Heart

How to knit a heart

| julieandtheknits

Many of you must be looking for Christmas gift ideas right now, so I thought it was the perfect time to share a pattern with you all! You might have seen these knitted hearts before. My pattern first appeared in Gathered (Issue 16) and was then published on the Mollie Makes website.

I initially made these hearts to use as coasters and knitted a few sets, but they actually have many other uses! They’re perfect to add a personalised touch to a gift. Or what about using them to embellish a garment, like Gathered reader Wendy did with her knitted scarf? ♥

This is a great project for beginners – it uses simple knitting techniques (garter stutch, kfb, k2tog). Have fun!

Material

  • Super chunky yarn (I used Sirdar Big Softie)
  • Size 8mm needles
  • Tapestry needle
  • Scissors

Instructions
Start by knitting the top of the heart – cast on 5 stitches. 

Row 1: Knit.
Row 2: Increase the first first stitch by knitting in the front and back (kfb) of the stitch, then knit to the end of the row. 
Row 3: Knit.
Row 4: Knit to the last stitch, increase (kfb). 
Row 5: Knit.
Row 6: Increase the first first stitch (kfb), knit to the end of the row.
Rows 7-10: Knit.
Cut the yarn and push your work to the bottom of the needle. 

Now make the other top half of the heart – cast on 5 stitches on the same needle where your work is.
Repeat rows 1-10.
Once completed, the 2 pieces should be on the same needle.


Join the two pieces by knitting across them.
Knit 4 more rows.
On the next row, decrease first and last stitch by knitting 2 stitches together (k2tog).
Knit the next row.
Repeat the last 2 steps until you have 2 stitches left.
Cut the yarn off, take your tapestry needle with the yarn through the remaining 2 stitches and weave in all the ends.

That’s it! Now block your work and start again :)  

Let me know if you give this pattern a try! I’d LOVE to see your pictures – you can post them on my Facebook page or tweet me @Julie_TheKnits.

For more patterns, click here!

And if you can’t knit, you can find sets of 4 hearts for sale in my Etsy shop.

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Translations available: Russian

Omoide Hair Bows

| julieandtheknits

I’ve had this project in my head for so long that I am super glad to finally share it with you! Introducing… The Omoide Collection! BIG patterned hair bows – the cute patterns represent happy childhood memories, hence the name of the collection (‘omoide’ means ‘memories’ in Japanese). Hope you like it!

 
Yes, lightning used to make me happy!
 
 

My good friend and top customer Claudia kindly agreed to model the bows, doesn’t she look amazing?

The Omoide Bic Bows are £5. You can find them in my Etsy shop – along with plenty more pics of the lovely Claudia. Feel free to get in touch if you have any questions :)

Kokoro Coasters

| julieandtheknits
Hi!
It’s about time I post some pics of my newest collections on here! So here is my first collection, 3 sets of heart-shaped coasters in loads of pretty colours. If you’d like to buy one of these sets, simply click on the picture, it will take you to my Etsy shop. You might also have seen those cuties in the Ipad application Gathered for which I created a tutorial – if you have an Ipad and love crafts, get it, it’s amazing! If not, my tutorial is also now available on Mollie Makes’s website.
“Kokoro” means “heart” in Japanese (in case you didn’t know yet, I love Japan – giving my knits a Japanese name is a way of combining two things I love).
These cute coasters were knitted with chunky yarn 51% wool 49% acrylic .
The 4 coasters are wrapped together using red and white checked ribbon and make a perfect gift :)

Size approx. 12x14cm.
Machine Washable. Wool Wash. 30⁰c.