Adapting Your Favorite Pattern Is Easier Than You Think

Sometimes I love being able to create cute things for my kids!

The project shown used Caron Simply Soft in the colors Watermelon, Black, and Gray Heather.  It was knit using US size 6 (4.00 mm)  16” circular needles and US size 6 (4.00 mm) DPNs.

This tunic/dress is absolutely adorable on Little Bit and it was so easy.

Often I get people who ask me what pattern I used and I’m glad to share. But I have no pattern for this.  I just pieced it together as I knit.

So I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to talk about how easy it can be to alter your favorite patterns to fit your needs.

Quite honestly when I began this project I had planned to just do a basic raglan sweater, but as it began to take shape I just wanted something different.

I used a basic raglan sweater pattern to start this tunic.  I just went to Ravelry and searched for a top down raglan pattern knit in the round.  There are a ton to choose from!!!!

I chose one with a rolled collar and hem because I just liked the look.

 

I also knew I wanted to do stripes because I was working out of my stash and didn’t have enough of any one color to complete the project. After I knit the collar I knit the first stripe until it was about 1 1/2 inches. Then I counted my rows and used that number as my stripe repeat.

(I ended up using 8 rows asmy repeat.)

Now remember I had planned to do a sweater but when it was shirt length I didn’t care for it all that much.  Rather than frog the whole project I decided to just keep knitting to tunic length.  I ended up doing a couple extra stripes after I reached the length I thought I wanted because I am a little OCD when it comes to the stripe pattern. I knew I wanted the rolled hem to be in black like the collar.  But the extra length turned out to be perfect and gives her a little growing room.

(After you’ve spent the time and energy creating that special gift, you hope they can wear it for awhile!)

I also decided that I didn’t want to do the long sleeves that I had originally planned so I finished the stripe pattern to black for a rolled hem.  It is the perfect edging!

If you have a go to pattern that you use for a sweater, try these adaptations for it.  Or better yet try your own!  And share pictures of your projects with me!  I would love to feature some of your projects on the blog!

The above post is not meant to be a pattern but simply a description of my process.  But I do ask that if you share the ideas with your friends, etc that you refer them to my blog.  Thanks!

A Study in Color.....

Wow!  That post title sounds rather academic doesn’t it?

I promise today’s post is definitely not academic.  Instead it is just a few thoughts that have come to me as I look through the pictures of projects I have posted on this blog.

Two days ago someone posted pictures of her newest knitting addiction in a Facebook group I follow.  It was the Mad For Plaid hat pattern.  It is a paid pattern on Ravelry and can be found here.

(I do not know the designer and am linking to her pattern for reference. But I do love the pattern!)

I immediately purchased the pattern (not something I often do) and cast on my first one.

This morning I finished my second.

As I was knitting the second I noticed how different it looked from the first one.  I even double checked the pattern and the chart numerous times to make sure I was knitting it properly.  

I was.

So what made the difference?

The color made the difference.  The first one was bold and somewhat earthy.  It reminds me of the lumberjack trend that has been all the rage.   But the second one is soft and almost hazy. 

I have noticed on some of my own designs a similar occurrence as I knit samples.  For example take a look at my Swirly Leaves Beanie.

The leaves and swirls are knitted with the same yarn in both samples, but the difference in the black versus the tan background yarn  is amazing.

 Then I took a look back at my Rooster Beanie.

I originally knitted the Rooster design as a mascot beanie for my children’s school.  But I had so many people ask me for a pattern that I knitted up samples in other colors as I was editing my pattern notes.

Here’s a look at the back side of the Rooster beanie.

The red and black is a bold statement while the other more muted colors are soothing.

I’m not always sure of my color combinations as I’m designing.  But I’m even more hesitant to venture far from another designer’s sample colors.  But after my photo journey down knitting memory lane, I feel much more confident about choosing colors.  My advice to you would be to just jump in and try it.  Keep in mind the boldness of contrast versus the soothing complimentary colors when choosing your yarns. Take pictures!  And date them if possible. It’s always great to look back at your creations for inspiration, even years after they’ve been gifted. I think the next time you flip through those pictures looking for a muse, you will discover that your color choices correspond with your moods.

And if you are searching for my published patterns you can find them all on my Ravelry page.

Thanks for looking!

Me Too Mommy!

If you haven’t noticed I have been on a knitting spree lately.  I am busy filling orders and designing new patterns.  My almost 4 year old has been asking with every finished project, “Is that for me?”  And I have to tell her, “No, baby.  I’ll do yours soon.”  And she goes on to play with her toys.

Last weekend we had the first cold snap of autumn and I felt so bad that my little one was huddling under the hood of her jacket while everyone else had access to a new hat or beanie. So what’s a momma to do?  Knit her a hat of course!

I found this free pattern and thought, “Oh how cute!” so I resized it.  I simply used a light worsted yarn and US size 7 needles for the band, and US size 6 DPNs for the hat body.  This made the perfect snug fit for my preschooler.

I also had this adorable monkey button sitting around and thought it was the perfect fit for my little miss.

But once the hat was completed I wasn’t done pleasing baby girl.  She had to have her own “pishers” done just like her sisters.

And then the 12 year old decided she needed to be a photographer.

Such is the life of a crafter and a crafter’s family.....have a great day and Happy Crafting!

Swirly Leaves Beanie

Last night we had to turn the heat on.  This morning when I drove the kids to school I used my heated seats.  That can only mean one thing......It’s Fall!!!

Fall means many things to different people.  For some it’s football season, for my kids it’s marching band season.  For some it’s all things pumpkin, for others it’s all things apple.

One thing that we generally all agree on is leaves!

I live just miles away from the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and every October we are overrun with people who come to see the leaves change colors.

I love to see the mountains alive with color but in my own yard I love to see swirling, dancing leaves as they perform their yearly ballet from the tree limbs to the ground.

(My husband says I love them because I’m not the one who rakes them, but whatever.)

It is inevitable that as much as I love the falling of the leaves that I would design a hat that could simulate the feeling.

The result is my Swirly Leaves Beanie.

After I finished all my Red Regiment orders I was still in the mood to do a few more beanies.  But I was definitely a little tired of working with red and black.  I needed some of those beautiful colors of nature.

I also wanted to give the design movement like the dancing of swirling leaves.

I love the effect of the color changes of the yarn and the swirls of the design together.

My samples were knit with Caron Simply Soft.  The black is in the Solids line, the oatmeal is in their Heathers?, and the orange is an Ombre.

I hope you love it as much I loved designing it.

If you are interested, the pattern is available for purchase in my Etsy shop or on Ravelry.

Now I’m off to reclaim a beanie from one of my girls and maybe, just maybe I’ll venture out to help my husband with those leaves.  Or maybe not (most of them are still on the trees right now). 

Maybe he’ll join me for a cup of hot apple cider on the back porch and watch the leaves dance for us.

I think that’s a much better idea.

Anchors Aweigh Hat and a Free Pattern

Once the creative juices start flowing I find that I can’t stop.  Working on my Red Regiment hats (see post here) started the hat making process. And now the hat making process has progressed to a hat designing process. 

For this hat I utilized charts by Jacqui’s designs found here on Ravelry.

I’m just so excited about this new hat that I had to share it!  And I’m sharing it as a free pattern to you!

This pattern assumes a knowledge of working Fair Isle or stranded knitting as well as the ability to read charts.

Materials Needed:

US sz 7 16” circular

US sz 7 DPNs

125 yds worsted weight yarn in MC (royal blue)

50 yards worsted weight yarn in CC1 (turquoise)

50 yards worsted weight yarn in CC2 (white)

30 yards worsted weight yarn in CC3 (pink)

stitch marker

yarn needle to weave in ends

Abbreviations:

CO: Cast on

PM: place marker

K: Knit

P: Purl

Kf&b: Knit in the front and back of the next stitch

K2tog: Knit the next two stitches together

CO 100 sts with circular needle and MC using your favorite cast on for ribbing (I used the Old Norwegian Cast On because I wanted it to have some stretch with the ribbing.)

PM and join in the round, being careful not to twist stitches.

Work in K2,P2 ribbing for 2.5”

On next round increase 20 stitches as follows: *K5, Kf&b* repeat * * around

Knit 4 rounds in MC

Next work wave chart using MC and CC1

Knit 1 round in MC

Then work Anchor chart using MC, CC2, and CC3 (I used 4 stitches of MC between each anchor chart.  This allows for 6 anchors to be evenly spaced around the circumference of the hat. Also I added the pink anchor as an accent.  This requires some finagling of the pink floats but I think the overall look is worth it.)

Knit 1 round MC

Knit wave chart using MC and  CC1

Knit with MC until hat measures 8.5” from cast on edge.

Decreases:
(switch to DPNs as necessary)

 Rnd 1: *K10, K2tog* repeat  * * around

Rnd 2: Knit all

Rnd 3: *K9, K2tog* repeat * * around

Rnd 4: Knit

Rnd 5: *K8, K2tog* repeat * * around

Rnd 6: Knit

Rnd 7: *K7, K2tog* repeat * * around

Rnd 8: Knit

Rnd 9: *K6, Ktog* repeat * * around

Rnd 10: Knit

Rnd 11: *K5, K2tog* repeat * * around

Rnd 12:  Knit

Rnd 13: *K4, K2tog* repeat * * around

Rnd 14: Knit

Rnd 15: *K3, K2tog* repeat * * around

Rnd 16: Knit

Rnd 17: *K2, K2tog* repeat * * around

Rnd 18: Knit

Rnd 19: *K1, K2tog* repeat * * around

Rnd 20: Knit

Rnd 21: K2tog around

Break yarn and pull through the remaining stitches.  Pull tight and pull yarn to wrong side of the hat.  Weave in ends. Block as desired and enjoy.

Back in Full Force

Over the years I have always crafted.  I love to blog and I have shared that love of handmade goodies here.  But since our youngest child was born I have found that the balance between family, church, and working cut into my time for crafting and blogging.

Recently I have been blessed with a few weeks to spend at home with our preschooler.  Of course that includes creativity and crafting.  In my search for the perfect beanie for this winter I came across this wonderful chevron pattern at Siouxsie Stitches.

I found some Simply Soft in my stash and knitted up this little beauty.

Then I got creative.  The beanie fit my 17 year old son almost perfectly.  So tweak the basic hat pattern a little bit and then I decided to create my own chart.

We are in the midst of marching band season here (aka football season) and my older two children are proud members of The Red Regiment.  I happened to have a digital copy of our logo and voila.....

This happened!

So then of course my son wears my new beanie.  (I did make it for me by the way) and tells everyone he is advertising.  So from one simple beanie because I was bored I have created so far this pile of goodies.

I have done custom charts and knitted more in the last week than I have had time for in years!

And I'm loving it!!!!!  So I'm enjoying the ride. 

Here are a few more pics of my crazy creative week.   

Have a great week and Happy Crafting!!!!

It looks like I've been busy!

It's been a little while since I posted on this blog.  Thanks to the pitiful service from my satellite internet provider (I live in the mountains and it's the only option) I have been very limited in my internet participation for  the past couple weeks.  But I finally had a beautiful sunny day to take some pics.   So I finally can show off some of those FOs.

Back in November I posted about my frustration at trying to finish a sweater for my son.  I did complete it, even if it was a day late.  And today he posed for me.

This pattern can be found here.

I also was busy before Christmas sewing up messenger bags and cases for the portable DVD players that the kids got.

For the DVD player cases I adapted the laptop case found at Sew Mama Sew.   This pattern was developed by Elizabeth at Oh! Fransson.

For the messenger bags I used the tutorial found here.

As you can tell I love to find the freebies and tutorials out there on the internet.   Through these I've been able to learn many sewing techniques that I would never have thought of on my own.

While I have a ton more pics taken today, most were to update my project page over on ravelry.  If you hope over check them out.  My user name there is applestitcher.

Now that my knitting is almost caught up I should have time to turn my focus back to finishing up some quilts that I have planned.

My goal is to have at least one finished quilting project to show you next time.

Happy Crafting!!!!

Christmas Crafting

If you're anything like me this time of year becomes a blur of Christmas crafting around all the seasonal events.   Last Saturday, the family was invited to a casual Christmas get together.  We were all asked to bring a finger food so I of course got busy baking.  Well, baking and candymaking.

I put together a tin of some of my favorite sweets to share.

These are Oreo truffles, peanut butter chocolate chip balls, and a copycat recipe of Christie Cookies famous oatmeal raisin cookies.

YUM!!!!!

But of course I couldn't just leave it at that.  I just had to have a hostess gift too.  So did I run out to W---- in order to pick up a random gift.  Of course not!   That's not what a over ambitious crafter does for a gift, now is it?

Instead I dug into my stash of cotton yarn and knit a couple of my new favorite quick knits.  

The dishcloth is vortex.   It looks so intricate.  When I finished and showed it to a friend, her response was, "It looks like a knitted quilt!!!!!"  I couldn't agree more.

The scrubbies are tribbles.   Such an easy knit and instant gratification too.  I'm working on more of these for gifts throughout the Christmas season.

I also included a loaf of my cranberry nut bread and a jar of cranberry relish.

I took all these homemade treasures and placed them in a basket that I had picked up at the dollar store.

I was pleased with the results.

Now after this time of procrastination by blogging I must return to my regularly scheduled Christmas crafting bonanza.

But before I leave I feel the need to give you a glimpse at my oldest daughter's reaction to a Christmas gift from a friend.

Have a very Merry Christmas!  And remember to take time to enjoy the little things this Christmas season!

Focus, focus, focus

This time of year easily becomes chaos for my life.   It is research paper time, which for a graduate student usually means it is focus on grades time.   It is the end of fall sports (and thankfully this year no winter sports).   It is the beginning of the holiday season both at church and with family.   For a crafter that also means it is crunch time on finishing all those gifts that I intended to start back in January.  To add to that my oldest has a birthday this Friday.  My middle child has a birthday 2 weeks after Christmas.   So.......

I have decided that the only way to work through this is to focus on one thing at a time.   I can't ignore any of these areas but I need to give full attention to each thing when I am working on it.

So far this morning, I have completed a project for my seminar class and contacted a few people concerning the church-wide Thanksgiving meal.

On the craft front I have chosen to focus this week on knitting.   My oldest asked for a sweater last year.  He chose the pattern, the yarn,and we bought all the supplies.   I even knitted about 50 % of it.   Monday he asked me if he could at least get it by his birthday.   Wow!  Now that one hit home.  So I am working towards completion.  I am working on the Wonderful Wallaby.   He chose a blue Red Heart yarn.   Now I'm a bit of a yarn snob so working with Red Heart SuperSaver is probably why this project is taking so long.   But keep tuned.   I have the body and 1.5 sleeved finished.   All that remains is .5 sleeve, the placket, and the hood.   I think I can, I think I can.

Oh did I say his birthday is Friday?