Cafe Spices Hat

     A couple of days ago, I got wild inspiration for another hat and drew a chart on graph paper. 

     A bit less than 24 hours later, the Cafe Spices Hat was completed!

     It has a total of six cables, all of them separated by a seed stitch pattern. It's not a particularly difficult pattern, so if you're a beginner who knows how to knit, purl, decrease, and make cables, you will be able to make this.

     The pattern has both written instructions and a chart and is available for FREE at: Cafe Spices Hat pattern by Katherine Westerman

Diamond Eyelet Hat

     About a week and a half ago, I designed my first scarf (click here for the free pattern)! It was so fabulous that I couldn't help myself. I HAD to design a hat to match it!
     I now present to you, the Diamond Eyelet Hat!

     You can get the pattern for free at Diamond Eyelet Hat pattern by Katherine Westerman!

The "Breast" Gag Gift

     This weekend, my sister Sarah and I made a gag gift for our brother. I wasn't originally going to post about this, because the gift isn't exactly child friendly, but Sarah and Jennifer threatened to disown me if I didn't. ;) Sooo, I'm posting about it now!
     The project we crocheted was a pillow with breasts.
     If you want to make one, you can go to Ravelry for the free pattern. And if you would like to see the one that we made, it is in my projects here.

Diamond Lace Scarf

     Today I have finished a scarf that I designed! It incorporates lace, cables, and, if I do say so myself, is beautiful! I knitted it flat over a period of about a month (this is such a long time period because I procrastinated a lot). The pattern is rather intricate (very few rows are the same), so I would say that this is probably an intermediate pattern.

     If you would like to make this scarf, you can get the pattern (which has both a chart and written instructions) for FREE at Ravelry: Diamond Lace Scarf pattern by Katherine Westerman

How to Arm Knit: Binding Off

     Binding off with arm knitting is exactly the same as with needles and is actually pretty fun to do!

     First, you will need to knit two stitches.

     Slide the first stitch you knitted over the second and off of your right hand.

     Repeat this across the row and your work will look like this!

     For patterns that use the arm knitting technique, go to:Arm-Knit Sashay Cowl | Red Heart, Quick Arm Knit Cowl : Lion Brand Yarn Company

How to Arm Knit: Actually Knitting With Your Arms

Knitting Off of Your Right Wrist:

     Drop the remaining length of tail and pick up your working yarn.     

     Pull the working yarn through the stitch you just cast on.

     If you don't mind your stitches being twisted, you can just slide the stitch on your left arm now.

 If you want it to look as if it was actually knitted on huge needles, you will have to learn how to properly place the stitches on your arms.

How to Untwist Your Stitches (this really isn't hard, I promise)

     To untwist your stitches, all you need to do is turn the stitch toward your left arm.

     Slide the untwisted stitch onto your left wrist and repeat until you have knitted all of the stitches previously on your right wrist. Your work will now look like this:

Knitting Off of Your Left Wrist:

     Place the working yarn in your left hand.

     Insert your right hand into the first stitch on your left wrist and grab the working yarn.

     Pull the working yarn through the stitch and off your left wrist. If you don't mind twisted stitches you can just slip the stitch onto your right wrist now.

   But if you do, simply turn the stitch toward your right arm and slide it onto your wrist.

     Repeat these steps until your project has reached your desired length.

     Congratulations! You now know how to knit with your arms! I will make another post on how to bind off soon.

How to Arm Knit: Casting On

     Before I begin, I just have to say that arm knitting is very easy... It just has a lot of steps. In fact, it might be easier for you if you just went to How to Arm Knit an Infinity Scarf in 15 Minutes. But if you like printing off instructions, keep on reading.

     First, you will need several strands of bulky yarn. If you don't have bulky yarn (I don't for some reason) you will need to have twice the amount of strands. I did four strands of worsted yarn.

     Holding all of the strands together, pull a long tail and wrap it around your elbow and back up towards your thumb. Do this as many times as you like; each wrap-around will be about two stitches.

     Slide the tail off of your arm and onto a smooth surface.

     Make a slip knot, leaving the ridiculously long tail alone.

     Slide the slip knot onto your right wrist.

     Holding the working yarn behind your left hand, make an "L" shape with your index finger and thumb. Now grab the working yarn with your middle, ring, and pinky fingers.

     Point the "L" away from you and you will get a loop.

     Insert your right hand into that loop.

     Place the tail in your right hand and pull it through the loop.

     Slide the loop onto your wrist and repeat as necessary.

     You have now learned how to Cast On in Arm Knitting! Another post on how to actually knit with your arms will come soon.

How to Finger Knit

     Finger knitting is mainly used for straps, belts, or just entertaining children when they are sitting and doing nothing. Because it uses four fingers, anything made with this method has only four stitches.

     To begin, lay a tail of yarn between your thumb and index finger. Keep it stationary with your thumb.

     Move your yarn behind your index finger and in front of all of your other fingers.

     Weave it in front of your middle finger, behind your ring finger, and in front of your little finger.

     Move your yarn behind your little finger and in front of all of your other fingers.

     Now weave the yarn in front of your ring finger, behind your middle finger, and in front of your index finger.

     Move the yarn behind your index finger, in front of your middle finger, behind your ring finger, and in front of your little finger.

     Weave the yarn back one more time through your fingers. You will have two loops around each finger (see below).

     Starting with your index finger, pull the bottom loop over the top loop.

     You will have one loop on your index finger. Now, continue this with the loops on the rest of your fingers.

      When you're done with that, all you have to do is repeat the steps over and over again until your finger knitted piece has reached your desired length! Your work should look somewhat like this.