Knitted Towel Toppers

Dee is always giving me beautiful crocheted dish towels with toppers and a matching dishrag.  Sooooo, I decided to try my hand at knitted ones.  I found a free pattern online and dove in. This is my first and it's going to Laura Lee.  As I was putting it together, I could see where I needed to make improvements.  But all in all, I think it turned out just fine for the first try!

Towel Topper

Take one end of towel and cut the stitchery tape the same width of hemline, fold hem to cover stitchery tape & pin. Steam Iron and press(do not iron back and forth)on both sides until tape adhears. Take out pins, wait until cool and sew a hemline. On the hemline just above sewing line, poke 40 even holes with the nail across. Thread needle with cotton and whipstitch from back to front to last hole. (leave a tail to secure & weave in afterwards)

With towel pattern facing outward, pick-up all 40 stitches.

Knit 10 rows. (all rows done in garter stitch)

Decrease Rows:

Row 1. K2tog, knit to last 2 sts, knit 2 together.
Row 2. Knit across row
Repeat Row 1-2.....until 12 sts left on needle.

Knit 30 rows.(hanging part)

Row 1. K2tog, k to last 2 sts, k2tog.
Row 2. K across row.
Repeat Row 1-2....until 6 sts left on needle.

Ending Rows:
K2tog, k1 st, yo, k 1 st, k2tog.(button hole)
Knit 1 row.

Bind Off remaining sts/weave in ends & sew button on.

The knitted topper

after stitching it to the dishrag (better size than using a hand towel)

the gift set

Birdnest Helpers

I saw this on pinterest and the quilters I met at JCRV say they do this.  Sometimes they'll just cut up the pieces and toss them into the garden for the birds.  I love to got to resale shops.  It's fun to see what kind of containers I can find for 50 cents or $1 that would work for these.

I've read that the first year the birds may not get them -- human scent or something?  But then they will snatch them and use them to help build their nests.

It'd just hang one in a bush or tree that I could see, so that maybe I could catch the action.  And won't it be fun if they build a nest nearby so we can see our fabric in the nest!

this one is going to Brad Cannon

Drop Stitch Scarf

Another pattern that Dawn shared with me.  Loving it! I made one for each sis-in-law and Linda Sue for the holidays.  And one for Sherryl at ORHF.

Pam's

Sherryl

Linda Sue

Linda Sue wore hers a couple of times, then used it to decorate a pillow.  Love it!

Sheila

Karen

CO 26 stitches (or any multiple of 10 plus 6) Knit 4 rows
Start pattern:
Row 1: K6, *YO, K1, YO twice, K1, YO 3 times, K1, YO twice, K1, YO, K6*, repeat between ** across. (On 26 sts, you will do the repeat TWICE)
Row 2: Knit across, dropping all the yarnovers as you go.
Rows 3 & 4: Knit
Row 5: K1, *YO, K1, YO twice, K1, YO 3 times, K1, YO twice, K1, YO, K6*, repeat between ** across, ending with a K1 instead of K6. (You will do the repeat one time more on this row than you did on Row 1.)
Row 6: Knit across, dropping all the yarnovers as you go.
Rows 7 & 8: Knit
Continue these rows until almost out of yarn, or until scarf is as long as you want it. End with another 4 rows of garter stitch.
Weave in your ends.
Wash and block the scarf to really open up the pattern!