Charity Knitting Made Simply Elegant KAL (June)

— explore a beautiful and intriguing Shetland lace stitch pattern —

I’m naming June as charity month at KnitHeartStrings. So 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! Come join us to knit Simply Elegant.

June’s KAL features a beautiful pattern stitch in the Shetland family of feather and fan stitches. I call it Simply Elegant because its seemingly complicated elegance belies its simplicity once you see what is going on. The pattern stitch appears to be complicated with its multiple yarn overs and weird compound decreases. In the KAL we’ll break it down into bit-sized steps with tips along the way that will make things simple. There will be 2 free project patterns and 1 bonus pattern with special discounts in this KAL!

Project #1: Elegantly Simple Bookmark

First, we’ll knit a quick, little bookmark to learn and practice the stitch pattern maneuvers. The pattern instructions for this bookmark are provided in a members-only support article. This is free to all KnitHeartStrings members. See Easy 1-2-3 Pattern Outline.

Shopping List: For the practice bookmark, you’ll need –

• size 10 crochet thread or fingering weight yarn; amount is not 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

Project #2: Elegantly Simple Baby Blanket

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

Shopping List: 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

You can download the free charity knitting pattern for Elegantly Simple Baby Blanket HERE at the HeartStringsFiberArts.com website.

Not A Member Yet?

Not a KnitHeartStrings knit-along member yet? To take full advantage of all the support articles in the KAL for this pattern and future patterns, you can register here for free to try out KnitHeartStrings for 20 days (includes getting your first KAL pattern for free).

During or after your 20-day trial, you can then decide whether you want to upgrade to the Basic or Premium membership levels, or stay at the no-fee level with Limited Content privileges.

Knit, learn, and enjoy the making!