Valentine’s Gift

Each year when Valentine’s day nears my kids have high expectations. I know they are not thinking of their Mom, but still I thought  could surprise them with a little gift. For my daughters I made these rings.

The rings are knitted out of silk lace yarn and the hearts are needle-felted and then sewn onto the ring. It took very little time to make them and my girls like them very much.

Here is how I made them:

Ring base:

Silk lace yarn ( I used my Swiss Silk) , 2 mm DPNs

Cast on loosely 18 (small) or 21 (medium) stitches using long-tail cast on. Distribute the stitches on 3 DPNs. Knit 6 rows in stockinette, cast off. Let the fabric roll inwards.

I needle-felted the hearts free-style with several shades of red and orange wool fibers. I added the fibers in several layers because I wanted the hearts to be very plump. You can find basic instructions  for needle-felting hearts on this blog.

Have a Heart

I love to make things. It is best if it is something that can be enjoyed for at least a few days and shared with others: baking bread or a cake, planting in the garden or sewing, dyeing, knitting something. In the last few weeks it has been difficult. My right arm still hurts and often I have had enough after cleaning up in the kitchen. That is not good for my mood.

So I was very happy when I found the book “Gifted: Lovely Little Things to Knit and Crochet“. The little hearts spoke especially to me. They are so plump and cheerful and just the right project for my precious leftover handspun yarn. The hearts are knitted in one piece using short-rows, then stuffed, seamed and felted.

I have made two so far and given them to my daughters. I would like to make many more and give them away…

Happy Easter!

 This is one of the eggs, that I felted last year with the kids. It is handfelted with soap and warm water. I did not have a felting needle then.

The base is a plastic Easter egg and  I put some roving around it. It was quite difficult to get it nice and even, but putting it in a plastic bag normally used for sandwiches helped. When it was halfway felted, I wound the coloured yarn around it. It took much longer than I expected and if I had to do it again, I would try needle-felting.