Check out this awesome knitted wig series, by artist Louise Walker! She not only knitted them, but photographed them too. Very cool!
Knitted Wigs
by Lauren
Month: February 2013
Vday Project Contest Winners!
by Lauren
Thanks so much to everyone who entered and voted in the “Follow Your Heart” Valentine’s Day project contest! It was so much fun to see everyone’s projects, they were all so awesome! A total of 23 fabulous projects were entered, which you can check out on my facebook fan page photo album here.
Even though I said there would only be 2 winners (one winner by votes, and one at random), I wanted to award the 2nd and 3rd place winners as well and spread the love some more ;). All 4 will be getting a fun little Vday package from me, as well as a Girly Knits pattern of their choice, yay!
Here are the winners:
1st Place:
“Heart Me Forever” by Celeste! Celeste did a beautiful job photographing her knitting in progress, her finished work, and modeling her skirt! Celeste actually entered a total of 5 awesome projects into the contest, but this one was the clear fan favorite. Congratulations Celeste! You can find her project details for this skirt on Ravelry here, and see more of her knitted creations for her and her two adorable daughters here.
2nd Place:
“Be My Valentine” by Denyse! Denyse made fingerless mittens for all 3 of her daughters, making each pair unique by using different color combos and interchanging the word charts. The photo of all of their hands together is so super sweet! These were a Valentine’s Day gift for her daughters, and the photos really do give a fun representation of the Holiday ♥ Congratulations Denyse! You can find details on these fun fingerless mittens on her project page here, and see more of her beautiful creations here!
3rd Place:
There was actually a tie for 3rd place, and the projects were by the same knitter! Congrats to Grisleda for her “Your Time to Shine” and “Eye Candy” projects! Griselda did a wonderful job photographing her projects using fun colorful backgrounds, and flashing us with her beautiful smile 😉 I also love how she made each project her own. You can check out all of her wooly wonders on Ravelry here!
“Winner at Random”
For the “winner at random”, I used a random number generator to determine who it would be, and the winner is…drumroll please…Jen! Jen actually entered two projects, “Sweeter then a Cupcake” and “Your Time to Shine“. Jen took fun progress shots of her projects and made some pretty sweet hats 😉 Congrats Jen! Check out more of her projects (which include a ton of fun hats!) on Ravelry here.
Thanks again to all of the awesome knitters who entered the contest, and congratulations to the winners! You can find out more about the fun knitting patterns used for these projects here:
http://knittingisawesome.com/followyourheart/
Happy Knitting!
♥Lauren
Happy Valentine’s Day! ❤
by Lauren
All you knit is love…so true 😉 Katie is modeling the “Heart Warmers” leg warmers in this super sweet photo. Hope you have a wonderful day full of love and warm knitted things!
❤Lauren
How to Knit Glove Fingers Video Tutorial
by Lauren
Have you knitted fingers on gloves before? If you have, then you know that they can be quite tricky and take some patience! If you haven’t but want to learn, I made a video tutorial below walking you through all of the steps and techniques! I use my “Be My Valentine” pattern as an example that you can follow along with, though the techniques I show you can be applied to other glove patterns.
My cat Ezzy also makes a guest appearance in my tutorial! (she just loves the camera 😉 ) I hope the video helps you with knitting fingers, and please let me know if you have any questions in the comments section!
Valentine’s Day Knitting Project Contest!
by Lauren
The last Girly Knits project contest in September was so much fun, that I couldn’t wait to do another one! This time it will have a Valentine’s Day theme, as the contest will culminate on February 14th, and the winners will be getting a very special package with fun Vday goodies from me! To enter, just post your projects from the “Follow Your Heart” collection on either Ravelry of Craftsy by February 14th, and you will automatically be entered to win! You can enter as many projects as you like. You can also enter the Heart Puff Necklace, which is a free pattern 🙂
I will be choosing 2 winners – 1 by votes (I will post the projects on my facebook fan page on February 15th where fans can vote for their faves) and 1 at random, so make sure to post your projects from the new collection in time! For inspiration, check out the winners from the last project contest! Having fun photographing your projects always makes for a great project photo 😉 Can’t wait to see your projects! Happy knitting!
How to Knit Thumbs Video Tutorial
by Lauren
Have you encountered problems with knitting thumbs while knitting gloves or mittens? In today’s video tutorial, I’m going to go through the steps of knitting a thumb! These technique will apply to both fingerless and full coverage thumbs. From placing the thumb stitches on a holder, to casting on stitches for the fourchette, then coming back to pick up stitches for the thumb and knitting it in the round, I’ll be covering all of the important and sometimes tricky steps. Please do keep in mind that these are the techniques I use in my Girly Knits patterns, and not all thumbs will be constructed exactly the same with patterns from other designers. If you have a glove or mitten pattern from me however, these techniques will apply! I hope you find this video helpful, and that you have fun knitting your gloves and mittens!
Here are the Girly Knits patterns that use the techniques I went over if you would like to give thumbs a try!
How to do Duplicate Stitch Tutorial with Free Heart Chart
by Lauren
Duplicate stitch is awesome and I am so happy to share it with you today! Duplicate stitch is a wonderful and easy way to add colorwork to your knitting, and is performed after you have knitted an item. With duplicate stitch, all you will need to add a color chart to your knitting is a tapestry needle and some yarn. I find this technique to be a little easier than performing colorwork as you knit an item like with fair isle, intarsia, and stranded knitting, as it does not require you to manage multiple balls of yarn while you’re knitting.
Here is a video of me below showing how to do the technique, and below that you will find the heart chart I use in the video:
You will need to thread your needle with approximately 26 inches of yarn to make this heart. In the video you will notice I cut out me doing Row 4 of the chart (it got kinda boring, lol), but hopefully you caught on at the point 🙂 Again, the basic concept to duplicate a stitch is that you come through the stitch below the one you’re duplicating from back to front, back and around the stitch above the one you’re duplicating, then back through the stitch below from the front to the back of your knitting.
Here are a few tips that will help you when using this technique:
- Count how many stitches tall and wide the chart is (this heart is 5 by 5 for example), then mark where you would like your chart to be positioned on your knitted item. If you are applying a chart to a glove for example, you want to make sure the chart will end up centered on your hand height wise and width wise, so be sure to try the glove on to determine which stitch you would need to start on for the chart to end up centered.
- I find it easiest to work charts back and forth, from the bottom up, as you will see me do in the video.
- You may need to adjust the tension of your stitches after you finish to make sure they look even with the others, which you can do with your tapestry needle.
- If you make a mistake, no need to worry, you can easily rip it out and start over and it won’t affect your knitting!
- Have fun!
I hope this tutorial was helpful, and please let me know if you have any questions by leaving a comment below!
P.S. The Girly Knits patterns that I mention in the video that use duplicate stitch are Be My Valentine and Eye Candy. Each of those patterns have lots of fun opportunities to practice duplicate stitch!
How To Make a Knitted Heart Necklace Free Pattern Tutorial
by Lauren
When I was thinking up design ideas for my Valentine’s Day inspired collection of knitting patterns “Follow Your Heart”, I thought it would be really fun to make a little heart puff to make a knitted heart necklace! I started looking at what was already out there, and came across this cute little heart pattern on Martha Stewart’s site for a catnip toy. I modified the pattern so that the heart would be knit in the round as one piece on double-pointed needles so you wouldn’t have to sew the 2 sides together at the end as instructed in the pattern on Martha Stewart’s site. Whether you use her pattern or the modified one below, the result will be the same, a cute little stuffed heart! I made one with size 2 needles and sport weight yarn for the necklace, and a larger one using an aran weight wool and size 4 needles for a toy for my cat to play with, both turned out super cute and fun!
Here is how I modified the pattern to be worked in the round below, and the materials that I used for the heart necklace:
Materials:
US 2 (2.75mm) double-pointed needles (set of 5)
Lion Brand Microspun in Fuchsia
Tapestry needle
Stuffing
28″ chain for necklace
Small metal clasp
Abbreviations:
BO: bind off
CO: cast on
k: knit
k2tog: knit 2 stitches together
kfb: knit into front and back of stitch
p: purl
rnd: round
st(s): stitch(es)
Directions:
CO 4 sts.
Kfb every st – 8 sts.
Divide 8 sts over 3 needles (4 sts on needle 1, 2 sts on needles 2 and 3). Join to work in rnd, taking care not to twist sts.
Knit 1 rnd.
Next Rnd: Kfb, k to last st on needle 1, kfb, kfb, k to last st on needle 3, kfb – 12 sts.
Next Rnd: Knit
Rep last 2 rnds until there are 28 sts.
Next Rnd : K2tog, k5, join with needle 3, with extra needle k5 (from needle 3), k2tog – 12 live sts, 14 sts held for other side of heart on dpns.
Next Rnd: [K2tog, k2, k2tog] x 2 – 8 sts.
BO in Kitchener St to join front and back of heart.
Join yarn at center of heart to work 14 held sts.
Next Rnd: K5, k2tog, k2tog k5 – 12 sts.
Next Rnd: Join 2 sides and [K2tog, k2, k2tog] x 2 – 8 sts.
BO in Kitchener St to join front and back of heart.
Finishing:
Trim tails to approximately 2 inches. Excluding tails at top center of heart, pull tails to inside or heart closing up any holes as you pull them in.
Stuff heart.
Use center tails to sew up center sides of heart, then double knot ends and pull to center.
String a chain with a small metal clasp, and clasp knitted heart at top center of heart.
Woo-lah! You just made yourself some awesome knitted jewelry! Enjoy! For more fun Valentine’s Day inspired patterns, check out my brand new collection “Follow Your Heart”! ♥
P.S. If you make this necklace, please post pics of your project on Ravelry here!
