Sweater Dishcloth

So, I've been knitting some tops for me to wear once I'm thinner! I just finished a beautiful lace top (Jordan) and I'll post about it soon.

After so much intense knitting I needed a dishcloth break and happened upon this adorable pattern on etsy last week. The only downside is she doesn't offer it for download so I had to wait for it to me mailed to me. I started it last night and finished it today. So cute! You can find my Raverly details here and the pattern for sale here.

" Have a blessed day!"

Love me some felted slippers...

Ever since knitting my first pair of Fiber Trends felted clogs I have loved wool slippers!

Why? Well, you can slip them on with bare feet, they keep your feet toasty warm and your feet DO NOT sweat in them! LOVE, LOVE!

I literally wear holes in the heels of every pair I have knit for myself. However, I think I have that problem solved! This last pair I knit for myself using the pattern "Felted Clogs made Easy" I painted the bottoms with Tulip Slick paint.

This not only makes the bottoms non-slip it gives them extra durability. I used a foam brush and painted on 2 coats, letting the first dry before applying the second coat.

This works much better than the Plasti-Dip product I have used in the past. The Plasti-Dip smells horrible and it seeps through to the inside of your slipper. The Tulip Slick paint has no smell and stays put on the bottom and doesn't seep through to the inside!

I just squirted out an outline of where I wanted the paint to be and then kept squirting it out and filling in the outlined area.

Next I used a cheap throw away foam brush to spread it out. I found it worked best pulling from the outline into the center area. It dries pretty fast and will have a shiny look even when dry.

 I wear mine every day and absolutely love them!

I also love this pattern! It is by far the fastest and easiest knitted slipper and I'll be making many more of these using this pattern! You knit the tops, seam the heel and knit the soles separately. Then you seam the tops to the bottoms. Don't let this seaming discourage you from trying this pattern. Believe me it's super simple and fast!

I also knit this pair as a gift to my gynecologist "Dr. Sal". Long story but she is the best ever and I just love her. I've been through a lot with her this past year and she always makes me feel like I am her only patient. She was so thrilled with the slippers and they fit her perfectly!

I placed them sole to sole and wrapped a belly band around them with a cute scalloped sentiment on the front. I think it added just the right touch.

I hope you'll give not only knitted and felted slippers a try, but also this wonderful pattern...

"Felted Clogs made Easy"

" Have a blessed day!"

My newest Dishcloth Wrapper Set

Birdhouse Dishcloth Wrapper PDF Set

I love designing dishcloth/washcloth wrapper sets for all of my handmade dishcloths!

This is my newest set, now available for purchase for $3.99. You will receive a PDF personalized with your name and all 4 label styles shown.

You can print them out as many times as you wish. I can also change them to read "Knitted for you by or Crocheted for you by" instead of Handmade for you by at no extra charge.

I can change them to read Washcloth instead of Dishcloth at no extra charge! (You have to leave me a note to seller if you want them to read Washcloth. NO NOTE and they will read Dishcloth!)

I can also add a 3rd line with your business name or url for an extra $.50
(Anything written in the 3rd line space without paying the extra $.50 will be IGNORED!)

You can purchase this set below...

Set Option

Regular Set $3.99 USD Set w/Added Line $4.49 USD

Phrase Choices

Handmade for you by Crocheted for you by Knitted for you by

First Name Only

3rd Line to Read

Your set will be emailed to your email address on file with PayPal and will come from my email beehappy (at) beehappydesigns (dot) com
Please let me know if you don't receive your wrappers within the day!

www.beehappydesigns.com 

" Have a blessed day!"

More information on using pegs to knit with netted yarn...

I've had several people to ask me where I bought the end peg pieces that I used to knit my ruffled scarves. Here is some more information about that and what you can do to use pegs and knit these scarves like I do.

First I watched Iselas video here. She uses the Knifty Knitter brand of knitting board in that video and you can find those at Michaels Craft stores or other craft stores. She is using the purple one and I can’t remember if it’s sold alone or in a set. That would be the easiest and cheapest way to go.

Now the way I make them is by using the end pegs from my adjustable loom. My post with photo and instructions is here. 

I no longer refer anyone to dalooms dot com!!! My last order with them 5 months ago has never come nor have I ever received any communication from them as to why.

Now what may be a good idea for you, is to get (2) of their Keepsake Looms. These should work just fine for making these scarves the way I do. You’ll only be using about 7 of those pegs anyway and it doesn’t matter what gauge or size they are. I think this is the way to go. 

The only other thing you could do is to go and buy one of the Knifty Knitter brand knitting boards (the smallest one you can find) and have your husband to saw it in half to give you 2 separate sides. They cut pretty easily and you can sand the edges smooth.

Hope that helps!

" Have a blessed day!"

How to Knit a Ruffled Scarf using Pegs and Netted Yarn

I'm going to try and explain how I knit my ruffled scarves using the end pieces from my adjustable knitting board and the new ruffle type yarns which look like ribbon 

until you stretch them out to reveal a netted type yarn that is about 2 to 3 inches wide.

First grab your end pieces. I'm using ends that have 8 pegs. I've added loops to only 7 of the pegs. Have the wrong side of the pegs facing you. Turn under about 2" of the yarn and place on a few pegs, then place loops on the other pegs and again on the first few. What you are doing is hiding the raw edge inside the ruffles to start. Add loops so that your working yarn is to the left.

Now, stretch out the yarn and take every other loop along the top edge of the yarn and place on the pegs going from left to right. (the top of the yarns edge will have loops and the bottom edge will have a finished edge)

Keep adding loops from left to right until all 7 pegs have loops on them. Now you have 2 loops on each peg. One from the cast on row and one that you just put on. Remember that on a few pegs you'll have 3 loops from turning under that first 2 inches.

Now tilt the end piece forward slightly and using your pick tool, knit off the bottom loop up and over the second loop and off the top of the peg. This is called knitting off.

After all loops are knitted off....

Tilt the end piece up and giving the bottom of the yarn a tug it should now look like this. Once you have knitted more rows you'll no longer have to tug as the weight of the scarf will do it for you.

Now you have to transfer these loops to the other end piece. If you didn't do this your scarf would only have ruffles on one side. You are essentially knitting around and around in a circle. Adding a ruffle to the front and then to the back of the scarf.

To get the loops to the other end piece, slide the other end piece up between the pegs where the loops are. Then transfer them one at a time to the right peg beside by lifting up and over from the back of the new end pieces pegs. 

Once all loops have been transferred they will look like this.

Next, just slide the first end piece out from behind and your loops will now be placed on the second end piece all ready to knit the next row. Your working yarn will always be to the left of the pegs.

Just keep repeating this method to knit your scarf as long as you want.

OPTIONAL TRANSFER METHOD 

Now if you are really brave, this is an easier and faster way to transfer your loops!

Take your second end piece and position your empty pegs under the looped pegs. I sort of wiggle the empty pegs back and forth a bit to make sure they are in the loops. Now, here is the scary part...

In one fluid motion tilt the end piece with the loops up so that the loops fall onto the empty end piece. Be sure that the pegs that are empty keep touching the other end piece the whole time!

This is so much easier than it sounds and is much faster than transferring the loops one at a time! But, if you are faint of heart or just a scaredy cat, then by all means transfer your loops the way I explain above. Your scarf doesn't care! LOL

I hope you'll give this method a go, as I am sure you'll find that it is much faster than using the knitting board and less stressful. It is also easier on the hands than using knitting needles. What ever way you decide, I hope I've encouraged you to try one of theses scarves. The hardest part will be finding the yarn!

" Have a blessed day!"

Ruffled Scarves using Netted Yarn

It's been awhile since I've posted here on my blog. I tend to put my projects on Ravelry and then completely forget to blog about them. I've been busy recently knitting some Christmas gifts. After the first of the year I'll blog about what I made and show some photos.

I recently saw this video from Isela showing a ruffled scarf she had made using a knitting board. I thought it was beautiful and had never seen or heard of this net type of yarn. She used Katia Triana which usually sells for about $12 per skein. The first thing I did was scour the internet searching for these types of yarns. These are the brands I found and the prices they usually sell for.

 

Sundance Frill - $4
Premier Starbella - $6
Red Heart Sashay - $7
Hobby Lobby Chrysalis - $7
Bernat Twist and Twirl - $7
Patons Pirouette - $8
Katia Triana - $12
Knitting Fever Flounce - $12
Rozetti Marina - $12
Rozetti Marina Glitz - $17
Frill Seeker - $15

These skeins normally have about 33 yards which doesn't sound like much, but is plenty to make a 60" or longer scarf. The Red Heart Sashay, Bernat Twist and Twirl and Patons Pirouette you may be able to find locally at Hobby Lobby, Michaels or AC Moore. Hobby Lobby has their own brand called Chrysalis. My Michaels carried none of these and Hobby Lobby said they sold out of their brand as soon as it came in. The one day I was there they only had a butt ugly green color. LOL

Every place online that sold this type of yarn either only had awful colors left or they were back ordered and out of stock until the end of this year or February 2012!

I finally lucked up and found some on ebay!

So, while waiting on my yarn to arrive I tried one with some Lion Brand Ruffles yarn that I had purchased a year or more ago and it came out nice too, although different from the net type yarns. It has since been discontinued. I mixed the white and tweed every other row as I wasn't sure I'd have enough.

It came out 60" and used a whole skein of the white and one of the tweed.

I've been using size 10.5 DPN's to knit mine and have been CO only 6 or 7 stitches which is plenty. However, after about the 3rd scarf my left hand was very sore from the way I had to hold the needles to keep the stitches from slipping off. Which by the way is very easy to do. I crochet too but found it was just too hard to make these that way and I preferred the needles to using the knitting board as well. I just thought there had to be an easier way. Well, there is!!!

I remembered my end pieces that came with my adjustable knitting board. They have 8 pegs and work wonderfully! Using them is so fast and you don't have to worry about losing your stitches or your hands hurting. So, you say why not just use the knitting board like Isela shows in the video? I did try that way, but found it too fiddly and aggravating having to keep the work pushed down in the middle of the board. Plus having to put the loops from the yarn on the back side of the pegs, transferring all loops to the other side of the board after each row and continually turning the knitting board. For me just entirely too frustrating. So, in my next post I'll try to explain using the end pieces and show lots of photos as well. For me this way is so much easier and you may find that true too.

So, until then try to find some of this new type yarn and watch some videos on youtube showing how to use this yarn.

" Have a blessed day!"

A sweater set for Arden...

Here is a cute sweater set that I knitted for a friends first grand-baby. They named her Arden.

The sweater is called Joyful Sweater and was only $1.99 Very easy to follow. I changed mine up a bit

and then used a different pattern for the hat. The hat pattern is called Varigated Hat and I love the texture.

It was also easy to follow. I CO 80 stitches for a 6-12 month size.

More details and photos in my .Ravelry notebook

" Have a blessed day!"