Valentine s day cards

Transcription

1 Valentine s day cards Material Yarn: Scheepjes Maxi bonbon in 2 colors, (or 1 if you prefer the barder to be the same color) Knitting needles: 2 mm Gauge is irrelevant. You just adapt the size of the cardboard to the size of the knit. Crochet hook: 1,75 mm but if you don t have this exact size it ll probably do with a similar size. Pearls: I used seedbeads but any will be fine, as long as they have large enough holes to fit the yarn. Don t make the same mistake as I did: buying metallic beads, mine loose colors when handled so wetblocking this piece is out of the question. Other things: A needle for pearls, a piece of sewingthread, invisible sewing thread, ordinary sewing needle, colored cardboard, glue or doublesided tape, pins. Start: Thread 184 pears to the yarn. Use a pearlneedle that you attach approx. 10 cm sewingthread and tie it to a loop. Attach the yarn to this loop.

2 The pearls I used didn t run easily on the yarn which was excellent as I could divide the pearls into groups of ten, making the counting much easier. Cast on 24 sts. The method is irrelevant so choose your favorite. The whole piece is knit in garter stitch. Knit 6 rows, but be careful to slip the first stitch on each row purlwise. This makes the edge neat and easy to crochet in later. Now the fun begin, pearlknitting!

3 If you re an experienced pearlknitter you know what to do, but if this is the first time, here s a quick how-to. Start with pearlrow 1, and you begin where it says start on the chart. You only knit in pearls on every other row, it s when the pearls facing away from you. Knit 12 sts, (remembering to slip the first purlwise as before), then pull one pearl as far as you can towards the work:

4 Knit the next stitch and then the pearl will position itself nicely between the stitches like this: If the pearl would end a bit crooked it s just to push it to the right spot. (I know, I just made one row of single pearls in the beginning on two of the cards. I was just trying it on one, decided I liked it better with two and when I did the third I forgot, you do as you please. ) Knit the remaining stiches on this row. Knit every even numbered rows, without pearls. When you ve knit the whole chart you ll knit 6 rows (don t forget to slip the first st purlwise). Cast off in any way you like and cut yarn. I didn t secure the ends at this point, instead I made sure to crochet in them when I made the border. Border (US terms) Time to take out the hook and a new yarn. Slip stitch to any stitch. Round 1: 1 sc in each stitch around the work. In each corner: 1 sc, ch 1, 1 sc. Sl-st in first slip stitch. Round 2: Scalloped edge: Ch 3, 2 dc in same st. *skip 1 st, 1 sc in next, skip 1 st, 5 dc in next st. * Repeat until 3 sts remains (it probably end up evenly so you have to adapt a bit, maybe you don t skip a st or skip two, that s fine, I had to do this on all three and I don t think it shows). Skip 1 st, 1 sc in next, skip 1 st, 2 dc in same st that you made chain 3 and 2 dc. You can join either with a slip stitch or with an invisible join. (By the way, I didn t do anything special in the corners, you can of course make the corner fancier if you like, just google scalloped edge and follow instructions for corners)

5 Secure and cut all ends. If you ve used pearls that are water resistant (in other words not metallicbeads) you can now block the square. I didn t, instead I sewed them on to the cardboard a bit stretched out to make a nice square, and I think it worked well. Mounting You can of course buy readymade cards, if you find the right size, but it s supereasy to make your own. The knitsquare will first be sewn onto a piece of cardboard that will be glued to the actual card. Cut out a square that is a bit bigger than the knitsquare (if you haven t blocked the piece, stretch it with your fingers to get the correct size when mounted). My cardboard is approx. 12,5x12,5 cm. Place the cardboard with the knitsquare on top on something that you can put needles through. Then place needles in along the edge where the knit meats the crochet (start with the corners, pulling the piece to make it a square), these will be the holes you ll sew through. (it s a bit too tricky to make the holes while sewing, much better with holes already made.) Mine was not this nice square when I started. Use another needle to make new holes one step into the border, where the stitch will come up (or down). Look at the following pics:

6 Now you can remove all needles and the paper will look something like this: I use invisible thread when sewing (double as it s easier to attach the thread), but ordinary sewing thread in same color as the border works well, too.

7 I try to make an needle stay in each corner to keep the shape of the knitsquare. Not easy but if it falls off just put it back (tip: do this at a table, or somewhere it s easy to locate run away needles!) When I m done I just put a piece of sticky tape to secure the end. I made folded cards, and I cut a piece of cardboard that fits the first cardboard square. Before you fold it s great to run a sort of blunt object along the folding line. I used doublesided sticky tape to attach the square with the knitpiece to the folded cards, but suitable glue works of course, too Done!