The last of the baby blankets for a little while at least! This one was fun; the mom-to-be requested pink and ombre. Since I wasn’t going to knit and then dye it myself, this was the compromise I came up with. I really hope she likes it!

Instead of my go-to Brava Bulky; I went with the worsted weight on this blanket. I used the worsted weight yarn, double-stranded to give the same bulky weight as before but also so I could visually blend the two colors together. I used two strands of the rose color, then transitioned to one strand of rose with one strand of plum (Fairy Tale) and finally two strands of plum to finish it off.

It’s probably the largest baby blanket I have completed to date. I’m happy with the color progression and am thinking about doing more like this, in different colors but the same blending technique.

It’s just a simple garter stitch which means it’s super squishy and very stretchy. It’s dang cozy!

This pretty blanket is destined for another Blizzard baby who hasn’t joined us just yet but I am looking forward to meeting her!

Another baby blanket! The more stripes the merrier. I just winged it on the pattern for this one and made it up as I went along.

Knitpicks Brava Bulky strikes again! I ordered the dark blue and the turquoise yarn first and wanted to make a striped blanket out of those two colors but discovered a few inches in that I wouldn’t have enough yarn. I went to order more of the dark blue but it was out of stock for months! I gave up on my original idea and incorporated white to help make up the yardage.

I decided to do skinny stripes and carry the secondary color up the sides to avoid weaving in a billion ends. Finishing is usually the downside of any project, weaving in all the ends can be tedious so the less of that, the better.

For the darker stripe, I switched yarn on the wrong side to add extra stripes formed by the blips and then switched back to the right side for the turquoise so all the blips would be on the back again.

This little dude is headed for a darling Blizzard baby. She’s a tiny peach!

I love this blanket! This is the second one I’ve made from the Purl Bee pattern and I’m kind of in love (here’s the first one).

I used KnitPicks Brava Bulky again; I kind of think it’s perfect for baby goods. It’s machine washable and pretty soft. It doesn’t hurt that it’s bulky and knits up superfast!

Glamour shot! In the amazing office of Hoodzpah Art + Graphics. I can’t wait for a real action shot of my new nephew with the blanket!

I went with skinnier stripes in this version and added some black for more contrast. Also into the large chunk of white for the last third of the blanket; kind of makes the darker, more somber colors feel lighter in a way.

Chevron is sort of everywhere but that won’t stop me from loving it!

The thing about flat knitting is that there is a right side and a “wrong” side. The wrong side refers to the backside or the inside of a knitted piece. It’s the side that isn’t usually seen and usually hides all the blips (those little extra white stitches that form a very slender row of white). But, I rather like the blips. It’s like a bonus stripe. The more stripes the better, really.

The pink sparkle eyelet cowl & my awesome mirror portraiture. Scott was totally aware and very happy to be part of this composition. I made this cowl for a friend over the summer. Something light and adorable that I knew she would love & be able to use here in the balmy temperatures of Orange County.

The Vogue Stitchionary books are really quite amazing. I have Volumes 1, 2 3 & 5 currently. Hoping for the 4th even though it’s crochet (which is still very much a mystery to me, other than the chain stitch). I love going through these volumes and picking out a pattern that catches my fancy. I’m not much of a lace knitter, personally. I get frustrated with the tiny needles and tiny yarn and usually end up in weird knots but I picked out a super easy 4-row repeat pattern for this cowl— 7 Polka Dots— and went to work.

ERMERGERD. This yarn! I love it! So! Much! Gorgeous yarn from Sun Valley Fibers. I admit that it fought me when I was winding it from skein form to a workable ball but in the end I triumphed. This yarn really grabs itself (which is what made it difficult to wind) but turned into total loveliness with this particular pattern, especially after blocking.

I have a few more skeins of this yarn in a few different colorways. I am pretty excited to whip up some more delicate little cowls.

Something I’ve struggled with since moving here to sunny Southern California from my beloved windy city is weather-appropriate garb. Coming from Chicago, I am addicted to lots and lots of layering. But holy moly, I overheat easily so this weather has been throwing me for a loop. Figuring out the right fabrics and balancing the garments breath is a pretty high priority for me. I miss my knitted items! Most of the things I’ve knit for myself over the years are of the toasty warm, squishy, cozy genre. I’ve been daydreaming of something I could layer with and still be comfortable temperature-wise.

I think I’ve figured it out finally! This version is a gift for a friend who is also a recent transplant to this warm climate who I thought might be missing these layering pieces just as much as me. This is done in that lovely MadelineTosh Merino light that I just bought a few weeks ago (I was excited to use it!) from the Purl Soho warehouse in Tustin. The fabric turned out nicely airy but not fluffy; it still has enough weight to give a good drape to the finished fabric. I have to knit one for myself now— thinking maybe some sort of coral color, something peppy & springy.

*my husband loves to try to get me to laugh when my automatic timer is counting down. sometimes he succeeds. Today is our third wedding anniversary. We are such lucky, lucky assholes. <3

& now for the most impractical children’s hat ever!
I had this color combo stuck in my head for awhile and felt the need to knit it out. It does actually fit on my head but it’s a tish snug for my liking so I’ll just call it a children’s hat. Made out of Merino wool, alpaca & silk. Totally suitable for children, right? Handwash, lay flat to dry. Completely practical. Ha! Not at all. ANYWAY. I started with a simple skull cap, chocolate, brown & cream (like coffee!). When I was finished with the cap, it didn’t look quite done to me so I decided to pick up a few stitches and sort of knit-sculpt to make tiny animal ears. This is the result….

I think the next iteration will be in a far more practical yarn option.

Have you done any crafty experimenting of your own lately? Got pictures to share?

Preview of hats to be released tomorrow, Wednesday, October 5th. Black, smoke & cream!

It’s hard for me to believe that fall is already here (especially while located in Southern California where summer feels perpetual and seasons never seem to change—it’s like a weird weather-time-vortex) and that I have been knitting for WEEKS on end. I am sourcing some finishing touches for this season’s hat launch and will definitely have the first of the hats up by the end of the month (hopefully sooner). I will certainly keep you all posted.

The story of the hats! I first began knitting hats in November of 2008 when I was laid off from a magazine publisher in Chicago. Luckily, I wasn’t unemployed for very long but the brief break allowed my brain to churn out some creativity on full throttle for a month and a half (while panic-stricken, I frantically looked for work). I had been hunting for a hat to give my little sister as a gift for a bit but I couldn’t find anything that was exactly what I was envisioning so I started testing out some ideas on my needles. I wanted a beret, in a vibrant color with lots of cute cables and just the right amount of slouch. Thus the Twisted Thistle was born! I liked it so much that I started knitting more and more and suddenly I had far more hats than what I knew what to do with. I sold my very first hat on Etsy in January 2009.

Knitting berets has become somewhat of a meditative process for me (each one takes me about 8 hours to create) but last season, I kept saying to myself that it would be my last season knitting hats. It’s a lot of work, effort and time. I spend a lot of time producing and less time creating new things. I try to source gorgeous yarn, soft and durable and remain as cost effective as possible. I want to maintain great quality and a reasonable price but I also want my hands to not feel broken after a knitting sprint! I have a fairly demanding career as an Art Director for a magazine, I like to dabble in all sorts of crafts (as evidenced by rottencupcakes itself), I have a few other side projects that keep me with my hands and head full of ideas & activity and I do actually enjoy spending time with my rad husband and our cats. I enjoy knitting these berets too much to stop entirely but in order to keep my life a little more balanced—this hat season will be a tish smaller and perhaps show up a little more slowly.

That being said, I can’t wait to show to this season’s efforts in the coming weeks. Cheers! <3

I am super happy to announce that I’ve released the Daisy Cutter beret pattern for sale on Ravelry & Etsy!

It’s been a long time coming; hopefully others will be following soon! In honor of this pattern’s introduction, I am giving both of my hat patterns away! One winner will get PDFs of both the Original Twisted Thistle Beret and the new Daisy Cutter Beret knitting patterns. Just leave a comment on this post telling me who you plan to knit the berets for by Wednesday, July 27th 8PM PST. If you want an extra entry, like rottencupcakes on facebook & let me know in your comment on this blog post. I will post the winner on Thursday, July 28th! <3

I’ve been working on this project for awhile now but I finally finished it! Huzzah!

Here is the rad vinyl ottoman I bought on my very first thrifting trip in high school. Clearly, I hang onto things! My high school self painted on pretty much everything in her room, so… of course—the ottoman was also painted. First with some acrylics and then sloppily with some bright blue spray paint. Now I totally wish I hadn’t because check out the amazing mustard color it was underneath!

I have been knitting a cover out of lots of different random wool yarn that I had in my stash. It’s a slightly mod-podge cobbled look but it works for our home. I knitted a cover to match the dimensions of the ottoman, basing the pattern off of the Felted Boxes pattern from Mason Dixon knitting because it has some clever construction details that help the cover to hold it’s boxy shape.

After knitting the fabric & seaming it into it’s proper cube shape, I threw the cover in the washer to felt a bit. I wanted to solidify the fabric a bit more and felting seemed to do the trick rather nicely. I blocked the cover on the actual ottoman (hooray for vinyl!) and then stapled all along the bottom edge. I started at the center of each side & worked my way to the corners, taking care to fold them neatly down prior to stapling the heck out of it.

& voila— in action, my newly knitted ottoman.