tutorial

4th of July Chevron Block Tutorial

Chevrons seem to be all the rage these days. I have seen them EVERYWHERE!

I decided that it was time to add my own take on the situation and it is made in 4th of July celebratory colors!

This is a block that I made for a block swap I participate in, my partner asked for Red, White & Blue and I thought a tutorial might be in order!

Supplies:

Each square measures 4 1/8″ to get a 3.5″ block after cutting.

Top Chevron – White – 2 squares
Second Chevron – Light Blue – 4 squares
Third Chevron – Medium Blue – 4 squares
Fourth Chevron – Dark Blue – 4 squares
Fifth Chevron – Red – 2 squares

6.5″ square
Marking pen or pencil

Sewing – (make 12 Half Square Triangles)

Step one: white and light blue, right sides together – take a 6.5″ square ruler and a marking pen/pencil and go corner to corner – see example:

Step 2: Line up your foot on the line and sew along each side with a 1/4″ seam.

Sorry for the orientation of the pic – I had trouble rotating it 🙁

Step 3 – Cut the squares apart on the line

Press your seams – depending on how you put your chevrons together you will want to press towards the dark or the light fabric.

Construct your chevron block:

Follow my block for constructing your finished block

Sew your rows together. Top row – press your seams left, next row down – press your seams right, next row – press your seams left, bottom row – press your seams right.

Sew your rows together – the cutting measurements above will get you a 12.5″ square block.

Remember, you don’t have to do your chevrons in so many different colors, you can use as few as 2 or as many as 5.  Good luck!

I hope you have a Happy and Safe Fourth of July!

Here’s where I’m linking up this week.

Tutorial Tuesday for all you hookers out there

And by hookers, I am of course referring to those of you who CROCHET!

Stand up and testify: “I, Melissa D, am a hooker”. I say it with pride. My grandma taught me how to crochet when I was 7 years old. The first thing I ever made was a pot holder and it can’t hold a candle to the one my grandmother made that day (I have both).  When she passed on I inherited all of her crochet hooks, plus all the hooks from a dear friend of hers.  Now those hooks in addition to the ones I already had…well it was like my hook collection had followed the Lord’s Command “be fruitful and multiply”.

I have been storing them in this cute little vase, but it isn’t so convenient when I’m traveling, so I decided to whip myself up a pretty carrying case!

Learn how to make it after the jump!

VIDEO Tutorial Tuesday – Continental Purl Stitch

As you know, I have been working on a video knitting tutorial series. This week we are covering the purl stitch in the continental method.

In case you haven’t seen the other videos yet, here is a link to the cast on video and a link to the knitting video.

The purl stitch has SO many uses in knitting and is really an essential tool in your toolkit (as my former marketing manager would say).

Image Courtesy of: You-Can-Knit-Too.com

 

Watch Me!

Reasons why you NEED to know the purl stitch:

  1. In order to do a gauge swatch (come back in a couple weeks for that post) – you have to be able to do the stockinette stitch – which means you have to know how to purl!  Knit 1 row, purl 1 row (repeat)
  2. Any pattern that calls for ribbing calls for the purl stitch – knit 1 purl 1 or knit 2 purl 2 (any variation really)
  3. To make cool textured patterns using the seed stitch – you have to be able to purl
  4. Most cabling patterns call for you to purl
  5. It adds another level of interest and intrigue to your knitted piece

How about I break it down with some screen shots?

Wrap your yarn over your pink, under your ring and middle fingers and over your pointer
Yarn in front of the needle
Needle goes through the back to the front
Grab the yarn with the right needle
Pull the yarn back through the loop
Slide the stitch off the left needle – you have now purled a stitch!

I hope this video and post have helped you learn how to do the purl stitch in the continental style of knitting.  Purling really is essential to knitting. You do not need it for your basic scarf, but once you move past the scarf stage of your knitting, you will definitely want to master this technique.

The next video tutorial will be on how to cast off.  Feel free to leave me a comment if there are other knitting video tutorials that you would like to see on our blog and I will do my best to get them posted!

Tutorial Tuesday – Knitting Needle Case

I’ve got NEEDLES! In fact you could go so far as to say that I have a lot of NEEDLES. This is only a small sampling of my crochet hooks and straight knitting needles, the circular and double pointed needles are all jammed in a quilted diaper bag I made 2 years ago that has never been used as a diaper bag!
Needless (ha ha ha) to say, I have a need for storing all these needles. Thus, this weeks tutorial, a quilted straight knitting needle carrier.

You will need:

Three to four coordinating Fat Quarters or four cuts of fabric as follows –

  1. 2 cuts that are 21 by 16 inches
  2. 2 cuts that are also 21 by 16 inches that are further cut down to an angle of 12 inches at the high end and 8 inches at the low end. (these fabrics can match, or you can use muslin for the inner piece.)
    1. This piece is easily cut by marking 12 inches on the left, 8 inches on the right and using your long, straight cutting ruler, line marks up and cut the angle

One piece of batting cut to 21 by 16 inches
Coordinating fabric for binding – I used 3 strips that were 2.5 inches wide sewn together (you may need more or less depending on the binding method of your choice)
Coordinating Ribbon – cut into two 25 inch pieces
Marking pen or pencil
Tape Measure
Pins
Walking foot
Sewing Machine
Needle
Thread

Step 1: Using Sunni’s Super Easy Turning Trick place the two right sides together of the pocket fabric (angled fabric).  Leave a big enough opening to turn the pocket, sew the pieces together and turn the pocket right side out.  (don’t worry about sewing the pocket closed!)
Right sides together, 1/4 inch seam
I used one of my handy knitting needles to get the points super pointy 🙂
Voila! A turned out pocket!
Step 2: Put your walking foot on your sewing machine if you have one (it will definitely come in handy). If you do not have one: pin pin pin.  Place each layer on top of the next making a sandwich.
Starting at the bottom:
  1. 21 by 16 inch cut facing down
  2. 21 by 16 inch batting
  3. 21 by 16 inch cut facing up
  4. Pocket
Here’s my sandwich
Here are my 50 pins!
Step 3: Sew the sandwich together keeping a scant 1/4 seam.
Step 4: Mark and sew your needle pockets: these are the measurements I used, yours may be different depending on the size of your needles. From the left side of the pocket to the right side:
  1. 2 inches
  2. 1.5 inches
  3. 1.5 inches
  4. 1.25 inches
  5. 1 inch
  6. 1 inch
  7. 7/8 inch
  8. 7/8 inch
  9. 7/8 inch
  10. 7/8 inch
  11. 7/8 inch
  12. 7/8 inch
  13. 7/8 inch
  14. 7/8 inch
  15. 7/8 inch
  16. 7/8 inch
  17. 7/8 inch
  18. 1 inch
Follow the yellow brick road 🙂
I took my measurements as I went, luckily for the most part you don’t have to!!!
Step 5: Attach binding
Don’t forget to miter your corners!
Time for the hand work
Step 6: Attach Ribbon Ties – I did mine half way up the right hand side on both sides of case
Tie a pretty bow and you’re done!
Easy as pie 🙂  Well, for me it was easier than making pie seeing as my one and only attempt at that ended up in the trash can before it even got baked!

I can now display my knitting needles in my beautiful old mason jar and when I need to travel I have my convenient travel case to store them in!

Let me know if you have any questions! I hope you enjoy making this pattern 🙂

VIDEO Tuesday Tutorial – Continental Knit Stitch

What can you knit? Here are a few of my favorite projects:

Felted knitted purse

Knitted poncho

Lace

As you already know, I am a visual learner. I first encountered the Continental Knitting Method in one of my favorite knitting books "Stitch and Bitch", the little pictures that were in the book just did not allow me to fully grasp the technique.  I took matters into my own hands and asked a good family friend, Sally, to teach me.

Note: if you don't know how to cast on…don't worry, I've got you covered. Go to my video tutorial on how to cast on!

If you don't have knitting needles and you want to learn to knit…don't worry, I've got you covered there too!  Check out this week's giveaway. Comment on any post this week for a chance to win a pair of size 8 knitting needles from me!

See the video after the jump!
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