Dianthius Flower headband

I used Sheepish yarn for the head band and med worsted weight yarn for the flower. You can use whichever yarn you like though.

For this project you will need.
Size 10 needles for the head band and size 6 needles for the flowe
A button(only if you want to use one)
Tapestry needle

Skills for Headband-
CO
Knit
Purl
BO
Skills for flower-
CO
Knit
Purl
P2tog(purl two together)
SSK(slip slip knit)


Headband:
Cast on 40 Stiches( 44-46 for older infants, 50 for toddlers, 54-60 for children and adults)
I used a rib stitch of knit 2, purl 2 until the headband was the desired width and bind off.
After you BO your project should be a long strip of knitted goodness. Fold this strip in half so the ends are lined up perfectly. Using the same yarn sew the ends together. It's okay if it's a little sloppy, because this is where you will sew your flower.


*Now, again I learned through trial and error on my nemesis "The Rib Stitch". When doing a rib stitch you have to alternate each row.So if you K2, P2 one row, then the next row you reverse it P2, Knit 2

Dianthius Flower
(this one is a bit trickier)
You will need your size 6 needles, a button, and a tapestry needle(to sew in the tails of the yarn)

Cast on 62 sts
There are only 5 rows for this flower(if you want to make it two tone you can CO & knit one row in one color, then change to a different color for the last row)

1) Knit
2) P2, p2tog to last two stitches, p2
3) K1,ssk to last 2 stitches, K2
4) p2tog to the end
5) ssk to end

You should have some stitches left on your needle, cut the yarn you are using leaving about an 8 inch tail. With a tapestry needle weave the tail through the remaining live stitches and pull taught. Tie off the yarn and sew in the tail. Sew on your button, then sew on to the headband(where your seam is).

Now you have a beautiful little headband!

Here are the videos for the Purl, SSK, and P2TOG

Ruffle Blanket

What you will need for this blanket is about 12oz of worsted weight yarn.....any color
Size 3 and size 13 needles
Tapestry Needle

Required skills
Cast On
Knit(garter stitch)
Bind off

Starting with your size 13 needles cast on 120 stitches
Knit 7 rows with these needles
Switch to your size 3 needles and knit 7 rows

Repeat this pattern until your blanket is the desired length(end with 7 rows of the size 13 needles) and bind off.

When finished using a tapestry/darning needle sew in ends and you are done.


* Note: It's very easy to switch from the larger needles to the smaller needles. However, smaller to bigger was not so simple. After my first try at switching from little to big I discovered that on the 7th row of the smaller sz needles you need to stretch the stitch. To do this you have to insert your needle as if to knit, then pull the loop until it is loose on the needle. Knit as usual, do NOT pull taught though. Make sure it is a loose knit.

Tada!!!!  You have completed a beautiful ruffled blanket. Enjoy!

My very first blog!

I wonder how people start these things? You think it will be easy, then you have a brain fart. Well, let's just start off with a little about what I'm interested in what I will be blogging on.

Here goes..... I will be posting my finished knitting projects and the patterns. Since I am a self taught knitter I will also let you in on some misadventures and mistakes that I learned from. I have mastered the art of knitting and purling, and I'm finally able to understand all of the many abbreviations in knitting patterns. If you are a new knitter you will understand how intimidating it can be to try a pattern for the first time. I remember staring at the page thinking "K1,psso, k2t,kfb, yo .......is this even english?!!" Now, thanks to youtube, ravelry, and some helpful knitting books these abbreviations don't seem as scary to try. 

Here was my very first knitting project: Knitted Baby Blanket with Flower motif

I know this isn't the best picture, but hey it was my first project.

Materials: 1 skein Green(A), 1 pink(B), and 1 white(C) Impeccable Worsted weight yarn & some left over yarn for the flowers

Size 10 needles 14"

Tapestry needle(to sew in the ends)

I casted on 130 stitches(you can do more or less depending on how wide you want your blanket)

Abbreviations used in my project are as follows

CO: Cast on

K: Knit

BO: Bind off

CO: 130 stitches

Color C: K 4 rows across

change  to color A- knit all rows until you run out of yarn (make sure you have enough to complete a full row)

change to color B- repeat ^^

change back to color C- knit 4 rows and bind off.

Voila!! You have just knitted an unbelievably easy baby blanket.

 

Side note: the ruffled bottom is the result of me trying a rib stitch of knit two purl two. However , at the time, I was unaware that when you knit the yarn is in the back of your work and when you purl you have to bring the yarn between the two needles to the front of your work. The end result was WAY too many extra stitches that I didn't know what to do with. So, I started knitting 2 and 3 together at a time, all the while thinking" I just ruined this blanket". I wouldn't recommend doing this because it was a very frustrating and long process to try to figure out how to fix that "rookie" mistake. The above pattern is the tweaked version, so you don't have to experience the hassle of the "mistaken ruffled bottom".

For the flowers:

Same size yarn and needles, and a tapestry needle

K

CO

BO

 This is a close up of what the flower will look like.

I cast on in multiples of 8 + 6 for this flower. 

This flower is a total of 46 CO stitches

CO 46

1:Knit 3, leaving the first knitted stitch on the right hand needle, start binding off with the 2nd knitted stitch and continue the bind off until you have bound off 8 stitches. 

Repeat this until you only have 6 live stitches on your needle( with 8 bound off in between each live stitch).

2: With a tapestry needle lace the tail of the yarn through the live stitches and pull until it resemble a flower.

3: tie off and with the tapestry needle sew the flowers onto your project.

How to add color(you don't have to purl, just knitting is required for my pattern)

This one shows you how to cast on

T

This one shows you how to knit(garter stitch)

This is how to bind off

I hope this was a helpful pattern. I know it's not the best seeing as it was my first ever knitting project. Also, if anyone would like to add any helpful tips please feel free to.