From my needles: DIY Knit Bench

This is something that I actually finished quite some time ago. It's no secret I'm obsessed with knit furniture, so I came up with the idea of knitting a tweed-like bench to add to my etsy shop (it's not in my shop yet, still figuring out shipping methods/options). This bench turned out even more beautiful than I had imagined. I'm completely and utterly in love with it (and so is Dan) - so much so that I am making a longer 6 foot version (this bench here is 4 feet long) in different colors for our dining room. I'm a big fan of the rustic family-style dining look, and with the beautiful antiqued (i.e. passed down from generations) table we have from Dan's great-great something-or-other it should be a winning combination. Very excited to start my new project.

xox,

Bre

The poufs have arrived!

*redBaby pouf & redMomma pouf, $32 and $185, respectively*

I've been pretty excited about these sculptural poufs and couldn't help but share. Those of you who have followed my blog from the very beginning may remember THIS post where I talk about my inspiration for opening my own etsy shop. My first shop item was my square ottomans, but I finally FINALLY made my prototypes for my round POUF version! When I decided to make round poufs, I started with a small prototype (just to get my proportions) but I ended up falling in love with the mini version. It's just so darn cute! So I decided to include both the large (redMomma) version of the pouf and the small (redBaby pouf) version to my shop. The names for the poufs have sort of a double meaning. I wanted to call the larger one momma and the smaller one baby, but after I named them I realized that all of my friends growing up used to call my mom "Red Momma" and it just sort of fit perfectly. She was so proud of me for starting my little knit shop and I think she would have loved to have been around to see these too. This ones for you cute lil momma; you are the inspiration for all my creativeness.

I'm very excited and hope you enjoy them too. I'm offering them in all my standard colors (shown here). Happy Bungalow Monday!

xox,

Bre

I'm Featured on HGTV!

*my knitted ottoman featured on HGTV*

I can't believe it! I can't believe it! This was back on July 2nd, but somehow I missed it until someone sent me the link yesterday. I'm overjoyed that my little knit ottoman (and my Etsy shop: The Red Bungalow) was featured on HGTV's site this month. It's fascinating, and oh so exciting, to see a crazy little vision of mine featured on such a renowed site. I guess I'm not the only person seriously obsessed with thick, textural knits :)

For the full article click HERE.

I hope a great little surprise comes your way this week too!

xox,

Bre

Happy (pillows & flashbacks) Friday!

Cartridge Stitch in Spice, 16x16.

Happy Friday readers! I thought I'd end the week by showing you some shots of what has been sitting on my knitting needles the past few weeks. These are some of the new pillows that I'm adding to my etsy shop. I created my own patterns for all these pillows - really mostly just putting my own spin on some classic stitches that I really love (if you can't tell, I'm all about the texture!). I've stitched these all out of soft wool-blends that really make for quite cushy...well, cushions.

a close-up of the Cartridge Stitch in Spice

I owe all my stitching skills to my redMomma who taught me how to knit one Summer when I was about 8 years old. I was just as big of a busy body then as I am now, and if I wasn't outside playing rugby, baseball, boxing while on rollerblades (you can thank my brother for that one) or jump rope with the neighborhood kids, then I was probably inside playing old school Nintendo ("up up down down left right left right B A B A...") or creating massive obstacle courses around the house with my brother and sisters (how were we supposed to know someone would kick a hole in the wall riding down the stairs on our homemade cardboard box cars?).

I loved making little crafts anyway, but I think my mom was genius for coming up with a quieter, more productive, alternative to keeping me both busy and stop me from causing a disaster in the house. :)

Hope You Enjoy! (I apologize in advance for all the scrolling if you are viewing this from my blogspot)

close-up, Wheat Sculptural Knit

from a distance, Wheat Sculptural Knit, 14x14

Grass Green Sculptural Knit, 16x16

Large Triple Moss Stitch, 16x16

a close-up of the Triple Moss Stitch

Extra-Large Sculptural Knit in Oatmeal (18x18)

The pouf that started it all...

For more images click here

A few months ago I ran across these gorgeous Flocks Poufs made by Christien Meindertsma (pictured above). I thought these were so fabulous, but unfortunately a little (ok A LOT) out of my price range, as they go from $1,000 to $10,980 depending on the color and size. These little modern and cozy poufs really inspired me, and instantly got me obsessed over the idea of having a shop FULL of traditional knits spun in a modern way.

As my brain started running away with this, I grabbed my sketchbook and drew up images of several different patterns for knitted pillows, ottomans, benches, and chairs. I was so excited about my sketches, because honestly I've never seen any knitted FURNITURE and I was wondering why this had never been done. Before I knew it (fast-forward a few weeks) I found myself sitting on the Living Room floor surrounded by my drill, knitting needles, a huge pile of yarn, lumber, and all other essentials to build knitted furniture (ok...to clarify, I made several trips to Home Depot & JoAnns before I had everything I really needed, and ended up even making my own very large knitting needles to get that modern/sculptural texture to give my designs a one-of-a-kind look....but that's a whole different blog for a different day).

With so many ideas in my sketchbook, it was hard to focus on just one thing, but I decided to start with a knitted ottoman that could also double as extra seating (a great combo for an urban dweller with limited space). I did all of the knitting first and then constructed a wood frame to provide extra durability, and added high-density foam to make a comfortable seat cushion. My ottoman went through a few different renditions, but here is the final result:

My ottomans in charcoal & sky blue

a closer look at the charcoal

(the close-up)

In the end I was very happy with how these turned out and am so pleased to be adding these to my shop (which I'm hoping to have open by the end of the week). I think if I made a larger size as well, it could function as a cool, modern coffee table, but I haven't attempted this one yet. I think these would look amazing against wooden floors and next to textiles or wallpapers with awesome modern prints (it would be a really fabulous contrast).

Of course, not everyone would want a charcoal or sky blue ottoman, so I'm going be offering a variety of colors as shown below. What do you think?

Taupe

Grass Green

Wine

Wheat (winter white with natural fibers)

Spice

Oatmeal (cream-colored with natural fibers)

Fig Purple

Citron

Barley