Come on - you know you want to make one!

As someone pointed out on our Facebook page - these could actually come in handy when it comes to dressing shepherds in a school nativity play!

So inspired by that, we thought we'd find you a few more beardy ideas.

Need to knit a Santa's beard? - then here's a pattern for you

Fancy just the beard without the beanie - why not try this pattern

Or for a comprehensive choice of knitted beards  there's a whole page of Etsy devoted to beard patterns. Whatever turns you on!

Or for some more mainstream knitting and craft inspiration have a browse on Make it and Mend it. One of our most popular patterns is for knitting a hat like Cheryl Cole's

And, as if you needed any more excuses to get those needles out - read Hilary's piece on how knitting helps people with depression (and she should know - she's a Dr of Psycholoogy!) Knitting as Therapy

Knit your own skeleton for Halloween

If you find ghosts and vampires a bit on the spooky side what about a knitted skeleton to demonstrate Halloween's softer side?

To be honest, this intricate knitted skeleton wasn't created to scare people but as part of “Transcending the Material” installation by artist Ben Cuevas, which was exhibited in New York.

We caught up with Ben and asked him a few questions about knitted art...

Any tips for people who want to use knitting as a material for art? 

Don't be afraid to explore and experiment. Get yourself outside the pattern-box. Patterns can be useful for understanding how to create shapes, but when making knit-art, most of the time you just have to wing it.

And were you a knitter beforehand? Who taught you?
I've been knitting since I was 20, so that's about 4+ years. My friend Jessica Charlene Ruvalcaba taught me how to knit. We used to hang out at my apartment in Hollywood and just knit and chat and watch TV... it was quite a lovely way to learn.
»  The art of Ben Cuevas

Knit yourself a holiday

Yes, I know it seems like we've gone knitting mad on the blog recently but we just wanted to mention this knitting competition  from the sunny Channel Island of Guernsey.

Everybody's heard of the Guernsey sweater. Designed originally to keep sailors warm they've enjoyed wide fashion status over the years (and they still look rather cool with jeans and espadrilles).

In days gone by each family on the island would have its own unique pattern that was passed down through the generations by word of mouth. But the Second World War and evacuation meant that many of these oral histories began to die out.

The competition is encouraging knitters to... re-interpret the original garment, how the family patterns might have looked, or would look today if the tradition had continued and evolved.

The winner will receive an trip for two to Guernsey. The winning design will also be published in a leading UK knitting magazine.

To maintain the Guernsey tradition competition entries should try and incorporate the following features in their designs, drawings or patterns:
• inclusion of the traditional box shape
• British [or Guernsey] wool - four or five ply
• pattern designs for size 10-12.

Designs can be uploaded to the Visit Guernsey facebook page

Guernseys are made of single colour worsted yarn, usually four or five ply, tightly knit using fine needles [as small as size 13 or 14].

The sweater was originally knitted in the round, with a purl stitch to mark the side seam. Patterns are made up of simple knit/ purl combinations, the most elaborate of which would have covered the top half of the body and arms.

Patterns on Tudor knitted stockings produced in Guernsey had names such as Turk’s Head, and Peacock’s Tail, which may have also been used on jumper designs. Jumpers have a boxy shape which means that they can be worn both ways; front and back (originally to prolong life-span).

Other common features include a funnel neck, triangular inserts under the arms and at the neck edge, and side splits in the hem for ease of movement.

Get your needles out.

Knit your own masterpiece

Thanks to Jenny Brown form Australia for sharing the low-down on this fantastic knitting group from South Shields in the North of England.

The Materialists are a group of knitters of  mixed abilities from complete beginners to professionals. Every Saturday morning they meet up at the Customs House in South Shields. The group got started in early 2009 (around about the same time as us!) with the Coat for a Boat project in which 350 knitters contributed to knitting a giant coat for a fishing boat, including sails, which was launched on the Tyne.


One of the group's recent projects is to recreate art masterpieces in knitting. Here are a couple of examples:

Andy Warhol's Marilyn Monroe

Munch's The Scream.

Tea cosy hats for kids

MIAMI member Angela recently shared her instructions for making traditional tea cosies.

Angela has just sent us these photos to show how she's adapted her pattern to make a child's hat. She's done one for a girl and one for a boy. She asks

"Now... HONESTLY.... is this a snuggly, warm, can-be-pulled-down-over-ears child's hat.... or is the poor kiddo going to be laughed at mercilessly... 'ha ha ha... you're wearing a tea cosy!' (Or maybe nowadays, young kids don't even know what a tea cosy is... or what it looks like!)."

We think she's done a great job and these cosy hats should keep any child warm in the playground come Winter. And it's so rare you see a proper tea cosy these days that there's little risk of being accused of wearing one! What do you think?

The boy's hat (above) has a bobble and the girl's has a crocheted flower on the top (petals lift up separately)

To adapt the hats from Angela's tea cosy pattern just cast on 84 stitches instead of 98 then work as for the tea cosy pattern, but instead of doing 4 repeats of the 12 row pattern just do 3 repeats then work as for the original for the reducing rows. Add your bobble or crochet topping. 

 

>> Get the pattern from our website
>> Read about Angela

Waiting for a bus? Why not knit one?

At Make it and Mend it we never cease to be amazed by the creativity of your average knitter. But this latest effort from Cocoon Knits down on the UK's South Coast has sent us to new heights of admiration.

The picture shows a rather fetching 'bus stop cosy', as we've termed it. But Cocoon's knitters are not stopping there...

By this summer they want to have knitted a cover for a open top double decker bus, in order to raise money for a local hospice, The Martletts. The aim is to raise £40,000.

Cocoon want knitters - experienced, beginners or just curious - to pick up their needles and help. Each participant will collect sponsors and knit a minimum of three 15cm x 15cm squares. The minimum sponsorship amount is £25 per entry.

"We’re looking for pink ones, green ones, patterned, striped or any colour you wish. To celebrate the end of the project the bus will be driven along Brighton seafront on the 20th August with contributors and guests aboard."

After the event all blankets will be broken down and sent to Africa with the help of Knit a Square charity.

For more information and to register please go to www.cocoonknits.co.uk 

Anne Caborn

If you want to get ahead get a hat! ... like Cheryl's

It seems these days Cheryl Cole can do no wrong and sets the fashion wherever she goes and whatever she wears. Last week was no exception when she braved the elements wearing a bobble hat.
Yes, you heard it right, the bobble hat, that bane of our childhood, when our mothers forced us to wear them, have now become big business and all thanks to Mrs Cole.
Expect to see bobble hats all over the shops and everyone wearing them. Knitwear is back in fashion and it’s time for you to get out there and grab yourself a hat.
Cheryl’s hat comes from Aubin and Wills and costs a mere £50! - but don’t worry if that seems a bit steep, because we've got really simple instructions for making your own Cheryl look-alike hat for a fraction of the price.
Why not make loads of them? - they'll make great Christmas gifts for all your friends

>> click here to make your very own Knitted Bobble Hat

For more knitting inspiration:

>> knit this very easy handbag

>> make your own knitted doorstop

Your advice to a novice make and mender?

"I've never done this kind of thing before - I have no confidence - I don't know where to start"
We often hear this from people who want to live more creatively and sustainably but aren't sure where and how to start. So I decided to share some suggestions and invite all our readers to chip in with your ideas too.

The projects I have chosen here cover different areas of making and mending and share the following points in common:

• Fast to do - so there's a quick win - always good when you are starting something new (there's nothing worse than starting but not finishing something and then feeling guilty about it)
• Produce big, visible results - so you'll feel it's been worthwhile and a good return on the time and energy you've invested. They'll make a difference to your life or your surroundings.
  
• Easy - so this should give you confidence and enthusiasm to continue and to move on to bigger and more ambitious projects
• Cheap - ideally you can do them with materials you already have.

So that's the brief. Here's my suggestions. Please tell us yours. We'll put 'em on the makeitandmendit website - with instructons how to do.

Get into Gardening - try growing courgettes (zucchini)



This choice was based on seeds (cheap) and vegetables (thrifty) - growing from seed can seem a bit risky, a bit slow and a bit chancy if you haven't tried before. So go for courgettes. They have big seeds (a bit like melom seeds) so they're very easy to handle and plant and don't require all that thinning and pricking out. They grow quite fast and are easy to grow. They also produce yellow flowers so you'll have some floral interest and colour as well as eventual vegetable bounty! - and you can bung 'em in the freezer after - and live off them for ages.

Get into Sewing - by making a cushion cover



Cushion covers are super easy and require no special techniques - you don't need to put zips in - you can either sew up all four sides or add a flap and a couple of buttons. You can make a few cushion covers in an hour or so and will have an instant impact on your room. Here's our instructions on cushion cover making

Get into knitting - by sewing blanket squares
If you are a complete novice knitter then starting off by knitting some simple garter stitch squares for charity is a brilliant way to learn. You can use odd balls of yarn and in no time at all you'll have a square - and the satisfaction of knowing it's helping someone needy to stay warm. Loads of charities have schemes - we like this one - and on their website there are step-by-step instructions.

Get into cooking - use some leftovers


One of the easiest recipes for leftovers is bubble and squeak. Very old fashioned - but real comfort food and so easy to do. Here's some other ideas for cooking with leftovers
But then you have to have cooked in the first place to have leftovers - so if you are a super novice then try a spaghetti bolognese - very easy, very forgiving and very tasty.

Get into DIY - hang some pictures
I'm almost embarrassed to include this but I do know people who are afraid to bang a nail in a wall. Just pick your spot. Get a hammer. Get a nail. Bang it in. Hang the picture - et voila'! Instant room transformation.
So those are my top of the head suggestions. What are yours? Please post your ideas in the Comments below

Knit your own brain

Ever had one of those days when your thinking is fuzzy and you feel like your head is full of cotton wool. Well if Karen Norberg has her way, it might possibly be true. Norberg, from the National Bureau of Economic Research in Massachusetts, has knitted an anatomically correct model of the brain. She started this project when she was training to be a child psychiatrist.

The ‘brain’ took a year to knit and Norberg found that once she started, she couldn't stop. The knitting migrated from a late-night time-killer to an after-work obsession. "I would rush home from work and say, 'Oh, I think I'll work on the corpus callosum tonight.” It is incredibly detailed and the cortex of Norberg's larger-than-life brain has realistic folds, while the internal structure is correct down to the nearest stitch. All the parts are properly connected, as can be revealed by undoing a well-concealed zip that connects the two hemispheres. She maintains that "Building a brain with yarn and knitting needles turns out to follow many of the same pathways as actual brain development."
Like all the best art, the brain is a one-off. "This is one of a kind," says Norberg. "It's a labour of love."
The original woollen brain is now housed at the Museum of Science in Boston, but this amazing piece of work can be seen at the online Museum of Scientifically Accurate Fabric Brain Art (http://harbaugh.uoregon.edu/Brain/index.htm), curated by neuro-economist Bill Harbaugh of the University of Oregon.

How Meryl knits her way into the zone

On BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour, Meryl Streep recently talked about getting prepared for inhabiting the characters she portrays in her films, and likened some of her scenes in her latest film, Doubt, as being akin to "gladiatorial combat".

When asked if she prepared, as the film's director has claimed, by "getting in the zone" like an athelete, Meryl replied almost indignantly that she looked at it as "so not sport" and declared that she spent all her time on set knitting. In fact she claimed to have taught her co-star Amy Adams, to knit and even knitted the shawl she wears in the film.

The knitting helped Meryl get into the role she was playing: "For me it was a place to gather my thoughts and understand the contemplative (life)". She went on to say "It's a sort of clearing out place".

Meryl Streep is not alone in seeing knitting as a road to contemplation and a way of keeping calm and grounded. It is not just a way to get into a role , but has other great beneficial effects - read our resident psychologist, Hilary Bruffel's piece on our Make it and Mend it website on how knitting can help cure depression.

Get a Granny knitting your socks

We love this idea. Check out this website www.netgranny.ch - it is a Swiss venture where about a dozen grannies offer their services as sock knitters. You can choose your Granny from the photos on the site and then it takes them a couple of weeks to knit the socks up.


This is great way for these women to capitalise on their skills to supplement their pensions and keep busy, while enabling even those who aren't lucky enough to have their own knitting granny to get a lovely pair of hand knit socks. My own Granny was an Olympic standard knitter and her piece de resistance was tea cosies. She would have loved this.