The LP Infinity Scarf - Free Knitting Pattern

 

 

I am sooo excited to share this with all of you today! I have been playing around with creating knitting patterns for a few years now and I have finally found the courage to share one. I know that sounds silly, but I always second guess myself, and though this is a very easy pattern, I think it turned out cute and I felt compelled to share. So please excuse any beginner pattern making mistakes. Thanks in advance!

 

It's also very rare that you will find me in front of the camera, I prefer the behind the scenes role quite honestly. Chris was jumping around trying to act like we were having some major photo shoot and it was a little hard to keep a straight face.

 

This is easy enough for a beginner, but still a satisfyingly quick knit for the more advanced.



 

 

 

 

 

The finished scarf is long enough to wrap around twice, which will keep you nice and warm.

 

 

 

 

I used Quince&co's puffin in Honey 123. I love it for both the texture and color. You can use any bulky weight yarn for this pattern, though different brands will yield slightly different results.

 

 

What you need:

 

Size 15 (10mm) 24" circular needles

1 Skein of bulky weight yarn (I used about 110 yards)

gauge: 4" = 7 stitches

 

CO 81 stitches

 

before joining in the round, twist the loop on the left needle so that the bottom of your scarf is at the top of your needle. This is what will create the twist in your scarf.

 

1)K1P1 for one round

2)P1 K1 for one round - this will create the "seed stitch"

3) repeat 1&2 until the scarf measures 5" in thickness

4) Bind off using K & P

 

**Should you end up with two knit stitches or purl stitches in a row where you joined your piece, simply k2tg and that will even it out**

 

 

 

 



Stella Pixie Hat

In the wake of my knitting disaster earlier this week, I decided to finish up one or two projects that had just been sitting around for months and months. This one, for example, was completely done, with the exception of one seam and one button. Why do I do that? It's the easiest part, finishing a knitting project, but the part I dread. Oh well, 10 minutes after I started sewing the neckline on, it was done.

Oh! And with a pattern name of Stella Pixie Hat, how could I not make one for my little Stella.

She's happy, I'm happy. But even better, finishing this gave me more inspiration to keep on knitting on...

Have a great weekend!

Silly Words

Before...

After...

I wanted to cry. Like really, really cry. And for a split second, I thought that perhaps it could be salvaged. But unless this January/February little baby boy I'm making it for wants to be hanging out in a sleeveless sweater, it would have to be frogged. Frogged - I like that term. It's a good thing too, because as I sat waiting in the pick up line for my son, staring down at the weeks and weeks worth of knitting that was about to disappear, I thought that exact line "This will have to be frogged". And then I giggled to myself, because saying something has to be frogged just sounds kind of wonky (by the way, I like the word wonky too).

So there you have it, my sanity saver - silly words. Well, that and an understanding friend.

Keep your fingers crossed for me that this sweater will arrive to said friend, before her little baby boy does.

Upcycled sheets & Knitting

There are so many things an ordinary sheet can be transformed into. I thought I had seen them all, until I happened across this tutorial on pintrist. Speaking of pintrist, have you been there?? I love it! I have found so many new creative projects to try and recipes for the family. Not to mention house decorating ideas - and I need a lot of help in that department. Check it out, you won't be disappointed.

It's hard to believe this cute, soft and squishy little rug used to be a fitted bed sheet and two pillow cases. I just ripped the sheet into strips (the process is explained in the tute), and knit everything together. I used a seed stitch, and just knit until I ran out of fabric.

I got so excited with this project, because really, if I can knit a rug from a bed sheet, well then I think I could knit just about anything pliable. My husband was a little concerned about my level of enthusiasm with this one.

Another nice advantage to this rug is that as soon as it gets dirty, I can just toss it into the washer without having to worry about the weight of it throwing the balance of my machine off. That was an issue with our old rug.

And who doesn't love walking on soft pillowy cotton??

My First Zimmermann

What's better than a first post in a long break about knitting? I don't know either. So here it is, my very first Zimmermann sweater! Elizabeth Zimmermann and all of her knitting knowledge and patterns are such an inspiration. Something about the way she wrote her patterns, and how she went about explaining things, makes perfect sense to me.

This sweater in particular, is called the "baby surprise" jacket.
Knit out of baby alpaca, from this store.

Remember this hat??
It's the same yarn, and I still can't find the pattern link, but it's free (can't beat that), and fits a newborn head - even my small headed baby girls - perfectly.

This pattern is called a "surprise" because of the way it's knit up. I honestly couldn't tell what part was what while I was knitting it. For a control freak like myself, that made for a slightly anxious knitting project. I just had to trust the pattern - I still struggle with that - and go for it. I wish I had a better before picture to show you, because it looks like a jumbled mess of a blanket, but when you seam the arms (and that's the only seam by the way), it turns into this adorable jacket! Love it!

Oh! And these buttons! Oh my, love. Love. Love them! They are hand painted and made of wood. I found them on Etsy here.

Knitting for little ones is so much fun! I'm glad I worked like crazy while I was pregnant, knitting as much as I possibly could. There's not a whole lot of knitting going on over here these days. Little Stella is keeping me pretty busy. But I know there will be plenty of time in the future to knit, so for now I'm taking as many baby snuggles as I can get.

Take care!

Lisa

An Elfy Kind of Hat

I love this hat, I really do. I think maybe I just love hats though too. This is the third knitted hat for the baby, and well, how many hats does a little baby really need? I'm still debating adding the pom poms to the bottom of the ear flaps. I can't decide if they will be more trouble than their worth - oh well, I have time to decide.

The yarn for this project came from www.handpaintedyarn.com (a favorite yarn site of mine by the way). It's a chunky merino wool that varies in thickness, and gives the hat a nice pebbled look. Love.

And yes, I will share action pictures when the little one shows up :)

Tiny Knit Hat

Oh how I wish you could feel the softness of this cute little purple hat. I swear, it's the softest texture I've ever laid my hands on. The yarn is baby alpaca, and was purchased here. The hat has space to thread decorative ribbon along the edge, but I decided against it - I like it just the way it is. You can find the easy to knit pattern here.

I've used baby alpaca before, and nothing is as soft as the yarn I used for this project. In fact, I made our little not-quite-here baby girl a sweater and shoes out of this yarn as well. She'll be born near the end of Summer, so I'm hoping to get a lot of use out of these as the air becomes chillier. The sweater and booties still need buttons, so I will share those another day.

And, when our baby girl out-grows this little hat of hers, Hannah's baby doll will have a new accessory...

Take care!

Summer Trivets

With all the crazy weather here in the mid-west, and the not quite Spring quality to the air, I decided to take it upon myself to bring a little Spring and Summer into my home.

A few weeks ago, I came across some adorable watermelon trivets in a magazine. I fell in love instantly. The problem though, is that all of the pictured trivets were vintage. Meaning I would either have to try my luck this summer scouring lawn sales, flea markets and thrift stores, or find a pattern to make my own. So I searched.

And searched.

And searched.

I almost gave up, because every pattern I came across was either for crochet (which believe it or not, I don't know how to do), or it just didn't look right.

Finally though, I found this. I'm sure you'll laugh, but I immediately bookmarked the page in my phone, ran to the store to purchase some cotton yarn and a few hours later had my very own watermelon trivet. I love it. I love that it's bright, and that it doesn't need to match the rest of the kitchen. The contrast brings a bright and summery feel to the table, and that's exactly what I was looking for. I may have to make a few others too... Orange or lemon anyone?

Take care!

Lisa

Wool Soakers

With all that cloth diapering talk yesterday, how could I not follow up with my soakers? Wanting to stay away from synthetics, I chose to knit my own wool soakers to go over the newborn size fitted diapers. They are so expensive to buy, ranging from around $35-$65 each. Considering you need at least 3 for each size (or so I've been told), I had to make my own. I used two different patterns, as well as two different brands and textures of 100% wool (it has to be 100% to work correctly). Since again, I really have no way of knowing what will fit and work for this baby, I am playing it safe and potentially saving myself from hours of wasted time. Whichever style works best, I'll just make more as I need them. Both patterns were free, but I'm having a difficult time locating the pattern for the style above. As soon as I do, I will update this post with a direct link.

You can find the pattern for this one here. I used the suggested yarn/roving for each pattern. Each skein was around $7 dollars, and I only needed one for each soaker. That's a whole lot of savings.

Have a great day everyone!

-Lisa

Tiny Tea Leaves for Hannah

Can I just say, I am sooo excited to be sharing this sweater with all of you. For a few reasons actually. First, I'm just thrilled my crafty/creating motivation finally came back to me a few weeks ago. I was really starting to get worried about that.

Well, the small hiatus created a huge NEED to make things. And make things I did. Over the next week or so, I'm going to share some of my latest creations. I'm excited about all of them. But this one, this is my favorite, so I just had to start here.

Not too long ago, in reference to gift giving (we have quite a few birthday's approaching), I found this saying: "Something you want, something you need, something to wear, and something to read". I love it, in all it's simplicity and ease. This may just be our new motto, especially considering we're about to become a family of five. Well, this was supposed to be Hannah's "something to wear" gift. She, however, couldn't keep her hands off this yarn (neither could I, I absolutely love it!). Every time she saw me working on it, she insisted on trying it on, asking when it would be finished and when she could wear it. How could possibly tell the little girl she needed to wait till August?

Here she is modeling it. And truthfully, it was really difficult to get a picture of it because she kept trying to grab it and put it on. Once it was on, she had to dance and twirl in it, because after all, it is a "dancing sweater".

The pattern is Tiny Tea Leaves and the yarn is Malabrigo worsted in Molly. It was such an easy and quick knit, that as soon as the ends were woven in, I wanted to make another, just like it. I really thought it would take at least a month for me to finish it. I had it completed in just under 10 days - I'm not sure what that says about me, lol.

There is an adult version of this pattern, and I can almost promise that you will be seeing that finished project on here before the year's end.

Thanks for letting me share with you all!

-Lisa

Handmade Holiday Gifts

As much as I love Christmas, and everything it brings along the way, I also love the days after. The slowing down, and easing back into the rhythm of our days is comforting.

Annnnd, now that the gift giving has ended, I can finally share some of the handmade gifted items of the year - yay! I'm a little frustrated with myself for not taking pictures of everything before wrapping. I gave some things away that I can't share with you all because I failed to take a photo first. I'm sure these photos will be enough :)

I'd like to introduce you to Hannah's little Gnome family. Yes, unfortunately, the nature baby swaddled in maroon has been shunned to sleep with the pigs. Oh Hannah...

And what is a fairy princess with out a wand?

Here's the little stinker in action - constant action. I couldn't get a good shot of her momma-made pixie hat and scarf. Both are my design, I'm working on writing up a pattern to put in my online shop once it opens (more on that later!)

Here's a slightly better shot of her hat...

And, well, momma needs to match right? Right. But, note to self - this should happen AFTER the holiday so I'm not so rushed.

Some super cute (I think anyway) ear warmers. You can find the free pattern here.

We made lots and lots of treats. Here is one of many gift bags filled with Country Oatmeal Cookie mix in a jar, and gingerbread men and dragon flies - yes, dragon flies :)

And of course the holiday outfits I made for the kids. I'm pretty sure I bombarded you with enough of those photos.

I hope you are enjoying your days just as much as we are.

Take care!

-Lisa

I Designed Something!!!

Ok, I designed two somethings :) The dress was unplanned, and had originally started as one of my tulip skirts, but with a tighter ruffle. For some reason, I just kept on knitting, and improvised this. But these puffy legwarmers? Agh! I love them! These were very much so planned, and designed with a specific outcome. I had originally planned on her wearing them around Christmas (hence the candy cane stripe theme), but my little girl just won't slow down her growing - she rebels in so many ways, lol.

Now I need to decide if I want to sell the legwarmer pattern or the finished piece, or both? I've had requests for both, so we'll see... Oh, and yes, she IS kissing the bird feeder in that last picture, silly girl.

Have a great day!

Punk's Not Dead

I finally did it! It took me three attempts. The first two failed because of poor yarn choices. In the end, I just ordered exactly what was used to create the pattern (duh - should have figured that one out in the first place, lol), and it worked! Austin begged and begged for this hat, and after tons of online searches for something similar - and finding nothing. I bought the book Pretty in Punk. This pattern is called Punk's Not Dead. Love it! I think I might be making a smaller purple version for the other little person in the house.

I wish I could have gotten better pictures for you. No one will model their hats for me :( This was the best I could do. I'm still trying to get pictures of Hannah in her elf hat I made her. You can bet I'll have a blog post up on that one as soon as I get that shot - I love the hat.

Have a great day everyone, and enjoy the chilly weather!

Jack Skellington Take Two

I finally finished the smaller version of the Jack Skellington hat for Austin! Annnnnnd this one actually fits him. Though you wouldn't know from the picture because he kept running away from me laughing while I was trying to put it on him. Then he insisted that "Mr. Bear" model it for me (mind you we're talking about a four foot stuffed animal with a ginormous head - sigh...). So, here's a picture of me wearing the hat, because really, a flat photo of this hat just does not do it justice. If I just scared you for the morning, my apologies.... And if you'd like to make one yourself, here's a link to the pattern.

Take care everyone!

Vintage Little Girl's Winter Hat

My grandma pulled this pattern out of her huge knitting closet (yes, she has an entire closet filled with yarn, needles and patterns), and offered it to me a little while back. I love, love, love it! I couldn't wait to make it! And so I did....

I made the hat out of funky colors because I thought it would go better with my little girl's wardrobe. At least I got that part right... Silly me for not looking at the photo and realizing that my daughter's two year old head would be a bit too small for this cap. It was however, a fun knit, and I plan on making another. I left the pom-pom off of the tip, because I'm just not much of a pom-pom girl.

That being said, if you like the hat, you can have it. For sizing purposes only (of course) I had my 5 year old son try it on, and it fits him well.

The first person to leave a comment in the comment box below gets the hat! If you are the fist person to comment, I will also need you to email me at lisa_palubicki@yahoo.com so I can get your shipping information.

Take Care Everyone!

Say Hello to Jack Skellington - sort of...

Austin has a passion for all things scary.

If it were up to him, Halloween would be an every weekend event. So the other day when we came across this pattern on a winter hat search, he started bouncing up and down and insisted we get started on it right away! Unfortunately it's too big for him, so we passed it along to another fan of scary stuff... Hopefully it fits!

You can find the pattern here. Even if you have no intention of creating the hat, please please take a look at the pattern, the photos of the finished hat on (when it fits correctly, lol) are so stinkin' cool! I'm not sure if I can copy and paste the photos here, so really, go take a look. I found it on Knitty (love that site!), and it was designed by Saskia and you can visit her blog here.

I have every intention of making another hat, but in a smaller version to fit my little guy.

Take Care!

Make Your Own knitting Needles

If you've been hanging around this blog for a while, then I'm sure you already know just how much I LOVE to knit (or how obsessed I am with it, depending on how you look at it, lol). My knitting is like my third arm, a project is with me at all times. You never know when a free moment will present itself, and I always want to be able to take advantage of it. That being said, I typically have at least 4 projects going at once, and I have been running out of knitting needles.
I shared this little dilemma of mine with my mom and grandma the other day, and the response I got was "well, why don't you just make some more out of dowel rods - it's cheap and easy." Why didn't I think of that???

Sooooo, here it is! A tutorial to make your own knitting needles! It's super cheap, super fast, and super convenient! Just think of all the projects I can have going at once now! :)

You will need 2 dowel rods of any length or width, a pencil sharpener, glue, beads (optional), and ultra-fine sandpaper.


Sharpen one end of the dowel rod like you would a pencil. If you want to make double sided needles, just sharpen both ends.

I try not to sharpen the dowel rod so that it makes a pointy tip, but if you do, just either snap the tip off, or dull it with the sand paper.

Take you sandpaper and wrap it around the sharpened end, and twist it around to smooth out the wood. Notice my dark nail polish?? That's my way of telling the weather it's time for fall, lol.

If you want to dress your needles up a bit or add some weight, glue a bead to the un-sharpened end.

That's it!

In order to know the size of your new needles, you will need a knitting needle gauge.

These are also great for knitting with wire.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial!

~Lisa :)