Fingerless Mitts

These are some brand new fingerless mitts, the pattern is for the mitts themselves, the paw pads are from a lions brand pattern, so you can search on Rav or lions brand for those. These have been knitted for my little sister, and inspired by their cat Monty Moonshine, who is a little grey kitten!!

Ok so here we go again, hope you love them!!

You will need:
3.25mm needles
3.75mm needles (if you need a bigger mitt for hands then go for 4mm needles instead)
DK yarn of your choice, (you will probably need about 50gish but to be honest I havent weighed these) I have used 3 colours here because I didnt have enough of the darkest grey so I used 2 shades of grey and one of pink- pick any colours you fancy)
Tapestry needle

Abbreviations
sts- stitches
K- knit
P- Purl
st st- Stocking stitch (knit one row, purl one row)
Rib- (K1,P1) across the row

Pattern (make 2 or how ever many hands you have!)
Using 3.25mm needles, cast on 42 stitches (if you want to go bigger, you can, use an even number of sts)
Rib pattern for 18 rows
Change to 3.75mm needles and a contrast colour
Knit 1 row
Change to other colour
St st for 26 rows, ending with a K (RS) row
Rib (k1,p1 across row) for 4 rows, ending on a P (WS) row
Cast off in pattern (K1,P1)

with the wrong side facing, sew up the seam using a tapestry needle, leaving a gap in the seam at the side for the thumb. Turn them the right way round and wear them and keep warm! Hope they brighten up your otherwise grey winter

Camera Cosy Pattern

So my mum is one lucky lady and won a new camera just before christmas, but as we all know in winter they can get all kinds of chilly, plus my mum's handbag is most definately one that may belong in Mary Poppins wardrobe so it had to be very bright so here is what I came up with.

So this is pretty much a great stashbuster, as you knit only 4 rows in each colour, so you can use any colours you fancy. So if your little camera is a bit chilly, or for that matter any small gadget, (it also fits my husbands blackberry, and my blackberry style phone!) then this is a great little knit. So here goes

You will be needing:
4mm needles
3.75 crochet hook (for button hole, if you cant crochet then Gaugeplait some strands to make the button hole)
7 different colours of DK wool (you can use less and make a pattern instead, totally up to you)
Tapestry needle

Abbreviations
sts- stitches
st st- stocking stitch (knit one row, purl the next)


Cast On 28 sts on 4mm needles
St st 4 rows in each of the 7 colours ( this gives you a total of 28 rows)
Cast off in the last colour you used.

Making up
Fold in half with the wrong side facing out.
Sew up the main seam using the colours you have used (I leave quite a bit when I change colours and then use these ends to sew up)
Sew in the ends
Sew up the bottom seam with the long seam in the centre back
Turn the right side out

Button
Crochet a chain of 15 links with a 3.75mm hook (or make a plait with 3 strands of about 3 inches)
Sew to the inside seam at the back of the work
Sew a button ono the bottom of the second colour stripe from the top.
Put your camera in and do the button up

Hope you all have nice cosy cameras!

Traffic Cone

Happy New Year!!! To celebrate, the first pattern of the year is my little traffic cone.

Here's the pattern

Needles- 3mm
Yarn- DK scraps, orange and white (i had a remarkably bright orange in my stash for this project, but who says cones have to be orange) and a strand of black for his face
Gauge- not really important, but make sure that the needles you use are smaller than those recommended to make a tight fabric
Other- tapestry needle, stuffing,

Cone
With orange yarn, Cast on 30 stitches
Starting with a Knit row, stocking stitch 2 rows
Next row: *k2tog, K8* to end (27 sts)
St st 2 rows
Next row: *P2tog, P7* to end (24 sts)
St st 2 rows
Next row: *K2tog, K6* to end (21sts)
Change to white yarn, St st 2 rows
Next row: *P2 tog, P5* to end (18sts)
St st 2 rows
Next Row: *K2tog, K4* to end (15 sts)
St st 2 rows
Next Row: *P2tog, P3* to end (12 sts)
Change to orange yarn, st st 2 rows
Next Row: *k2tog, K2* to end (9 sts)
st st 2 rows
Next row: *p2tog, p1* to end (6 sts)
K 1 row
Cut, leaving a tail of yarn to sew up, thread through the remaining 6 sts on the needle and pull tight. Sew up the seam of the cone, leaving the bottom open.

Base 
With Orange, cast on 15 sts
Garter stitch 25 rows
Cast off

Stuff the cone lightly (he doesnt need a bulge) and sew the bottom of the cone onto the base. Embroider the face onto the cone and you have a little traffic stopper. Hope you like him.

St Therese of Liseaux- The first of the Knitted Saints

Hi All,
Would like to introduce you to the first of the knitted saints, knitted for the Blattman, as this was his house saint at school

(The pattern will be available soon, when they have been properly tested)

St Therese is a doctor of the church and became a Carmelite nun at the age of just 15. She was a great believer and known as the little flower. She wrote many poems and writings on her faith and is very relevant today. She died aged 24 of Tuberculosis, a disease she had been battling with for some time. There are many websites available so please feel free to post them in the comments if you find a good one. Her writings are also available for those of you who want to know more about her life. There are more saints to come in the series, feel free to nominate a saint who means a lot to you!

Mini Pumpkin for Halloween

Mini Pumpkin Pattern (Just in time for Halloween)

This pattern is knit flat and seamed up the back and is about an inch and a half tall without the little Icord stem. Have included the pattern for the stalk knit flat too

Ok so heres what you need
2 x 3.75 mm straight needles
2 x 3.25 mm double pointed needles or straight depending on whether you are icording or not
Orange and Green DK (you dont need much at all especially the green so great for stash busting)
Small amount of stuffing
Sewing up needles

Abbreviations
kfb- knit into the front and back of the stitch to create one
st- Stitch
st st - stocking stitch (knit a row, purl a row)
K2tog - Knit two stitches together

Pumpkin

Cast on 9 stitches with orange DK and 3.75mm straight needles
Row 1: kfb in each st (18 sts)
Row 2: Purl
Row:3 kfb in all stitches (36 sts)
Starting with a P row, st st for 13 rows

Decrease as follows
Row 1: K2tog across row (18 sts)
Row 2: Purl
Row 3: Knit
Row 4: Purl
Row 5: K2tog across row (9 sts)
Row 6: Purl

Break yarn, thread through remaining stitches and pull tight. Turn purl side out (bumpy side) and sew up the seam, leaving a  gap at the bottom. Turn right side out and stuff. Sew up gap in bottom. Pull the yarn up through the centre of the pumpkin and back down through. This will create the depressions at the top and bottom giving the pumpkin shape.

Stem

Icord

Cast on 4 sts on 3.25 double pointed needles and green DK
I cord for 6 rows
Cast off

Sew to top of pumpkin

Straight needles

Cast on 8 sts on 3.25 straight needles and green DK
St st for 6 rows
Cast off

With the right side out, sew up the side and attach to the top of the pumpkin

Happy Halloween, Samhain and All Saints to all!

The Blattscarf- Our first knitting pattern

Hi All,
welcome to the blog again, this is going to be our first knitting pattern, its not overly technical or very difficult, it was in fact the first thing that the Blattman knitted, and is fantastic for the beginner knitter. It takes one ball of wool and you just keep knitting until the ball is finished. You can make it as long and as wide as you want as you get more experienced.

Needles: 10mm
Yarn: Stylecraft Life Superchunky 100g ball

Cast on 15 stitches
Garter Stitch (knit every row) for 80cm or 31 inches.
Cast off knitwise

Wear it out and about. This is a nice thick scarf and great for men, the Blattman has made a few of these now for the fussy men in our family and it has gone down really well

Happy Knitting