CallieCo Hand Warmers

I made these for one of my all time favorite person, a true friend in good and bad times. Someone who really knows how to give a good hug.


Needle: size 5 double pointed
Yarn: 2 skeins LB Collection cashmere 

1) c/o 39 place marker at beginning of round (for larger or smaller sizing add or subtract sts by 3) Arrange sts on three needles to work in the round 12, 12, 15.

2) Work in round. K2 P1 repeat to end of row (for these I did a twisted rib knitting through the back of the loop on all knits. This will cause the work to want to naturally spiral a bit. You can knit in a regular fashion to prevent this) repeat pattern for 1" or 6 rows

3) Mini Cable: knit second st first (leave on needle) then knit first st remove both sts from needle, P1 *repeat to end of round

4) K2 P1 repeat for three rows

5) mini cable

repeat steps 4 and 5 until you have 12 mini cables

Thumb opening
Having just completed  a mini cable round move one st from needle 1 to needle 3 so that the thumb opening will be between the two knit sts.

6) Turn work to wrong side Slip the first st P2 K1 to end of row.  

7) Turn work the right side slip the first st K2 P1 to end of round

8) repeat step 6

9) right side slip first st, P1 then mini cable (step 3) till end of row.

repeat Step 6, 7, 8 and 9 until you have completed 3 mini cables.
On the third round of mini cables in thumb opening rejoin work into the round. 

 10) repeat steps 4 and 5 two more times (two complete mini cables past the thumb opening)

1. 11) K2 P1 repeat for 6 more rounds loosely bind off.

Last Minute Handmade Gift: the mini sweater

This is the first year in a very long time that I will be spending the holidays in the city. It will also be the first year that I will be spending the holidays with my in-laws. To mark this occasion I decided to break my only one handmade gift a year rule (you all knew I was going to do that anyway, didn’t you?)

The mini sweater ornament is one of my all time favorite holiday handmade gifts. I loosely based the pattern off of ornaments we had growing up. Because I hate sewing in ends with a passion I designed it to be made with no thread breaks and the ends can be used to sew up the sides. My families original mini sweater ornaments all have their initials beaded on the front which make them very sophisticated. But you can leave them plan or embroider something too.

As a little holiday gift to you I thought I would give you all the pattern. Once you get the hang of the pattern each sweater takes about 30 minutes. There is no gauge for this project, I use up the bit and pieces left over from other projects. I usually use a worsted weight yarn and about a size 6 needle. But Bulky is fine too or you can double DK weight. WARNING: this is an oddly addictive project!

Row 1: Cast on 14sts
Row 2: knit
Row 3: knit
Row 4: knit
Row 5: purl
Row 6: knit
Row 7: purl
Row 8: knit
Row 9: purl
Row 10: knit
Row 11: add 7 stitches with loop method, purl across 21 sts
Row 12: add 7 stitches with loop method, knit across 28 sts
Row 13: purl
Row 14: knit
Row 15: purl 10 sts cast off eight purl 10 sts
Row 16: (right arm) knit 10
Row 17: turn purl 10
Row 18: knit 10 jump over to other sleeve and knit 10 sts for left arm (leave approximately 1 ½ worth of yarn between the two arms, this will become the hanger for the sweater- see photo below)
Row 19: purl 10
Row 20: turn knit 10
Row 21: purl 10 add 8 sts with the loop method purl 10 sts of other arm
Row 22: knit across 28 sts
Row 23: purl
Row 24: knit
Row 25: purl
Row 26: cast off 7 sts knit to end (21 sts total)
Row 27: cast off 7 sts purl to end (14 sts total)
Row 28: knit
Row 29: purl
Row 30: knit
Row 31: purl
Row 32: knit
Row 33: purl
Row 34: knit
Row 35: knit
Row 36: knit
Row 37: cast off

the one tricky bit to the mini sweater is the jump over in the middle (row 18). Basically you have created two sleeves with a neck whole in the center of the sweater, by jumping over the neck whole from the right sleeve to the left you are creating the hanger for the mini sweater.

In order to assure that you have enough yarn as you hanger I usually wrap the yarn over my right hand an then pick up the sts on the left needle creating a long loop in between the two sleeves.

Happy Holidays!

Paint Chip Magnet Tutorial

Last week I was making some magnets to put into a belated birthday package. I had all my magnet making supplies out for three little magnets so I started looking around the apartment for other things that might want to be immortalized into magnets. And that is when I stumbled upon upcycled crafty goodness: paint chip magnets.

I think ever crafty person has a bunch of paint chips wandering around their stash. How can you resist the colors and those crazy names like Banana Cream Pie and Red Hot Chili? For those who haven’t made magnets in the past here is a little tutorial.

You’ll need:

Paint chips (with good names)

Diamond Glaze

A brush you don’t care too much about

Magnets

Glass blanks

E6000 adhesive (you can also use diamond glaze)

I ordered the glass blanks, magnets and glue off etsy but I am sure you can pick everything up at a good craft store.

Last week I was making some magnets to put into a belated birthday package. I had all my magnet making supplies out for three little magnets so I started looking around the apartment for other things that might want to be immortalized into magnets. And that is when I stumbled upon upcycled crafty goodness: paint chip magnets.

I think ever crafty person has a bunch of paint chips wandering around their stash. How can you resist the colors and those crazy names like Banana Cream Pie and Red Hot Chili? For those who haven’t made magnets in the past here is a little tutorial.

1)      I cut the strips into individual colors. This makes it a bit easier to hold and less chance of getting glue all over the place.

2)      Coat the back of the glass blank with diamond glaze and align the glass over the portion of the paint chip with the name. Apply some pressure to make sure that the surface of the glass is making contact with the paper.

3)      Let dry, approximately 4 hours.

    4)      Cut around the outside of the glass with a xacto knife.

    

    5)      Attach magnet using E6000 adhesive or more diamond glaze. Make sure you space the magnet a fair distance apart or they will actually pull together leaving you a sticky mess.

That’s it. Super simple and perfect for those who can never quite figure out what color to paint their house.

Placemat Tutorial

I got back from 10 days in the bay area visiting good friends which means i can reveal one of my secrete projects: placemats for Sara. I actually thought I would do a quick tutorial on how to make them because they have become one of my favorite go to gift projects.

I use 100% cotton fabric and batting. Make sure to prewash all fabric before hand, this means that once they are finished the placemats are machine washable. And really let's be honest here, placemats should always be machine washable.

You will need:

1 yard of fabric of the for the top of the placemat

1 yard coordinating facric for the back

cotton batting

rotary cutter/cutting surface

pins

sewing machine

needles and thread

Step 1: Cut Top, Back and Battling:

Cut the fabric you wish to be the top side- I cut my 12"x16" but measure a placemat whose size feels right for you and go with that. The size you cut the top will more or less be the end size of the placemat.

Cut the back out of a corresponding color. For these placemats I got a little crazy and cut 2" more for the backing so the back measured 14"x16". I think I did this because I was super tired when I made them and this was easy to calculate but you don't need more than an 1" or a 1/2" all around.

Lay the top piece on top of battling and cut around the edge so your battling is the same size as the top piece. The battling has a sticky quality so you most likely not need pins. Also if you are a tab short of battling in one place you can tug a bit, battling is very forgiving stuff. (note if you lay the top fabric print side up when you are cutting the battling you don't have to separate and realign these later)

Step 2: The Sandwich

The battling and top are already nicely stuck to each other now lay the top and battling on top of the back with the wrong side of the backing facing up: you will then have back fabric (wrong side up), battling, top fabric (right side up). Place the battling and top piece roughly in the center of the back fabric. Now if you need to you can get out a ruler and do this just so but I eye ball it and it seems to work okay.

Step 3: Pin

Place pins through all three layers all over so that it doesn't shift when quilting.

Step 4: Quilt

Take a deep breath this isn't that scary, promise. This is a great way to get the hang of small quilting by machine. You can trace a pattern or make straight lines. I do meandering thing myself not really straight with a bit of curve to it. **Make sure to back stitch at the beginning and end. I usually sew to from on edge to the other and instead of breaking the thread stitch down an inch or so and start the next line of stitches in the other direction.

Step 5: Edge

Roll the edge over and pin.

Again, due to late night project time I didn't do mitered corners. I simple rolled the next side over and pinned it down.

Step 6: Sew Edge

If you are on a sewing machine roll by all means sew down the edge with the machine. I like to slip stitch the edge in place. I really can't tell you why I prefer this but I do.

So there you have it: placemats. Simple, fairly easy and machine washable. This is a great weekend project even for a beginner.