Category: Knitting

Got Hope!

~ Life of Momma B ~ Leave a comment

What is hope? Merriam-Webster defines hope as to “expect with confidence”. We all need hope, hope that the tomorrow will be a better day. How wonderful life would be if each of us could expect with confidence that tomorrow would be better.

For the past several months I have been following a craft group that uses their talents to do just that. With so many people in the world that are hurting, Craft Hope allows people to use their crafting skills to bring a little hope to the lives of those less fortunate. It is a simple concept really. Periodically a project is announced. People around the world are asked to make a particular item for a charity that will then distribute the items.  I finally took the plunge and decided to participate in a project. They are currently collecting hats, scarves and blankets for the people of Romania. To learn more about Craft Hope and their current projects head to www.CraftHope.com

Tomorrow I will be putting in the mail one lonely hat and scarf for a little girl. I know it is not much but believing every little bit helps here is my contribution.

Craft Hope Project

I began with the scarf. Using a #6 pair of needles, I cast on 25 stitches and continued with a garter stitch until it was long enough (about 36 inches).

This scarf brought me extra joy and some tears. For recently, as my father helped to clean out Dobb’s house, he found a pair of my grandmother’s needles that I was able to use for the first time on this project. She has been gone for a little over 15 years now. My grandmother was a spunky lady, full of determination, but she had a heart of gold and was always willing to help. With each stitch I reflected on my memories of her, I couldn’t help but think she would have loved to use her needles for a cause such as this.

Then came the hat. Since I did not have enough of the dark rose to complete a hat, I opted to try my hand at changing colors. I really did not have a pattern per se, but used the basic hat that I had made previously as my starting point. Here is what I did.

Cast on 90 stitches onto a set of size 8 double point needles, and join in the round being certain to mark where the round begins.

Round 1-7: [K3, P3] around using first color
Round 8-14: [P3, K3] around using second color
Round 15-21: Knit around using the first color
Round 22: Knit around using second color (All the following rows will be in the second color).
Round 23: [K8, k2tog] around
Round 24: Knit around.
Round 25: [K7, k2tog] around
Round 26: Knit around.
Round 27: [K6, k2tog] around
Round 28: Knit around.
Round 29: [K5, k2tog] around
Round 30: Knit around.
Round 31: [K4, k2tog] around
Round 32: Knit around.
Round 33: [K3, k2tog] around
Round 34: Knit around.
Round 35: [K2, k2tog] around
Round 36: Knit around.
Round 37: [K1, k2tog] around
Round 38: Knit around
Round 39: [k2tog] around
Cut off yarn leaving a 12 inch tail. Using a yarn needle, weave through remaining stitches and tighten. Finish off by trying all loose threads as usual.

Fingerless Mitts

~ Life of Momma B ~ Leave a comment

For those who have been with me over the past 2 months, you will know that I decided to make a gift set for my niece whose birthday is in March. It began with a simple scarf in her favorite color. Next, I tackled doubled points and made a basic hat. I figured that no set is complete without a pair of gloves.

Gloves, I may be crazy, but I am not insane. With my limited knitting experience I knew better that to tackle a pair of gloves. I have not even looked to see how you would make those little fingers. But I had seen a better option on Pinterest – Finglerless Mitts. After looking several patterns I found that are 2 basic styles – A square that is sewn together, and those knitted in a tube. I opted for the tube style.

It all began with a pattern I found at My Jewel Thief Knits.  Missy Angus created a cute set with button flap embellishments. I opted to not include the button flaps, but used the pattern. The set is now complete.

Fingerless Mitts

Update: This weekend Madison came to visit. She told me how much she loved them, and wanted me to teach her how to knit. I guess I did okay.

Basic Hat

~ Life of Momma B ~ Leave a comment

Since I am taking a break from dishclothes and working on some different projects, I have tried my hand at a hat.  Remember that I only began knitting a few months ago (see First knitting project) and this is my first time to use double pins.  It took me a little while to figure it out. but after watching many YouTube videos, I set out to tackle a seemingly simple hat pattern I found at RedHeart.com.

I began with the same turquoise acrylic yarn I used in the scarf. While the pattern used multiple colors, I only used one.  The first problem I discovered was the count was off.  The instructions say to cast on 90 stitches, then for rounds 1-8 -P1, [K2, P2]. If you do this you will not get the pattern pictured.  If you use some basic math skills you will discover that one round is not evenly divided into 90 stitches, round 2 will create a staggered look and the ribs will not line up.  So I was forced to modify the pattern and ended with extra knits where the round ended.

I choose this pattern because of its cute beret style.  As you can see, mine does not look like that.  I had Lily model it and this is what I got.  For the record, Lily is 9 so I guess in order for the hat to flop, you would have to make the bigger size for her.

Basic Hat

Not quite the look I was going for, but it is finished.  I learned a lot from this project.  I also made a set of wristlets to match so stay tuned.

A break from dishclothes

~ Life of Momma B ~ Leave a comment

The week has come to an end, and that means it’s time to post another craft project. As you know I am in the middle of making 12 dishclothes, but I needed a break from the dull beige yarn that I have been working on. My sweet niece, Madison, is turning 10 so I decided to make her a scarf and hat set. She lives in Maryland so she still has a little more cold weather.

Martha Stewart Scarf

The pattern came from Martha Stewart website. I choose a turquoise acrylic yarn. Turquoise because it is Madison’s current favorite color and acrylic because it was the only type available in the color I wanted. I adjusted the pattern a little to make it fit a 10 year old girl versus an adult. I only cast on 28 stitches so it was a little narrower and shortened the length a bit.

This is officially the first thing I have knitted besides dishclothes. This learning to knit has been an adventure. As you can imagine Lily B. is wanting something of her own and the matching hat is not ready yet. I am going to be busy over the next week. But you will have to wait till next week to see the next project.

Checkerboard dishcloth – 6 of 12

~ Life of Momma B ~ Leave a comment

Well I am halfway complete with my dozen dishclothes as I learn to knit.  If you are just joining me, here are the previous five dishclothes I made.
#1 – Diamond pattern
#2 – Button in a Square
#3 – Basketweave
#4 – Seed stitch
#5 – The letter B

As I said when I learned the seed stitch, I love the texture that it created so I wanted to incorpate it into another one of my dishclothes.  I found a potholder over at allfreeknitting.com that looked interesting. Using this concept I created a dishcloth.

checkerboard dishcloth

The difference between the pattern and what I did was I only knitted with one strand since I didn’t want it extra thick. I also used size 8 needles, since those are the ones I was given and it keeps the stitches same size as the others.