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?

DIY Knitted Winter Wreath

I know wreaths are usually associated with Christmas, but I created this knitted winter wreath with an eye towards having one I could display all winter long. It's Christmas-appropriate but also perfect for displaying during the frosty, freezing winter doldrums when all you want to do is huddle under a million blankets and drink your weight in hot chocolate. (New England, I have such a love/hate affair with you!)

I'm going to give you a general outline, so that you can customize this to your taste. I'd advise using what you already have. It's a great scrap yarn project!

I had a thick (either Aran or Bulky weight, I believe) almost curly off-white yarn sitting around. I cast on varying amounts of stitches (I want to say 7 for the smaller one - aka the inner one shown above - and 10 for the larger one) on size 13 needles. Then I knit in i-cord until it was a length I was pleased with.

Now, since I used large needles, my i-cord is a bit hole-y/lace-y. I knew my stuffing would match the yarn pretty closely and only be noticeable close up, so this was intentional. Why cast on more stitches and make a tighter tube if it won't show? (Also known as, I was being lazy. I'm okay with that.)

Here's a close-up of my two i-cord tubes. For the rest of this tutorial, I'll be using the larger one. I decided I liked it better.

I had some polyfill laying around, so I used a long, straight knitting needle to pack it in. I wanted this to not sag when hung up, so I stuffed it pretty tightly. If you don't mind a little drooping, stuff it less. There's no right or wrong way! Then stitch the ends of your tube together. I chose to sort of graft them into one continuous tube, rather than closing both ends and then connecting them. You could do it either way, this one is just a bit faster.

Choose a ribbon, and either use a large needle (like a tapestry one) to pull it under a loop so it's secure when you tie a bow or make a bow and then hot glue it on.

Trim the ends to whatever length you like, and voila! I thought gold and white would be nice winter colors, but use what you have. You could do light blue and white, red and white, gray and white, ice blue and light gray, etc.

Here's my finished wreath! The whole thing took me less than two hours so you could whip one up in a day as well.

Knit Pumpkins - Easy Fall Decor

I made these a year or two ago, using a pattern from Meylah that now seems to have disappeared (don't you hate when that happens?). It originally called for adding "ridges" in the form of dark thread looped around the outside then through the middle and pulled tight at regular intervals with a tapestry needle.

For some reason, it's hard to find the right kind of tapestry needles around here! The only ones available were either nice and sharp but too short to feed through the middle, or very long but not sharp enough to go through the filling in the middle. So I skipped this part.

I also did my stem a bit differently. The original had an attached i-cord. I just cut a bunch of yarn to the same length, then tied a knot near one end of them. Then I glued them in place (note to self: be a tad bit neater about the glue next time, but you can't really notice it unless you look closely).

For all three, I used different stitch and row counts to vary the finished size. I also used different weights of yarn. The one in the front is super bulky, and the two in back were mostly worsted weight but varied in thickness. Some stretches of the yarn were thinner, some thicker. I dyed the one on the left with onion skins to get that golden brown color. Originally, it was the same color as the right one.

I'll see if I can dig up the original pattern, but here's a similar one in the meantime.

Foula Wool

Have you heard of Foula wool yet? If you're a knitter like me (here's where I fully admit that I am a decent knitter, but by no means experienced!), you've probably heard of the Scottish woman Kate Davies and her wonderful patterns. You've probably also lusted after her life - she just moved into a beautiful home near a loch and the West Highland Way. I'm jealous! But I digress...

She recently wrote about Foula wool, and I was immediately intrigued. When I was younger, I had the warmest, softest Shetland sweater. It was one of my favorite things! Foula is the most isolated of the Shetland islands, and known for its flocks of sheep. They are the closest match to the native Shetland sheep, preserved in many natural color varieties by shepherds over the centuries. The colors you see here? They're natural - not dyed! The black version is shown above.

Here's a beautiful fawn version, and other shades of brown are available. Magnus and Justyna only recently started making Shetland wool from their own and other flocks on the island. Here's hoping demand makes much more yarn available, as pretty much everything in their wool shop has already sold out! Kate Davies made two patterns using their wool - one for a hat, one for a tea cosy - that you can order.

Here's a lovely gray variety. This is one that I bought a ball of. I couldn't resist the color - it reminds me of the sea on a rainy day, or rocks along a shoreline. Now I just have to decide what to knit up with it!

Find out more about Foula Wool Shop here.

Knit Pumpkins for October, Halloween, and Thanksgiving

When you live in a small city apartment with not enough closets for storage, you need versatile seasonal decor. I made these easy knitted pumpkins because I knew I could use them for both Halloween *and* Thanksgiving! That's also why I used brown and yellow-brown yarns. I thought orange might be too Halloween-y, while browns could work for both October and November.

I loosely followed the directions for these knitted pumpkins. Scroll down and read the comments before you knit - helpful amendments have been added there! I made the two bottom pumpkins shown here using those directions, but varied my needle and yarn sizes. The larger pumpkin was made on larger needles, and I did 55 stitches across and I think about 30 rows.

I didn't have the right tools for the stems shown in the tutorial, so I cut about 6 - 10 pieces of yarn (depending on my pumpkin size) all the same length. Then I knotted them at the bottom to form a sort of tassel, trimmed the yarn beneath the knot, and then glued the "stem" onto the pumpkins with tacky glue. 

I'm debating whether or not to add veins like the original tutorial does. I think I like them as is so far!

Curly Purly Pumpkin Pattern

How cute is this knit pumpkin from Curly Purly? It's perfect for Halloween, and seems to knit up very quickly. All you need are double pointed needles, yarn, and something to stuff in the middle!

Get the free pattern and spin-off ideas from Curly Purly here.

Random Round Up

I love the feathers in this hand-watercolored "Custom Wedding Print" by The Wild Unknown.


This bowl is made completely of embroidered thread...and nothing else. Pretty amazing, right? See more from Chocolate Frog here.


I love this fingerless glove pattern found on Ravelry. Aren't the little cabled owls just adorable? I think I'd make them snowy white - they'd be perfect for winter!


I'm fascinated by these prints by Kate Breakey. Yes, those are actual dead animals that she put on light-sensitive paper and made silhouettes of. They're part of her new "Poetics of Light" exhibit at the Etherton Gallery in Tucson. Here's hoping they died of natural causes...


Kelli Anderson created these identity materials for the American Museum of Natural History. I love that they have a classic look, yet still feel very modern.


A very realistic painting of paintings! This piece is "Saturday at the Met" by Pauline Roche.


The leaves are just starting to flame gold around here, so this "Amber Reflections" oil painting by Kim Casebeer is quite apropos. The rich tones seem to glow, and I love the bright blue accents in the water.

Hope you all enjoyed the round up, and have a wonderful weekend!