I may be a little late to this fashion trend, but I adore infinity scarves. Yet the crafter inside of me cannot rationalize the price of some of these scarves, so naturally, I made one myself.
My favorite knit: the double seed
Using size 13 needles, I casted on 22 stitches:
Row 1: Knit one, purl one, repeat
Row 2: Repeat row 1
Row 3: Purl one, knit one, repeat
Row 4: Repeat row 2
Repeat rows 1 – 4.
Once I finished, I whip-stitched the two ends together with yarn to make it an infinity scarf.
When it came time to start thinking about things to make for Samford’s Spring Fling Flea Market, these pom-pom yarn flowers were the first thing I thought of. One, they are incredibly easy to make. Two, the materials are super cute. And three, the are simply adorable. I only sold them for 50 cents, and since so many people asked me how to make them, I decided to provide a little tutorial.
Step one – pick out the yarn. For this project, you are going to waste a good amount of it, so make sure to pick the cheapest yarn available. Pick any color. To my surprise, the navy flowers sold out faster than the others. I figured the light purple would go first, but I was proven wrong.
Step two: Take the yarn and start wrapping it around two of your figures. You’ll need to do this maybe 120 times. Then cut a spare piece of yarn.
Step three: String the yarn through the ball and tie a knot (double knot it, just in case). Make sure the knot is tight. If not, all the yarn will fall out.
Step four: Cut through the yarn on the opposite side of the knot. This will result in a crazy-looking pom pom. You’ll have to cut a lot of yarn off before it starts to resemble the finished product.
Finished, it should look like this. Once you have mastered this, you really can make so many things. I have seen them placed on wreaths, made into garlands or like mine, turned into my version of a crafty dandelion. To make the little flowers, I purchased some cloth stem wire.
Last step: I cut the wire in half, placed one end in the pom pom and used a glue gun to make sure it will stay in place.
I love how sweet they turn out. And once you get them down, you can make 3 in 5 minutes. Super easy and super fast.
With the 4th of July just around the corner, I thought I would pull this project out of the archives for those of you who are still looking for something to make before the holiday weekend.
I made this last fall after finding the knitting pattern in a Debbie Bliss book. It still remains to be one of my favorite knitting projects to date!
The project is super simple (provided you use Debbie Bliss’ pattern – I cannot remember the name of the book where I found it, but I do know it’s from one of her newest books).
Once you finish your knitting, I simply cut a piece of blue felt – same size as the flag – and whipped stitched it in place. I purchased the wood stick from a craft store and inserted it before whip stitching the felt piece in place.
This is super easy to make, and I managed to finish it in one night. So you still have plenty of time to whip it up before the big day!
Ever finish a knitting project and realize that your leftover yarn is too much to simply throw away but too little to start another project? Well, do I have a solution for you.
For a friend’s birthday, I knew I wanted to make her a picture frame, but I wanted it to be something I had never made before. So with some leftover yarn, a wooden frame from Hobby Lobby, and some Mod Podge, I made this adorable, textured picture frame.
To make, I simply painted on a layer of Mod Podge and attached the yarn at a slight diagonal, trimming off the edges. The whole thing took me 20 minutes to put together.
I played around with adding another layer of yarn or a cluster of buttons, but everything seemed too “crafty cliche.” So in the end, I decided that simplicity was beautiful. The frame didn’t need to be busy; it just needs to show off the picture.
Returning to my dorm room this past weekend was a little bittersweet. The holidays are officially over, and as you can see by my lack of posts, the busyiness of school has begun. Though one of the many positives, like reuniting with friends and the start of Step Sing, is returning to a room full of finished projects I can show off during the busy times.
Take for example the knitted pillows on my bed.
This was the project that made me fall in love with knitting all over again. The pillow is basically a rectangle knitted in garter stitch, and then stitched together with a white ribbon.
Since this was before I had a sewing machine, I bought a basic pillow from a craft store, and I was able to use the pillow as the mold for the size of my knitting. And as a final touch, I embroidered (in a kind-of made up style) a flower onto the pink pillow.
For you super fast knitters, this project could be completed in a weekend, but for me, this took me about 2 and a half weeks. But its simplicity makes it the perfect project for watching a movie on a lazy afternoon.
If you have an hour to spare, you can totally make this knitting project – a simple hot pad. And this is not the hot pad you made in 3rd grade. You are going to be knitting with two threads, so the first step is creating a second ball of yarn (about 25 grams). Then with the two threads, cast on 21 to 27 stitches (depending on the thickness of the yarn), but always cast on an odd number. Then use the seed stitch (knit 1, purl 1) until you have knitted a square. The important thing to know about seed stitch is you need to start and end the row with a knit stitch.
Once you have finished knitting the square, cut a square of fabric and press (meaning pull our your ironing board) down the hem allowances. Then all you have to do is whip stitch the fabric to the knitting.
As the snow begins to melt, the knitting project that got me through the storm is finished. Casting on 11 stitches on size 10 needles, follow the pattern of knit 1, purl 1 to create a strip of color. Make 3 strips in total (with a length of around 52 inches).
Line the 3 strips next to each other and use the loose strings to sew the ends together (side-by-side). With that done, simply braid the strips. And sew the ends together like before.
Then to keep the braid in place, I used loose pieces of yarn to tack down where the strips overlaid each other. I simply used a double knot and cut off the loose ends. And ta-da! You have yourself a homemade scarf!
Another project I made for a Christmas present this year was this scarf. I found the pattern from Debbie Bliss’s book The Knitter’s Year (as you can tell, I’m a big fan of that book!) And it was pretty cool project to undertake. I had purchased fisherman’s wool a couple weeks before, and jumped on the opportunity to use it, but the pattern suggests using two different color cotton yards.
I suggest looking up Debbie’s Bliss’ book for the entire pattern, but to achieve this curved stitch is super easy.
The pattern creates this awesome lace detail and, of course, the curved look.
So if you have a boring afternoon, just pick up some size 3 knitting needles. It’s simple and you can most definitely do it!
Remember that knitting project I started on Sunday…
My washcloth has finally taken shape, and I was surprised how easy it was to create. The pattern is from Debbie Bliss’ book The Knitter’s Year. This is one of my favorite books from Debbie Bliss. It contains projects that could take less than a week and are just as cute and creative as a project (like a sweater or blanket) that would take months!
The pattern is basically a seed stitch center and a garter stitch edge. I had never done a seed stitch before, but it was super easy. To make it…
These 4 rows create the seed stitch. Repeat this pattern until you’ve reached your desired length. I suggest looking up Debbie Bliss’s book. I’ve made several projects from The Knitter’s Year, and they are all pretty simple to make.
Day 2, second post. So far, the relationship between wordpress and I has not been harmonious in the design department. I have been unable to find a template that I like, which has resulted in using their default one. Please pardon how generic it all looks right now. It’s a work in progress.
My first Sunday home for Christmas break has lived up to my expectations. Slept in, went to church, then had a completely free afternoon calling for some kind of craft to be made.
And there is no better time to knit then on a Sunday afternoon.
So with some colorful, cotton yard and size 3 needles, a washcloth is now in the making.
It’s basically a square of seed stitch with a garter stitch edge.
Pattern and details to come.
For the Love of Felt 