My Daughter has a green frog from Build a bear, his Instagram tag is sir_gary_greenford, he wanted a cardigan inspired by Harry Styles one. So, as a dutiful nan I set about making one. This is the tutorial I put together so that my daughter and her friends could make more for their other build a bear teddies.
Mitred Granny Square Blanket Tutorial
What a beautiful blanket!
Once I had made one I simply had to share a tutorial on how to do it. At the time there was not another tutorial on YouTube, my tutorial has been copied many times, but mine has stood the test of time. All instructions are included in the videos, but, if you have any questions that have not already been answered in the video comments please feel free to ask below.
I love to see your finished blankets so please tag woollywumpkins on any of the social medias to show me your gorgeous work!
Heritage Shawl and Wristwarmers
This simple yet elegant design was inspired by the hard working women of the Rhondda Valleys. It show cased at the ‘Made In The Valleys’ Exhibition arranged by Melissa Warren and held at the Rhondda Heritage Museum back in 2012. The printed pattern is available to purchase via my store here and the PDF version is available to purchase via Ravelry here
Here is a short tips video to accompany the Heritage shawl and wrist warmers pattern.
Easy Crochet Soaker
As a mum who used cloth nappies I found that the patterns on offer did not cater to my super soaker son. So I wrote my own pattern and published it on Ravelry. https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/easy-soaker-pattern After over 6.000 downloads I decided to make a series of videos to accompany the pattern and aid those who struggle to follow written instructions. I love to see finished projects from my patterns so please tag woollywumpkins on all of the social medias to show me your gorgeous creations.
My Easy, Flat Knit, Gusseted Thumb, Fingerless Gloves.
Using DK yarn, size 4mm straight needles and a tapestry needle to sew seam and ends in. This is a quick & easy knit that incorporates a thumb gusset at the out side edge of your work for ease of row and stitch counting. Make two.
K – knit, P – purl, (-) – repeat the instructions contained in the brackets. KFB – knit into the front and the back of the stitch to increase a stitch.
- CUFF – Cast on 32 sts. We will now be using a 1×1 rib row which is (K1,P1), repeated to end of the row. Repeat this row for a total of 12-16 rows depending on how deep you’d like your cuff to be. Mine was 12 rows.
- MAIN BODY – Switch to moss stitch. Row 1 – (P1, K1) repeat to end of row. Row 2 – (K1,P1) repeat to end of row. Repeat rows one and two a total of 6 times.
- THUMB GUSSET – Remember to keep the continuity of the moss stitch pattern throughout. Row 1 – P1, K1, KFB, KFB, (P1, K1), Repeat to the end of the row. Row 2 – (K1,P1,) Repeat until you have worked 30 stitches, P to last 2 stitches, K1,P1. Row 3 – P1, K1, KFB, K2, KFB, (P1, K1), Repeat to the end of the row. Row 4 – As Row 2. Row 5 – P1, K1, KFB, K4, KFB, (P1, K1), Repeat to the end of the row. Row 6 – As Row 2. Row 7 – P1, K1, KFB, K6, KFB (P1. K1), Repeat to the end of the row. Row 8 – As Row 2. Row 9 – P1, K1, KFB, K8, KFB (P1, K1) Repeat to the end of the row. Row 10 – As Row 2. Row 11 – (P1, K1), Repeat to the end of the row. Row 12 – (K1, P1) Repeat until you have worked 30 sts, (P1, K1), Repeat until last 2 stitches. K1, P1. Row 13 – As Row 11. Row 14 – (K1, P1), Repeat until you have worked 30 stitches. Cast off 12 stitches, the last 2 stitches should be K1, which is involved in the last cast off stitch then P1. Row 15 – As Row 11. Row 16 – (K1, P1), Repeat to the end of the row. Repeat rows 15 and 16 a further 3 times.
- Work a rib cuff of your desired amount of rows. Mine is 19 rows. Cast off loosely.
- Fold your finished knitting length-ways. Using mattress stitch, join your work to close the glove into a cylinder shape and sew the ends in.
Pitter, Patter of Precious Little Feet.
There’s nothing quite like the news of a baby to get you picking up your knitting needles & working at light speed.
So when my daughter in law started to look a little drawn, tired and queasy a couple of months ago my internal suspicions were raised. We have a lovely relationship, but, in an effort to not be the stereotypical, over bearing mother in law, I just picked up my needles and started to plan. 😁
Before her husband (My eldest son) was born I struggled to keep a viable pregnancy so I knew not to pry too much until they were ready to talk to me. Thankfully for me they didn’t keep me waiting long 😁
I am so proud to share that our family is expecting a new arrival in May 2020. All is well so far and a definite bump is appearing before our eyes.
As you can imagine my blog and social media pages will be filling up nicely with new newborn patterns, colourways, knits and crochets from now on. I’d love to hear your newborn knitting wants and experiences here or on my pages. Michelle xx
Woolly Hand Warmers
Fresh from the West Wales Wool show on Saturday October 5th 2019. I had so many customers ask for this specific pattern that I have put together this blog post. Thanks for popping by, the yarn can be purchased directly from my store.
There are many similar patterns on Ravelry, this pattern is knit in the round using the magic loop method (I don’t describe how to do magic loop as there are very good videos on You Tube which already show how it works). It takes 50g, 112m of DK (Double Knit) weight yarn. British yarn and terminology is used along with a 4mm UK size circular needle. My tension was 9 stitches x 12 rows = 4cm. The length of the needle is up to you. it needs to either be short so that you can work straight around or 60cm + to do the magic loop method. Abreviations – K – Knit, P – Purl, KFB – Knit into the front and the back of a stitch to increase one stitch. TG – Thumb Gusset.
The original samples were made with my Calyptical colourway. I picked up this delicious blue skein by Penrhallt Alpacas at the West Wales Wool show in Narberth, it was 50g so perfect for this little project. Once reskeined I started to write out the pattern, so here it is.
Hand warmer pattern –
Make 2,
Rib Cuff Round/s
Cast on 36 stitches and, taking care not to twist your cast on row, join to knit in the round. Round one – (K2, P2) 9 times. Repeat Round one until your work measures 7cm. Knit 10 rounds.
Thumb Gusset
TG Round one – K1, Place Marker, KFB, KFB, Place Marker, Knit to the end of the round. TG Round 2 – Knit.
TG Round 3 – K1, Slip Marker, KFB, K2, KFB, Slip Marker, Knit to the end of the round.
TG Round 4 – Knit.
TG Round 5 – K1, Slip Marker, KFB, K4, KFB, Slip Marker, Knit to the end of the round.
TG Round 6 – Knit.
TG Round 7 – K1, Slip Marker, KFB, K6, KFB, Slip Marker, Knit to the end of the round.
TG Round 8 – Knit.
TG Round 9 – K1, Slip Marker, KFB, K8, KFB, Slip Marker, Knit to the end of the round.
TG Round 10 – Knit.
TG Round 11 – K1, Slip Marker, KFB, K10, KFB, Slip Marker, Knit to the end of the round.
TG Round 12 – Knit.
TG Round 13 – K1, Slip Marker, (K1, P1) rep 6 times in total, slip marker, Knit to the end of the round. TG Round 14 – Knit. TG Round 15 – Repeat TG Round 13.
TG Round 16 – Knit. TG Round 17 – Repeat TG Round 13.
TG Round 18 – Knit. TG Round 19 – Repeat TG Round 13.
TG Round 20 – K1, Remove Marker, cast off until you have 36 stitches remaining on your needle, Remove second marker, Knit to the end of the round. Continue to knit in the round closing the thumb gusset gap. Knit 7 rounds. Repeat rib round 15 times for the shorter cuff, as seen on the Blue glove sample or 30 times for the longer cuff as seen in the Calyptical colourway. Cast off loosely and sew ends in neatly.
A New Blog to Celebrate
After a long time of bad health, I finally have the head space to work out how to post on a blog 🙂