Lots of Love: Knitted Heart Pattern

Hello! A few people asked for a pattern to knit a small heart. I had to find some time to get my act together, but I've got it ready for you now. And with time to spare before Valentine's Day! Woot!

This pattern assumes that you already know how to knit and purl. I'm not going to teach you how to use double-pointeds, increase/decrease, or do kitchener (grafting) stitch. BUT I am going to link you to videos that will have you doing it in no time. I find that videos are great for learning new techniques, and rather than reinvent the wheel I'll just connect you to a wheel-maker.

For this you will need yarn, a little bit of stuffing, and a set of five dpns smaller than your yarn gauge calls for. I've used dk weight on size 2.5 (sock) needles for my hearts. A row counter or paper/pen would be handy to tick off some rows. You'll also need a single locking stitch marker or a safety pin or a scrap of yarn to help mark the beginning of the round). And a yarn needle to weave in the ends.

Here are the abbreviations and links for terms you'll see in the pattern:

CO - cast on (I used a long tail cast-on)
STS - stitches
DPN - double-pointed needle
K - knit
P - purl
KFB - knit into the front and back of each stitch
RLI - right leaning increase
LLI - left leaning increase
SSK - slip slip knit
K2tog - knit two together
SSP - slip slip purl
P2tog - purl two together (same as K2tog but you're purling)

OK, ready? I'll walk you through it, and then write out the full pattern at the end so the steps are all in one place.

CO four stitches on one needle.
1 - KFB into each stitch (for a total of eight stitches).

Divide stitches evenly onto four dpns (2 stitches each). This starts off a tad frustrating due to the scant number of stitches, but after we increase a few rows it gets MUCH easier.

2 - Join into a round (making sure your stitches aren't twisted), and knit all stitches. Why not join right away? Because it irritated the bejesus out of me, and this method still leaves you without a gap where we joined.

That's my working yarn on the right. The tail is kind of tucked down between the two needles.

OK, here comes the pattern for making the 'v' (bottom) part of the heart. It's too small to add a stitch marker yet, so make sure you pay careful attention to what you're doing for a few more rounds.

3 - (K1, RLI, K2, LLI, K1) twice (12 sts)

4 - Knit all sts

5 - (K1, RLI, K4, LLI, K1) twice (16 sts) (you should be able clip a stitch marker onto the stitches at the beginning of the round now)

6 - Knit all sts

7 - (K1, RLI, K6, LLI, K1) twice (20 sts)

8 - Knit all sts

9 - (K1, RLI, K8, LLI, K1) twice (24 sts)

10 - Knit all sts

Continue increasing as above (on every other round) until there are 48 sts total (12 on each needle).

Knit 5 rounds evenly. You can see how it's getting that adorable little heart shape:

We're going to shape the top now, but we're going to do each side separately. Arrange your work as below (your working yarn should be towards the right), and take note of how I've numbered the needles.

We're going to work on needles 1 and 4 only right now. Ignore 2 and 3. They'll be fine for now (but arrange them so the stitches aren't dangerously close to the tips).

1 - Needle 1 only: K1, SSK, K6, K2tog, K1 (10 sts will be left on needle 1)
2 - Turn the work, purl back across needle 1. Don't turn the work here.
3 - Needle 4 only: P1, SSP, P6, P2tog, P1 (10 sts will be left on needle 4)

Now we're back to working across both needles.

4 - (K1, SSK, K4, K2tog, K1) twice (8 sts on each needle)
5 - Purl across all stitches
6 - (K1, SSK, K2, K2tog, K1) twice (6 sts on each needle)

Cut the yarn leaving about a 12-inch tail. Kitchener stitch this section closed. Don't do anything with the tail yet. Also--don't worry about that little nubby bump you might have.

Now we're going to do the exact same thing on needles 2 and 3.

Attach yarn between needles 2 and 3.

1 - Needle 3 only: K1, SSK, K6, K2tog, K1 (10 sts will be left on needle 1)
2 - Turn the work, purl back across needle 3. Don't turn the work here.
3 - Needle 2 only: P1, SSP, P6, P2tog, P1 (10 sts will be left on needle 2)
Now we're back to working across both needles.

4 - (K1, SSK, K4, K2tog, K1) twice (8 sts on each needle)
5 - Purl across all stitches
6 - (K1, SSK, K2, K2tog, K1) twice (6 sts on each needle)

Cut yarn, and kitchener stitch closed.

Add your stuffing until it's how you want it.

Thread your needle with a tail, and feed it back under the stitches at the top, pulling it snug. The little nub will disappear to the inside and the top will round out a bit.

 

Now use the tail to sew that side of the heart top shut. Repeat on the other side.

To finish off, I tied those two tails together, fed them through the heart stuffing and out the other side, cutting the rest of the yarn off. This hides the tail inside and saves you from weaving it in. This will be fine as this isn't exactly a high-stress item where the ends need to be super secure. I just fed the other two ends in the same way, snugging them up a little first.

My sewing isn't super neat but I needed to hurry so I didn't pay careful attention. However, if you do it comes out neat and tidy.

And there you have it. For the simplified pattern, see below.

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

CO four stitches on one needle.
1 - KFB into each stitch (8 sts)
Divide stitches evenly onto four dpns (2 stitches each)
2 - Join into a round (making sure your stitches aren't twisted), and knit all stitches

3 - (K1, RLI, K2, LLI, K1) twice (12 sts)

4 - Knit all sts

5 - (K1, RLI, K4, LLI, K1) twice (16 sts) (you should be able clip a stitch marker onto the stitches at the beginning of the round now)

6 - Knit all sts

7 - (K1, RLI, K6, LLI, K1) twice (20 sts)

8 - Knit all sts

9 - (K1, RLI, K8, LLI, K1) twice (24 sts)

10 - Knit all sts

Continue increasing as above (on every other round) until there are 48 sts total (12 on each needle).

Knit 5 rounds evenly.

Shape one side of heart top:

We're going to work on needles 1 and 4 only right now. Ignore 2 and 3. They'll be fine for now (but arrange them so the stitches aren't dangerously close to the tips).

1 - Needle 1 only: K1, SSK, K6, K2tog, K1 (10 sts will be left on needle 1)
2 - Turn the work, purl back across needle 1. Don't turn the work here.
3 - Needle 4 only: P1, SSP, P6, P2tog, P1 (10 sts will be left on needle 4)

Now we're back to working across both needles.

4 - (K1, SSK, K4, K2tog, K1) twice (8 sts on each needle)
5 - Purl across all stitches
6 - (K1, SSK, K2, K2tog, K1) twice (6 sts on each needle)

Now we're going to do the exact same thing on needles 2 and 3.

Attach yarn between needles 2 and 3.

1 - Needle 3 only: K1, SSK, K6, K2tog, K1 (10 sts will be left on needle 1)
2 - Turn the work, purl back across needle 3. Don't turn the work here.
3 - Needle 2 only: P1, SSP, P6, P2tog, P1 (10 sts will be left on needle 2)
Now we're back to working across both needles.

4 - (K1, SSK, K4, K2tog, K1) twice (8 sts on each needle)
5 - Purl across all stitches
6 - (K1, SSK, K2, K2tog, K1) twice (6 sts on each needle)

Cut yarn, and kitchener stitch closed.

Add your stuffing until it's how you want it.

Thread your needle with a tail, and feed it back under the stitches at the top, pulling it snug.

Now use the tail to sew that side of the heart top shut. Repeat on the other side.

To finish off, I tied those two tails together, fed them through the heart stuffing and out the other side, cutting the rest of the yarn off. This hides the tail inside and saves you from weaving it in. This will be fine as this isn't exactly a high-stress item where the ends need to be super secure. I just fed the other two ends in the same way, snugging them up a little first.

Top to Tote

Back before Christmas, a colleague asked me to turn a shirt into a bag of whatever sort I could manage. She doesn't wear the shirt anymore but loves the print and wanted to make it usable. I originally thought it was a blouse, and was trying to think how I was going to do this without it looking like...well, a blouse. It wasn't a blouse, though, it was a fairly plain, not overly stretchy, knit shirt.

The shirt itself was an extra small petite. That is not a lot of fabric, but I cut oh so carefully to get as much usable fabric as I could. I used ShapeFlex 101 interfacing to stabilize the fabric for a small tote. I had just the right amount of ivory muslin, and a roll of black strapping whose purchase eludes me, in my stash. I love using things I have on hand.

From the body of the shirt, I was able to make an insanely easy tote. And from the upper sleeves I was able to make a front zip pouch.

The knit was actually thick for a knit fabric, so with the interfacing added these pieces turned out to be nice and sturdy, yet soft. It makes me regret a blouse I got rid of a few years ago because it didn't fit (buxom girl problems--I either play peek-a-boo with a certain area, or I look pregnant in others). The fabric was so darling it would have made a cute frame purse. Oh, well. Sometimes inspiration comes to us too late.

Both of these pieces took me maybe two hours total. Very easy, very satisfying sewing for a Saturday afternoon. I haven't really been feeling like sewing lately (I'm sure you've noticed), but I'm hoping this gives me a little motivation to get started again (as I do have ideas rolling around in my noggin).

If you'd like to make your tote or zip pouch, you can find the instructions for both by clicking on the 'Tutorials' tab and scrolling down.

Happy stitching!

Purply-urply Snowflake Hat

With two solid weeks behind us, I don't want to be one of those people still saying 'Happy new year!' so I'm just going to say 'Hey! I hope the new year has been good to you thus far!' Some weather, huh? We had a deep freeze that lasted from Christmas through to last week, a few days of spring temps, and now we're back to freezing. Thank goodness for hand-knit socks.

When I went on that knitting retreat in Vermont, one of our instructors was Lars Rains, Mr. Modern Lopi. His class was on how to make a perfectly fitting, bottom-up yoked sweater (think of the iconic Icelandic lopapeysa). My knitting goal this year is to hone my get some color work skills. I did not want to plunge right in with a sweater, but Lars designed a kit for his class attendees that looked like a great first try. I have been looking at it every day, forcing myself to finish all the other things before I even touched it. And now my first project of 2018 is off the needles.

I checked online for a few videos on carrying strands properly and getting good tension, and then I cast on. The yarn provided was Rowan Felted Tweed (a wool, alpaca, and viscose blend). It was soft and fluffy, and a lot of fun to knit with. It's not even close to the strongest yarn as it's very easy to break by hand, but for a hat it's light and warm, and I love the softly muddled stitches..

I did the snowflake portion twice--the first time I goofed on the count and had a bunch of amorphous blobs. So I frogged back to the purple stripe and did it again. This worked well as by that point my tension was feeling good and looking better, and I remembered that I had learned to count in kindergarten so the charted portion came out just right.

My floats seem nice and even, and there was still good stretch to that portion of the hat. I was reading an Elizabeth Zimmermann book where she discussed floats, and she said (as others have) that it's better to leave them a little longer than you think, and if you're using wool (in her opinion why wouldn't you?) those fibers are going to start sticking to each other pretty quickly and the floats will lock themselves in place. This yarn is quite 'sticky,' so they'll be staying put.

I had a lazy pajama weekend for the majority of it, so I wasn't going to model the hat for you (you're welcome), but it looks just like the pattern picture.

The only thing I did different was use a larger needle size. The ribbing was to be a US 3, and the rest of the hat a US 5. I used a US 4 and 6 (I couldn't find my US 3 needles); I'm thinking the recommended needles would have been just right as this hat is slightly loose. I personally think it's fine as I don't like snug hats, but I don't really wear hats so I gave this to sister Alicia. It stays put nicely and doesn't feel like it's squeezing your brains out, so it's probably okay.

I'm quite happy with this as a first try. A few more successful pieces and I might be ready to cast on that sweater.