Knitting Pattern Bundle Deals on My Etsy Shop

Just a quick note to let you know that I've added a couple "bundle deals" to my Etsy shop.

Pick any two patterns for $7.00....or 3 patterns for $10.00.  This bundle deal includes any patterns in my shop.  No expiration date.  More patterns coming soon!

With the three pattern deal you almost get one pattern free!

That's all for now!  I'll get back to knitting now...three patterns in the works.  

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a great day!

Happy Spring!

It's so nice to hear the birds chirping outside, see the grass a little greener, have longer days with more daylight in the evenings, and the best part....some warmer days!  

I'm so excited about the knitting pattern projects I have in the works. I sent a pattern, yarn and needles with a friend when she left on vacation so she could test knit my new beginner scarf pattern.  I need to check to see how it went!

The other day I was taking tutorial photos for the beginner scarf pattern and I looked up and noticed how nice this yarn, the birch bark plant holder and the cyclamen looked together.  I must admit that I had to push a lot of stuff to the edges of my work table to capture this little scene. 

The dark blue green yarn is Malabrigo Rios 'Indiecita' #416 and the light blue yarn is Manos del Uruguay Maxima 'Stratus' M2426.  Making plans for these beautiful yarns!

Thanks for stopping by!  Happy spring!

New Knitting Pattern - The Big Red Barn!

I finished The Big Red Barn knitting pattern last week!  It’s now available in my Etsy shop and on Ravelry.

I’ve been working on this pattern since January.  When I was knitting with my Little House pattern, I decided I wanted to try a larger building and a barn seemed the perfect place to start.  I love how it turned out!

Knitting this barn is fun!  The pattern includes detailed row by row knitting instructions and more than 30 tutorial photos to walk you through every step of constructing the barn.  The barn is knit in one piece and then the corners are sewn together.  The windows and doors are cut from felt and sewn on with embroidery floss. The roof is knit separately and sewn on top. 

This is one of more than 30 tutorial photos included
in The Big Red Barn knitting pattern.

I have assumed that you know how to cast-on stitches, knit & purl confidently, cast off stitches, knit two stitches together, sew up simple seams and have some basic hand sewing experience.  Detailed instructions provided for all other steps which may be new to you.  If you have any questions when using the pattern I am happy to help!  My e-mail is in the pattern.

When I was designing this pattern, these opening lines from Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown played over and over in my head…..

“By the big red barn

In the great green field,

There was a pink pig

Who was learning to squeal.”

The words are ingrained in my memory from the many times I read this little board book to our children when they were little.  The Big Red Barn pattern is a tribute to the many fun farm themed children’s books.  

For a special gift, knit up this cute red barn and give it to a new baby or young child…along with a farm themed book.  (The knitted barn is almost exactly the same height as the Big Red Barn board book.)

This pattern will work with almost any worsted weight wool or wool blend yarn.  I used Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Worsted ‘Red Hot Passion’ for barn (about 75 yards) and Berroco Vintage ‘Cracked Pepper’ for roof (about 60 yards).  You will also need:  size 5 knitting needles, felt (black & tan), white DMC embroidery floss, poly-fil for stuffing and basic knitting and sewing supplies.

One more thing….you may have noticed that I am from Kansas in the U.S.  Based on a certain famous movie about Dorothy and the Scarecrow, it might be easy to jump to conclusions and picture me living on the farm with a big red barn.  Well…not quite!  I live in a very suburban area.  For example, there are at least four grocery stores within two miles of my house!  No barns around here anymore!  

Maddy's Hat Knitting Pattern Posted on Ravelry Today!

The other day I wrote about the hat I made for my daughter. I finished writing the pattern and gave the hat a name - "Maddy's Hat".  The pattern is now available on Ravelry!

I used an inexpensive yarn we picked up at Jo-Ann Fabric & Craft Store called Vickie Howel “Sheep(ish)”.  The main darker color in the listing photo is called Turquoise(ish) and the lighter contrasting color is called Robin Egg(ish).  (You can make two hats with two skeins of this yarn.  Just reverse the colors on the second hat and the little bit you have left from the main color of one hat can be used as the accent color on the other hat.) My daughter loves the super soft texture.  The color choices are very cute.  This is a pretty good yarn for a very economical price.

The pattern is written for one size to fit teens and women.

The hat is knit in the round using size 5 and 7 US double pointed needles.  You will need to know how to cast on stitches, knit and purl confidently, work in the round on double pointed needles, knit two stitches together and weave in yarn ends.

It's still cold here in the heartland of the USA (as it is a lot of places!). I can’t tell you how happy I am to see my daughter put this hat on every morning this week as she walks out the door to the school bus.  No reminders about “you might need a hat” because she wants to wear this hat.  In fact, a couple days ago she told me she loves the hat!  My heart melted….I’m a happy mom!

Finished knitting the hat just in time for the end of winter....we hope!

You may have read previously that I bought yarn way back in November with the intention of knitting a new winter hat for my teenage daughter.  We picked out the yarn together at the craft store.  We were drawn in by the very inexpensive price and the cute color that perfectly matched her new winter coat.   

Well, I got a little distracted with other projects and that hat was on the needles for much too long.  It's been one of the coldest winters in decades and the knitter's daughter has not had a hat to wear.  (The knitter's son doesn't have a hat either...need to work on that for next winter!)

It’s now February….hopefully close to the end of winter here in Kansas.  Last Friday, I finally finished knitting the hat. 

Maddy's Hat Knitting Pattern

The best part is she seems to like the hat!  As she put on her coat to go out the door to the bus stop this morning, I casually commented that it was a little cold and maybe (gentle nudge) she could wear the new hat.  I was prepared for a “no” or "not today" but she actually put on the hat and confidently headed off to school.  That made my day! 

Since the forecast says another “polar Vortex” is headed our way, she’ll have a few more days to wear the hat.

I’m planning to write up the pattern for knitting this hat.  I’ll let you know when it’s available!

Have a great week.

My Favorite Knitting Project Ever - The Pink Dress

A couple of weeks ago, my Little House knitting pattern was featured on the Berroco Yarns Design Studio blog.  I am so appreciative of this opportunity to be included in their “Designer Spotlight” series! 

One of the questions they asked me as part of the interview was “What’s your favorite knitting project you’ve ever made?” 

This was a fun question because it brought back memories of special items I’ve made for my family over the years:  the sweaters I knit for my husband before we were married (I have to admit I haven’t made him a sweater in a while and it might be time to do that again!); the navy blue hat and mitten set with little sailboats that I made for our son when he was little; the many Christmas ornaments I’ve knit over the years; and many other projects.

As I answered the other questions for the interview, I was having a hard time pinpointing my favorite knitting project ever.  Then I remembered the pink knitted dress!  My daughter loved wearing that dress!  She wore it for two years for many special occasions including Thanksgiving, Christmas, her birthday, and even on Easter one year when it was a cool spring day.  The dress looked great with her black patent leather shoes, white tights and a simple white turtleneck.

The fun coincidence (remember I was being interviewed by the Berroco blog staff)…the ‘Missy’ jumper dress pattern I used to make the pink knitted dress is a Berroco pattern I bought at a little yarn shop about 10 years ago (time flies!).  

This jumper design is classic and timeless. Berroco now offers the 'Missy' jumper dress pattern as a free PDF download on their website.  (It looks like the yarn has been discontinued...bummer!  But, I'm sure other yarns would work.  Just make sure your gauge is spot on!)  Also, I would suggest buying extra yardage of yarn.  When I finished knitting the size 4 dress I only had about one to two yards of yarn leftover.  I still remember being very relieved as I held that small piece of  leftover yarn in the palm of my hand...pretty lucky!

It makes me so happy to know that my daughter has great memories of wearing the pink knitted dress I made for her.  The dress is safely tucked away and maybe someday she’ll have a little girl in her life who will wear the dress again. 

What is your favorite knitting project you have ever made?  

Time to Knit Christmas Ornament Presents for 2014!

It looks like knitters are starting to think about Christmas presents for 2014.  Last Saturday, the day after Valentine’s Day, there was a mysterious surge in sales of my Mini Mitten Christmas Ornament knitting pattern.   Love it!

Every year, I try to knit lots of ornaments throughout the year and then I have gifts ready to wrap up in December.  Well, truthfully….I don’t always succeed with planning ahead and I’m scrambling in December to finish knitting ornaments! 

Even when I’m behind on planning, I love making Christmas ornaments for my family and friends!  One size fits all!  Last Christmas, the mini mitten ornaments were wrapped up for my extended family.

If you’ve checked out my knitting patterns, you’ve noticed that I love to layer textures by adding felt appliqué designs.  The mini mitten pattern includes four different felt appliqué design ideas…a heart, a star, a snowman and a gingerbread house. 

The gingerbread house is my favorite!  I knit this mitten with Manos Maxima Worsted Merino Wool in the color “Stratus”.  I love this yarn!  This pale ice blue has gorgeous subtle color variations due to the kettle dye process.  With 219 yards per skein you can make eight beautiful mini mitten ornaments.

I keep a jar of my grandmother’s old buttons in my studio and I picked a couple of buttons to sew to the heart and star appliqué designs.

These red and white mittens with heart appliqué designs were made with Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted.  I have used this yarn for many projects over the years and it is always dependable.  One skein will make seven ornaments. 

This knitting pattern is easy!  If you’ve never knit a mitten before this would be a great pattern to try.  The mittens are knit flat with straight needles.  I’ve assumed that you know how to cast on stitches, knit and purl confidently, knit two stitches together, sew up simple seams and have basic sewing experience.   

The pattern includes detailed photo tutorial instructions for M1 increase stitch (how to increase stitches to make the thumb of the mitten).  These are just two of the many tutorial photos included in the pattern.

There are patterns for the felt appliqué designs and detailed instructions for embroidery stitches.  If you would like to make a matching pair of mittens, there are instructions for both right and left handed mittens.

If you are looking for a fun gift card holder, these mittens are the perfect size to tuck a little cash or gift card inside.

You can purchase my pattern through my Etsy shop or on Ravelry.  Or, see the Pattern Store tab above.

These little mittens knit up quick and will be a special keepsake ornament for your tree or a memorable gift.  Make lots of these mini mitten Christmas ornaments and wrap them up to give to your mom, sister, aunt, cousins, neighbors, your child’s teacher, and your special friends.  Start knitting now, while you are watching the Olympics, and you be all set for gift giving next Christmas!