If you are visiting Peterborough, Ontario, please do check out Needles in the Hay yarn shop. So, as you can imagine, I bought just a bit of new yarn on my first visit. I confess that I am a bit of a yarn hoarder, but I just can’t resist it when I put my hand on a wonderful sock yarn that feels so soft and it is just calling to me to knit it up.

This year I have set myself the challenge of designing at least one new pair of socks per month. My first pair is in the works.

This is such a nice sock yarn. It is the new Ultra Alpaca Fine from Berroco in Redwood colour. It has such a nice heather quality that is very rich looking and so soft to the touch. My feet are just itching for them to be finished. I am designing a basic toe-up sock pattern in a variation of the garter rib stitch. Stay tuned for the pattern to be posted soon.

Also on my needles is a new baby knitted t-shirt and beanie.

I am using the Vestee baby pattern from knitty.com but using a finer yarn and making adjustments for a smaller size. The wool I am using is Louet 100% merino superwash in the Lilypad colour.

I adore knitting for babies and am so happy I now have a new grand baby coming to knit for (not that I particularly need an excuse to knit LOL)

Are you a sockaholic too? Care to share you favorite sock patterns? Leave a comment with a link to your most-loved socks.

Technorati Tags: baby knitting pattern, knit socks pattern, knitting blog, Needles in the Hay yarn shop, Peterborough yarn shop, sock yarn

This is a really fun and different project… you will get lots of comments if you bring this knitting to a meeting! But I especially love the texture this bathmat adds to a bathroom.
Skills Needed

You need to know how to knit, purl and cable.
Size

Approximately 18″ wide and desired length. The sample is 36” long for a bathtub, it can be shorter for a smaller shower.
Materials
Rag Yarn

Sample used two pre-washed twin size sheets ripped into 1 ½” strips and connected as per the rag knitting tutorial on cocoknits.com.
Needles

# 19 needles.

Gauge

Using # 19 needles over moss st, approximately 1 st per inch.
Abbreviations

CO – cast on

BO – bind off

st(s) – stitch(es)

c4b – cable 4 sts behind. Slip next 4 sts onto cable needle (in this case I used a chopstick) and hold at the back of your work. Knit 4 sts, then knit 4 from cable needle.
Directions

CO 26 sts.

Row 1, 3, 7 (RS): [k1, p1] four times, p1, k8, p1, [p1, k1] four times.

Row 2 and all WS rows: [k1, p1] four times, k1, p8, k1, [p1, k1] four times.

Row 5: [k1, p1] four times, p1, c4b, p1, [p1, k1] four times.

Repeat these 8 rows until you reach the desired length. BO on a row 1 of pattern.

Finishing

add fringe by cutting rag “yarn” into 4″ long pieces and attaching to either edge as follows

Click Here For a tutorial on how to prepare your rag yarn.

My Tip: If you want to make this bath mat non-skid just hand stitch a few recycled rubber bands onto the back of it. They will grip the floor and keep the bath mat from sliding.

Technorati Tags: bathroom knit patterns, free gift knitting patterns, free knitting patterns, home made gift, home made gifts, homemade gift patterns, knitted bath mat, rag knitting, recycled gift patterns, recycled knitting

Since I am all stuffed up and can’t really concentrate on any complicated patterns I am sticking to something very easy yet a luxury to use. I am making a new spa set for spring.

First is my hand towel. (see pattern below) I absolutely adore hand knits in the bathroom…and the kitchen for that matter. Hand knit cotton towels, face cloths, shower bags, etc. just perform so much better than any commercially made products on the market. They have a luxurious feel to them, make the soap lather more and the towels are super absorbent.

If you have never used any hand knit spa items before here is your chance! I am going to post my pattern for my hand towel today. Then I will post the patterns for the rest of the set as I knit them.

My Spring Green Hand Towel

I have knit my hand towel in spring green solid and variegated green, yellow and white 100% cotton yarn. You can use any colour you wish or even just solid. I have used the solid green for the moss stitch bands across the bottom.

Materials:

You will need two 50g balls of MC and one 50g ball of solid to make a good sized hand towel.

Size 5mm knitting needles.

Spring Green Hand Towel Pattern

CO 61 sts.

Work 5 rows of moss stitch (k1, p1)

K1,p1,k1,p1,k1, K to last 5 sts, k1,p1,k1,p1,k1

K1,p1,k1,p1,k1, P to last 5 sts, k1,p1,k1,p1,k1

Repeat last 2 rows once more.

Work 5 rows moss stitch.

K1,p1,k1,p1,k1, K to last 5 sts, k1,p1,k1,p1,k1

K1,p1,k1,p1,k1, P to last 5 sts, k1,p1,k1,p1,k1

Repeat last 2 rows until your hand towel is 3″ from desired length.

Work 5 rows of moss stitch (k1, p1)

K1,p1,k1,p1,k1, K to last 5 sts, k1,p1,k1,p1,k1

K1,p1,k1,p1,k1, P to last 5 sts, k1,p1,k1,p1,k1

Repeat last 2 rows once more.

Work 5 rows moss stitch.

BO.

I hope you will enjoy knitting and using my knitted hand towels for your home spa experience. I will be posting my face cloth and shower bag patterns soon.

Technorati Tags: bathroom knit patterns, face cloth patterns, hand towel pattern, spa patterns