Knitting – Wednesday WIP – Scrappy Scarf

My WIP (work in progress) this week is an older child’s scarf, made for the fall drive at Pine Ridge for hats, scarves and mittens. I’ve made quite a few hats for the drive and I know that is the one item that is likely to meet the goal number. Usually, older kids’ scarves and mittens are more needed, so I’ve been concentrating on these two items. This scarf is made with size #10 needles and scrap yarn. In some cases, I have yarn that is too thin and/or too dark for me to use comfortably. I’ve done double stranding on yarn throughout this scarf and like the “tweedy” effect I get from two colors. I’m also able to pair up yarn that is too thin with medium weight yarn to make the size I need.

This is my own pattern of random-width strips and occasional garter-stitch rows for texture.

I finished the little gift basket from last week: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/striped-basket

I used scrap yarn for this basket and made it a good size for holding a half-pint, wide-mouth canning jar in which I can put candy or small treats. I used the bottom liner for the basket as a lid-topper. The next time, I would make this piece a bit wider to come down further over the lid.  I’m thinking of using this pattern to make some St. Nick gift containers this year.  This is a nice, easy pattern.

Also finished last week: A scarf, a pair of mittens and two small caps.

Knitting – Wednesday WIP – Small Gift Basket

My WIP (work in progress) for this week was just started this morning and is a free pattern on Ravelry through August 31, 2018.  I’m having more luck with a top-down type beginning than I usually do and although the pattern calls for cotton yarn, I’m making this little basket with an assortment of small amounts of #4 thin yarn (mostly Lion Brand Pound of Love).  The pattern calls for double-pointed needles, but I knit everything with circular Magic Loop needles and I’m using a #7 for this project.  The finished basket is supposed to be 5-3/4 inches with a handle to make it 8 inches in height.  Check out this link and see if this is something you might like to make – free through August 31, 2018.

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/striped-basket with a coupon code of BASKETCASE.

 

These were my finishes last week:  A larger child’s scarf with a bit of open work on each end.  We’re asked to keep lace or open work to a minimum because the winters are so cold there.  I also made a pair of mittens in Bubble Gum Pink and a sparkly white yarn to match a scarf that was finished last week.  Two hats were finished this week, one with a double layer of stitches in the brim for extra warmth, and another with ear flaps.

Knitting – Wednesday WIP – Mittens with a Fair Isle Design

My WIP (work in progress) this week was actually just completed – a pair of mittens for the Pine Ridge children. There is a special drive in the fall to supply each child in the K-12 school with a scarf, hat and pair of mittens. At all times, I have a scarf on one set of needles to work on while watching TV and a mitten on another set of needles to work on during the day when there are no distractions. So far, I have two boxes packed to the brim with warm winter wear. These mittens are from a basic pattern that I developed over the past couple of years and this time I added a Fair Isle design.

I finished my WIP from last week, a child’s scarf in Bubble Gum and sparkly white yarn, using the Ridge stitch.
http://newstitchaday.com/how-to-knit-the-ridge-check-stitch/

Knitting for the Children at Pine Ridge

Finally!  A summer’s worth of knitting has been washed, dried, tagged and is ready to mail to the children of Pine Ridge.  Every fall, there is a special drive to gather enough items to give each of the K-12 school children a warm hat, scarf and mittens.  This year, I made 5 large teenage scarves, 9 children’s scarves …

…4 hoods with neckwarmers …

…3 large teenage hats, 1 child’s hat, 2 ear warmers, and 2 pair of mittens

Now, they’re on the way to the Pine Ridge children for the long cold winter in South Dakota.

https://www.ravelry.com/groups/for-the-children-of-pine-ridge

Boom! – A Long Diagonal Scarf – Free Knitting Pattern

My daughter passed on to me a link to a free pattern to make a “simple asymmetrical scarf … intended to display gradients in handspun yarn”.  I didn’t have any handspun yarn, but I did have a “Sweet Roll” cake of yarn from JoAnn’s and decided to give this a try since it was all in easy garter stitch.  It starts out with 5 stitches cast on and ends when you run out of yarn.  This is how my scarf turned out.

 

My daughter used a Caron cake with about twice as much yarn and made a gloriously long and swervy scarf.

It’s a nice pattern to really show off the colors in these cakes.  The sections of each color are large so you need a big project to display them to best advantage.

Here’s the free pattern:

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/boom

Five Basic Shawl or Scarf Shapes-Free Knitting Pattern

This is a great, easy pattern for 5 basic shawl shapes: Square, Circular, Triangular, Semi-Circular, and Heart-Shaped.  http://www.laylock.org/?s=5+basic+shawl+shapes

Each style begins with casting on three stitches and is worked to a full-sized shawl or stopped at any point for a smaller scarf, which I did. The pattern calls for garter stitch but can be made in any stitch or pattern you choose (be sure to knit 5 stitches on each end of each row to keep edges from curling). The size will depend on what yarn/needles are chosen.

I made a child’s size triangular scarf out of scraps of baby yarn (above) and an adult sized scarf with a vintage button added.

Note that the scarves are worked top-down and the beginning three stitches will form a part of the top of the scarf.

This is a fun project and a good way to use up small amounts of yarn.

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Knitting – A Good, Free and Easy Slip-Stitch Pattern

I like to work in color when knitting and early on found a good, free slip-stitch pattern that forms a brick design.  The pattern was originally written for a dish cloth but was easy to convert into a soft, sweet baby blanket .

More recently, I used the same pattern for a scarf for the Arkansas group of Special Olympics.  They specify the use of Red Heart yarn in colors of red, grey, black and white and I designed a scarf using these colors and incorporating the brick pattern.

This group asks for scarves and headbands and I included two headbands with Fair Isle patterns.

The free slip-stitch pattern is available at Ravelry.com

Knit Freedom offers a good class on slip-stitch/mosaic knitting for a fee:  http://knitfreedom.com/classes/double-knitting

 

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Knitting – Natl. Defense Service Stripe Scarf – Free Pattern

When I decided to learn to knit in January of 2016, I was interested in making easy, practical items for several charities.  One of them was Knit Your Bit for the National WWII Museum in New Orleans.  All of the information is here:

http://www.nationalww2museum.org/learn/knit-your-bit/how-to-participate.html

In addition to information, there are patterns on this site to use to both knit and crochet scarves.  I knew from my daughter’s experiences from past years that red, white and blue scarves were very popular and that is what I’ve been making.

Recently, though, on the Knit Your Bit Facebook page, I found a pattern for a scarf that has the colors and designs of a National Defense Service Medal.  This medal is a decoration presented to recognize all military members who have served in active duty during a declared “national emergency”.  It is an easy garter stitch striped scarf and interesting with the addition of bright yellow.

To find this pattern, go to the Knit Your Bits Facebook page and search for National Defense Service Stripe Scarf to get the free pattern for a scarf 6 inches wide x 71 inches long, knitted in worsted yarn with size 9 or 10 needles.  Nice item to donate to the museum’s program or to give to your favorite veteran.

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Knit-Your-Bit – Scarves for Vets

Last Christmas, I asked my younger daughter (an experienced and avid knitter) to gift me with a box of knitting supplies so I could try once again to knit and make some useful items for one of the many charities she supports.  She gave me a wonderful package of instructions, needles, markers and a good supply of red, white and blue yarn.  The yarn was specifically for Knit-Your-Bit, a program at the National WWII Museum in New Orleans.  http://www.nww2m.com/2016/09/knit-your-bit-celebrates-10-years-50000-scarves-for-veterans/

They collect hand-knit scarves for veterans and one event I especially admire is the gift of a scarf to each veteran who comes to the museum on November 11.  My first projects were scarves for this cause …

…and I later made some in different colors ….

My daughter usually makes one scarf a month for this cause and a week or so ago packaged up all of the scarves we had made this year and shipped them to the museum.  Imagine my delight when a picture appeared on their Facebook page showing a gentleman holding one of my scarves!

Photo used with permission of the National WWII Museum

A close-up of the tag that’s on the scarf reveals that it was part of our large group of scarves – how amazing is that?

I love thinking that a veteran will be wearing one of our scarves or one of the hundreds that have been donated from across the country.

http://www.nww2m.com/2016/09/knit-your-bit-celebrates-10-years-50000-scarves-for-veterans/

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My Knitting Projects for February

After receiving a gift pack of knitting supplies for Christmas, I tried knitting again after unsuccessful attempts three or four times in my life (the last time about 30 years ago).  Thanks to my younger daughter’s help, You-Tube tutorials and circular needles, I have learned to knit and actually complete some simple items.

I made preemie/newborn hats for http://www.touchinglittlelives.org/.  I’ll be sending mine to a hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

The Baby Bear Hat, shown above, is shown on Ravelry.com, an excellent source for free patterns.
I also made a pair of booties for the newborn/preemies.  The pattern for these can be found at http://www.bevscountrycottage.com/bevs-baby-set1.html.  I did these two-at-a-time on circular needles.

I started making headbands/ear warmers for the Special Olympics in Arkansas.  These are not collected until the fall, so I’ll have time to make a lot more.  The colors for Arkansas are red and white.  http://www.specialolympicsarkansas.org/.

I used a basic pattern found at http://devinlikestoknit.wordpress.com  and made the center part different on each one, in one case using an easy Fair Isle design.

I also began making nests for rescued wildlife baby and injured animals/birds.  https://www.facebook.com/wildliferescuenests/

For personal use, I made a neck scarf .  This is from a free pattern on Ravelry.com, called La Neckerchief.

…..and a shawlette for a friend who won’t complain about any mistakes she sees.  It turned out shorter than I expected and my older daughter added a crocheted edging which I thought improved it a lot.

I also made two Valentine mug warmers for my two daughters.  Instead of putting them on mugs, I wrapped them around half-pint Mason jars, filled with candy.

I may not always have this much to show – there were a lot of small items and I was extra-enthusiastic about my new hobby, but I hope to have a few things made for charity, at least, each month.