Knit Sheep and Gift Box

 I have a present I put together for Christmas that I haven't shared on here yet. It was a little knit project for a friend and, since I don't much care for wrapping things, I fancied up a little gift box for it instead. 

I like to pick up little pre-made gift boxes when I find them for a good price, Then when I need gift wrapping I add some washi tape to the box and make a custom tag.  A gold paint pen worked really well for writing the recipient's name on this tag.  

 

Inside the box was cute little sheep Christmas ornament that I knitted.  

 His little Santa hat makes him especially festive. Of course, he and his hat are made from 100% wool yarn and roving. 

You can find the pattern for the sheep here, and the little holiday hat here.
Thanks for stopping by.

Simple Knit Baby Blanket

I have never knit a baby blanket before! I know it's a little crazy sounding, but it's true.  So, you can understand why I was pretty excited to finish this Simple Knit Baby Blanket last night. 

Simple is an understatement. Knit on size 10 needles with self striping yarn, the blanket is easy and lovely to make.  You can find the pattern from Lion Brand here.  This is a great pattern to knit while your mind is a bit occupied elsewhere, you only have to count the first 3 - 5 stitches, and from there it's a straight knit to the end of the row.  Instead of knitting across, this pattern cast on at one corner and bind off at the opposite one (you knit a diamond instead of a square). 

Now, my new niece of nephew just needs to get here so I can give this gift away!

Minions

We're pretty excited to see Despicable Me 2 this summer.  In anticipation of the movie I knit Minions for my boys. Meet Dave and Phil.

I found this great Minion knitting pattern here. I've never knit 3-d creatures before, but they were really quite easy to do, and they turned out so cute.  My kids loved them too, and took them along on our recent weekend getaway. 

I created a simple layout from Simple Stories Urban Traveler.  Urban Traveler is a great travel themed line that works for small weekend getaways and big vacations alike. 

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you're enjoying your summer.

Ric Rac Rib Cowl

Craftsy has these mystery boxes they sell every few months. I'm a sucker for a good deal when it comes to yarn, so once in a while I pick one up. In the last box I received there were 2 skeins of Cascade Covington Yarn. I'm not a big fan of yarns that are acrylic blends (this one is 53% Wool/ 47% Acrylic), but this yarn was really quite lovely. It's a nice thick yarn, and I decided it was just the right yarn to try out a new stitch I've been meaning to learn. With 2 skeins (146.5 yards each) I decided that I had enough to make large cowl.

This is what the front side of the ric rac rib looks like:

The ric rac rib gives the garment a thick, springy feel. 

This is what the back side looks like. Still lovely enough to bee seen...just not as lovely as the front side:

I made the pattern up (not so tough with a scarf), but just in case you want to make one of your own I'm writing it down here. Be kind...I don't really write patterns.

The Ric Rac Rib Cowl

Materials
2 Skeins Cascase Covington Yarn
U.S. Size 10 1/2 needles
Waste Yarn (optional needed if using provisional cast-on)
Yarn Needle

Begin
Cast on 40 stitches.
Beginners can use a long tail cast on.
More advanced knitters can use a provisional method.  

Row 1 (right side): P1, *skip first stitch, knit into back loop of second stitch (leaving stitch on left needle), knit into front of first stitch (removing both stitches from left needle), p1, repeat from * to end of row.

Row 2 (wrong side): K1, *purl into second stitch (leaving stitch on left needle), purl into first stitch (removing both stitches from left needle), k1, repeat from * to end of row.

Repeat rows 1 and 2 until your cowl reaches about 45" - 50" in length.

If you used a long tail cast on method -  bind off when your project reaches the desired length, sew the cast on and bound off edges together to form a circle. Weave in ends.

If you a provisional cast on - make sure to end with a wrong side row. Do not bind off. Join cast on and final WS row using a Kitchener stitch. Weave in ends. 

Notes
The Ric Rac Rib must be worked in multiples of 3 + 1. 
I steam blocked my scarf since the yarn was a blend of wool and acrylic.   


Like I said, I don't really write patterns, so if something is unclear, don't hesitate to ask.

Oh, and just in case you're wondering, this cowl is about to find a home with a friend of mine. Sometimes I start knitting things without a recipient in mind, but as the project takes form it starts to look like it would be perfect for someone. This was one of those times. As I started knitting, the colorway and pattern really felt like it would be perfect for my friend. 

A Felt Ornament, 2 Hats, and a Layout

As the title suggests, today's post is filled with 4 random projects.

I like making ornaments from my scrappy supplies for my Christmas tree.  I thought it might be fun to make an ornament out of Stamp School felt. I used my Silhouette to cut my felt, but you could easily just print a pattern from paper and cut the felt by hand. I sewed 2 pieces of brown felt together and stuffed a little batting inside.The heart (also felt) is sewn on over where we live. These would be a fun keepsake ornament for someone who travels a lot or someone who just moved to a new state.

I've also been knitting a bit lately. I finished up a headband/neck warmer for myself and a hat for my son.

I found the pattern for my son's hat here. I forgot to get a picture of the top of the hat, but it has a square decrease pattern on top that is really professional looking and easy to make. It's knit in the round, and very easy to customize the stripes to your choosing. My son was especially excited to pick out the colors for his hat.  Both of our hats are made from a washable wool.You can find the pattern I used for my headband here.

Finally, my last picture is a layout, lest you think I abandoned paper crafting all together.

I recently took this photo out of a frame and decided to get it straight onto a scrapbook page. The paper and journaling tag are from Lily Bee's Persnickety collection. I love Lily Bee, but I always wish they'd do matching embellishments like layered stickers and fancy buttons. Alas, that is not to be, but the next best thing is that the embellishments from My Mind's Eye The Sweetest Thing collection go very well with Persnickety. While it's not a perfect match they did work out very well for me since I already had them on hand. Thanks for stopping by!