Chevron Love

In February I finished probably the most special labor of love I've made yet. My little sister is due with her first baby in May, and I started this blanket within weeks of finding out she was pregnant. Certain that she was having a boy, I ran out and chose the yarn with that in mind. As a pile of skeins, the yarn looked a LOT more gender-neutral than the blanket turned out. I held it on the needles just after the darker blue row knowing I'd need to add some pink should the baby not, in fact, be the boy I was so sure she was having. As often goes, I was dead wrong! =) And I couldn't be happier about it. I adore this blanket, and it was an absolute joy to knit. Knitting projects are so perfect because they're portable, can be worked on when you have time, and give you plenty of time to think about and pray for the recipient. I can't wait to see pictures of my sister's little bundle of joy wrapped in this sweet blanket.

For those of you interested, I doubled the width as the finished blanket in the pattern was really, really tiny. I used this pattern and this yarn (purchased from Hobby Lobby but also sold at JoAnns) and this tutorial for winding the yarn. After buying the yarn and knitting most of the blanket, I read some terrible reviews. But I used 9 skeins in almost every color available in the entire line, and I absolutely loved it. I never had any of the problems people complained of.

White Elephant Gift Idea

(Photo courtesy of Caffeine, Kids, and Knitting)

One couple at our Bible study's Christmas party last night brought the cutest white elephant gift idea, and I thought I'd share. It was a gift box with a silk mistletoe, a pack of breath mints, and Chapstick. So fun and creative. Why not knit your own mistletoe to include with it?

Coming Home Hat

I knitted a hat for my daughter to wear home from the hospital, and I wanted to make it a tradition for my sweet son as well. Here's the result. I'm smitten.

Teeny Tiny Knitted Flower Pattern

My sister has started making adorable hair bows recently. She's building up quite a stock, and she'll sell some Wednesday. We talked this morning about coming up with some knitted flowers to adorn the hair clippies. The problem with free patterns online is that they are intended for personal use only. Therefore, it would be a breech of the rules to use them for the clips she's selling. So I set to work creating a pattern of my own. And, in case you're wondering, I welcome you to use this pattern however you see fit. If you'd like to knit a handful of these and sell them at a craft fair, you have my full permission. And while we're on the topic, that goes for any and all patterns I share on this blog. If I have borrowed a pattern to reprint on this site, I've had permission to do so, and I will always indicate that. In that case, please refer to the author's rules. Anyway, enjoy, and please let me know if you make these or have any trouble or questions!

Size 0 needles, 4-ply yarn

CO 10 stitches

Turn and knit into the front and the back of the first two stitches.

*Leaving the remaining stitches on the needle, turn and purl 4.

Turn, and knit 3

Turn, and purl 3

Turn, and knit 3

Turn, and purl 2 together, purl 1

Turn, and knit 3.

Pass the second stitch over the first, and repeat. One stitch remaining on right needle.

Knit one, then knit into the front and the back of the next stitch. Repeat from * 4 times until one stitch is remaining. Pass the tail of the yarn through the stitch, and sew the ends together to create one round flower.

Busy, Busy, Busy

First, some news:
If, by any chance, you are reading this today (Friday, January 16th), then you still have time to join me. My sister told me about a great way to be of encouragement to a family in need. You can read their story here and find directions on how you can contribute here. I am an aspiring scrapbooker with little actual skill, so I did what I do better - quilt. I hope it's appropriate, but I made an 8 1/2 by 11 prayer quilt to be added to the binder. Please take a minute to send something if you feel so led.

Next, I'm very excited to have been contacted by an awesome website that wants to feature my coffee cozies! I do not have any details yet, so I'll wait on sharing anything more, but check back as I'll post as soon as I know anything.

Gosh, my needles have been flying lately. I thought I'd share what I've been up to as business has been booming. I still have a way to go before I finish all my projects on order, but here's where I've been.

Outgoing Projects:

A scarf for my neice:And two secret projects that I'll share in their entirety later:

Knitting Tip

Do you knit or crochet? If so, I hope this is helpful. I seem to knit a lot of patterns that are repeating. I'm interrupted a lot, so I tried to start keeping track of what section I'm on by marking on a paper. But, inevitably, I don't always have the paper with me, and I easily lose track. One day I came up with a very simple solution, and I've LOVED how much it's helped. To keep track of my sections, I tie a knot in the tail of the yarn for each one completed. That way I always have the tally with the project so I know right where I've left off. Hope this helps you too!