Vanna's Choice Contest Entry - Knitted Colorful Rings Tube Scarf

Those of you who are knitters or crocheters may already have heard of the contest that Lion Brand Yarn is sponsoring featuring Vanna's Choice yarns. I wrote about it here in early January, and I submitted my own entry well before the deadline. I had only heard about it myself just a short time before that, and was disappointed that I did not have more time to work up a few baby blankets or a full size afghan to submit. But I did what I could and I was pleased with the result. Let's hope the judges will be too!



You may recognize the pattern that I used. It's the same as my Dr. Seuss Special Olympics scarf that I knitted in Red Heart Delft Blue and White, except for this scarf has the rings spaced evenly from one end of the scarf to the other, the colors are different and I put big fluffy pom poms at each end!


Here's one of the pictures I submitted to the judges. My son laughed when he saw it. He said it looked like the scarf was a person sitting with crossed legs. I didn't have the heart to tell him that was exactly the point of putting it that way for the picture!


So what do you think? A prize winner? My older daughter and I are already making plans for the prize money, and of course looking forward to the trip to Hollywood to schmooze with Vanna on the set of Wheel of Fortune! Wouldn't that be just a boatload of FUN? I know not to get my hopes too high though, because I've seen some of the other entries for this contest. Lots of beautiful afghans and sweaters and other handmade things have been sent in to the judges. What struck me most about the entries I have seen is how nice the color combinations are. But when you have such nice colors as Vanna's Choice yarns to choose from, it's not that hard to come up with some great combinations.

Here's my original pattern for the Knitted Colorful Rings Tube Scarf:

Colorful Rings Tube Scarf
Original design by Mary Grace McNamara
Copyright 2009

Finished size: 76 inches by 4 inches

Materials:

• Vanna's Choice worsted weight yarn: 4.5 oz white, 2 oz each magenta, fern, terracotta, colonial blue
• Size 10 1/2 straight or circular knitting needles
• Blunt point darning needle

NOTE: Leave a tail about 10 inches long at each color change. This tail will be used later to sew the seam.

With white, cast on 22.

Beginning with a Knit row, work 12 rows in stockinette stitch.

* Change to next color.
K 1 row even.
K in front and back of each stitch across, doubling the number of stitches. (44 stitches)
Beginning with Purl row, work 6 rows reverse stockinette stitch, ending with K row.

Change to white.
K2tog across. (22 stitches)
Beginning with P row, work 13 rows stockinette stitch, ending with P row.*

Continue working from * to *, in the color pattern of your choice, until 16 colorful rings have been knit.

For last white section, K2tog across. (22 stitches)
Beginning with P row, work 11 rows stockinette stitch. Bind off knitwise.

Using the darning needle and the tails from each color change, stitch the two long raw edges together using mattress stitch. Weave in ends after each section is sewn together.

Make two pom poms from all colors of yarn in the scarf and attach them to each end of the scarf.

I think this scarf pattern would look great in any color combination. Using neon colors for the rings and black for the tube would make quite a statement, or soft pastels with off white, or even a simple two color combination...any of these would make a fun and funky scarf! If you decide to knit one up, please send me a picture. I would love to see what You come up with!

Happy Stitching!

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Mitered Square Crocheted Baby Blanket -- Finished!

The Mitered Square Baby Blanket is finally finished! Yippee! I love wrapping up a project and putting away all the leftovers, not because I didn't enjoy doing the project, but because it means I can start Something New....ooooh, something new. But that's not what we're talking about this time.

Are you curious to know what I did with the mistake I made on this blanket? Did I leave it rectangular, or did I rip out the mistake and make it square as the pattern called for? What would you have done?

We'll get to that, but first take a look at the very simple border on this blanket and how it looks different on the different corners.

This is the corner of the first square made on this blanket. It's a little bit rounded because it is the outermost corner of the square which hasn't yet been pulled in by the decreasing on the subsequent rows. If you follow the single crochet stitches towards the corner, you can see where I worked three stitches into the same space to allow the corner to lay flat and not bunch up.


This is another corner on the blanket, a little more square than the previous corner. The one round of single crochet I used for the border really blends in to the bottom edge of this corner, and really just looks like a continuation of the block design.


This is the outer corner of the very last block of the blanket where all the decreasing rows come to a point. Instead of cutting the yarn after the block was complete, I simply worked a chain stitch, then three single crochet stitches into the very last stitch and began the single crochet round of the border. When I was finished, I just had to weave in that last tail of yarn and whatever other tails were not stitched over in the process of making the blanket, and it was done!


So here is the finished blanket...rectangular! I liked the shape better than if it were square so in the end I was glad I had made that mistake. Funny how things work out.

I enjoyed making this blanket for several reasons. It gave me the chance to use worsted weight cotton yarn for something other than bags or dishcloths, and I discovered what a nice feel the cotton has and how nicely it drapes. I also found this pattern of the mitered squares fun to work as opposed to crocheting the usual full length rows back and forth. Sometimes it seems like no progress is being made, but with this pattern each block only took a little over an hour so progress was noticeable very quickly.

I think this pattern would be nice in any color or also in a variegated yarn. You could even do each block in a different color to make a diagonal design or a "trip around the world" type of design. However those would require a little more planning ahead, and also take away the benefit of not having to cut the yarn at the end of each block. So there are a few ideas of different ways to use this pattern. If you decide to try it, I'd love to see the result. Post a comment and share your creativity!

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Examples of Cable Knit -- Arm Cozies and Owl Sweater

Back to Cable Knit! Now that you know how cables are knit, I thought I would share with you some of the projects I have made, or others have made as gifts, or you could make yourself.

First is a pair of white cable knit arm cozies that I made for my daughter to wear when she is playing with the high school band at football games in the cold fall weather we get around here. The band kids get so cold, but for the field show at half time they can only wear their band uniform, and their fingers must be exposed in order to play their instruments. These arm cozies are fingerless, but do have a separate thumb which is nice. They go all the way up past the elbow by about three inches so they keep her hands and arms nice and...well...cozy.


And here they are! You can see that her fingers are free to move around and play her instrument, but her hands and arms are snug inside the cable knit cozy. These were made with Red Heart worsted weight yarn, even though the pattern called for Lion Brand Lion Cashmere Blend yarn. I decided to try them out with inexpensive yarn to see how she liked them before investing in more expensive yarn. She likes them just fine the way they are, so I didn't get the cashmere to make a new pair.


Here you can see the cable going up the middle of the front, and the separate thumb. Very practical for playing or typing or doing anything where you need the use of your fingers unhindered. There is only one cable row on each arm so it was a pretty easy pattern to knit.

When making a pair of something, like these cozies or sleeves for a sweater or mittens, I always knit them both at the same time on the same needles so that the tension remains the same for each and so I don't have to follow the directions through twice and, most importantly so that they both end up the same size!



Aren't these owls just the cutest little things with their button eyes and sitting on their little garter stitch perches? My husband's aunt made this sweater for our younger daughter and she wore it until she just couldn't squeeze into it one more time. The owls are made by working a right and left twist cable at the ears, neck and feet. It may look complicated, but really that is all there is to it.


This is the back of the sweater -- four wide-eyed owls! The whole sweater is knitted in a very delicate fingering weight pink and always got so many compliments whenever it was worn.

If you are looking for a blanket pattern to practice your cable knitting, here is one from Mary Maxim that would be a fun project. You do need to register with Mary Maxim to access the free patterns, but it is well worth it because of the variety they offer. This pattern is made with Bernat Chunky yarn and size 10 circular needles, so I think it would work up quickly and not be too hard on the hands.

If you decide to give cable knitting a try, I would love to see what you make. Leave a comment and I'll let you know how to send me a picture.

Happy knitting!

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Learn to Knit -- Right Twist Cable and Left Twist Cable

Time for another Learn To Knit video to add to the video library. This time I'll be showing you how to knit a simple cable twisting to the right and also twisting to the left. Cables look complicated, but really they are quite simple and they add such a nice touch to a knitted sweater or hat or mittens.

Take a look at the video and see how easy a cable is to knit.



In the sample, after knitting the row with the twists in it, I purled the next row, then (knitted the next and purled the next) twice. Then I worked another row with the twists in it exactly as I did in the video. So between each row with twists there are five rows in this order: purl, knit, purl, knit, purl. If you wanted your twists to be farther apart, you would just add more knit and purl rows in between the twist row.


This is the front of the sample after three cable twists and five more rows of alternating knit and purl. It is ready for the next knit row of twists. I love how it looks like the knitting is weaving in and out and around which, of course, is characteristic of cable knit.


Here is what the back of the piece looks like. You can see the little bumps where the twists have been worked.

So now you have seen just how easy a cable is to knit. I hope you give it a try, starting with a simple scarf or hat pattern. Lion Brand Yarn has a wonderful website with lots of free patterns. If you haven't signed up to access them yet, I would highly recommend it. Here is one for a simple cable scarf that has a neat detail where the cable gets smaller in the middle of the scarf. It would be pretty in any color! Let me know how your first cable project comes out.

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Woven Stitch - Crochet Pictures

In the previous post, you saw how to work the Woven Stitch in crochet. I hope you give it a try and see how easy it is and how quickly it works up into a nice afghan or even more quickly into a baby blanket.

Here are some pictures of just a few of the items I have made using the woven stitch.

This is the full size afghan I made for my son in bright bold manly colors trimmed in black. I love the contrast of the colors with the black. I started out with 26 rows of red then 4 rows of black. I continued working 26 rows of each color separated by 4 rows of black and ending with 26 rows of yellow. Then I worked 4 rounds of black around the entire afghan so there is a 4 row border of black around each block of color. I used Red Heart Super Saver worsted weight yarn for this project and it took just barely more than one skein of each color to complete it. I finished it in about 3 weeks.


This is a close-up of a baby blanket I crocheted for my first child before she was born, using Dazzleaire yarn by Caron which is not even made anymore. Too bad too, because it was very soft and fluffy with a little sparkle to it and it never pilled or lost its shape even after almost 18 years! This picture was taken recently and the blanket still looks as good as it did the day I finished it. I think it shows off the woven stitch very nicely.

I stitched it in sections of baby variegated yarn alternating with sections of solids that matched. It is still one of my all-time favorite baby blankets.



This full-size afghan was stitched in random size sections of soft pastel colors for my younger daughter who is very much into the whole princess thing right now. Pink and purple are definitely the colors for her! I used Berella 4 worsted weight yarn by Bernat. This was the first project on which I used that yarn and I really loved working with it. This afghan has been machine washed and dried many times and the yarn is holding up quite well.



This is a baby blanket I made recently for one of my neices when she had her first baby. The yarn was actually leftover from another baby blanket I had made for a friend but I neglected to get a picture of that one! Anyway, the yarn I used is Lion Brand Baby Soft which is a medium sport weight yarn that is a real pleasure to work with. Some of these colors are no longer available unless you get lucky and find them on ebay or at a yard sale. But Baby Soft still comes in some very nice colors and works up into soft cozy baby items. It is the same yarn I used for my swirl top knit baby hat and crocheted baby hat. I had lots of the yellow leftover!

So what do you think of the woven stitch? Try it and let me know!

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Learn to Knit or Crochet - a good place to start

Are you ready to give knitting or crocheting a shot? You have your yarn and your needles, so now what? If you don't have someone to actually show you how to begin, it can be hard to get going. Right here on Hooked On Needles, you can find video and picture tutorials geared to the beginner for knitting and crocheting. Just look on the sidebar under Hooked On Needles Links. Click on Knitting or Crocheting or Library of Video Tutorials and you'll find exactly what you need to get started.

One of my favorite yarn brands is Lion Brand Yarn as you can see from my Crocheted Baby Hat and one of my favorite yarn related websites is hosted by Lion Brand Yarn. They have an extensive library of free patterns for knitting, crocheting and other crafts. But one of the great features of their site is the detailed Learn to Knit and Learn to Crochet pages. They have every aspect of the learning process indexed in a table of contents so you can go right to the thing you need help on, or you can just start from the beginning and continue through each step until you reach the end. By then, you'll be a pro! You can even download the instructions as a PDF file and save them or print them out as a reference. Sure beats paying $15 for a how-to book at your favorite craft store!

They also have a very thorough Dictionary of Knitting and Crochet Pattern Abbreviations which is so helpful when using a new pattern stitch for the first time.

Another nice feature of their site is the FAQ page which is quite extensive, but has a search feature so you don't have to scroll through all the questions to find what you are looking for.

I signed up for their email newsletter quite some time ago and I always look forward to receiving it. The current issue has the sweetest little Sachets for Wedding Favors to crochet, and regular features include Lola who is a knitting comic strip character, kit sale of the week and crochet stitch of the week.

If you like what you see on their website, but also enjoy thumbing through colorful and inspirational magazines, sign up for their free catalog too.

Besides all this, they have a charity connection, event announcements, pattern help, and so much more. Check it out and you'll see!

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