— Charity Knitting Made Simply Elegant —
June’s featured learn-and-knit-along in the Beyond BOBBOL 2014 Series will focus on charity knitting. For this KAL only, everyone will be able to get the main project patterns for free!
First, we’ll knit a small bookmark to learn and practice a beautiful pattern stitch in the Shetland family of feather and fan stitches. The pattern stitch appears to be complicated with its multiple yarn overs and weird compound decreases, but in the KAL we’ll break it down into bit-sized steps with tips along the way that will make things simple. The pattern for this will be free for everyone in the KAL. I’m planning to have the pattern ready for you on June 5th, the usual date to start our monthly KAL’s.
Elegantly Simple Bookmark
Then you can move onto making a larger baby blanket if you want. It uses the same pattern stitch that we practice for the bookmark, so you’ll be ready to zoom along. The charity knitting pattern for Elegantly Simple Baby Blanket is free for everyone, too. Ideas for places to donate handmade baby items.
Elegantly Simple Baby Blanket
There will also be special discount offers June 5 – 25 on the companion Elegantly Simple Triangle Shawl pattern for KAL participants as an extra bonus. (Note: Premium members get free Ravelry delivery of this pattern May 25 – June 30.)
Shopping List
For the small practice bookmark, you’ll need —
- size 10 crochet thread or fingering weight yarn; amount is not terribly critical because we won’t be making this practice piece to an exact size: about 35 – 40 yards should do it
- knitting needles appropriate to the thread size. Tip to help you select needle size
- coordinating pony bead for head of tassel (i.e. a largish size bead with a large enough hole to pull several strands of your thread/yarn through); don’t stress over getting a bead for this — there are other ways of finishing the bookmark with a tassel
If you want to knit the baby blanket, you’ll need —
- 1600 – 1800 yards sport weight yarn for finished size of approx 45″ x 45″ (figure proportionately less yardage for a smaller blanket)
- size US 7 (4.5 mm) needles suggested
An Invitation to Join Us for KnitHeartStrings KAL’s
I hope you will join us to knit and learn along for Charity Knitting Made Simply Elegant as part of the Beyond BOBBOL series. If you are not yet a member of KnitHeartStrings, you can Join Here. There is lots of good knitting to come for 2014 Beyond BOBBOL!
HeartStrings FiberArts
Knitting Bits of Lace on Facebook
Ravelry Store
I’m trying to use up stash and don’t have appropriate sportweight yarn for the baby blanket. Does the pattern adapt well to larger yarns like worsted? If not, I’ll have to make a play date at my local yarn shop!
The pattern adapts fine for other weights. I suggest you do a 30-stitch sample swatch in your worsted weight yarn on suitable needle size (did you see the link with tip to help you with this) http://www.heartstringsfiberarts.com/choosing-needle-size.shtm), or if you still have label for your yarn with suggested needle size, you could start with that. Then you can use the measurements off your sample swatch to determine how many 15-stitch pattern multiples you need for your desired blanket width. If you need help with the calculations, let me now.
p.s. The practice bookmark is set up to be worked on 30 stitches. Although worsted weight would make a larger, heavier bookmark, you could turn your sample swatch into that or some other creative use.