Kreate-a-lope® {Product Review}

Creating your own custom envelopes is a cinch with the Kreate-a-lope® envelope template! Nick Romer, the creator of these handy templates, sent a couple of sizes for me to try out and review. I received the A2 standard invitation size and the A7 size template. You can check out the Kreate-a-lope® Video for all the details on how to use this product.

I gathered together some of my favorite papers so I would have a variety to experiment with including: light-weight scrapbook paper, handmade paper, a page from an old atlas, vintage sheet music, vintage dictionary paper, and a couple of discarded road maps.

In the end, the vintage sheet music and the atlas page turned out to be my favorite envelopes! I’m especially smitten with the map envelopes. They would be ideal for a travel-themed wedding and could be customized to feature the couple’s home city or state, the wedding location, or even the honeymoon destination!

Over all the templates are very easy to use, and provide a great way to upcylcle all those pretty papers you’ve been collecting! Shown above are my top 5 tips for using the Kreate-a-lope® based on my own experience. I am so happy to have a way to put that vast pile of papers in my studio to good use. Many thanks to Nick Romer for sponsoring this post and sharing such a great product. Don’t forget about the Kickstarter campaign for Kreate-a-lope® and be sure to check out our giveaway of the product here at DIY Weddings! 6 readers will win an A2 standard invitation size Kreate-a-lope®. Click this link for all the details and to enter the giveaway before midnight CST on May 20th, 2013.

Not too long ago I did a test knit for another designer that was for a cabled cardigan. It’s really cozy and nice but it just about broke me in a ton of different ways. I couldn’t get gauge, which I suppose is my own problem, but mainly I was somehow both bored and forced to pay attention at the same time.

Because it used the same cable all over, I always had to know what row I was on, but nine out of ten of those rows, nothing in particular was going on. So I couldn’t stop paying attention, but what I needed to attend to was boring.

It may have ruined me for knitting cabled sweaters, but maybe I just need something that’s more engaging. Like this Modern Aran Cardigan pattern from Lion Brand Yarn.

This is a reworking of an old pattern from their archives, and you can tell that form the classic look of the cables and the oversized feel (nothing cropped about this one!). It has allover cables, but like a classic Aran sweater it’s not the same cable, so you’ll have to pay attention to what row you’re on and what cable turns happen for which cables on that row.

Because of this, it’s considered an intermediate knitting pattern, but if you’re comfortable working from multiple charts at once it shouldn’t be a problem for you. There are three different charts and seven different cable moves.

Also because the pattern is so big and boxy there are only two sizes available, with a finished chest measurement of either 49 or 63 inches (that’s 124.5 or 160 cm). It’s up to you to decide how much ease you would like and whether that will work for your body.

The pattern uses worsted weight yarn (and calls for another classic, Lion Brand Fisherman’s Wool). It calls for six buttons and includes pockets to make it extra cozy.

This one looks like a great winter project to make and to wear if you’re up for a bit of a challenge. You can grab the free pattern or buy a kit with the yarn needed direct from Lion Brand Yarn.

[Photo: Lion Brand Yarn]

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