Saturday 22 June 2013

Knitted Bows Tutorial - Free Patterns


I have been trying to think of ways to dress up different accessories lately and flowers keep on coming to my mind. But I know that not everyone loves flowers so I wanted to find other little decorative ideas to finish off special gifts and projects I have been working on. I was browsing Pinterest one day and seen a little bow made from t-shirt material and it seemed so simple to make. I am always looking for ideas in which I can use up my scraps and be thrifty, especially since I have a few t-shirts left over from my bangles from bottles project (click to go to the tutorial post).

Then I realised I would have to sew. I do not really like sewing at all. I do not own a sewing machine (I want to buy one, they just really scare me as I don't know what to do when something goes wrong) and find hand sewing a little tedious so I usually avoid it at all costs. I temporarily put the project on hold, til I was feeling a little more brave and patient. Then I got to thinking, I have recently just finished knitting a little flower to try to accessorise a few little things for my daughter, why not try to knit a bow as well? So I took the same idea and created my own knitting pattern. I couldn't stop at one, I have made 3 different designs in 3 sizes which I will share with you here. The first bow is a simple garter stitch bow which is great for those who can follow basic knitting steps. Then there is the rib stitch bow and finally there is the stockinette bow with selvage edges.

It is perfect knitting weather at the moment as it's a little chilly at night so I can sit on the lounge with a blanket on my lap clicking my needles away.

NOTE that you will need to know how to knit for this project, if you do not know how then you can always ask someone to teach you (my wonderful mother taught me years ago) or teach yourself by watching videos from the net. Youtube has alot but so do some of the other knitting sites. If you find a video that is not clear, google to find another. I find it easier to learn whilst watching someone showing me and by doing this online you don't have to bother them to show you over and over again. I might teach myself to crochet this way soon, there are so many cool patterns out there that I just can't make as I don't know how to crochet yet.


Materials

  • Double knitting yarn in your choice of colour/s
  • Knitting needles in size 5mm
  • Yarn needle
  • Scissors


Directions

GARTER STITCH BOW (perfect for beginners)
This pattern here is for the large garter stitch bow (pink) which measures 15.5 cm total length and 10.5 cm height (when finished). Keep reading below for other designs and measurements or experiment to create your own.

Main part:
Cast on 20 stitches (knitwise). Leave a long tail at begging.
Knit across all rows for 100 rows.
Cast off (knitwise). Make sure you leave a longer tail as you will use this to sew up the bow shortly. Otherwise you will have more loose ends to hide.



Middle strip:
Cast on 5 stitches (knitwise). Leave a long tail at the beginning.
Knit 20 to 25 rows, you will want to stretch this part over the middle of the bow and have it long enough for the two ends to just fit so measure this as you go. Cast off (knitwise) and leave a long tail.



PUTTING THE BOW TOGETHER
Now you have knitted the two pieces that you need to make the bow. Next you will need a yarn needle to put them all together.
1. Sew the ends of the big piece together using one of the tails (using any joining method you want). Knot to secure but don't cut the ends off just yet. This will make a tube shape.



2. Pinch the middle of the main part together to form the bow shape.

Take the tails and wind them around the centre of the bow firmly once or twice. Tie at the back.
 Now you can cut the tails off.

3. Now stretch the second piece of knitting  over the middle and sew the ends together at the back.

Knot to secure. You can cut the tails off if you want now or you can use them to secure the bow to another object if you want.
Now you have completed your pretty bow  :)





RIB STITCH BOW
The second bow I created was a ribbed bow which measures 8.5 cm total length and 5 cm height (when finished). I will give you the pattern of this one, you just have to put the bow together using the above method.

Main part:
Cast on 10 stitches (knitwise). Leave a long tail at begging.
*Knit 1, Purl 1 (repeat from *to end of row).
Repeat for 40 rows.
Cast off (knitwise). Leave a long tail at the end.

Middle strip:
Cast on 2 stitches (knitwise). Leave a long tail at the beginning.
Knit 10 to 15 rows, you will want to stretch this part over the middle of the bow and have it long enough for the two ends to just fit so measure this as you go. Cast off (knitwise) and leave a long tail.




STOCKINETTE BOW
The third bow I created was a garter stitch bow with selvage edges which measures 13 cm total length and 8 cm height (when finished). I used the selvage edges to prevent too much curling as the stockinette stitch pattern tends to curl quite alot. Put the bow together using the method above.

Main part:
Cast on 15 stitches (knitwise). Leave a long tail at begging.
Row 1: Knit to end
Row 2: Knit 2, Purl to last 2 stitches, Knit 2.
Repeat these 2 rows for a total of 70 rows.
Cast off (knitwise). Leave a long tail at the end.

Middle strip:
Cast on 4 stitches (knitwise). Leave a long tail at the beginning.
Row 1: Knit to end
Row 2: Purl to end.
Repeat these 2 rows for a total of 15 to 20 rows, you will want to stretch this part over the middle of the bow and have it long enough for the two ends to just fit so measure this as you go. Cast off (knitwise) and leave a long tail.



I am already working on more designs and patterns as I just love how these bows turned out. I find that the bigger the bow the better it turns out. Let me know if you try any of these patterns, I would love to see them :)

Monday 3 June 2013

Rainbow Chunky Knit Lace Scarf


My young daughter keeps wearing my scarves whenever she sees them, including when there is one around my neck. She usually wears them and puts them somewhere in her room instead of putting them back away so I never know where they are. So I thought I would make her a new one of her own, hopefully one that she would want to wear instead of mine. I mean, it would be lovely to be able to wear my own scarf on those chilly mornings when I leave early for university.

I went to my local Lincraft store and seen a rainbow yarn that I loved straight away, I knew my daughter would too. It was a chunky yarn and so I thought about knitting in a plain pattern, but I have been wanting to knit a lace pattern for a little while. So I did an internet search and came up with an easy and cute pattern. I tried it out and it looked great.

You can find the "Old Shale" pattern that I used for this project HERE. (Keep scrolling down the page to find it).
NOTE that you will need to know how to knit for this project, if you do not know how then you can always ask someone to teach you (my wonderful mother taught me years ago) or teach yourself by watching videos from the net. Youtube has a lot of video tutorials but so do some of the other great knitting sites.

I followed the pattern exactly and loved it so much, it was so easy. I bought 2 x 100g balls of "Veronica" wool but only used about one and a half balls. I am planning on making another item with this wool for her so will use this and buy some more shortly. I used size 7 needles (as the label of the wool suggested) but I am a very tight knitter so I probably should have used a size or 2 bigger. It would have made the lace pattern a bit more visible as well I guess. I didn't block this piece as I have read that acrylic wool doesn't always need it and it wasn't a piece that needs to be an exact size. Plus my daughter just would not have been very patient for that sort of thing to take place.



And here is the finished scarf. The pattern is slightly different on both sides which I think is unique, I like both the right and wrong side look of this pattern. The finished length was ... and the width was.....
It was a simple pattern to follow and it took me only a few hours, my favourite kind of project.



I really wanted to add a fringe but my daughter was not so patient, she wanted me to finish it up and give it to her quick smart. She loved it and I think it turned out wonderfully. My daughter loved the curved pattern, she thought it was fitting in rainbow yarn as the curved lines looked like rainbows all over the scarf  :)



Here is a quick tip for stopping your ball of wool from rolling all around on the floor as you knit. Place a small box or container (a shoe box is ideal) either next to you or on the floor by your feet. Place your ball of wool inside and knit as normal. The ball will roll around in the box instead of on the floor, keeps your wool clean and in reach at all times (I know that  I absolutely hate it when my ball of wool travels across the room all of a sudden).


Let me know what you think, especially if you try it out for yourself  :)
Don't forget to check back often to see what I will knit next. Thanks for reading  :)