Cowl Scarf Pattern ~ Simple

Fall is coming and what better time then know to get ready for the cooler weather!! You can never have too many scarfs so today I am going to share with you the simple cowl I made.

My brother likes to crochet his beanies for the slopes and over the summer he gave me a huge bag of yarn. That is where the yarn came for this pattern and unfortunately I don't know exactly what type of yarn I used, but I do believe it was some kind of baby soft yarn.

I wanted the cowl to have a loose, open feel with the stitches and for that I used a larger hook than what I am sure was recommended on the label.

Supplies:

Scissors

Hook of your choice {I used 'N'}

Yarn {I was using stuff given to me but I imagine it was about three {3} half skeins of yarn.}

Start with a chainless foundation stitch {cfs}. You can find the instructions here. This is a great stitch to use when starting a project, where using a simple chain stitch to start, will not give enough stretch.

RND 1: CA 200 cfs, sl st to first cfs to form ring.
RND 2: ch 2, dc in same st from previous row, *dc in next st,* repeat * 197 times, sl st to second sc of ch 2.
RND 3: CB ch 1, sc in same st from previous row, *sc in next st,* repeat * 197 times, sl st to ch 1.
RND 4: ch 2, dc in same st from previous row, *dc in next st,* repeat * 197 times, sl st to second sc of ch 2.
RND 5: CC ch 1, sc in same st from previous row, *sc in next st,* repeat * 197 times, sl st to ch 1.
RND 6: ch 2, dc in same st from previous row, *dc in next st,* repeat * 197 times, sl st to second sc of ch 2.
RND 7: CB ch 1, sc in same st from previous row, *sc in next st,* repeat * 197 times, sl st to ch 1.
RND 8: ch 2, dc in same st from previous row, *dc in next st,* repeat * 197 times, sl st to second sc of ch 2.
RND 9: ch 2, dc in same st from previous row, *dc in next st,* repeat * 197 times, sl st to second sc of ch 2.
RND 10: ch 2, dc in same st from previous row, *dc in next st,* repeat * 197 times, sl st to second sc of ch 2.
RND 11: ch 1, sc in same st from previous row, *sc in next st,* repeat * 197 times, sl st to ch 1.
RND 12: CC ch 2, dc in same st from previous row, *dc in next st,* repeat * 197 times, sl st to second sc of ch 2.
RND 13:  ch 1, sc in same st from previous row, *sc in next st,* repeat * 197 times, sl st to ch 1.
RND 14: CB ch 2, dc in same st from previous row, *dc in next st,* repeat * 197 times, sl st to second sc of ch 2.
RND 15:  ch 1, sc in same st from previous row, *sc in next st,* repeat * 197 times, sl st to ch 1.
RND 16: CA ch 2, dc in same st from previous row, *dc in next st,* repeat * 197 times, sl st to second sc of ch 2.
RND 17:  ch 1, sc in same st from previous row, *sc in next st,* repeat * 197 times, sl st to ch 1.
RND 18: ch 1, turn {now the inside of the scarf is outside and facing you}, *sc in next st,* repeat * 198 times, sl st to ch 1.
RND 19:  ch 1, *hdc in next st,* repeat * 198 times, sl st to ch 1. Finish.
The edges were curling and that is why I decided to do those last two rows. Now to do the same to the other edge.
Keep cowl turned inside out and attach yarn color of your choice to RND 1.
RND -1: ch 1, *sc in next st,* repeat * 198 times, sl st to ch 1.
RND -2:  ch 1, *hdc in next st,* repeat * 198 times, sl st to ch 1. Finish.

With this pattern it is simple enough to make it as thick or thin as you would like. Mine ended up being approx. 7" in width. I love that it is very light and definitely cozy enough and keeps me warm on walks when the even chill is in the air.

Next time I think I'll try to do a shawl that will wrap around my shoulders.

Thank You Notes

When we first moved to Connecticut we didn't know anyone or even know what we were getting ourselves into. We had so many people reach out to us and help with finding Dr.'s {our baby was due 6 weeks after moving here}, an apartment, and this being our first baby, everyone helped to make sure that we had what we would need for our little lady. Well, now that the school year is coming to an end we have decided to go to Utah for the summer for work and to spend time with family. Needless to say, I can't procrastinate sending out my 'Thank You' notes any longer.

I love how they turned out. Super simple but from the heart.

What you'll need: Card stock, cutter, photos, spray mount, white pencil.

I cut the card stock in to pieces a quarter inch bigger than the photos. In my photo editing program I added 'Thank You' to the photo of me and Lady A then just had it printed at a local photo print shop. Then I spay mounted the photos to the card stock and wrote a little note on the back using a white colored pencil.

St. Patrick Day Leg Warmers

Have you ever tried making your own legwarmers for you special little one?

My cousin made a pair  for my little munchkin and we love them. They work great to go with any outfit and when it is time to change a diaper the legs can stay warm ~ this works great especially in the colder months. To help her dress up for the festive day this month, and to make sure she has her green on, I made her a pair or St. Patrick Day leg warmers.

I think the pictures do a pretty good job of explaining how to make these, but I'll add a few comments just to help out.

Here is what you need:

Knee high socks

Cutting board, ruler and blade {or you could use a pair of scissors}

and thread and needle

I lined up the tops of the socks and then cut the bottoms off at the same length.

Ta Da!!

Now I rolled a hem at the bottom where I cut...

...and stitched using the machine. This is simple enough that you could hand stitch it too.

WaLa...fun little leg warmers for my cute little one.

Here she is!!

Receiving Baby Blanket ~ Flannel Squares

Well I have to apologize right off the bat today. When I was making this quilt I was just trying to get it done before I had to pack it up to move and so the pictures I took were just for me to remember how I made it for future blankets.

I made this blanket during this past summer and have not had time to post about it with the craziness of moving and trying to get settled. But here we are now. Classes have started for my Husband and I am at home with Bentley anxiously awaiting the arrival of our little angel.

But I can not keep it to myself, I LOVE how it turned out and so I wanted everyone to see it, and if you want, to make your own. I sure hope it's my little girls favorite, or at least one of them, she has plenty of hand made blankets from family that love her!!

Since things have calmed down a bit and before they pick up again {my due date is in TWO weeks} I thought now would be a good time to post the baby blanket and list the tutorial. 

The tutorial is going to be a bit long and wordy, especially since I don't have pictures for every step. If something is not clear or if I left something out, be sure to leave me a comment so I fix it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

First thing is first. You need to pick out your material.

I had picked out this material with a different type of blanket in mind but then changed my mind on what type of blanket to do. To do it as I have my blanket you will need:

Five pieces of flannel, if you get the 44” you will need 25” cut. {It’s always a good idea to get a little bit more} Try as they may, we all know that material does not get cut straight at the cutting table. This will give you a little room to work with when you take it home and lay it out to cut your squares.

Obviously I was not planning on using this as a tutorial so the next step I didn’t take any pictures of but hopefully I can explain it well enough. Leave your material folded and lay it out vertically, one at a time, and cut five {5} inch strips, you should get five {5} strips from each piece of material.

With the strips I squared up the edges by cutting the ends off. Keep your material folded in half {this will help so can cut two squares at a time}, turn it so it is horizontal, and cut out 5” {five inch} squares. By the time you are done cutting all your material you will have 80 squares from each of the five {5} different materials.

 

The hardest part for me was the layout of all the squares. I finally took out a piece of graph paper and sketched out the design. The blanket will be 10 squares by 10 squares.

I went through and ordered the squares from left to right for each row. {This made it easier once I started sewing. I could just pick up the next piece and go, I didn’t have to keep looking back at my pattern.} For the back to turned my graph paper a quarter turn and ordered the squares from right to left {I wanted to try and make the pattern more random and not have the same piece of material for the squares line up on the back that were on the front.}

Now to start all that sewing!! This is where it can get a bit confusing, if I had pictures it would make perfect sense, so I will do my best to explain it.

 

Take the stacks of row one for the front and back. With the first squares from each stack put the two wrong sides together. Now take the second squares from each stack and put them wrong sides together. Now you will stack all four pieces together and sew a straight down one side leaving a ½” {half Inch} seem. Open up and separate the first squares from the second squares. Continue with the third squares from each stack and put them wrong sides together. Place them under second squares from that row and sew on the opposite edge from the first seem {make sure that when they are sewn together, the ½” {half inch} seem is facing the same way as the first one.} By the time you are done with that row you will have 10 squares across.

Follow the same steps to make the next nine rows.

Now you are going to sew the rows together. Make sure to stack row one and row two with the back sides together. Do this for all 10 rows.

I also sewed a ½” {half inch} straight stitch around the outside edges of the blanket to keep the outside squares from opening up. Now you will snip the ½” {half inch} seam allowance from each square to help fray the edges.

Wow, that looks like a lot of work once it is all typed out. You can definitely tell I was not planning on making a tutorial out of this one.

Finally you need to take a pair of scissors and snip all of the ½” {half inch} seams so that it will fray {also trim off the excess thread from sewing all the squares together.} Now all that is left to do is wash it to get all the loose fray off of the blanket.

AND Ta Da!!! A wonderful hand made quilt full of love.