It's Getting to Be That Time of Year: Free Knitting Patterns for Christmas Ornaments

It's time again for my knitting group's annual ornament exchange.  The rules are always the same:  everyone who wants to participate brings a handmade ornament to exchange.  The ornament does not need to be knit, but it does need to be made by the person bringing it.

We haven't had our exchange yet, so I can't show you the ornament that I made.  But I thought I'd share some fun FREE knitting patterns I found for some cute ornaments.

First, the Little Christmas Tree Wreath by Magdalena Roslaniec - I made the ornament above following Magdalena's pattern.  The only changes I made were to use some ribbon for the bow instead of knitting my own, and gluing on some small beads as decoration.  I really enjoyed this pattern.  It's a quick knit, great for using leftover yarn, and makes a beautiful ornament.

I love Magdalena's pattern so much that I made a smaller version as a brooch or pin.  To make this smaller wreath, I cast on 12 sts on a #4 needle.  I knit my 3 cords for the braid as i-cords, and made each one about 6 1/2 inches long (40 i-cord repeats).  The resulting wreath is just under 3 inches in diameter.  Again, I added some ribbon as a bow and some beads for decoration.  I sewed a pin back in place on the back, but I think you could also use a stick pin to attach it to your clothing.

And a few shameless plugs for my own free ornament patterns:  These Cozy Little Snowmen are knit in the round from the head up through the hat.  These guys are a quick knit and great for using scrap yarn.  Once knit, you can add whatever facial features and accessories that you wish.

And this Yarn Ball Christmas Tree Ornament is a variation on my Yarn Ball Bookmark.  You can find the directions for the tree ornament at the bottom of my free pattern for the bookmark on my Hubpages.

Hope these free patterns give you some ideas for knitting your own Christmas Tree ornaments.  I also shared some patterns for Christmas ornaments last year that you might want to check out.  Best wishes for the upcoming holiday season!

We Have a Winner...And Some More Good News!

And the winner of the free copy of my Mosaic Blanket pattern and three (3) skeins of yarn is...Mary D!  Congratulations to Mary!  I'll send out your prize package soon!!

Thanks to EVERYONE who entered my giveaway!  It was my first free giveaway and I learned a lot.  It was great to hear everyone's feedback on my knitting patterns and tutorials.  This is very helpful as I think about new patterns for the future.  It was also fun to see everyone's email addresses (there are some really cute addresses out there) and find some new blogs to check out.  Thanks again to everyone who stopped by!

And more good news - 3 of my patterns have been published in the 2015 Knitting Pattern Daily Calendar by Accord Publishing.  This is my first time having my patterns in print, and I'm pretty excited.  I'm not sure where this calendar is available (other than Amazon), but I'll pass on more information when I have it.

Thanks again everyone!  I appreciate you stopping by!!

My Field of Flowers Tote was Chosen as Craftys Award Finalist!!

I guess I should be a little more subtle or humble about sharing this, but I'm just too excited :)  The Craftys Awards are an online contest for the best craft submissions.  This was the first year of the contest and submissions were accepted in a variety of categories:  knitting & crochet, sewing & quilting, jewelry-making, home decor, and a number of other categories.

I submitted a few of my craft tutorials, and my Field of Flowers Knitted Tote was chosen as one of the ten finalists in the knitting & crochet category.  And I'm just thrilled!

Unfortunately, my tote was not chosen as the winner, but that's okay.  I'm still happy just to be chosen as a finalist.  The winner was a knit wedding dress that is truly amazing.  Congratulations to Stephanie Klose for her beautiful dress - and congratulations to all the 2014 Craftys Award winners!!

Choosing Colors for Your Mosaic Afghan or Baby Blanket

Thanks so much to everyone who has shown interest in my Mosaic Afghan and Baby Blanket knitting pattern (available for FREE on my Hubpage!).  I really appreciate it!

I've had a number of people ask about how I chose my colors for the samples I created.  The mosaic pattern in these blankets are made up of three different colors.  While I think this pattern would look great in any color combination, I used a little color theory to create a soft semi-Impressionist look to my mosaic pattern.

Color Theory is the study of how colors appear when placed against or next to one another.  The color wheel below shows the three primary colors (red, blue, and yellow) and their complementary colors (green, orange and purple).  And there are, of course, a variety of shades of each of these colors that fall somewhere on this wheel.  For instance, peach would fall between orange and yellow, turquoise would be between green and blue, etc.

image from www.jic.org

For my adult-sized afghan, I used two shades of yellow (a pale yellow and a medium warm brown/caramel color) and then a light shade of purple as the complementary color.  Because these two colors (yellow and purple) are across from each other on the color wheel, I knew they would work well together in my pattern.

I did something similar with my baby blanket.  I had some pale yellow and lavender left over from the larger afghan, so I used a darker purple to complete my color combination.  Again, my two purples (lavender and a darker plum color) are across the color wheel from my pale yellow color.

There are an endless number of color combinations to that will work together in the mosaic design using the color wheel.  Here are a few ideas:

two shades of green and a pretty color of coral red
two light to medium shades of blue and a brighter color of orange
two shades of pink and a teal-green color

Another option would be to use two shades of any color, and then use a neutral as your third color.  Neutral colors would include white, off-white, shades of gray, beige, black, and even brown.

I hope this has given you some ideas about colors to consider for all of your knitting patterns.  I look forward to seeing the colors that people use in their mosaic blankets!

Friday Favorites: AMAZING Knit Wallpaper

from Spoonflower blog

I totally want this - knit wallpaper devised and installed at the Brooklyn Craft Company!  Just amazing.  More photos and details here.

New Project: Great Spring Idea for Scrap Yarn

Photo from Susan at Juniper Moon Farm at
http://www.fiberfarm.com/2011/03/the-first-day-of-spring

If you read this blog, you know I'm a HUGE fan of projects that use scrap yarn.  We knitters all have a tone of it, and are always looking for ways to use it.  Well, Susan at Juniper Moon Farm has a great Spring idea for scrap yarn.

She filled a suet feeder with her scraps and put it out for birds to use for building their nests!  I really love this idea!  Get all the info on her site here.  

I'm definitely going to do this.  We might be a little late, because I've seen some birds busy in our trees building their nests.  But I'm going to put out a collection of scraps and see what happens.  I'm going to be semi-scientific about this and document the process to see whether I find any scraps of yarn incorporated in nests nearby.  Stay tuned :)

Free Knitting Pattern/Tutorial: Field of Flowers Recycled Tote

This project has long been on my list of things to do.  I'm so glad I finally tackled it, and I am THRILLED with the results!

I'm sure we all have those random, maybe beat up,

tote bags that are great for carrying things, but often feature logos or slogans that aren't necessarily what we want to be seen carrying around.

Using my Flirty Flower Pin as a starting step, I knitted up a full bouquet of varying size flowers from scrap yarn, added some button centers, and used them to cover over the graphic on my old tote to create a whole new bag!  Ta-da!  Love it!

I'm calling this my Field of Flowers Recycled Tote Bag.  You can get the instructions for different sized flowers and a tutorial for putting the bag together on my Hubpages!

New Knitting Pattern: Lace & Cables Table Runner (that good, happy feeling)

You know those special moments when everything works out just the way you want it to?  Aren't they wonderful?

Such is the case with my latest knitting pattern: the Lace & Cables Table Runner.  I just love it.  (Okay, it's a little shorter than I wanted because I ran out of yarn, but other than that, I love it).  It's interesting, it's pretty, it's simple, yet elegant.  And just to add a little bit of color and texture, I wove some multi-colored ladder ribbon yarn through the eyelets on the sides.

There's not much more to say.  The pattern and directions are available on my Hubpages.  I hope you like it!!

Knitted Christmas Ornaments

Last night was our knitting group's second annual ornament exchange.  The rules of our exchange are that each person must craft an ornament.  The decoration does not need to be knitted, but it does have to be handmade.  Last year, I tried my hand at needle felting and made this little reindeer. 

I didn't really have any ideas for this year until I saw a little stuffed sheep pattern in the Spring/Summer 2013 issue of Noro Knitting Magazine.  Once I saw this pattern, I knew that I could turn it into my ornament :)

I made two sheep, one for the ornament exchange and one for me :)  In the process, I made a number of modifications to this pattern:

1.  The smallest needles I have are #4's, so that's what I had to work with.  I found that using my #4's with sock yarn created a knitted material that was too loose and showed the fiber fill through the loose weave.  So instead, I used some stash Caron Simply Soft for the body of my sheep (natural for the white one and sticks and stones for the brownish one) and my #4's.

2.  For the belly, the head, and the legs I used some leftover sock yarn.  This yarn isn't very pretty, but added some fun, funky color to my sheep.  I followed the directions as written for the belly, then switched to the Caron Simply Soft for the body.

3.  I was afraid that the sheep was going to be too boxy, so after the last cluster round of the body repeats, I did a decrease row - I did a k2tog every 7th st (knitting the 7th and 8th sts together).  This decreased 8 sts from the body.  This gave me 2 less sts for the head (which I think actually looks better).

4.  I graphed the back together with the sts I had, then switched back to my sock yarn for the head.  I followed the directions for the head, but changed the ears.  Instead of knitting separate ears, I made a set of three looped sts on each side of the head, echoing the cluster stitch in the body.  I like how these purple "ears" look.

5.  Lastly, I couldn't seem to pick up sts on the belly with my larger needles to start the legs.  So instead, I cast on 6 sts and knit my i-cord legs separately.  I left about an 8 inch tail when I cast on and made each leg (i-cord) about an 1 1/2 inches long, then I bound off.  I cut my yarn leaving about a 30 inch tail.  I used a tapestry needle and the 8 inch cast on tail to stitch the legs to the body.  Then I used the 30 inch tail at the end of the legs to wrap around each one.

6.  I didn't bother with the face details because they would have gotten lost in my striped sock yarn head.  Instead, I added a little yarn detail and bell around the neck :)

The overall size is a little larger than the pattern, about 5 1/2" in length, but I think they're pretty cute!  And in exchange, I got this beautiful embroidered snowflake ornament by expert knitter AND quilter Dagmar.

I love it!  I'm thrilled to have a sample of her handiwork!!  All and all, we had a great time (again) with our ornament exchange :)

My First Knitting Project - "Put A Bird On It"

Update:  12/28/2013

Hi all - I've moved this post to my other blog.  Look for it and other knitting articles and free patterns on my Hubpages!!  Thanks!

Textured Mitts Featured on CraftGawker!

Just in time for the cold weather, my textured mitts have been featured on CraftGawker!  CraftGawker is a cool site that features an ever-updating gallery of creative handmade craft items and tutorials.  I'm thrilled to have my mitts included!

And another thing to be excited about - I'm headed to SAFF this weekend!  I'm going with some friends from my knitting group.  It's supposed to be pretty cold, so I'm definitely wearing these mitts :)  Now I need to find the right outfit to go with them...

Latest FREE Knitting Pattern: Simply Special Washcloth

Here is my latest free pattern:  the Simply Special Washcloth!  I wanted to make some washcloths for our guest bath that had a simple design but a special touch to them.  So, I created an interesting but easy knit-purl diamond design that's simple but has a pretty look and a nice texture to it.  Then I finished it off with an i-cord border (which is actually knit as you work through the pattern).  I'm really happy with how they came out!

You can find more of my free knitting patterns, knitting articles, and craft ideas on my Hubpages site!

A New Obsession: Shawl Pins

I recently finished knitting my first shawl - the beautiful Luster Shawl by Amélie Bernier (which I love, love, love).  I have, however, found that it is almost impossible to wear a shawl without some type of clasp to hold it together and in place.  So I started looking online at various styles of shawl pins, and realized I already had the necessary materials and could make a few shawl pins on my own.

Above are the fruits of my creative labors :)

The top pin is a geometric wire and bead design that anyone can make with some simple supplies
(a bead and some wire) and a pair of needle nose pliers.

The middle pin is a beautiful  beaded stick pin that can also be worn as a hair ornament.  This stick pin is made with a polymer clay stick and a bead, then decorated with acrylic paint and some copper wire detail.

 

The last is a polymer clay pin and stick, kind of a traditional design in a bright color combination.

  

All of these pins are easy to make with some creativity and some time.  The tutorials for all these pins are on my Hubpage, or you can follow the links below:

Wire and Bead Shawl Pin
Beaded Shawl Stick Pin or Hair Ornament
Pretty Polymer Clay Shawl Pin and Stick