Designs by KN blog

A couple weeks ago I blogged about squares, and after a hectic workweek of running around in circles, it’s apropos to post about circle designs next.

My favorite project and technique is to knit or crochet hats in the round, as evidenced by the many designs on my Ravelry page.  I find that “building” a hat while going round and round in a circular pattern is easier and quicker than the “work-flat-back-&-forth/sew-up-the-seam” method, although others may prefer that way of construction.  There is no right or wrong way, just the way that works for you!

In looking through the DBKN collection, it’s interesting to note circle shapes in several of the designs when viewed from the top.  There may be extra trims, edges, embellishments and frills added as design elements, but the basic shape is frequently just a simple circle.  Even hats that end up shaped as tubes to fit a human head typically begin or end with flat circles at the crown. One example is my crocheted Chunky Cap which was published in the Jan/Feb ’08 issue of  Crochet Today!  The hat begins as a flat circle with “spokes” radiating out from the center.

Photos by Paul Amato, copyright Crochet Today!/Soho Publishing

Early in my foray into the design world,  I contributed a quick-to-make project to an online crochet group.  Spring Flower Fridgie is simply a crocheted circle in 3 colors of cotton, finished off with a bit of decorative edging — perfect for gifts, exchanges or craft fair items.

Super easy and fun-to-make Simple Beaded Scrunchies are built upon a circle shape: a round elastic ring.

One of my favorite projects to make, use and give as gifts is the circle-shaped Shell Point Chenille Facecloth.  It’s proven to be a hot seller at Christmas-boutique time, and when paired with handmade soaps becomes gift-worthy.

Beret-style hats feature circle-pattern tops. There are stunning examples of colorwork and pattern in knitted tams that show off their beauty within the perfection of a circle.  At the other extreme are “simplest of the simple” circle-topped berets (pancake hats?) such as my basic designs for Around Town Beret,  Felted Fashion Beret, and Brilliant Beret:

An interesting border treatment knit from the outside in is the chief feature of Bell Ruffle Toddler Hat, which reveals its circle shape when seen from the top:

With the holiday season fast-approaching, you might like to create some circular ornaments like these from DBKN’s Crocheted Holiday Ornaments assortment (wreath & Christmas flower):

These are just a few examples of the versatility of one of the most basic shapes in nature: the circle.  Have fun with these patterns or experiment with your own.  You too can be running around in circles, but hopefully because you enjoy working with yarn, knitting needles & crochet hooks to produce beautiful and useful projects that bring smiles to others (just like Happy Crab with his circle-shaped middle!)

Until next time, enjoy!

It seems like there are bunches o’ babies being born lately.  Of course, new babies need hats & booties & sweaters & blankets, so this episode is all about knitting & crocheting for newborns.

One of the earliest charitable causes I contributed to was Care Wear Volunteers and it’s still one of my favorites today.  Bonnie Hagerman directs this very worthwhile project.  I have had the pleasure of “meeting” Bonnie through email correspondence and by contributing some patterns to the newsletter for volunteers to use in crafting baby things for the cause. The newsletters and website are full of knitting, crocheting & sewing patterns and information about how you can get involved in contributing your handiwork to help preemies, newborns, and hospital patients.

These patterns are also available at Designs by KN.  Here are some of the most popular:

Rib-look Newborn Cap

Baby Earflap Hat

Baby Washcloth

Hodgepodge Baby Hat & Booties

New Arrival Baby Set

Besides the Care Wear newsletter,  DBKN patterns for baby wear have appeared in national publications.  Itty Bitty Booties appeared in the Mar/Apr 2009 issue of Crochet Today!

Photo copyright Crochet Today!/Soho Publishing

This fall the Debbie Macomber Blossom Street Collection, Book 3 was released along with Debbie’s Blossom Street Collection of new yarns by Universal Yarn.  The pattern booklet features DBKN’s Garden Path Baby Blanket.

Photo copyright Universal Yarn

Lacy Baby Hat was published in “A Hat in Time“, a charitable-cause project benefitting the Save the Children foundation.  This is one of the most popular patterns on my Ravelry page, so I designed Scalloped Lace Baby Socks to match:

Another very popular project is the Rippling Waves Baby Blanket, which can be made in a single color or in stripes of several colors:

And here are some of the newest baby-item patterns from DBKN:

Coral Reef Baby Hat

Colby’s Cap

Droolie Bib

Cuddle Cable Baby Blanket

These projects (and many more from DBKN) will bring a smile to the mom and comfort to the baby, whether you make them for your own needs, as gifts, or for the worldwide family of charitable causes.  One could make a career out of creating only baby things!  I know that in my small circle of coworkers there must be something in the water right now, so I’d better get to work on another gift to have handy for the new arrivals.  I hope you’ll enjoy doing the same!

Since I have been running around in circles lately and my head is spinning from all that has occurred this week, it will be refreshing to talk about a basic in the knit & crochet world:  squares.

Squares are frequently used as building blocks for larger projects. They can be created in any direction (bottom to top, center out, outside in, corner to corner, mitered) and can be assembled in any combination to produce both practical and amazing results.  They can be used alone (as in the My Fave Dishcloth shown above), in strips (as in Old World Scarf shown below), or in larger projects such as afghans.  Take the simple granny square blanket, which seems to be enjoying a resurgence today.

Years ago when my daughter was born, I worked a basic granny square in five pastel colors to about 24″ square.  It became her “coming home” blankie and garnered compliments galore, which was surprising to me as granny squares were such a simple thing that I had been making for years.

Squares can be plain or fancy, one color or multicolor, knitted or crocheted, textured, lacy or flat, and are terrific projects for charitable causes and community or group projects that benefit others (e.g., WarmUp America!)  My coworkers and I are currently participating in the Lands’ End FeelGood Campaign, creating 51 squares (actually 7″ x 9″ rectangles) to contribute to the cause. The squares will be assembled into blankets to bring comfort and warmth to those in need.

Last year, I designed some simple blanket squares in both knit & crochet versions.

One of the projects using these basic square patterns is this wedding memento quilted wall hanging. We held a “crafty afternoon” and supplied yarn, patterns & embellishments. The attendees enjoyed creating and decorating their own knit and crochet squares for this very special gift:

The Vintage Wheel Square has a traditional look and can be used in projects ranging from table mats to pet pads to scarves to larger projects:

Another popular project (designed while on a ski vacation during a snowy, cold day) is Old World Scarf, consisting of lacy-look squares assembled in the join-as-you-go method. This pattern first appeared in the webzine Crochet Uncut.

Squares can also be a source of fun and surprises!  A few years ago Crochet Today! sponsored the “Stitch-to-Win” afghan contest. The rules involved designing a square with a heart on it using Coats & Clark Red Heart brand yarns.  I submitted an idea and was shocked to learn that my square was one of 12 winners. The winning square entries were recolored and assembled into the Contest Favorites Heart Squares Afghan which appeared in the Jan/Feb 2009 issue of Crochet Today! and is now available as a free pattern on the Coats & Clark site:

Photo by Rose Callahan, copyright Crochet Today!/Soho Publishing

Here’s a closeup of my winning square idea, as redone for the afghan (square #3, Log Cabin Heart):

These are just a few ideas for using squares in your knitting and crochet projects.  In our family many of the afghans I’ve made are square-based, such as this Bobble Afghan from the 1970′s in every color of the rainbow and the Green & Gold Lapghan shown below (read the story about them in Crochet Insider):

If you need a new dishcloth, a gift scarf, or a new home decor item, think of squares as the building blocks.  Now that my head has stopped spinning and the weekend is here, it’s time to get to work on those 51 squares for the FeelGood project.  I hope you’ll be inspired to start a “feel good” project of your own this weekend!

Brrr, it’s chilly this morning. Time to pull on a pair of fingerless mitts like these while typing today’s blog:

You may or may not know that these fingerless accessories are exceedingly popular with all ages.  At last count, there were over 1000 “faves” and hundreds of projects attached to the fingerless glove designs I offer in the DBKN pattern line. You can see photos of a variety of completed mitt projects on my  Ravelry designer page. It does a designer’s heart good to see pictures of recipients, from little kids to teens to adults, sporting happy faces while wearing their new knitted or crocheted accessories created from our patterns.

A few years ago when I was participating in local craft fairs, I offered some mitts for sale along with the hats that were the main product of Designs by KN:

I had fun coming up with variations and embellishments:

Because they were reasonably priced and well-made, they sold out in no time. Today, if I participate in a fair or boutique, I always include pairs of these practical accessories (keeping it as simple as possible because I have to make two!) They are so popular I can never keep up with orders.

After I started submitting ideas to magazines, a version of my fingerless mitt design was published in the Winter ’07 issue of Knit.1 and is now offered on the Vogue Knitting free patterns page.  The combination of lovely multicolor yarn, a practical, basic design, and fabulous photography made the mitts a hit project when they appeared as part of the “Quick Knits” story in Knit.1:

#34 Wristlets

© Knit.1, Winter 2007, photo by Paul Amato

Several  months later, I was involved in some charity knitting projects and decided to design a mitt suitable for men in the service. It became the Men’s Fingerless Mitts which are the #2 most popular item out of the 218 designs offered on my Ravelry page.

After making many pairs of the mitt style shown above, I ventured into other designs, which have proven just as popular. Whenever our offices become chilly and uncomfortable, pairs of fingerless mitts in a variety of styles and colors start popping up all over the room! Here is a selection of ideas for your knitting/crocheting pleasure, to warm your hands and those of others compliments of DBKN:

Twist Mitts (knit)

Ice Chip Mitts (crochet)

Touch of Lace Wristers (knit)

Ribbed Pulse Warmers (knit)

(Believe it or not, these do help keep your hands warm!)

Ribbed Fingerless Mitts

(previously published in 2009 Knitting Pattern a Day Calendar)

I hope the ideas shown inspire you to grab your needles and hooks and get to work producing some fun, quick-to-make and eminently useful projects.  As I wrote in the previous “Socks” post, Christmas is coming … and fingerless mitts make great gifts!

Next time: Squares

The other day I received a surprise report from a family member:  M. told me that E. said, “I wish K. would make me some socks for Christmas.”  Of course I will do so because I know they will be appreciated. Personally, I love handknit socks (both knitting & wearing them) as evidenced by the shoeboxes on my dresser piled high with pairs of comforting footwear.

Since it’s already time to start thinking about Christmas, here are some pattern ideas from the DBKN collection.  My basic go-to sock pattern is C.O.O.S. (Choice of Options Socks):

I’ll be using this pattern to make the socks requested by E.  Despite the countless sock patterns out there, from plain to complex and beyond, for simplicity’s sake I usually end up with C.O.O.S.

Given uninterrupted time, I can make a pair of C.O.O.S. in a few days (even while bedridden with a nasty cold!) This pair of “sick socks” were produced during a bout of illness last year. Who cares if they don’t quite match?

One day I devised a sock pattern with more texture than C.O.O.S.  The design was accepted for publication and became the Twist’n Stripe Socks, one of 11 patterns in the new Debbie Macomber Blossom Street Collection, Book 3.

Photo copyright Universal Yarn

These socks are made with a wonderfully soft and pretty yarn from the Debbie Macomber Blossom Street Collection of yarns:  Petals Socks by Universal Yarn. The pattern features just a touch of cabling at the top which produces a flared cuff trim, followed by twist stitches on the leg and instep to keep you occupied as the self-striping beauty in this yarn is revealed.

If you have “second sock syndrome” and dislike the thought of making two of anything the same, try a Christmas stocking! It’s on a larger scale with thicker yarn and needles, and you only have to make one.  Here is DBKN’s  Ruffled Lace Christmas Stocking,  a former contest winner in the Peaches & Creme Ravelry group. I had a lot of fun designing this and embellishing it with ruffled accents at cuff, heel and toe.

For the little ones in your life, DBKN’s pattern line includes a little crocheted sock pattern Kiddie Socks

and a knit bootie/sock pattern Scalloped Lace Baby Socks

The lacy sock was designed to accompany Lacy Baby Hat, with the feather & fan lace pattern incorporated into both hat and sock cuff.

Have fun choosing from the seemingly unlimited supply of colorful sock yarns out there and give these patterns a try.  I know I’ll be making at least one family member happy this holiday season by filling his wish for a new pair of socks. Hopefully you too have someone in mind who would appreciate the same!

Next time: handwarmers.

It’s the weekend! The day ahead promises to be unstructured and cool enough to pull out one of the larger projects that have been languishing in my knitting room for awhile: a large crocheted afghan started by a friend’s mother years ago which, sadly, was never finished due to her passing. I volunteered to try to figure out the pattern and finish it so that she would have it as an heirloom and memory piece.  Here’s a bit of it:

I look forward to allowing the rows of stitching ahead to relax and soothe my thoughts, after a brain-straining workweek!

In my first post, I mentioned there would be some history and family stories incorporated into this blog.  Projects that have been a mainstay throughout my crafting life are afghans (aka blankets, throws, lapghans, comfortghans, bed scarves, whatever you may call them.)  Through the years since teaching myself to crochet in college, I’ve created quantities of afghans for family, friends, gifts and charitable causes such as WarmUp America!, Care Wear, Project Linus, women’s shelters and homeless missions.

While I have designed some afghans for publication (see below), most of my previous afghan projects were worked from patterns available at the time.  Many of these projects can be seen on my Ravelry page.  It was there that Dora Ohrenstein, crochet designer extraordinaire, spotted my work and asked me to share the story of  “My Life in Afghans” for her award-winning webzine Crochet Insider.  You may enjoy reading the article, an anecdotal account of the history behind some of our family’s afghans, such as my very first ripple afghan created in 1973 and still in excellent condition today:

Well, it’s time to get to work on that unfinished afghan awaiting attention upstairs.  If you’re in the mood to start a new blanket project for a gift, yourself, family or a charitable cause this weekend, you’ll find some free knit & crochet afghan patterns in my collection, plus more inspiration below. Let’s get stitching!

Designs by KN published afghan designs:

Fisherman Afghan & Pillow

Offered as a kit from Pisgah Yarn & Dyeing Co., Inc.

Hot off the press! Garden Path Baby Blanket, one of 11 patterns in the new  Debbie Macomber Blossom Street Collection, Book 3

Photo copyright Universal Yarn

Popular knitted blanket patterns in the DBKN collection:

Rippling Waves Baby Blanket

Cuddle Cable Baby Blanket

The end-of-summer transition into fall has seemed a bit warmer than usual in the Rocky Mountain region lately, but a cool nip in the morning and evening air is causing the aspen to change to brilliant yellow in the high country, signalling a transition to the next season.

Today I offer two projects that could qualify as transitional pieces: one crochet project perfect for the last gasp of summer and one knit project that will come in handy when the weather turns cold.

Both of these designs were featured in previous issues of Classic Elite Yarns Web-letter.  My thanks and appreciation to Classic Elite staff for the fabulous photography and pattern formatting that turned my humble ideas into eye-catching and popular designs.

The Provence Summer String Bag in Issue 139 made such a splash when it appeared that I was astonished. The Ravelry Market Bags group voted it as one of their summer CAL projects, and it was so much fun to see the various finished projects that were produced.  Colorful bags appeared everywhere! Besides the submission prototype and sample bag shown in the Web-letter photos, I created another bag which ended up traveling with us on a road trip to Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks this summer. This bag can really hold a lot of yarn (or whatever else you might need to carry!)

Provence Summer String Bag

Photos copyright Classic Elite Yarns

Here is one of my other versions, at home and on the road

If you’re looking ahead to cooler weather projects, knitters might enjoy the Montera Cob Toque from Issue 107.  Montera yarn is a classic that is such a pleasure to work with, and this design is quick to make.  If you need a new accessory or gift in a hurry, this might be your next project.

Montera Cob Toque

Photo copyright Classic Elite Yarns

No matter what season or climate you find yourself in, I hope you’re keeping those hooks and needles occupied with enjoyable projects like these.  You’ll find many more to choose from  in the Designs by KN pattern collection!