Divergent Dauntless Pillow

Hi and welcome back to Crafting with Steph!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, but life has been pretty hectic. 

Today, I have a new pattern to share- more pillows! Yay!!!

I read the Divergent series last year, and thought they were pretty good. Recently, a friend of mine asked me to knit her a Divergent Dauntless pillow, after seeing my Mockingjay Hunger Games one. 

I scoured the internet for Divergent patters, but, alas, there were none (except for scarf patterns, which I didn't really need, but they looked cool, so I might make one in the future). 

So, what did I do? I searched BraceletBook.com, that's what I did! If you read some of my previous posts, you'll know that I get a lot of my patterns from there. The pattern I found needed a bit of tweaking, but with a bit of patience, I got it to my liking.

Here's the pattern from bracetbook and the link http://www.braceletbook.com/pattern_alpha/11787.html:

And here's my tweaked knitting version:

To make the pillow a 50 x 50 like my other ones, I first knit 11 rows, then the motif, and then I knit another 10 rows before casting off.  

After you knit both sides, you are ready to make the pillow. 

First, turn both front facing sides toward each other.

Thread a yarn needle with the color yarn of your pillow, and sew three sides of the pillow closed.

Turn the pillow right side out and fill with stuffing.

Sew the last side closed.

TA-DA- you have a pillow (the stuffing will even out eventually)

*warning- these are decorative pillows- they are not meant to be washed in a machine

- steph365 2/27/13

Fingerless Gloves Knitting Pattern

Hello, and welcome back to Crafting with Steph.

I know I haven't posted in a while, but that's because I was really busy. Between school, a road trip to Florida, and other activities, I've had no time to write. I apologize.

Since I live in Chicago, where it's super cold in winter, I decided to give a shot at knitting gloves. Knitting fingers seemed to hard, and I kinda wanted to have my fingers free to play guitar and stuff, so I decided on making finger-less gloves. I tried once last year, but I used a different pattern that could be knit on two needles. After knitting a square, you would simply fold it in half and sew the side shut. I really didn't like them that much, because I wanted to have a thumb gusset. So, after searching the web for patterns, I found one I liked, but I improvised it a bit. 

Fingerless Gloves Knitting Pattern

Supplies:

4 double pointed needles, size 2 or 3. 
I used Lily Sugar n Creme American Stripes Yarn. It is a 100% cotton, worsted weight, 4 ply yarn.

Glove 1:

Cast on 40 stitches on a set of 3 double pointed needles

With the fourth needle, knit 10 rows of *knit 1, purl 1*

Knit 8 rounds of plain

Thumb gusset:

Knit 17 stitches of first round. Place marker, make one, knit one, make one, place marker. Knit rest of round.

Knit 1 round.

Knit to marker, slip marker, make 1, knit 3, make 1, slip marker. Knit rest of stitches in round.

Knit 1 round.

Knit to marker, slip marker, make 1, knit 5, make 1, slip marker. Knit rest of round.

Knit 1 round.

Knit to marker, slip marker, make 1, knit 7, make 1, slip marker. Knit rest of round.

Knit 1 round.

Knit to marker, slip marker, make 1, knit 9, make 1, slip marker. Knit rest of round.

Knit 1 round.

Knit to marker, slip marker, make 1, knit 11, make 1, slip marker. Knit rest of round.

Knit 1 round.

Knit to marker, slip marker, make 1, knit 13, slip marker. Knit rest of round. There are now 14 stitches between the markers.

Knit 2 rounds.

Knit to marker. Place 14 stitches on holder.

Cast on 2 stitches and continue knitting round. 42 total stitches.

Knit 7 rounds plain.

Knit in "knit 1, purl 1" stitches for 10 rows.

Bind off.

To finish the thumb, move the 14 stitches off the holder and onto three of the double pointed needles.

Pick up the 2 stitches you made earlier.

You now have 16 stitches with which to make the thumb.

Knit 5 rounds.

Bind off.

To finish the glove, sew in all the ends.

Glove 2:

Repeat same steps as above.

I hope you have as fun of a time making these gloves as I had.

Thanks for reading, and I hope to hear from you soon. Feel free to leave comments below, and if you have an awesome pattern you would like to be featured here at Crafting with Steph, contact me at iovescu.stephanie360@gmail.com

-steph360 1/15/14

My Favorite Things Scarf Part #3

Hello again and welcome back to Crafting with Steph!!! 

Today, I did it!!! I finally did it!!!

What did I do?

I found this pattern:

YAY!!!!!

You have no idea how long I searched for this pattern. I couldn't find it anywhere, but now I did!!! Yay!!!!

I can't wait to add this to the "My Favorite Things" Scarf!!!!

More to come once I add it to the scarf :)

How is your scarf coming along? What patterns are you using? Feel free to comment below and share your thoughts and patterns with me :)

-steph 11/25/13

Crafting Humor

Hello and welcome back to Crafting with Steph :)

Today, I have some humor to brighten up your day :D

- steph 11/05/13

My Favorite Things Scarf (Part #2)

Hi again :)

Here are some more knitting charts that you can use for the "My Favorite Things" Scarf:

More coming soon ;)

-steph 11/05/13

My Favorite Things Scarf (Part #1)

Hello, and welcome back to Crafting with Steph!!! :)

Yes, I know, I know, I haven't posted on here in a while, and I'm sorry. I've just been very busy lately...*sigh* :(

Well, I'm going to try to make it up to you- I have an awesome new pattern to share. I stumbled upon it yesterday, and boy, is is AMAZING! 

I found it on Ravelry (right here, actually: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/my-favourite-things-infinity-scarf. 

It's amazing, because, well, this scarf is made to be personalized with your favorite things. Ever since finding it, I have been scouring the web for patterns and charts.

This pattern calls for the scarf to be knit as a tube, in the round. I tried it this way, but with all the complex patterns...well, I got annoyed over the gap that was messing them up. (You know, the gap you get when knitting in the round). I hated that one side looked elevated, so I started over, knitting the scarf flat (I'll sew it together when I'm done). 

To get the main instructions for this patter, click the link provided above.

Here is how my scarf is coming along:

This pattern is so colorful and fun (time to pull out my colorful yarn stash :D)

I've been using patterns she provided, and also finding my own:

I have decided to keep a pattern journal, for future reference (cause I ALWAYS lose loose-leaf paper):

I'll be sure to share more on this project as I go along, plus more patterns :)

- steph 11/5/13

Ninja Turtle Hats

Hey everyone!

Today, I have a question: Who doesn't love the Ninja Turtles? NO ONE, THAT'S WHO! That's why I have this awesome new pattern to share. 

It's crocheted, but even if you don't know how to crochet, that's ok, because there are literally THOUSANDS OF TUTORIALS out there, especially on YouTube and on other people's blogs. I used this tutorial on YouTube to crochet the hat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVSxV1aHDJk. Now, to make the hat above, you will need to crochet it in green, so I recommend using Red Heart Super Saver Yarn in Spring Green.

To crochet the hat, we will be using the double-crochet method, which can be found in the tutorial above. 

1. First of all, chain 4 stitches. Slip-stitch them together, and then double-crochet 10 stitches into the loop. Use a stitch marker (I usually use a paper clip or a safety pin) to keep track of your rounds. 

2. Crochet the first round with two double-crochets in each stitch. At the end of the round, move your stitch marker up. 

3. For the second round, crochet one double-crochet in the first stitch, and two double-crochets in the second stitch. Continue with this pattern until the end of the round. 

4. In the third round, crochet one double-crochet in the first stitch, one double-crochet in the second stitch, and two double-crochets in the third stitch. Continue this pattern until the end of the round. 

5. For the fourth round, crochet one double-crochet in the first stitch, one double-crochet in the second stitch, one double-crochet in the third stitch, and two double-crochet's in the fourth stitch. Continue with this pattern until the end of the round. You circle should be getting bigger, and you should be keeping track of the end of each round with the stitch marker.

6. In the fifth round, crochet one double-crochet in the first stitch, one double-crochet in the second stitch, one double-crochet in the third stitch, one double crochet in the fourth stitch, and two double-crochets in the fifth stitch. Continue with this pattern until the end of the round.

7. The sixth round will be our last increase round. Crochet one double-crochet in the first stitch, one double-crochet in the second stitch, one double-crochet in the third stitch, one double-crochet in the fourth stitch, one double-crochet in the fifth stitch, and two-double crochets in the sixth stitch  Continue with this pattern for the end of the round. 

8. For the next few rounds, crochet one double-crochet in each stitch. You will do this for rounds seven to eighteen. After you have crocheted all these, do not bind off, but wait, because now we have to make the ear flaps. 

After crocheting the hat, I added ear flaps, also in Spring Green. To crochet the ear flaps, follow the directions below:

1. After finishing crocheting all the rounds for the hat, crochet one double-crochet in each stitch for the next 13 stitches. 

2. Chain one, turn your work around, and crochet one double-crochet in each of the thirteen stitches you crocheted previously. Continue switching your work around, until you reach a desirable length for the ear flap. If you prefer a square-ish earflap  you can end here, or you can decrease your stitches so the end looks more rounded.

After finishing each ear flap, I took some red yarn (of which I had some scraps) and crocheted a fringe onto the flaps to make them look more rounded, and to add the color for my Ninja Turtle, Raphael. Then, I added braids to each ear flap. This tutorial will explain the process: http://www.jennyandteddy.com/2012/09/adding-braids-t-earflap-hat/ . You can add as many string as you want to make the braid thicker. I used red, green, and white string for my braids. 

Thanks for checking in, and I hope you visit again soon :)

-steph 10/20/13

*edit*

I just realized, I forgot to write about the ninja turtle eye mask/bandanna. What's the point of a Ninja Turtle hat without a bandanna?!?

So, here are the instruction (I kinda winged them): 

Depending on the size of your head, chain the yarn (color of your choice- I chose red).

Half double crochet that row once, then twice, and then start a third time. When you get to the place you would like your first eye hole, chain about as many as you need for your eye size. Half double crochet two more stitches, and then repeat the eye hole. The fourth row, half-double crochet all the way around. Bind off.
Enjoy :)

- steph 11/19/13