Things You Need: Ghosts by CanarySanctuary

I've been a fan of Teresa Gregorio's work for a long, long time. After all, her aesthetic is very similar to mine so it makes sense that a lot of her pieces appeal to me. Check out her work if you haven't yet! She's CanarySanctuary over on Ravelry, and you can find her design page here.

Teresa's latest and greatest

When Teresa told me she was going to be releasing a book based on the history of ghost culture, I went all grabbyhands - especially once I saw photos of some of the gorgeous patterns she was planning to include! I'll be totally honest and admit that worldwide ghost history isn't of particlar interest to me, but I did skim through some of the thirty-odd pages Teresa's provided on the topic and she's definitely put together a great collection of information and entertaining stories on the subject. (So, you know, if ghosts are your thing, this book is gonna be right up your alley. But even if they're not, you're going to want it anyway, just for the patterns.)

 Athenodorus

One of my favorites of the collection, a super sexy pencil skirt with a huge, girly bow waistband, implements a clever technique to make shaping easy on the knitter. This requires fingering weight yarn and is generously sized up to 3X - so none of you curvy girls are left out! I'd like to point out here that pencil skirts are right on for this season (think "Mad Men"), and look adorable with leggings for going into fall. You can wear the bow in the front or the back! Multiple styling options - love that. You could also jazz this up with a beaded ribbon and a yarn with a bit of sparkle, like Dream In Color Starry, or keep it low-key in a cotton blend and grosgrain ribbon.

The Uncanny

Another winner for me were The Uncanny socks; y'all know I love my twisted stitches, and these socks have loads of lovely ones! These were inspired by a traditional Indian ghost called a "bhut", which apparently looks exactly like a human except for the fact that it has backwards-facing feet. (Talk about creepy! Now every time I interact with a weirdo I'm going to have to remember to make sure their feet point the proper direction, just in case...) Fair warning: the pattern for these is in chart form only, but the charts are just gorgeous so you probably would have wound up using them, anyway.

Calavera Catrina

Aside from the gorgeousness of the photos for this, the Calavera Catrina caught my eye because I'm always on the lookout for a quirky hat. I mean, how often do you see a pattern for a knitted bonnet that's both fashionable and interesting to knit? Not very! This one is innspired by Mexico's Dia De Muerta and is worked in Madelinetosh Vintage. There are row-by-row instructions for each step of the way, and minimal seaming (photo tutorial included!) to finish, which I actually find refreshing. I like a bit of seaming now and then! The flowers are all knitted separately and sewn on, which means that you can customize this hat to your liking with as many or as few as you like, and in any configuration that you fancy. Brilliant.

There are 11 patterns in all in this 92-page book; see them all or purchase the ebook here.

Teresa has generously offered up a digital copy of her book to one lucky winner; to enter to win, queue up one (or more!) of the patterns from the collection, then come back here and leave a comment telling us which one was your favorite! I'll announce the winner on October 15th, and the winner will have 7 days to claim their prize or I'll pick someone else. So do come back and see if you won, okay?

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