Knitting – A Really Nice Heart Pattern – Free

My daughter recommended this pattern to me and I love it. I enjoy doing Fair Isle patterns and this one seems to go together especially well. It has become my favorite heart pattern, found on Ravelry.

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/love-the-winter-hat

I tried the pattern first on a hat in grey and peach worsted (pictured at the top). This is destined for the Pine Ridge Lakota drive that is held every fall to provide winter wear for the school children.

The second hat is in the required yarn/colors of the Iowa Special Olympics. I hope this will help a little girl keep her ears warm while competing.

I’ve made up my own chart for making this heart pattern in different colors because I know I’ll be using it often in all kinds of hand-knit items.

 

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Valentine Runner or Banner

I combined some hand-embroidered squares with some paper-pieced hearts to make a runner for Valentine’s Day.  Some of the embroidery patterns were found online and I made up some of them using vintage Valentines from my collection as a source.

The boy and girl in the top row of these squares are from a Valentine my mother received from her teacher in 1923.

I added a sleeve to the back so I can also hang this piece.

I like this cheerful addition to my Valentine’s Day decorations.  Hope everyone has a great Valentine’s Day.

The Best of 2010

It’s been another fun year of blogging and on this last day of 2010, I revisited the 10 most popular of the past year’s posts.

Farmer’s Wife Sampler Quilt

Round Patchwork Tablecloth

The Next Best Thing to Robert Redford Dessert

Irish Lemon Blackberry Sponge Pudding

Pork-Apple-Sweet Potato Casserole

Peach Crumble Pie

Creamy Ham Tetrazzini

Vintage Hanky Heart Pillow

Light Pineapple Cheesecake

Tasty Gingerbread Muffins

Happy New Year to All!

Vintage Hanky Heart Pillow

I love vintage handkerchiefs and pick them up whenever I find them at a reasonable price in antique malls.  Last fall, when we were visiting Amish Country (Holmes County, Ohio), I found a book devoted to projects using vintage hankies – Hooked on Hankies by Laurene Sinema and Janet Carruth – Suzanne McNeill Design Originals.

I decided to use a pattern for a small hanging pillow that has a pocket where a vintage handkerchief can be inserted and it doesn’t need to be cut or altered in any way.  I used one of my pretty old hankies and embellished the piece with two vintage buttons.

I made it as a birthday gift for my online friend, Darlene, and she posted a picture of it hanging on her country-blue front door.  Check out Darlene’s blog to see how her quilting, crocheting and sewing projects are coming along – here.

The book has projects for using vintage hankies such as a table runner, wall hangings, baby clothes, shower curtain, wreath, etc.    Nice for displaying old handkerchiefs you own or as a good excuse to go to an antique mall to find some.

Dolphin Bakes Valentine Cookies

Granddaughter Dolphin (4-1/2) came for her weekly visit and she made some beautiful Valentine cookies.  While I started the mixer for our old standby recipe for butter crisps, she waded through my big copper breadbox of vintage cookie cutters.  She came up with three heart-shaped cutters and was soon rolling out dough and cutting cookies.

I helped her get the cookies onto a baking sheet and she was able to paint with an egg wash and decorate without any help from me this time.  She was very discreet with the colored sugar and didn’t have mounds of the stuff on the cookies as she and her brother have done in the past.

She brought four buddies along with her – a stuffed cat named Ruby and 3 giraffes, all named Buford after the famous Civil War general and bought in Gettysburg.

 

The cookies were beautiful little Valentines when they were finished and Dolphin was very proud.  She ate just one and took the rest home to her parents and big brother.