Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Let's Knit a Hair Bow!


If you are anything like me, then you have lots of leftover yarn from completed knitting projects. The yarn has been patiently sitting around waiting to be made into something lovely, your time has come.

So, let's learn how to knit a hair bow. It will be very simple and it help you use up leftover materials that you may have laying around. This little pattern will also help you understand different knitting gauges too if you need a little refresher.



Materials
Scrap yarn of any gauge
Needles to match - do you know how to take your gauge?
Darning needle
Needle & thread
Felt
Snap clip
Hot glue gun





I made two bows with two different types of yarn, Gedifra (#1) and Rowan Big Wool (#2).  For the first bow I wanted to make a 4 x 2 inch rectangle. I cast on 16 stitches on a #7 needle and knit a few rows in stockinette stitch to test out my gauge.  I was getting 4 stitches to the inch so luckily I was right on point and kept knitting until the rectangle measured 2 inches, then bound the stitches off. The second bow measures 3 x 2 inches. I cast on 6 stitches on a #13 needle, my gauge was 2 stitches per inch, knit until desired length and bind off.


Cut a 3 inch piece of yarn, it can be the same or a contrasting piece. Pinch the rectangle in the middle and wrap the strand around the middle. 


Cut a small piece of felt to cover the snap clip and cut a small incision to slip the clip through. Secure with thread or glue. 


Attach the felt and clip to the back of the bow with a loop stitch.


*Let's say it turned out that my stitches looked too loose, then I would have start over on a smaller needle. Or a larger one if they seemed too tight. In this case it doesn't matter too much but if you were knitting a garment and didn't bother to check, then you might end up with a tightly knit, uncomfortable sweater, or a loosely knit garment that was too big! I am a huge advocate of taking gauge, if for nothing else than to say "Ha! I am doing this right!

1 comment:

  1. This is so smart! I love the idea and have TONS of extra yarn to make use of :).

    ReplyDelete