Behind Once Again

I guess I don't mind the fact that I knit and crochet more than I blog but it makes for a lot of  "catch-up" posts. Let's start where we left off. Here is the shawl finished. I actually just kept this for myself and wear it all the time just here in our bedroom because the window air conditioner is on my side of the bed and it keeps me cold. In the future I would like to make myself another shawl that is a bit warmer.



I also finished another purse. This one is a cat one. There was actually a fox in the patterns as well and the yarn is right here by the bed but I wasn't fast enough and neat stockings patterns were started first.

This first stocking is knitted. I found a pattern in an old magazine. The problem with old magazines is that they sometimes leave things out. This one left out what type of needles to use and I cast on to straight needles and it was actually supposed to have double pointed or circulars. So I had some figuring to do to make this work with my straight needles but I managed it. I wrote down my changes in case I ever wanted to use them again but I don't usually do patterns more than once anyway.

Then I finally finished crocheting this fox stocking. I love these stockings, they are so CUTE but what pain to make. Such small crochet hook for the yarn and so many pieces! I had been working on this one for a while. It came out really cute and I have lots of these stocking patterns but I don't think I'll attempt another one for a while.

Then came a couple of patterns that are mostly my own design. The snowman stocking actually came from a pattern in an old Annie's magazine but it really didn't look very nice. I made lots of changes especially on the stocking which had no border and wasn't shaped right. It came out so good that I attempted to make another as Santa Claus. I am pleased with both results.

The only other thing I have crocheted or knitted was a Thor hat for an order. This is going to go with a little boys Halloween costume. Hats are so easy to make after doing so many stockings.

But these are not all I have crafted. Phil and I managed to get the spare room cleaned up and I have been doing some sewing. I did a pair of these pillows and liked them so much I kept them for our couch.

And, of course, there have been stockings! Lots and lots of different ones but I will spare you all those pictures. Don't really have sewing patterns so had to figure these out myself. They are easy to make and put together. I have a whole bunch more to sew up today and another crocheted (really neat!) stocking on the way.

Half Moon Shawl- Sneak Peek

I seriously could not understand the fascination with the new yarns that come in "cakes". I just couldn't understand how you would use a yarn that changed colors itself.

 Mainly because most of the things I make need a certain color at a certain time. And then someone posted on one of my groups this beautiful shawl made with Mandala yarn and our Wal-mart has just now gotten Mandala yarn and I couldn't resist giving it a try. Unfortunately, I can't find what I did with that pattern but I looked up more shawl patterns and found the "Half Moon Shawl" on the Lionbrand site. There are lots of free patterns on the Lionbrand site and I may try more of their shawl patterns with the Mandala yarn since this first one is turning out just beautiful. I just love the colors together! I had heard the yarn wasn't very soft but I found it to be just the opposite. I actually have never had an acrylic yarn be quite this soft. Anyway, here is a sneak peak of my shawl. It is only about half done and is going to take just two "cakes" when it is done.

Crocheting Getting Ahead of the Blog

Yeah, my crocheting kind of took right off and got ahead of the blog and now I need to do some catching up. I tried out a few crocheted dish clothes out off cotton. I made one for us to use but I can't say we were real impressed with it. It seemed a bit thick for s dish cloth but  I guess that is what people like to buy.
Anyway then this CAL came along on one of my facebook groups and it was such an easy looking thing to make....so I made it. I meant to make more of them but....yeah...didn't happen...

Then I was asked by a neighbor to make a pink horse with purple hair. I used the "Lucky the Horse" pattern as I already had it. Well, he's (she's) been finished for several days now but he's still here. Soon to be listed on Etsy, I guess.

Then there were cabled hats. I love cabling when knitting and had done some of the owl hats in crochet that are cabled but these hats were REALLY easy! I plan on making more colors...eventually.

The pattern is free here on Ravelry.   

Then lastly (not counting the Celtic blanket that I will do another post on...soon) I made these little girls owl purses. I changed the  handle however, as I couldn't do the handle they gave instructions for, instead I just did a braided handle. These are really cute and turned out nice. Also a free pattern and has 3 more purses as well (working on the cat one tonight).

So that catches us up now. Hope you enjoy the free patterns!

Holiday Chick

Isn't it cute! I hope to make several of these before Christmas but you know how that goes.....I already have another project I want to make.....and then there is the finishing of the Celtic blanket....etc. etc...
Here is the link to the free pattern for this chick. I made mine out of regular worsted weight yarn and made my own mouth out of orange yarn instead of orange felt (which I didn't have).
Please comment if you end up making your own little holiday chick!

Free Bird Pattern!

Had to take a break from all those squares. Besides I only have room on my blocking board for one large square and I had two made already so I had a day to make something else.  I made a few little key chains

and will likely make more but then I saw this bird pattern and it was just too cute to resist! It looked like it could be done fairly quickly.....and the head and body went quickly and then the next day I got into the legs and to make the legs and feet you had to make 5 different pieces each leg! Ugg, little pieces too and little pieces hurt my fingers. Then there was the tail (3 pieces) and the comb (luckily one piece but lot of loops). It was almost 11:00 p.m. before I finished but he is done and I love him!

A Little Sneak Peek..

Here is a little peek at what I have been working on lately. I don't do a lot of really long projects and when I do, it has to be something I really like. So I am of Irish decent and Celtic things are all wonderful to me so when I found the pattern for the Celtic Knot Square on youtube I just had to make it into...something! It is a six inch square and seems really hard at first but I have the pattern memorized now and it goes along faster but, even still, I can only get a couple squares done in an evening after work.

The second square just popped up on my facebook feed shortly after I started making the Celtic squares and even though it isn't exactly Celtic I felt it went perfectly with my Celtic squares. It is called the Cabled Blooms 12" Afghan Square. It is not a difficult square but there are 16 rows and it just takes a very long time to finish a square. It may take me forever and I may do a couple small projects in between but I am determined to get it done! 

Lucky Little Shamrock Hat- Knitting Pattern

According to finegardening.com :

"Shamrocks have been symbolic of many things over the years. According to legend, the shamrock was a sacred plant to the Druids of Ireland because its leaves formed a triad, and three was a mystical number in the Celtic religion, as in many others. St. Patrick used the shamrock in the 5th century to illustrate the doctrine of the Holy Trinity as he introduced Christianity to Ireland.
 
The shamrock became symbolic in other ways as time went on. In the 19th century it became a symbol of rebellion, and anyone wearing it risked death by hanging. It was this period that spawned the phrase "the wearin' o' the green". Today, the shamrock is the most recognized symbol of the Irish, especially on St. Patrick's Day, when all over the world, everyone is Irish for a day!The original Irish shamrock (traditionally spelled seamróg, which means "summer plant") is said by many authorities to be none other than white clover (Trifolium repens), a common lawn weed originally native to Ireland. It is a vigorous, rhizomatous, stem-rooting perennial with trifoliate leaves. Occasionally, a fourth leaflet will appear, making a "four-leaf clover," said to bring good luck to the person who discovers it."

My little shamrock baby hat is size 6-12 months and made with straight needles size 4 and 6. This is a fair isle type knitting pattern so you will need to know how to carry your floats (lots of youtube videos can teach you how).

Using your size 4 needles and your white yarn cast on 88 stitches.

K2 P2 each row until you have 1 1/2 inches of ribbing.

Change to size 6 needles and knit in stockinette stitch for 6 rows but you will want to increase by two stitches in your first knit row (one row knit, one row purl) (90 sts)

Now you will start to follow the graph on your next knit row. Remember that your knit rows will go from right to left and your purl rows will go from left to right and, of course, you are working  the bottom of the graph to the top. You should have 6 shamrocks around your hat when finished. 

 When you finish all  the chart you should be on a knit row (as the lasts row on the chart is just a purl row in white)  and you will then cut the green yarn and tie it off and weave in the ends, with white do six rows in stockinette stitch again. 

Then you will begin your decreases,
K4, K2tog across
P row
K3, K2tog across
P row
K2, K2tog across
P row
K1, K2tog across
P row
K2tog across
P row
K2tog across,K1

Cut yarn leaving enough to thread through remaining stitches and sew up hat seam. Make pom pom using both colors and tie firmly to top of hat.
I am hoping to have a pattern for mittens to go with this hat soon! Keep watching the blog!

You may not sell any of my patterns or alter them in any way. Please feel free to share the link to the pattern for anyone who might like to use them.

Little Love Mittens--Knitting Pattern

With your size 4 needles cast on 40 stitches.

K2 P2 each row until you have 2 1/4 inches

You will change to your size 6 needles on the next row

Increase on your first knit stitch  and your 20th in the next row which will be knit. (42 stitches)

Purl next row

Knit row

Purl row

Knit row

Purl row

On your next row you will start the heart so will be adding in your pink yarn. You will follow the same chart for the hat but I will write it out so you will know how many white stitches to do.

K30, K1 pink, K11

P10, K3 pink, P29

K28, K5 pink, K9

P8, P7 pink, P27

K26, K9 pink, K7

P7, P8 pink, P26

K26, K4 pink, K1, K4 pink, K7

P8, P2 pink, P3, P2 pink, P27

This will finish the heart and you will start your decreases. 

K2, K2tog across, knit 2 at the end.(32)

P row

K1 K2tog across,  knit 2 at the end (22)

P row

K2tog across (11)

P row

K2tog, knit one at the end (6)

Cut yarn leaving enough to sew mitten, with needle thread through remaining stitches and sew down the side.

To make second mitten you must reverse the stitches you did for the first one for the heart only. For instance, on the first row, instead of it being K30, K1 pink, K11, it will be K11, K1 pink K30. This way both seams for the mittens will be on the pinky side of the hand. 

I hope you enjoy this pattern. If you see any errors please contact me :)

You may not sell any of my patterns or alter them in any way. Please feel free to share the link to the pattern for anyone who might like to use them.

Little Love Hat- Knitting Pattern!

So I saw a hat and mittens set on Etsy and bought the pattern and there were large errors throughout the pattern. Not just a stitch off here and there but WHOLE sections of the pattern that weren't correct at all. And then the heart on the mittens....to me...was upside-down and it said on the mittens after making the first one you should "make one to match" and if you did that, you would end up with mittens that had seams on the same side since this was a two needle knitting project.
Anyway...I ended up just writing my own pattern. I knew I could do that when I bought the pattern but sometimes you just want to make it easy on yourself and follow someone else's pattern but that didn't happen.
This is a type of fair isle knitting so you will need to know how to do some floats (there are plenty of videos on youtube) but there is only one row of hearts so there aren't too too many. I am going to give the directions for 6-12 months hat only because that is the only one I have done so far as I do other sizes I may add them to this pattern. I will give directions to the mittens on the next post.

I used Caron Simply Soft Yarn and US size 4 and size 6 straight knitting needles.

Start with size 4 needles and white.
Cast on 88
K2 P2 for 1 1/2 inches

Switch to size 6 kneedles on this row. We will be starting stockinette stitch here. Knit one row, Purl one row for 6 rows total.

Now you will start the heart following the chart below with your contrasting color and still knitting a row and purling .

Now we will start rounding the crown. You should have ended so that you are on a knit row. 

K5,  K2tog across row

P row

K4, K2tog across row

P row

K3, K2tog across row

P row

K2, K2tog across row

P row

K1, K2tog across row

P row

K2tog across row

P row

K2tog across row

P row

Cut yarn leaving enough to sew hat. With a needle thread yarn through the remaining stitches and pull gently to close hat. Sew up back seam of hat. Make pom pom using both colors. Tie firmly to top of hat. 

You may not sell any of my patterns or alter them in any way. Please feel free to share the link to the pattern for anyone who might like to use them.