Our recent project at the F+W weekly knit-a-long was a super cute heart pin (check here for the free pattern). Being the novice knitter that I am, I never did get two hearts to match up in size quite right...so...I made cards with them! Here's a tag that I plan on putting with the gift I got for my husband. Since the heart was kind of tattered looking, I decided to make it a theme by incorporating some grungy cardboard and less-than-perfect outlined acrylic letters. Definitely a gift handmade with love. (And here's a pic of Jessica and a fellow knitter getting in on the fun at last week's gathering)
Valentine’s Day is tomorrow, and I have the perfect knitting project for you to knit up in celebration. This adorable little heart pin is quick to make and very fun to wear. It’s from one of F+W’s upcoming knitting books, Closely Knit by Hannah Fettig. You can preorder it on Amazon.com right now, and it will be available for sale in bookstores in March. It’s a wonderful book filled with tons of ideas for the perfect knitted gifts for everyone in your life, including your mom, your sister, those pesky men in your lives, special friends and precious wee ones. The book really turned out lovely--we’ve gotten our advance copies already, and I’m very pleased. (Getting advance copies is just about the most exciting part of working on a book…although it can be a bit anticlimactic as it takes so long to get back from the printer that you’ve almost forgotten about it by the time it arrives.)
At any rate, here is the heart pin pattern.
Finished Measurements 11/2” tall x 11/4” wide (size varies with yarn and needles)
Yarn 1 skein Dale of Norway Baby Ull superwash wool in red (or use any scrap of yarn you may have in hand. If you don’t have a fine yarn like this, a worsted weight yarn works well, too. See the notes after the pattern for how to adjust for a thicker yarn)
Needles and Notions Size US 2 (2.75mm) needles (or any DPNs that work with the yarn you chose) Thin plastic, as from a produce container Cotton ball Yarn needle Safety pin (or sew-on pin back)
Heart (make 2) With size US 2 (2.75mm) needles, CO 4 sts. Knit 1 row, purl 1 row.
Row 3: K1, kfb, kfb, k1—6 sts.
Rows 4 and 6: Purl.
Row 5: K1, kfb, knit to last 2 sts, kfb, k1—8 sts.
Rows 7-12: Rep Rows 5-6—14 sts after Row 12.
Knit 1 row, purl 1 row.
Shape Right Side of Top of Heart Row 1: K1, SSK, k4, turn—6 sts.
Rows 2-4: Work even in St st.
Row 5: K1, SSK, k2tog, k1—4 sts.
Row 6: Purl.
Row 7: SSK, k2tog—2 sts.
Break yarn, pull tight through rem st.
Shape Left Side of Top of Heart Reattach yarn with RS facing.
Row 1: K4, k2tog, k1—6 sts.
Rows 2-4: Work even in St st.
Row 5: K1, SSK, k2tog, k1—4 sts.
Row 6: Purl.
Row 7: SSK, k2tog—2 sts.
Row 8: P2tog—1 st.
Break yarn, pull tight through rem st.
Finishing Trace around 1 knit heart onto thin plastic, such as from a produce container. Cut out the heart.
Join the 2 hearts using mattress stitch. When partway joined, insert plastic heart shape. Insert cotton ball on one side of plastic to puff out front. Finish joining. Attach safety pin through back.
*Note: My heart (the pink one shown) is worked in worsted weight yarn on larger needles. Here is how I adjusted the pattern to make it work (casting on just 2 sts and then increasing to 14 makes for a nicer point at the bottom of the heart with thicker yarn):
I hope you enjoy the pattern! If you make the heart pin, please post pictures to our group gallery. We’d all love to see your efforts!
I’d also like to do some knitalongs with our online craftivity community, and we at F+W will knitalong with all of you. Please let me know what kinds of projects you’d be interested in for a knitalong. Perhaps something that says spring?? Post a comment and let me know, or visit the forums and leave a message there.
Well, this is a pretty busy week for F+W. My fellow bloggers Eileen and Jay are at the biggest trade show you may never have heard of, CHA, or the Craft and Hobby Association. This is the trade show for all things arts and crafts. Seriously, you wouldn't believe how big it is. There are two shows each year, and the winter one is the biggest one, although I have yet to attend it. This year's winter show is in Annaheim, CA. When Eileen and Jay return, they'll be able to give us all the skinny on what's coming up in the world of craft. I went to the summer show in Chicago this past summer, and that seemed plenty big enough to me. I've never seen so many scrapbooking supplies in all my life, plus tons of other really cool crafty stuff.
I'm busy this week as well, working at an offsite step-by-step photo shoot for a jewelry book I'm editing. It's called Simply Beaded Bliss, and it's full of jewelry, gifts and card projects that use tons of beads plus really unexpected mixed-media elements. For example, yesterday we shot projects that used polymer clay and sea glass. Next up: plastic animals and washers. I'll have some pictures of the shoot later this week. I'm at this cool studio downtown Cincinnati called Alias Imaging. It's a new space for the three photographers who own and run Alias, and I have to say I'm quite impressed. It doesn't hurt that the guys are handsome and lovely to be around.
I've also been working on some Valentine's day cards. OK, I only finished one and it's not that great. It's for my sister. It has a knit heart sewn onto the front and then a couple rows of (imperfect) stitching along the bottom. I got the idea for the heart from this knitting book I'm editing, Closely Knit, that comes out in March. It has a very cute knitted heart pin in it...stay tuned, I'll be giving away the pattern tomorrow! Anyways, I knitted just one heart instead of two for this card.
Hi, my name is Eileen, and I’m a beginner knitter.
My interest in this craft began shortly after college when I
decided to try knitting my mother-in-law a scarf for Christmas. My mom (an
experienced knitter) sat patiently with me for an afternoon while I slowly
conquered the continental stitch. I was on my way to becoming a knitting
guru…or so I thought.
My excitement for something new slowly (or maybe quickly)
turned to frustration when finishing that scarf became a month and a half long
commitment. Once the gift had been handed over (sweet woman still wears it
every winter - uneven, loose sloppy stitches and all), I wasn’t sure when I’d
pick those needles back up again, but I had a feeling it wouldn’t be any time
soon.
Over the past few years, I dabbled quite heavily in
papercrafts, making invitations and personalized stationery, and when I began
as the Art Coordinator for Memory Makers Books, I got back into the groove of
scrapbooking. I’ve also picked up a habit for sewing and just finished piecing my
first quilt. However, it wasn’t until I joined the F+W knit-a-long a few months
ago that I re-discovered knitting. Since joining the group, I’ve made another
imperfect scarf, an ill-fitting hat (see photo), and a few tattered looking
hearts that will soon be adorning some Valentine’s Day cards. But, I am making
progress and learning new things every week (just yesterday I learned a crochet
stitch!) and I’m officially HOOKED and ready for a new challenge!
I hope that through this community I can encourage other
beginners to give knitting and crocheting a try. We can make mistakes together
and share frustrations when projects don’t turn out quite as planned...and
hopefully celebrate when they DO! And I have my fingers crossed that all the
experts out there will give us novices a few pointers along the way.
Here’s to our growing community…a place for all skill levels
to share and have fun!
Welcome to the knitting and crochet group on the brand new
mycraftivity site! We at F+W are so excited to be online and building a
community of crafters. You'll be getting to know three bloggers for
this group. I am Jessica, an editor on the North Light craft team and
the acquisitions editor for knit/crochet/fiber arts books. You'll also
meet Eileen, a new knitter who works for Memory Makers books. Finally,
you'll meet Jay, the editorial director for KP books and an experienced
knitter, quilter, felter and more.
It's funny, "community" is a word that you hear a lot and sometimes
it's easy to forget what it actually means. Over the last few years,
i've realized how much my different communities really enrich my life
and help me grow as a person and feel connected to the world around me.
Of course, we all have the most basic community, our families. We also
have our communities of dear friends that, for many of us, become an
extended family, especially when you don't live in the same city or
state as your actual family (as is the case for me). Then you have even
more specific communities.
For instance, I belong to a running group, which comes in especially
handy when you're training for a marathon, as I am now. Without my
community of runners, I'd never make it 26.2 miles! In fact, I'm quite
sure I wouldn't have made it even the 6.6 that was on the schedule last
night if I'd had to go it alone. I'd have taken one look out the window
(dark, rainy, windy, cold) and not even gone outside! And NO WAY would
you catch me sprinting up the same quarter-mile hill over and over
again by msyelf. But tucked safely inside my community of runners, I
did run 6.6 miles in the dark and cold (although we somehow
miraculously escaped the rain!) and I did run hill repeats...and
surprised myself by actually enjoying both.
This same principle holds true with crafting communities. Without my
groups of knitters, I might have given up hope on every single project
I've ever started. My community of knitters encourages me, challenges
me, helps me come up with solutions to problems that seem
insurmountable...and best of all, they admire my work. As most crafters
know, this admiration is something to be treasured, as only someone who
actually knits can truly appreciate that amazing fairisle sweater or
the beauty of your very first hat.
At F+W, we have a community as well. We have our team of in-house
editors and designers, as well as production coordinators, sales people
and marketing staff. We all work together to make the best books
possible. Our community also includes our talented authors. I often
work with authors from afar and may meet them only seldom, so it was a
real treat to hang out with several authors in person at this winter's
TNNA (the national needle arts convention) in Long Beach, CA.
From left to right: Karida Collins, co-author of Pints & Purls (due out March 2009), Narumi Ogawa, author of Mr. Funky's Super Crochet Wonderful, me, and Hannah Fettig, author of Closely Knit (due out next month). A lovely little community!
Here are a few more pictures from the F+W booth at TNNA
We'll be sharing what we're up to with you, and we would love for
you to share your craftiness with us. We hope this community of
crafters becomes a place you can come to connect with others, be
challenged creatively and find solutions to those crafting conundrums.
We welcome you to post pictures to the knitting and crochet group as
well as to your own personal account.
We look forward to getting to know all you crafters out there. I look forward to hearing from you!
