Holiday Knitting and Crocheting Part 1

It's that time of year!  Holiday knitting and crocheting for the ones we love.  Hand made, yarny goodness for all.  I don't know about you, but curling up in a favorite chair, a hot cup of tea by my side, hooking or clacking away is pure heaven!  I never tire of bringing a hand knit or crocheted gift to life.  

Even though I make my living as a pattern designer, I enjoy other designers patterns as well.  More on that in a moment.

Please indulge me to first direct you to my designs.  These are my most popular patterns for neckwear.  The above photo is perfect for the beginner with spectacular results!  Chunky Twist Scarf.  You only need 162 yards of super bulky weight (6) yarn.  I always crochet tons of these under the tree for women, teens, men and women.  You could easily adjust it for a child size.

I've made so many of these Triangle Scarves in all kinds or yarn weights from crochet thread to super bulky!  A picot edge with beads makes it extra special.  In cotton, it's perfect for Spring and Summer.  I always take one to the movie theatre as they are usually freezing!  In sock yarn, it's just the thing for fall and winter. Long run yarn is stunning and worsted weight yarn makes a very generous size.

This is a TON of scarf at 16 feet long!  Super easy for the beginner.

Super bulky (6) yarn in many shades or...

just one is super chic!  Crochet a Mile Long Scarf for your bestie!  

Now, on to other designers...

the Crocodile Stitch Scarf by Bonita Patterns is one of my favorites for gift giving and craft fairs.  Crochet this in your long run yarn to show off the stitch at its finest.  

You can read my post about it here.

Make it shorter and more affordable.  Read the post and see more photos here.

I love all one color too, but keep it in a lighter shade to show off all your hard work.  Read more of this blog post here.

The Hitchhiker by Martina is also a fav of mine.  I must have knit a dozen of these and I always add charms to each point.  Find the yarn info in this blog post.  Sock yarn to...

worsted weight, you can't go wrong!  Here's this blog post.

Just add your charms with a tiny crochet hook as you knit along or sew them on at the end.  There's a photo in the Yarn Tip section below.  Here's the yarn info for this one.

The knit Lacy Baktus by Terhi is another.  You have to click through Rav to her Flickr page and write down the instructions, but it's worth it.  My story about this one is here.

I've made a number of these Lollipop Shawls as well.  Really easy and the color changing yarn keeps it interesting.  All the yarn information is in the post.

So, there you have it.  A number of easy projects to crochet or knit in time for holiday gifting.  Next week, blankets!  I hope you can join me.

Find all my pattern shops at the top of this page or

Etsy here

Craftsy here

Ravelry here

Best,

Sheila

Yarn tip:

Here's a tip from Knitting Daily on how to add beads with a crochet hook.

KnitCircus Blue Hitchhiker

Hover over any photo to Pin
I don't know what it is about this scarf!  Every time I look in my pattern stash for a pattern to knit up and add charms to, I keep going back to this one.  Martina's Hitchiker.

I purchased this lovely yarn from Jaala at KnitCircus on Etsy.  It's actually a shawl kit (Corrina Shawl Kit)  that comes with one skein of yarn and the paper pattern in its own plastic sleeve.  Yay! Very easy to read pattern with gorgeous pics.  Jaala also sent along a little 15 yard mini skein of Sock du Soleil, in Red Balloon.  A very nice surprise indeed!  Great price too...$26.50.  That's a great bargain to get yarn, pattern, plastic sleeve and mini skein.  Plus, if you have a question about the pattern, contacting Jaala is simple.

I had every intention of knitting up the Corrina, but when I cam across these charms, I just had to do another Hitchhiker.  I've got some lovely cotton yarn in beach colors that will be used for the Corrina pattern!

The Hitchhiker pattern is an easy one and I love the versatility of the shape.  It's also a great pattern for hand dyed or long runs yarns.

Jaala's yarn color is Andromeda and is a fingerling, superwash merino with little silver sparkly bits throughout.  The charms are from Hobby Lobby, Metal Gallery #225870 Beaded Flower Garden.  They cost $10 per pack and you get TONS of them in one package.  Two colors come in the package.  The other bead is a light, sort of robins egg blue.  I'm saving those for another project.

I bought 3 packages of beads as they were on sale for $3.60 a pack and just used the dark blue ones The back side is silver, which goes great with the sparkles of silver in the yarn.  I add them as I knit along with a tiny crochet hook so I don't have to string them all on the yarn before I start knitting.

Well, that's it for this week!  Have a great weekend.

Best,
Sheila

Click here for Jaala's Corrina Shawl Kit

Click here to see Martina's Hitchhiker pattern

Yarn tip of the week!

* I keep all my paper patterns in a three ring binder! One binder holds all my scarf patterns. Another holds all my baby patterns. And still another holds all my toy patterns! I use clear, three hole page protectors to keep each one in and if I decide to knit/crochet a pattern, I remove it from the binder, leaving it in the page protector, and take it to the yarn shop to pick all the supplies I need!

Charmed Again Hitchhiker Scarf

Don't you just love a pattern that you use over and over again?  Sitting in your favorite knitting spot, a simple pattern at the ready, needles making their soothing, clacking noise.  Watching the yarn reveal itself as you complete row after row.  This is one of those patterns.

And one of those yarns.  I posted a few weeks ago about my yarn shop visits while on vacation in St. Louis, Missouri and Nashville, Tennessee.  Rachels Dyeabolical yarn is a dream to work with.  It is sock yarn, so it has great stretch and her dyeing skills really shine.

Shades of black, grey, brown and cream are perfect for me as those are the only colors in my closet.  Simple garter stitch make it an easy pattern and the little points keep you interested.

I'm a big fan of beads and charms and this is my second Hitchhiker using them.  You might recall my first charmed scarf here using worsted weight yarn and larger needles.  The beads and charms are knitted in as you go with the help of a little crochet hook.  You can also sew them on when you have finished the scarf.  I used 2 skeins of Dyeabolical Strong Arm Skinny sock in Queen's Tea.  400 yards in each skein.  US size 4 needles 32" circulars.

Here's a link to show the beading using a crochet hook: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Nrgyqwg2Lw
You can find the pattern if you visit Martina Behm on Ravelry.  She has a nice variety of patterns for all skill levels.  Hitchhiker is one of my favorites.

Have a great week,
Sheila

See my latest Pins below

Charmed Hitchhiker

I found this great pattern on Ravelry by Martina Behm.  An easy pattern with spectacular results!  I used a worsted weight yarn...Queensland Rustic Tweed in color #916 that I found this summer in a lovely shop, The Woolie Ewe located in Plano, Texas. Wonderful shop owner who offered to cake the yarn for me!  Larger needles, US size 7 32" circulars give it great shape and size.

I added the charms, so beware, the instructions for that are not in her pattern.  I wish I would have taken a close up on those.  I found them on clearance at Hobby Lobby and attached them with a small crochet hook as I knitted up to that point.  The weight of the charms helps the points stay "pointy", which is great if you don't like blocking!

I ran out of Queensland yarn, but wanted to finish my last point, so I just added two rows of black.  It does not show too well in the picture, but it really takes it to another level!

I love all of Martina's designs, so be sure to pop over to see her!

Best,
Sheila