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!

For the Love of Fiber

Any knitters out there? I became an avid knitter years ago when I started working at a local knit shop, Fine Points. When I started working there I just needed a job and my high school friend's mother was kind enough to hire me...even though I didn't know a thing about knitting.

On a slow afternoon at the shop, the ladies said to me "pick out some yarn, it's time to learn to knit!" And I did. I was a fast learner because I loved the challenge of learning something new, something that my grandmother used to do with ease. 

My favorite projects are usually quick and fun. While I can appreciate the feeling of accomplishment that you get after laboring over a complicated cable knit sweater, I tend to loose interest so it's better for me to stick with smaller things.

Hats, scarves, baby sweaters, toys, and accessories are the types of things that I like to make. Stay tuned tomorrow for a really quick and easy hair bow project!

A Cozy Sweater

I've been dying to post about this little project but had to wait until after our little friend's birthday! A while ago one of my bff's pinned this little sweater on Pinterest and mentioned that she wanted to have a mustache themed birthday party for her little guy. So I of course got started making him the sweater that she mentioned in passing. I used the mustache template from the pattern I found but in order to make it more useful I altered things a bit and added long sleeves and a more masculine neckline. It was really fun to make and a thrill to give to him too!

Who would have guessed that it was going to be 80 degrees the day of his party though! He was kind enough to wear it for a few minutes before having to take it off. I couldn't quite snap a photo of him in it though but as you can imagine, he was a cutie!

Stay tuned for photos from the party later this week!