Easter Knitting Projects

 

Any fellow knitters out there? I started knitting when I was in middle school, completing a few horribly mistake-ridden garter stitch items before dropping the hobby for well over a decade. I've picked it up again in the last few years, spurred on by photos of cute baby items on Ravelry, and now I have a giant stash of yarn hidden under the bed.

Even though I've hit that stage of pregnancy where I'm just utterly, completely *exhausted*, I still managed to surprise myself and complete a few Easter-themed pieces. (Next on the docket: baby sweaters before it gets too warm to knit much!)

The eggs in the top row above are an Arne & Carlos pattern, from their book "Easter Knits". I rented it from my local library, and followed the flower patterns exactly as written while modifying their chick chart for a ball into one for an egg instead. I loved this pattern, and the shape of the eggs! I used LionBrand Bon Bon yarns, so I wouldn't have a ton of regular fingering weight skeins sitting around (I'm attempting to use up my stash these days).

The eggs in the bottom row are a Julie Williams pattern. This pattern is available for free online, but I wasn't as pleased with the results. I noticed first and foremost that the eggs featured in her pictures don't always conform to the charts. They seem to have rows added. I added some rows for at least the gingham one here as she did (I forget if I added ones to the striped egg.) I also modified the top shaping a bit, to be more egg-like. I knit them in the round as well, because I avoid seaming like the plague (one of these days I'll get over that and knit my first adult sweater!).

I still think they came out a bit too fat and not very egg-shaped. Oh well!

 

You need a rabbit to go with your Easter eggs, right? This bunny is a Rachel Borello pattern. I think it turned out okay. The head seems a bit huge and the face isn't as rabbit-like as I wanted, although I did use embroidery thread for eyes instead of the safety ones suggested. Looking at people's project pages, it seems like I wasn't the only one whose bunny didn't come out very close to the original though. I think she used a fish eye lens or something like that to make hers resemble a rabbit more.

It was also very fiddly to knit - each element is a separate piece that required stuffing and/or seaming. I don't think I'd attempt this again.

 

This chick is a free pattern from Nicky Fijalkowska. I was originally going to make one of the above Easter eggs as two halves, and hide it inside. However, once I started knitting one this way, I realized each half wouldn't have enough structure to maintain an egg shape. So this little guy is homeless, but still cute! I like how the wings curl.

What are you knitting lately?

My DIY Version of Purl Soho's Heirloom Wool Easter Eggs

Did you guys see Purl Soho's Heirloom Wool Easter eggs pattern? I thought they were nice, but I wanted a thinner version with more colorful flowers. So I decided to wing it and DIY my own.

I started by making a template out of paper. (Save this image, print out at whatever size you like, and use as a template for yours if you like it.)

I then cut twice the number of egg shapes as eggs I wanted to make out of plain white felt. You can use the good wool stuff, but I honestly prefer the polyester - it won't get eaten by moths or carpet beetles over time.

Then cut another template out of paper, but take about 3 - 4 mm off all around. Use this template to cut smaller egg shapes out of thin quilt batting, one per egg.

Then you can either hand-stitch these using blanket stitch, or use a sewing machine to sandwich the batting in between two egg felt shapes and stitch all the way around. If you look closely, I tried out a few different stitches for mine - a small zigzag, a wider zigzag, and some plain stitching. Make sure you catch the back piece of felt as you sew. You can use a walking foot if you have one, but I did these without it - I just went slowly.

Don't worry about it being perfect though! I had some spots where the back piece of felt stuck out from behind the top piece. Instead of redoing it, I either trimmed it with scissors or just put flowers over this spot.

Now for the decorating! I decided to make loops out of thin blue ribbon for hanging. I stitched them on the back side of the egg. (In retrospect, I should've sandwiched them in when I sewed the eggs, but oh well!)

Then I cut petals out of different colors of felt. Many flowers can be broken down into simple shapes. This pansy is just two bigger ovals, two medium ones, and a really big one that's almost pinched into a triangle at the top out of purple felt. Then cut two small ovals and another medium oval out of a contrasting color (here I used yellow). Then layer your petals as shown and stitch on using embroidery thread.

For this one, I drew a five-petaled flower, cut it out, and then turned it over so the pencil lines wouldn't show. If drawing isn't your thing, just do a basic five-pointed star then nip a bit more out of the petals near the center to give them a better shape. I layered a smaller flower over a larger one for the middle bloom. These were stitched on using pale pink embroidery thread and tiny stitches.

Violets are one of my favorite spring flowers! These are just two smaller ovals on top with three larger ovals on the bottom. I stitched the petals on with purple thread, then added bright yellow centers.

I got a little fancier with this one. It's just two purple cones and a larger pink oval for the pink hyacinth and purple grape hyacinths. I stitched little flower shapes in pink for the middle part, then just did lots of French knots (do a Google image search to find step-by-step tutorials!) for the side flowers.

Here you can see the other bluebells, abstract round flowers, and orange-centered daffodils one I made. Just play around with colors and your favorite blooms to customize these!

DIY Easter Egg Dye

Intrigued by the many bloggers posting about natural Easter egg dyes, I finally caved and decided to try it for myself! Here are three white eggs I dyed using purple cabbage. I'll leave it to you to find an exact recipe you like. I basically just winged it, chopping up an entire head (minus the white core) simmering it for five-ish minutes in enough water to cover it before straining it and adding a couple tablespoons of white vinegar.

I submerged my eggs overnight, letting them cool for a bit in the solution before transferring them to the fridge for the rest of their soak.

This egg came out the darkest. It was a lovely deep, slightly teal shade of blue. I've read that if you leave the vegetal/natural matter in the dye, you can get a mottled look. I think I'll try that next time. A marbled effect would look great in this color!

For this egg, I arranged a few dried cherry blossom petals on a square of old nylons/pantyhose and then wrapped this square tightly around the egg, fastening it with a twist tie. I like how some of the dye went through the petals, giving them delicate veins. I was worried they'd just end up looking like giant white spots, but the little detailed lines prevented this!

This last egg came out slightly lighter than the others, for unknown reasons. I think it's interesting that you can get varying shades from the exact same dye bath. It's a nice variation in color without any effort!

I was under the impression that the hot dye, which I only let cool for a few minutes before submerging the eggs, would hardboil the insides. So when I went to crack one for an afternoon snack, I was very surprised to find this instead! I'll have to figure out what went wrong for next time. Perhaps I needed a larger volume of dye.

The remnants of my craft project, all crushed and ready for the compost pile or for dressing the garden! Even in this state, the eggshells are lovely to look at, don't you think?

Next on the agenda is homemade dusty pink dye from avocado pits! I've been collecting them to dye yarn with, but after seeing these results I can't wait to use the dye on eggs too.