TARDIS iPad Cover

This has nothing to do with soap, but I recently got an iPad 3, and I love it.  It performs so many functions for me: calendar, organizer, radio, flashlight, camera, videophone, arcade, TV, messenger, oh, and let's not forget the entire internet.  Naturally, anything that contains it must be Bigger on the Inside.  Therefore, I knit a TARDIS cozy.  Here is the pattern, if you'd like to knit one of your own.

Materials: worsted weight yarn in blue, white and black, US size 6 16-inch circular needles
Gauge: 4.5 st/inch, 6.5 rows/inch
iPad Dimensions: 7.3 inches wide by 9.5 inches tall

Based on the Tardis Phone Cozy by Erinn A. Starnes

A note on the color sections:

I did stranded knitting for all the colorwork, although the pattern I based this off of has instructions for intarsia in the round, if you’d prefer that for the black section.  Be sure to twist the yarn you’re carrying around the yarn you’re working every 3 to 5 stitches to keep things secure on the reverse side.  Don’t twist in the same place every row, or the carried color will show through.

BASE

CO 80 with blue yarn, join in the round.  You may wish to place a stitch marker after 40 to indicate where the back side starts.

rounds 1-3: knit
rounds 4-5: purl
round 6: (slip 1, p1, psso) twice, p 35, pass next unworked stitch from left to right over stitch just worked, p1, pass final stitch over left to right.  Repeat for back.  Conceptually, it’s a purl round, decreasing with 2 psso’s toward the center on each side of front and back, so that there are 72 st remaining in 36/36 split.

PANELS & WINDOWS

rounds 7-9: knit
rounds 10-16: (k 4, p 12, k 4, p 12, k 4), repeat.
rounds 17-19: knit
rounds 20-26: (k 4, p 12, k 4, p 12, k 4), repeat.
rounds 27-29: knit
rounds 30-36: (k 4, p 12, k 4, p 12, k 4), repeat.
rounds 37-38: knit -- that’s two rows, not three.
rounds 39-46: (k 4 blue, k 12 white, k 4 blue, k 12 white, k 4 blue), repeat.  That’s eight rows, not seven.
rounds 47-49: knit

POLICE BOX

rounds 50-51: purl blue
rounds 52-59: (k 2 blue, k 32 black, k 2 blue), repeat.
round 60: knit blue
rounds 61-63: purl

TOP

rounds 64-65: knit

Begin working flat:

row 66 front: BO 4, k 28, sl 3, (pass final stitch from left to right over penultimate stitch) 4X.  Conceptually, you’re binding off the 4 edge stitches on each end toward the center.  Turn.
row 67 front: p 28. Turn.
row 68 front: BO 10, k 8, BO 10. Place live stitches on holder.

Repeat rows 66-68 for back, only BO completely for row 68.

LIGHT

Join white yarn to 8 center stitches on front.  Knit 7 rows of stockinette. Join blue, knit and BO 1 row.  Sew top corners together in back.

FINISHING

Seam base shut.  

Use black yarn to embroider window panes on windows and light.  I had some glass beads handy, so I added them to the light for extra bling.

Use white yarn to embroider “POLICE BOX / PUBLIC CALL” on black panels.  Good luck with that.  My only hints are: do the back side first for practice, bring the letters down 1 row from center (trust me), and split the yarn in half (and use a smaller needle) for the “PUBLIC CALL” parts.  Try not to obsess.  ;)

Back side for practice.

I used a laundry care tag from my son’s t-shirt for the notice board.  The same t-shirt had an “Official Nintendo Seal” tag in it, so I cut it out to use as the police seal.  I attached them with fabric glue.  If you go this route, spread the glue all the way to the edges before affixing them to your TARDIS -- I didn’t, and the edges are fraying.




CLOSURE

Seam together the 4 lower-tier bound-off stitches on each side of the top.  This creates “shoulders” that can stretch and snap into place over the top corners of your iPad so that it doesn’t slide right out.
 

You can also crochet a short chain loop to the back side opposite the light, then pull the light through it like a button through a button hole.  Not only does this add extra security, but it keeps the light from flopping over to the front.  *ahem*

We're Transplanting the Ash Tree

The Shop is going offline for a few months as our family works to move cross-country!  Wish us luck as we make the transition from the swamps of Florida to the plains of Illinois.  I hope to have you all back in bubbles by June!

Holiday Sale and Blackout Dates

Happy Holidays, my soapy friends!  I'm running a sale for your last-minute gift needs.  For $25, choose any 5 full-sized bars, and I'll throw in a free washcloth.  These cloths are hand-knitted (or crocheted) with 100% cotton yarn, so you can throw them in the washer and dryer.  They also make great dishcloths.

You can head to the shop, or just order here!

Which 5 Would You Like?

This sale runs from now until December 19th.  Shipping should still beat Santa's sleigh up until then.  I will continue to take orders through December 21st, but I cannot guarantee delivery in time for Christmas after the 19th.

The Shop will be closed December 22, 2011 - Jan 5, 2012.  Many thanks and a Happy New Year to you all!

Showtime!

Hello, local friends!

I want to let you know that there's a nice Art, Craft, and Antique Show at Wesley United Methodist Church this Saturday, October 22, from 8am-5pm. I'll have a table there, so come see me! The location is on NW 23rd Avenue between 13th and 6th Streets.

For those who want to get a head start on holiday shopping, soap makes a great gift. ;) I'll have my new Holiday Scents available. You know you want to come take a sniff...

It's Beginning to Smell a Lot Like Christmas...

...which is discombobulating, because it's still 95 degrees outside.  C'mooooonnnnn, Fall!

Here's a sneak peek at my holiday themed soaps, which will be available in late October:

ooo, shiny!

That's We Three Kings in the back and O Tannenbaum in the front.  I'm quite pleased with how the color turned out in O Tannenbaum -- I was going for a "blue spruce" effect, and chromium oxide blended with some blue-grey mica turned out really nice.

Now, you've heard of "comfort food?" Next up is "comfort soap":

Pumpkin Pie

Click on the picture to make it bigger -- see the little speckles throughout?  That's ground oatmeal.  It soothes the skin, provides gentle exfoliation, and because of its natural linoleic acid content, the lather is that much fluffier!  Don't worry, Jess, I'm saving you a bar.

And now for the party shelf:

On the left, Apple Cider.  On the right, Cranberry.  The guest linen closet smells AMAZING, I have to tell you.

Just don't expect to find any linens.

Win Free Soap!

Y'all, check it out, I'm a GUEST BLOGGER.  It's a new experience, and I'm so flattered to have been asked!  Go to Abigail Sharpe's collaborative project, Chicklets in the Kitchen, for an inside look at what goes on in my kitchen these days.  You can comment on the post for a chance to win 4 sample bars and a washcloth.  Woo-hoo!

4 Down, 1 to Go

The Pumpkin Pie batch has just been insulated and put to bed for the overnight gel stage.  The ground oatmeal in it smells like comforting carbohydrates, ha ha!

The Apple Cider bars turned out fantastic -- it's the coolest swirl I've done yet.

The Cranberry soap is still in a 10-pound loaf, waiting to be cut into bars.

Monday I'll make the pièce de résistance -- O Tannenbaum, which smells like a blue spruce with the color to match.

I'll have pictures for you Friday!

Now, where on earth am I going to store another 160 bars of soap?