Fun Felt Egg Cozy Pattern

These are fun and a very quick project.
For a pdf version download now 

Things You’ll need:

A little bit of 100% wool yarn, worsted (super-wash will NOT felt)

DPNs or double point needles

Tapestry needle for weaving in the ends

Crochet hook
Meter

Rubber gloves for felting

Liquid dish soap for felting

Gauge: 4 st = 1 inch

Finished size after felting: ~4.5 inches tall, 3,5 inches - cozy + 1,5 inches - 'tail'. It fits over the whole egg.

Knitting.

Cast on 30 stitches and split them on 3 needles – 10 stitches/needle. Knit in round for 11 rows.

Row 12: k2tog, knit till the end of needle, repeat for each needle.

Repeat row 12 till you have 2 stitches left on each needle.

Then k2tog, put down the free needle, k2tog, put down the free needle, k2tog. You’ll end up with 3 stitches on one needle. Knit I-cord for about an inch.

Next row: knit back and front of the loop in all three stitches. You’ll have 6 st on the needle now. Knit two rows like if you were to do 6 st I-cord. Then slip the stitches on a crochet hook and pull the loop through all of them. Make one single crochet to tighten the “ball”. Make another single crochet to join the row where you increased I-cord from 3 to 6 stitches. Cut the yarn, weave in the ends.

 The un-felted cozy measures about 3.2" wide and about 5" tall including the 'tail'.

Felting.

Felting is done by using hot and cold water, while agitating the item with the rubber gloves and a drop of detergent. Start with hot water, soak your cozy, add some detergent and start working it with the gloves, don’t let it cool down. After a while, shock the cozy placing it under cold running water, wash out the soap and check progress. Repeat as many rounds of this as needed, every wool felts different, every color of the same wool felts different….
I only needed two cycles for this one:

result after felting cycle #1

result after felting cycle #2

Once you are happy with the result, dry the cozy with towel, gently squeezing out excess water. Shape it and leave to dry. Do NOT use a hair dryer! (ask me now I now it….)

That is it!

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I-cord - knit 3 stitches, do NOT turn work, just slide them to the right side of the needle, knit 3 stitches again, slide again, knit 3 st again… etc

k2tog - knit two stitches together

When Less Is More...

I found that a simple knit triangular shawl with a lace edging is very appealing and sometimes even more than a complicated lace... Why? Because it is so easy to add it to various styles and combine it with everyday outfits, creating a really classy and elegant look.
These are my latest lace shawls:
The Red Lace Shawl:

It is done in simple stockinette stitch, adding a lace border that features hearts. A few more pics:

 I might just write up a pattern for it, I really love how this came out....  For now, You can purchase the ready shawl at silverliningknits.etsy.com

And here is the Fuschia Lace Shawl:

It's a fairly simple border, but it also looks nice. I have used this border for my Deep Purple shawl, but I simplified it a little this time. I have added this shawl to my shop at silverliningknits.etsy.com

Winter Sparkles - textured shawl

Finally released!!!
My textured winter shawl pattern is  finally out for everyone to purchase. My test knitter said the pattern looks like sparkles, so it got the name.

The released pattern has both - written instructions and charts, and it should be easy to understand even for those, who are just beginning to knit. It took me just 4 evenings to create it while watching TV - after a few repeats the pattern flows really easy! If you want to make one like these, look up Winter Sparkles Shawl on Ravelry.com or
Happy knitting!

Crochet Earrings with Silk

While working on big projects, sometimes taking a break is a really good thing. I needed a diversion, so yesterday, while looking at my yarn stash, I came up with this brilliant idea to use up some of that beautiful, multicolored silk I have..... after a few tries I ended up with these:
Granny Square Earrings:

 

The good old granny square looks really nice in shiny silk. Add some sterling silver ear wires, and - voila!

Japanese Star Earrings:

This is a really good way to try nice, small patterns!

Leaf or teardrop style earrings:

Use the "crab" stitch for a neat finish!

And simple round lacy earrings:

They are all available at my etsy shop: http://www.silverliningknits.etsy.comThe biggest challenge today was taking the photos, since we have not seen sun for a while here and light is very tricky.....
Cheers,
Inese, SLK