Quick Gift Set!

"Mom I need a birthday gift would you make a scarf and maybe a headband?..."

This question was posed to me in the middle of the store. So off we ran to the yarn aisle hoping to find colors suitable for her friend. Thankfully we found a lovely assortment of Lion Brand Yarns in yummy colors such as Oatmeal, and Little Rock Granite. Grabbing a skein of each we set off for home.

At home,  I was told her friend loved a bit of sparkle, thankfully I had some fun "Lion Brand Bonbons" the "party" collection, I had offered a whole rainbow of yummy sparkly colors including a gold that added the perfect touch of sparkle my daughter was looking for. After deciding she wanted a chunky infinity scarf, I went to work arm knitting a scarf, thankfully because of the size of the stitches, the scarfs are pretty quick to knit. I was able to finish it in about 1/2 an hour.

For the headband, I chose two of the three colors used in the scarf, I followed my "fast finger knit headband" pattern altering the ending a bit to keep it three rows throughout the entire headband. The finishing touch was a flower created using the flower loom by the Crochet Dude. We choose the Little Rock Granite and the Gold Bonbons to create the flower.

Naturally my daughter needed to model the finished product. I think the set turned out quite cute!

It's now safely wrapped up ready for her to take back to school and gift to her friend. 

*edited to add, her friend Rosalle loved it! She even sent me a photo of her wearing it as a thank you!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROSALLE!!

Arm Knit Throw!

The arm knitting crazy hit full force at my house with both of my daughters joining me in learning how to create scarves. I decided to up the challenge and create an arm knit throw. I was attending a party for a friend, and wanted to create something special.

Choosing 3 skeins of yarns, I cast on 30 stitches. Creating a larger project it was a bit more difficult to keep my place and I had to "tink" (in other words unknit) several times.

I was quite please with the finished project. After casting off I added some fringe to either end of the throw. 

The loose open weave doesn't lend for much warmth, but it will add an extra layer to throw over your shoulders when reading to reading to the grandbabies! As you can see from the photos my friend loved it! 

Fast Finger Knit Headband

Senior picture time is upon us and being my daughter's name is Winter, naturally we wanted a few photos out in the snow. This being the case we had to find a "cute coat." Even though we scored an adorable wool coat for $15 something was missing. Enter in my new found hobby of "arm knitting." Finding yarns to match we quickly realized even with a scarf something was missing, she needed something for her head. Remembering finger knitting from my childhood, I set out to see if I could create a headband to match her scarf. And voila` the finger knit headband was born! Decorating it with a flower made from "The Crochet Dude's -Bloom Loom" it turned into the perfect head ware for her cold snowy pictures. Because my daughter loved it so much and has received so many compliments on it, I have been making them like crazy for friends and family! 

This being the case when I was invited to participate in the "Fave Crafts Best Blogger Craft Contest" I knew I had to enter  my headband project! To view my project and to cast your vote go to  Fave Crafts Best Blogger Craft  you can only vote once and the contest ends March 11, 2014.  My entry is called "Fast Finger Knit Headband" by Betsy Burnett. 

Supplies used: Lion Brand Yarn, "The Crochet Dude"-Bloom Loom, a random button, and fingers! 

Arm Knitting

In the world of art and crafts one of the mediums I am not so skilled at is knitting. My mom tried her best to teach me, in fact we laughed our way through chemo as she rather unsuccessfully tried to teach me to cast on, keep my stitches even, not drop stitches and the like. I would joke that "I knit holes."

Last month at the Craft and Hobby Association, I was walking by the Bernat yarn booth when I saw this group of people sitting around knitting, but they weren't using needles, they were using their arms! After watching quite fascinated for awhile, I decided that I should learn this funky skill, after all it seems to do what I could "knit holes."

With arm knitting, you use your arms as your needles. The results are wonderful chunky projects that go quick because your needles are so big.

The wonderful Vickie Howell was teaching. The first thing she attempted to do was teach me to cast on. I was pretty skeptical BUT I found something out, once I got the sticks out of the way casting on was pretty easy! Before I knew it I was knitting along with the best of them!

Vicki and I and my finished project.

The funny thing about my new found skill, I couldn't stop thinking about it. With the polar vortex taking it's toll on the Chicago area, I kept thinking about all the outfits and such I would love to have a scarf to wear with. So I started playing around with it. When I learned to arm knit we learned a 4 stitch, 4 skein of yarn, chunky scarf. I decided to play around and see what fewer skeins and more stitches would look like.  Also instead of making the scarf infinity style, I left it open and added fringe. The result was this. 

My lovely daughter modeling a scarf I made.

In the two weeks following the show I must have made 5 scarves. As I said they went quick, I found the motion soothing and creating therapeutic. The only downside was the fact I was literally "tied up" until my project was finished. As word got out to my friends they wanted to learn as well. So Super Bowl Sunday I taught my first "arm knitting class" to some friends and their daughters. Everyone had a blast and their scarves turned out fabulously.

Thanks Vicki for taking the time to teach me and Bernat yarns for sponsoring the make and take. If you would like to see more of Vicki's work check out her website: Vicki Howell. She does amazing work and even uses those pesky sticks ;)