After learning (and falling in love with) Tunisian simple stitch, I decided to try one of TL Yarn Crafts’ other video tutorials to learn a new stitch pattern. I followed the fourth video to learn the double seed stitch (the video is actually for making a coaster, but I adjusted the number of stitches, and […]
warm up america
Tunisian Simple Stitch Charity Block
I’ve said a few times how much I’ve wanted to learn Tunisian crochet. I saw it in photos on Instagram a year or so ago and was mind-blown that this thing existed, something that looked like an incredible blend of knitting and crochet. I put it immediately on my to-learn list, but it took a […]
Charity Block #10: Mosaic
I love colorwork, but it’s really hard to knit with small children. I get about three stitches in before one of them sits on me and whatever I’m knitting. (I had to knit my brioche projects after they were in bed.) Enter mosaic knitting, which is a fun and easy method of colorwork and my […]
Charity Block #9: Granite Stitch
I’ve liked the look of the granite stitch ever since I first saw it on Pinterest, but I like it even more now. I knit this block as another swatch to see if it would work for a future design. It won’t work for the one I had in mind, but I love how simple […]
Charity Block #8: Ravenclaw Stripes
I finally got around to the last of the Hogwarts house blocks: Ravenclaw! (I’m a Ravenclaw, and my favorite color is blue, so I was looking forward to this one.) I wanted to do broad rugby-type stripes, but with a 9-inch long block, there’s not a lot of room to work with, so the stripes […]
Charity Block #7: Knotted Openwork
One of the reasons I like knitting blocks for Warm Up America is that about halfway through my big projects I get bored or frustrated and need a break, and these blocks are just the right size to knit quickly before going back to it. Another reason, though, is that sometimes I want to try […]
Charity Block #6: Pearl Brioche
Do you ever have small projects that turn into much-bigger-than-they-should-be projects? I love knitting these charity blocks because they’re a nice short break between (or in the middle of) big projects. But this one took longer than usual, and it’s mostly because I wasn’t paying attention. The first time I tried it, I got a […]
Charity Block #5: Gryffindor Scarf Stripes
Can you believe that the 20th anniversary of the release of the Harry Potter books was just a few weeks ago? I feel old. I remember waiting in the checkout line at a bookstore with my grandma (yes, an actual in-person bookstore; they still existed then), and seeing a display of the first two books. […]
Charity Block #4: Sherbet Seersucker
I tried a new stitch pattern for this next WUA! charity block, and I absolutely love it. It’s called the seersucker stitch. I found the pattern here– knitpurlstitches.com has loads of different stitch patterns you can do with just (you guessed it) the knit and purl stitches. I’ve written the pattern out a little differently […]
Charity Blocks #2&3: Slytherin & Hufflepuff Stripes
Have you ever been sorted into your Hogwarts house? Just this week I took the official test at J.K. Rowling’s site Pottermore and was sorted into Ravenclaw. (It requires you to set up a user account to access the sorting hat, but I’m enough of a Potterhead that it didn’t bother me – though […]