Meet Posey!

Our family had to take a long drive the other day down to New Jersey and I kept happily busy with this lil' pattern. Easy to design and easy to knit. It was finished in a few hours.


Pattern: Posey

Needles: US Size #6, 4.0mm double pointed needles

Yarn: I used Lily's Sugar'n Cream
but any worsted weight yarn will work.

Materials: Fiber fill or scrap yarn for stuffing,
Tapestry Needle
Stitch marker
Extra yarn for sewing.
Button
Scissor

Finished Measurements : Approx. 3"width 3½" height

Pattern:
Bottom Flower

CO 6sts arranging 2 on each needle. Join for knitting in the round and place stitch marker being careful not to twist sts.
K 1 rnd

Round 1: kfb all sts (12)
Round 2: k all sts
Round 3: kfb all sts (24)
Round 4: k all sts
Round 5: k1, kfb for entire round (36)
Round 6: k all sts
Round 7: k3, kfb for entire round (45)

Rounds 8 - 18: k all sts

Round 19: k3, k2tog for entire round (36)
Round 20: k all sts
Round 21: k1, k2tog for entire round (24)
Round 22: k all sts
Round 23: k2tog for entire round (12)
Round 24: k all sts
Round 25: k2tog for entire round (6)
Round 26: k all sts.

Break yarn leaving at least 8" and thread with tapestry needle through all 6 sts. Remove double pointed needles but do not pull closed.

Middle Flower

CO 6sts arranging 2 on each needle. Join for knitting in the round and place stitch marker being careful not to twist sts.
K 1 rnd

Round 1: kfb all sts (12)
Round 2: k all sts
Round 3: kfb all sts (24)
Round 4: k all sts
Round 5: k1, kfb for entire round (36)

Round 6- 14: k all sts

Round 15: k1, k2tog for entire round (24)
Round 16: k all sts
Round 17: k2tog for entire round (12)
Round 18: k all sts
Round 19: k2tog for entire round (6)
Round 20: k all sts.

Break yarn leaving at least 8" and thread with tapestry needle through all 6 sts. Remove double pointed needles but do not pull closed.


Top Flower

CO 6sts arranging 2 on each needle. Join for knitting in the round and place stitch marker being careful not to twist sts.
K 1 rnd

Round 1: kfb all sts (12)
Round 2: k all sts
Round 3: kfb all sts (24)

Round 4- 12: k all sts

Round 13: k2tog for entire round (12)
Round 14: k all sts
Round 15: k2tog for entire round (6)
Round 16: k all sts.

Break yarn leaving at least 8" and thread with tapestry needle through all 6 sts. Remove double pointed needles but do not pull closed.

Click here for the pattern page on Ravelry!

Finishing
Repeat for all three sizes:

Stuff each layer with scrap yarn or fiberfill and shape into a flattened ball pulling thread so that the top is closed.
Measure out two 12" strands of yarn in a contrasting color.
Thread the tapestry needle with the yarn down the middle of the ball and back up around the side.
Continue going down through the middle and around the side to the top a total of six times pulling tightly to create the flower shape.
Tie a knot around a strand at the top to secure.

Stitch layers to each other and secure yarn. Add a button with some yarn for detail and your done!

Posey © KrisKnits 2009
This pattern is for personal use only.

If you have any questions about this design or need help you can leave a comment or an email at kris@krisknits.com or on Ravelry via KristenKnits. I will try and help as best I can.
Hope everyone is having a great summer!

A Few More Baby Gifts...

It seems like every weekend this month I have another baby shower to go to. I always try to make something special and handmade for the Mom-to-be. While browsing Flickr the other day, I saw this tutorial and decided that it would make the perfect gift for a friend who's having a baby boy in July. I think the outcome was well worth all the cutting and sewing.

It's a pretty straight forward, easy to follow tutorial. I would definitely recommend it if you have some extra time on the weekend. I loved looking through my fabric stash to find matching colors.

You can't tell in the photos but I did add something extra to these adorable blocks. I picked up some round mesh jingle toys from the store and put them in the middle of the fiberfill when I stuffed them. Any baby will love the sounds they make when bounced on the floor.

I think I managed to finish everything in one evening while (not really) watching Disney's Cars in the living room with the kids.

I'm still working steadily on a few more cloth sets for this month. I might even be able to finish everything I hoped for. There's also a lot of exciting things happening around us. One being the fact that our new home will finally be finished next month and I get to pack up all of our belongings and move again. This time it will be permanent and that makes this Mommy very happy.

Organic Cotton Bunnies...

I finished these little guys the other day to put in the kids baskets along with the toys and candy they're getting from the Easter Bunny. I've had to hide them in the meantime so they don't hop off somewhere. The whole house has been buzzing today while everyone is getting ready for tomorrow. We're cooking, cleaning, baking and getting ready to paint some Easter eggs. Oh, and I have to shop for Ella's shoes later because she's outgrown her dressy ones. Hopefully the stores will still be open by the time I'm able to get out.

Pattern: Bunny Nuggets
Yarn: Bernat Organic Cotton in White
Needles: US # 3, 3.25 mm

Here's the link to this project's Ravelry page!

For this particular pattern I followed the knitting instructions as written. The result was adorable, but I wanted the bunnies to be able to "stand". I took about 12 pennies and taped them together for a weight. Then I placed them on top of the stuffing before I seamed the bottoms closed. I added a pom pom, embroidered black eyes and swiss darned a pink nose. Now they are ready to play with each other tomorrow morning.



I should get back to cleaning now. I meant to post last night but we were all too exhausted by the time we got home from our friends house. Wishing everyone a happy and healthy Easter tomorrow!

Naptime...

It's rare that both my kids will voluntarily go down for naps at the same time. At 2 and 1 yrs of age they get sneaky and trick me into thinking they're both sleeping until I start some chores. Then one will run out of the room, make a mess and hang out for an hour. Then fall asleep as soon as the other is wide awake and tearing up the house. They are best friends (for now) though and I couldn't be happier about that.

My son has been playing with the baby chick cloth from the Easter set from the moment it came off my needles. I saw this adorable Drops pattern the other night on Ravelry and decided to make it for him to carry around. Instant happiness, he's named it "chicken ducks". It was a very quick easy pattern that I actually started and finished during naptime yesterday so I had to share this with you.

Pattern: Drops 0-548 Easter Chickens
Yarn: Lion Brand Baby Soft in White
Needles: US # 3 3.25; mm Crochet hook size F

Here's the link to this project's Ravelry page!

The only things I changed with the pattern were using kfb instead of the yo's for increases and using a felt beak instead of crocheting one with the suggested embroidery thread. I might make another to give as a gift for my friends daughter. I'm sure she would love to carry it around as well.

Babies..Babies...

They're everywhere these days, how could you not smile. It seems like every week there's something to knit or sew for another baby shower or welcoming gift and I'm perfectly alright with this. Last week I had heard of another baby shower and started the hunt for something sweet and memorable for the new arrival and his family.


Browsing through Ravelry late one night as I normally do, I spotted a perfect tiny design and decided to jump on the "owl-bandwagon". After seeing all of the beautiful sweaters that were made from the Owls pattern by Kate Davies I wanted the finished look but an adult sweater was too much of a commitment last month.

Pattern: Owl Baby Vest by Jodi Haraldson
Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton Ease in Stone and Lake
Needles: US #5 3.75mm
Gauge: 22 stitches & 30 rows to 4"

Here's the project page on Ravelry!

I finished the vest in a day and it's already wrapped and ready to go for next week. I made a few changes to the pattern. I made a 0-3 month size by omitting one of the cabled owls in the pattern and going up one needle size. The finished circumference is 16" with a height of 9". I left out buttons for the eyes and embroidered them instead with the trim color.


I'm very happy with how this turned out and how fast it was knitting in the round for a newborn. Lately I've been attempting to use up most of my stash yarn that's been sitting for too long. I haven't used these colors for at least a year. It's a good thing I keep everything in ziploc bags.

On another note I should have everything finished for the Easter Cloths by Monday the latest. Thank you so much to everyone for all of your support. Art and design have always been my life and I feel so blessed to be able to share it with you.

Belated Birthday Gift...

So my best friend's daughter has been asking me for a doll (With purple!) since her birthday. So many things have come in the way of free crafting these days. We moved earlier this year and I kept telling myself that I'll get around to it as soon as the dust settles. During the summer I started sewing again when Ella was finally sleeping through the night but I haven't really been consistent. My Internet went out the other night and I decided to take some time and fire it up again. Here we have "Bella" as Sarah named her. Having read the Twilight series I'm quite pleased with her choice of name. Maybe I'll make her an Edward. ;)


Just a simple and really fast pattern. I think start to finish it took me about an hour. I drafted out a doll pattern on paper, traced it on some fabric, pieced it together and sewed. Stuffed and wove in some hair. Embroidered the eyes and painted on the mouth, blush and eyebrows. Sarah was so thrilled and had to play with her hair.


On another note I'm excited to start teaching knitting classes at
A. C. Moore this Wednesday. There are youth and adult beginner as well as intermediate classes and workshops during the month of November. During December in addition there will also be a 2-part Intro to Sock Knitting class that I will also be teaching. I've taught knitting to friends and family for many years now. It's a great feeling to be able to share this craft with others.