Time to switch ‘em up (by Debbie Purcell)

It’s that time of year again.  It is for those of us in the northern hemisphere.  It is not yet November and I’m sorry to say I had to turn the heat on in my house.

I’m somewhat frugal and try not to turn the heat on until at least November.  Yesterday I broke down and turned on the furnace because it was cold in the house.  In Boston we had our first brush with snow this past Thursday, burr!

I’m almost finished with my second market bag from the Naughty Knitterz fall knit-a-long event created by Gypsy for our Facebook group.  It was a wicked fun project for me.

The market bag pattern created by Gypsy is super easy to follow.   I made my two market bags using this red cotton yarn I found.  What a deal it was.  I paid $4 for a giant spool of yarn at my local Walmart.

It’s perfect for the bags I’ve made so far.  What else does a person do with that much red cotton yarn?  Look for a picture of my bag posted to the Facebook knit-a-long event.  I use my bag to carry the other canvas grocery bags I use.  It is perfect to then use to carry home the bread I buy.

My market bag has drawn some attention where I shop for my groceries.  One woman asked where I got the idea.

Now is the time of year I want some warm wool around my fingers so I’m knitting these Cabled Fingerless Mitts.  I found this cool pattern which I downloaded from the Pattern Share page.  I will be knitting up these gloves using the American Gothic yarn you can find on the Misfit Knitterz page.

I was apprehensive about using a yarn blend using pistachio, purple, mauve, and olive brown colors.   From the description I thought the yarn would be pretty but wasn’t sure.  I love it.

I don’t know what I was so concerned about.  All I can say is that the American Gothic yarn is absolutely beautiful.  How does Michele come up with these color blends?

I should know by now to trust any yarn she creates for Misfit Knitterz will be pretty.  This is a lady who taught us to dye yarn using Kool-Aid.

Look for an email coming soon announcing an end of the year deal on the new Misfit Yarnz page.  You should visit the page to see this funky picture slide Mike added which shows all the yarn available in an automated way.

How to Triple Crochet (video by Carissa Haning)

How to Single Crochet (video by Carissa Haning)

Do you crochet?  Do you want to learn more about crocheting?  This instructional video was created specially to teach those Naughty Knitterz who want to learn the single crochet stitch.

This easy to follow video is only one in a complete series of videos created specially for the Naughty Knitterz website.  This and the other videos have been posted under the Happy Hookers (crochet) category to help you learn the art of crocheting.  You will soon be dangerous with that crochet hook of yours.  

Thanks for watching and learning with us.  Please let us know what you think about our instructional videos on how to crochet or any of our crocheting and knitting articles.  Enjoy all you Happy Hookers!

 

How to Half Double Crochet (video by Carissa Haning)

Do you crochet much?  Know how to do the half double crochet stitch?  This instructional video was created for the Naughty Knitterz to teach those who want to learn the half double crochet stitch.

This easy to follow video is one in a series of videos posted on the Naughty Knitterz website under the Happy Hookers category to help you learn how to crochet and the various stitches.  Thanks for watching. Let us know what you think.  Enjoy!

How to Remove Stitches (video by Carissa Haning)

Knitting A Baby Sweater – Part Two (by Robyn Devine)

Here we go with the second half of our Knitting A Baby Sweater post.  Hopefully you’ve completed part one and you’re ready to finish your sweater. 

Now that you’ve got the yoke of your sweater done you’re ready to start working on the sleeves and the lower body.  As tricky as some of these instructions may seem I promise they’ll go just as fast as the yoke part of the sweater.

First up is dividing for the sleeves and body. What I love about a pattern like this is that you knit the sleeves in the midst of knitting the body so there’s truly no seaming to be done. According to the directions you knit through the first 22 stitches and then put them on a spare needle, a stitch holder or some yarn. For this I just leave the stitches on the needle.  Once you start working on the sleeve it’s pretty clear which stitches are which and then you don’t have to futz with any extra tools.

Follow the directions for the sleeve: knit a row, purl a row, continue along until you decrease.  You already know how to do this thanks to the first half of the sweater!   Then knit seven rows in stockinette stitch. Bind off to the last stitch leaving the loop free for seaming up the sleeve.

It should look something like this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now fold the sleeve in half, as seen in the photo below, with the right sides together. You’ll be grabbing a crochet hook (I use size “I” for this) to slip stitch up the sleeve.  To slip stitch in crochet, insert your hook through one stitch on either side of the sleeve and wrap the yarn around the crochet hook, from back to front.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pull the hook (with the yarn wrapped around it) through all three stitches you now have on your needle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and you’ve got yourself a slipped stitch!

Continue like this all the way down the side of the sleeve, until you come to the armpit of the sleeve. You should have one stitch left on the crochet hook and see a bit of space between the needles and where the arm should join the sweater.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To get rid of what will end up being holes in the armpits I simply pick up a few stitches before I move on.  This isn’t in the instructions but it helps get rid of those holes that will otherwise show up and we’ll get rid of those extra stitches later on! 

To pick up stitches, simply insert your right needle into a free spot between it and the sleeve. Do this twice and then slip the stitch off the crochet hook and onto the right needle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pick up two more stitches between the sleeve and the left needle (using the right needle again) and then knit across the back stitches. Repeat this same “sleeve making process” for the other sleeve and finish knitting across the row.

The rest of the sweater is easy! You simply knit a row, then purl a row, until the sweater is long enough that you want to add the bottom edge on. If you want to get rid of those four extra stitches under the arms simply knit two together four times around each armpit on your first knitting row after adding the sleeves.

The bottom edge of the sweater is simply a few more rows of garter stitch which should seem like a cake walk compared to all the new stitches you’ve now mastered.   All that’s left is to weave in the ends and you’ve got yourself a great new baby sweater!

Now if you’re anything like me you’ve already gotten addicted to it and you’re about to cast on another!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don’t forget to make one or two and donate them to your local hospital – the babies will thank you!  You can also send your sweater to the Knit for Needs charity and Meridith will make sure it gets to a baby that needs a warm sweater.