2tog, k6, k2tog
Row 42 k2tog, k4, k2tog
Row 43 k2tog, k2, k2tog
Row 44 k2tog twice = 2 st remaining

Cut yarn and pull through these last two stitches.

Sew on button in center of first two knit rows of the tab.

Weave ends in.

Machine wash and dry or hang to dry.

Here are some pictures of the finished product:

Multi-colored.

Basketweave in blue.

Basketweave-blue...in action!

Close up of the top.

Full shot of basketweave in a lighter multi-blue.

Kitchen Towel in Basketweave Pattern by Corrina is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.craftylife.net.

All original works posted on this blog are covered under my copyright.