Category Archives: Knitting

Knitting patterns, knitting works in progress, knitting tips, knitting finished objects

Easy Christmas Gifts – Knitting & Crochet

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Easy Gifts for newer knitters and crocheters

As soon as I started knitting and crocheting it was like I began developing this huuuuge list of all the things I wanted to make for the people in my life.  The fact that Christmas was just around the corner left me feeling even more anxious!  To my disappointment I spent so much time in search of quick or beginner level patterns that it was difficult to complete all the gifts I wanted to make.
This year I have more time to plan and have some experience under my belt so I am in the process of putting together  a list below of knitting and crochet projects I have been able to make in 6 hours or less as a beginner or projects I am considering trying for gifts. I’ll keep updating this list and even adding links but if you know of something just post it below in the comments.

Women

Dishcloths– there are free patterns all over the Internet but if you are a new knitter and have trouble understanding patterns all you really have to do is cast on 40-43 stitches of worsted cotton yarn with US size 6 or 7 needles and knit in garter stitch until you have a square.  Garter stitch works great for dish cloth while stockingnette stitch is softer for like washcloths.

If you have knit dishcloths before but find yourself indecisive when it comes to finding a pattern consider joining a group like the Monthly Dishcloth KAL group at Yahoo.  They do two Knit a Longs every month.  During the Knitalong you are sent about 7-10 rows each day which makes it easy to keep up with and you can whip out 2 dishcloths a month (24 a year!!) to give as gifts.  There is a sign up box below:

Subscribe to MonthlyDishcloths

Powered by us.groups.yahoo.com

You can crochet dishcloths too.  Here is the article with a crochet dishcloth that was (I am prettty sure) my first crochet FO:  Crochet Dishcloth

Scarves – again very easy and there are some pretty scarves I’ve seen in plain old garter stitch.  Just decide how wide you want it and knit til its the right length.  Here is a wide muffler type scarf I made as my first patterned stitch to follow.  It is a bit more involved and used two skeins of Red Heart Yarn.  Here is a Ruffle Scarf I crochet with Bulky Yarn.  It used less than one skein and would be pretty as a gift.

 

Girls and Teen Girls

Fingerless gloves – Again there are tons of free patterns out there.   I made Stephanie a pair last winter while she and Vee played Monopoly.  I just chained the length I wanted the gauntlets and single crocheted til they fit comfortably around her hand and wrist then I stitched them up on the side leaving 1 1/2″ at 1″ from the top open for the thumb.  In that opening I slip stitched and single crochet 10, joined and crochet two rounds so her gloves would have a thumb.

Yoga or ‘flip flop’ socks - Now these (Ally’s Vee’s)I’m sure took me more than 6 hours….maybe not though but I will be making more soon and will track my time involved.

Headbands - You won’t believe how quick and easy these can be.  An earwarmer generally takes much less than one ball of yarn and girls like them better than hats because wearing them doesn’t mess up your hair.  Most headband type earwarmers can also be worn as a neck warmer or what my girls call a ‘neckie’.

Crochet Headband – took about an hour

Knitted Headband – took about an hour

Jen’s Loop Stitch Pillow –If I had crochet the back this would have been just under 6 hours but I cheated and asked my mom to sew up some satin I purchased and then I attached the loop stitch to the front of that.

UPDATE: Bev’s Country Cottage has a ton of easy Christmas Gifts you can make by knitting or crocheting.  Here is one that is quick and easy and both my girls are getting.  It is a lipbalm holder that can be clipped to their keychain, back pack or purse.  The link to her pattern is here:  http://www.bevscountrycottage.com/keychain.html

and her Christmas Gifts Ideas Page is here:  http://www.bevscountrycottage.com/christmas/gifts.html

Men

Hats - I have a really easy pattern that I use for making knitted hats with earflaps.  Eventually it will get posted.  In the meantime there is a great ‘formula’ here for creating a hat pattern

Babies and Toddlers

Hats, moms love animal hats and I could crochet these all day long.

Formula for a basic Knitted Hat

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This link was provided in a post at the Knitting Help forum (ever been there? It’s a nice forum with genuinely friendly members, admins and mods). It is a basic formula for figuring out how many stitches you need to knit a hat regardless of the size needles or weight of yarn you are using.  If you know how to knit and know how to knit and measure a gauge swatch you can knit a hat.  Check out the Knitted Basic Hat “Formula” Pattern

Newborn Hats for Hospitals

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I kept the hats our children received at the hospital when they were born. Vee’s and Stephanie’s were handknit and I keep them with my stashed yarn always thinking someday maybe I will knit these little hats to donate. Today, when I was checking out Knitting pattern Central’s new patterns I came across this free pattern. Aren’t they so cute??! http://themakeyourownzone.blogspot.com/2011/03/knitting-newborn-hats-for-hospitals.html

Guess when I’m off my kick of crocheting baby hats and animal hats I have an idea what I’ll be knitting :)

Easter Bunnies and Bunny Hats

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I found these adorable little Easter Bunny appliques at Bev’s County Cottage.  They are crochet and can be attached to baby and children hats.  The crochet bunnies are here: http://www.bevscountrycottage.com/bunny2.html.

The ‘Bunny Hats’ she has can be found here:  http://www.bevscountrycottage.com/bunnyhat.html the hats are knitted.

There is a free Easter Bunny Crochet pattern at Fave Crafts (after you get done with their pop up) using sc (single crochet).  It just says Baby but doesn’t give a size. Given the fact they are using a 5mm hook and 48 stitches I would say this pattern is for a 3-6 month baby.  You can make this larger simply by continuing with the pattern of 6 increases per round until your circle (actually it will look like an octagan) is 1/3 the width you want your hat to be and then pick up again on round 9.  Of course if you are making it larger it stands to reason you would probably want to make it longer so you would just keep hooking til your desired length.
I positively adore how they have done the ears in rounds!!

Below is a video that walks you thru crocheting an Easter Bunny Hat in various sizes using hdc (half double crochet)

This hat and the one at Fave Crafts linked above do not have earflaps. Remember the are very quick and easy to add on as shown here where we attached ear covers to a double crochet hat.

Just found this one linked from KnittingPatternCentral.com.  It is a knitted Bunny Hat pattern–positively adorable

Reversible Parallelogram Hat with Earflaps

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Double Stranded Earflap Hat in Parallelogram Knit Pattern
~Knit flat

I wanted a hat to go with the Parallelogram Scarf but did not want to try to convert the pattern for knitting in the round.  Also, I wanted earflaps and wanted them along with the rows around the bottom to be in garter stitch to coordinate with the edges of the scarf so I worked up this pattern.

The scarf took several days to knit….this hat only a day.

 

Here is the pattern

Size 13 (9 mm) straight knitting needles
One skein of worsted weight yarn in the same color separated into 2 equal size balls
Crochet Hook or yarn needle to weave in ends

Gauge: 3 stitches per inch

*NOTE: This entire pattern is knit using 2 strands of yarn
This hat is knitted flat and then seamed to finish*

Begin with Earflaps
Cast on 3
Knit 2 rows
Row 3 – increase 1 stitch at the end and beginning of row (5)
Row 4-Knit all
Odd rows- repeat row 3, adding two stitches each of these rows
Even rows- repeat row 4 until there are 19 stitches

Cut yarn leaving a 12-18″ tail and move stitches to a holder or an extra needle

Make second earflap using pattern above

Hat
Cast on 2 (this will be for the back of the hat which is divided but will be seamed when you are finished)
Knit across first earflap
Cast on 8 (this will be the front of your hat)
Knit across second ear flap
Cast on 2 stitches (to finish back of hat)
You should have 50 stitches total

Knit in garter stitch for 6 rows
Continue knitting using this pattern stitch until patterned area is approx 6″ long

Row 1: *P5, K5* repeat 4 more times
Row 2: *K1, P4, K4, P1* repeat 4 more times
Row 3: *K2, P3, K3, P2* repeat 4 more times
Row 4: *K3, P2, K2, P3* repeat 4 more times
Row 5: *K4, P1, K1, P4* repeat 4 more times
Row 6: *K5, P5* repeat 4 more times
Row 7: *P1, K4, P4, K1* repeat 4 more times
Row 8: *P2, K3, P3, K2* repeat 4 more times
Row 9: *P3, K2, P2, K3* repeat 4 more times
Row 10: *P4, K1, P1, K4* repeat 4 more times

Shaping Crown
Rows 1 and 2 Knit rows in garter stitch
Decrease evenly until only several stitches remain.
Cut yarn leaving a long tail to gather top and seam up the back of the hat with a yarn needle.

Ties
Pick up 3 stitches from the inside of each ear flap and knit an icord for desired length.

Print a PDF of this pattern Reversible Parallelogram Hat with Earflaps

Double Stranded Reversible Parallelogram Scarf Knitting Pattern

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Chunky Reversible Parallelogram Muffler type Scarf

 


 

This was the first item I knitted using a patterned stitch.

I wanted a muffler type scarf that was wide enough to wrap around my head but long enough to go around my neck and into my coat for when I was walking the dogs out in those windy fields.

 

reversible parallelogram stitch knit with two strands of yarn

This is a very easy to follow stitch pattern

The Reversible Parallelogram stitch pattern was something I found at Knitting On The Net and I liked it but by seeing the photo of the swatch wanted a cleaner edge so I chose to make garter stitches on each side for a border.

It was the week between Christmas and New Years so money was tight.  By using two skeins of Red Heart Super Saver (in Gray Heather) I was able to make this scarf for around $5.00.  It’s warm and softened up so nicely after being washed and dried.

PATTERN — Printable PDF available at the bottom of this article

Chunky Reversible Parallelogram Scarf

Size 13 (9 mm) straight knitting needles
Two skeins of worsted weight yarn in the same color
Crochet Hook or yarn needle to weave in ends or attach fringe

Gauge: 3 stitches per inch (not important)

With 2 strands held together loosely cast on 30 stitches

Knit six rows in garter stitch

Continue in pattern below

Row 1: knit last 5 stitches * P5, K5* repeat, knit last 5 stitches
Row 2: knit last 5 stitches * K1, P4, K4, P1* repeat, knit last 5 stitches
Row 3: knit last 5 stitches * K2, P3, K3, P2* repeat, knit last 5 stitches
Row 4: knit last 5 stitches * K3, P2, K2, P3* repeat, knit last 5 stitches
Row 5: knit last 5 stitches * K4, P1, K1, P4* repeat, knit last 5 stitches
Row 6: knit last 5 stitches * K5, P5* repeat, knit last 5 stitches
Row 7: knit last 5 stitches * P1, K4, P4, K1* repeat, knit last 5 stitches
Row 8: knit last 5 stitches * P2, K3, P3, K2* repeat, knit last 5 stitches
Row 9: knit last 5 stitches * P3, K2, P2, K3* repeat, knit last 5 stitches
Row 10: knit last 5 stitches * P4, K1, P1, K4 * repeat, knit last 5 stitches

Rep Rows 1 – 10 until desired length.  I knit 20 sets of the pattern for a scarf that was 62“ long

6 rows of garter stitch

Add fringe if desired.  I added 11” fringe to each end.

BO loosely

 

 

K-Knit
P- Purl
BO- Bind/Cast Off
CO- Cast on


Save or Print a PDF of this PatternReversible Parallelogram Scarf

 

Knit a coordinating chunky reversible parallelogram knit hat with earflaps

Yoga Socks with Worsted Weight Yarn?

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Have You Seen These Yoga Sock Patterns? 

Stretchy Yoga Footies |
Short Yoga Anklets |

This came up in conversation because someone had visited the blog with a just that question – “how would I knit Yoga socks with worsted weight fabric?” Seeing as how I am NOT an expert and Ally has not knit any socks I started doing some looking.
Wouldn’t you know it, there are patterns on Ravelry…..you HAVE to love that site.
The Worsted Weight Yoga Sock pattern I liked the most out of the ones I found is located here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/namaste-socks

 

She uses [US] size 4 double point needles, about 150 yards worsted weight yarn and casts on 44 stitches.
I love it—-off to make some of those!!! :)

Vee’s Yoga Anklet Footies w/pattern

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You can download a printable version of this pattern at the bottom of this article

 

Yoga Footies

These are sooooo easy to make.  If you have never knit socks or used tiny needles this could be a good intro for you.  Since there is no heel, no stitches to pick up and there is no toe area to graft these are a quick knitting project.

NOTE:  She is wearing these to school today with flip flops….now why hadn’t I thought of that? LOL

Easy yoga sock knitting pattern

These short yoga socks knit up quickly

My teen and preteen daughter take Yoga classes and wanted socks without toes and heels so they could get better traction on their mats.

I made the first sock following a pattern that I picked up in the store but the girls were quick to point out that they don’t wear bobbie sock length socks, they like footies so I played around with patterns and developed these.
The pattern used was inspired by Patons Kroy Socks Yoga Socks.

Pattern (you can also download a pdf below)

Size 2 dpn’s
100 yards Sock yarn ( I used Premier Yarns, Serenity Sock Weight in Amethyst)

Gauge 18 stitches x14 rows= 2”

Cable cast on 64 stitches and knit 1×1 rib for 1 ½”
Next round evenly increase by 6 stitches (72 stitches)

Next round – bind off loosely the first 36 stitches and finish round in 1×1 ribbing.

Cable cast on 36 stitches and rejoin in round.
Continue 1×1 ribbing for 5 more rows.

On this next round decrease 6 stitches evenly around. This is the only time you will do this in this row of the pattern.

Continue with pattern below.
Round 1 – Knit all
Round 2- K1, P3. Repeat around
Round 3- Knit all
Round 4- K1, P3. Repeat around
Round 5- Knit all
Round 6 – P2, K1, P1. Repeat around
Round 7 – Knit all
Round 8 – P2, K1, P1. Repeat around

Continue until work measures 2 ½” . Make sure to end by completing a knit all round (one of the odd # rows)

1×1 ribbing for 5 more rows.
Bind off and weave in ends.

Yoga anklet pattern

Althletic footie type yoga socks- knitted on size 2 DPNs



PRINT  OR SAVE YOUR  PDF VERSION OF THIS PATTERN HERE: Vee’s Yoga Footies

 

 

 

 


Have You Seen These Yoga Sock Patterns?Stretchy Yoga Footies |

Yoga Socks Knitted in Worsted Weight

 

Ally’s Stretch Yoga Socks Pattern

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A printable version of this pattern can be saved by clicking the link at the bottom on this article


Have You Seen These Yoga Sock Patterns?Short Yoga Anklets |
Yoga Socks Knitted in Worsted Weight

 
Yoga footie socks knit pattern

Yoga footie socks using Paton's Stretch sock yarn

Please excuse the blurry picture–a few somebody’s who were given permission to take pictures outside forgot to bring the camera in, it rained…so for the time being I am using our old camera.

This was the first ‘sock type’ thing I ever knit and more importantly the first pattern I ever attempted to type up and make available.  If you find something that isn’t quite right or does not make sense please let me know as it is very likely you are a more experienced knitter than I.

If you are a complete beginner but think you might want to knit socks someday this could be a great intro to tiny needles and stretch yarn.

So here is my go at the pattern:

Supplies

Approx 1/2 skein Pattons Stretch Sock for the pair
Us size 3 DPN’s (if you prefer using two circulars or magic loop that method should work fine)

My gauge is 14 stitches, 18 rows= 2″

Pattern

Cast on 52 ( I used a cabled cast)

P1, K1 ribbing in the round for 2″ (approx 16 rows)

Knit 1″ (approx 11 rows) ( I used stockingnet stitch but you could do any pattern you prefer for this area)

5 rows 1×1 rib

Cable bind off the first 26 stitches, continue ribbing across remaining (26)stitches

Cable cast on another 26 stitches and proceed with 1×1 rib for 5 more rows

Decrease 6 stitches evenly around (46 stitches)

Knit for 3″ ( I used stockingnet stitch but you could do any pattern you prefer for this area)

Change to 1×1 ribbing for 5 rows

Cable cast off and weave in any ends

Repeat for second sock.

 

__________________

If you make these please let me know, I’d love to see a pic.

 

UPDATED 3-10-2011  A PRINTABLE VERSION OF THIS CAN BE DOWNLOADED AT:

www.allyssite.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Allys-Yoga-Socks-stretch.pdf