Baby Bird Nest

Friday afternoon I was perusing the Marin Independent Journal and was surprised to see on the front page the headline, "Small shelters give warmth, comfort".  As I read more, I it said "WildCare (San Rafael) seeks volunteers to knit nests for orphaned baby birds". They are asking for 1,200 knitted nests.  I said to myself, I want to do that!  It looked easy enough and I like to knit. So I read further hoping to find a link for the pattern.   I found the website at www.babybirdnest.org. and found several pattersns for small, medium and large nests.

Here is my first baby bird nest. That Iknitted. The pattern was real easy and quick to do. It is very similar to
knitting a hat.http://www.wildcarebayarea.org/site/PageServer?pagename=babybirdnest_homepage

I am currently working on my second nest.

Simple Prayer Shawl

This pattern is called "Simple Prayer Shawl" design by Kathleen Cubley.

This pattern was real simple to knit. It is just knitting and purling every other row.

Easy Two Needle Baby Hat with I-cord

I love this easy pattern for this baby hat. It was knitted with light weight baby yarn on two US 6 needles. You cast on 84 stitches and for for inches work 2 x 2 ribbing K2 P2 alternating P2 K2. Then you start the decrease and with 4 stitches remaining knit your I-cord. Then with right sides together and I-cord inside, sew the seam and weave in ends.

Teaching Scarf

This scarf pattern is called the Teaching Scarf. The new stitch I learned here is the P2 Tog (Purl 2 together). This scarf is was made with odds and ends so it is not very long. I do like the pattern so I will probably make one that is longer.

Baby Booties

I have knitted a lot of baby hats so I decided it was time to learn to make booties. I recently found an easy pattern through the website Ravelry. These booties are real quick to make. You use size US 5 needles and Baby Sport yarn. I don't know what baby sport yarn is I just used some yarn I had in my "stash".

To knit these booties, you just need to knit (K)
purl (P) knit 2 together (K2 tog) and purl 2 together (P2 tog). I had not purled 2 together, so you could say I learned a new stitch.

Cable Scarf

In December of 2013 I made the decision that it was time to take my knitting to the "next level". I heard about a knitting shop in Petaluma, California called "Knitterly". I had been following them on facebook and their blog and found on their website that they offered classes. They were offering a beginning knitting, but since I already knew the basics I decided to sign up for the Next Step class. So I called them up and enrolled in the class that was offered on January 4, 2014. When I got to the class, I found that I was the only one in that session. Wow, I had a private lesson. The teacher said that I could choose what I wanted to learn. I decided that I wanted to learn to Cable. The first step in the class was to choose yarn and needles. I choose a
yarn called "Baby Alpaca Grande" this was a really soft yarn and the needles were a smooth bamboo I then to go purchase a cable hook. Using these needles and this soft yarn I felt like I was really knitting. It really didn't take me long to get the hang of cabling it was really quite easy. Here is what I created. Since I took this class, I have been "enrolling" in classes on Craftsy so I can keep exploring new knitting techniques.

Prayer Pocket

The Knit Wits, a prayer shawl ministry, the Novato United Methodist Church are knitting Prayer Pockets to give to the kids on Knit Wit Sunday, yes we get to actually knit in church on this day. These are little "pockets" they can put a small note pad and a pencil to write thoughts or prayers.

The pattern for this is actually two Prayer Squares and whip stitching together. The handle is supposed to be crocheted. However, since I forgot how to crochet, I learned to make an i-cord.

The pattern for this is quick and  easy. If you know how to knit and purl, you can knit this.