Guest Post: A Trio of Knitted Bookmarks

  

   

 I'm so happy to bring you another guest post from my best friend, fiber artist, Roda Motta.  Enjoy!

 I love knitting small items. When I am busy with the usual daily activities of family life, starting a big knitting project often seems overwhelming. Actually, starting is easy….it just never gets finished! Completing a project that only takes an hour or two is great fun, and gives a sense of accomplishment. The other wonderful thing about small projects is that they use up leftover yarn. I often have cute little balls of hand-spun yarn left over on my spinning wheel, or drop spindle and they just beg to be knitted into something. My husband suggested getting a cat to play with them, but I don’t think our three dogs would be too thrilled about that.

Reading is a real enjoyment  in our house. All three of my girls are big readers, as are my husband and I. And yes (sigh), there is a collection of various e-readers that accompany most of us. BUT, we all still love real books dearly. My oldest daughter will only read real books. She prefers the smell and coziness of them, which makes me very happy. So, in the spirit of cozy books and leftover yarn, I have come up with three very easy bookmark patterns. One would especially make a nice Valentine gift. 


 

If you tried making your own yarn with my drop spindle blog article, this will be a lovely way to utilize some of that yarn. Sock or Fingerling weight yarn is often preferred, so you don’t have a bulky bookmark, but if you make one for a child, they often enjoy the bigger ones. The third pattern is all homespun yarn, a blend of sheep wool (white), and alpaca fiber from our alpaca, Molasses. He’s not a big reader, but happy to donate his fiber.

Multi-Colored Seed Pattern Bookmark:

Size 3 or 4 straight needles

Sock or Fingerling Weight Yarn in multi-color

Cast on 15 stitches

Seed stitch is simply Knit 1, Purl 1 for the entirety of the row to whatever length you prefer.

On the next row you purl where you knitted, and knit where you purled, creating the little ‘seed’ pattern.

This one I knitted is about 8 inches

Cast off using same seed pattern. Weave in ends.

Block to shape.

 Valentine Bookmark

Size 3 or 4 straight needles

Sport Weight Yarn Cream-colored and a little Red for Heart

Cast on 11 stitches

MC-Main color, white or cream

CC-Contrasting color, Red for heart

ssk-slip, slip, knit together (decrease by one stitch)

K2tog-Knit 2 stitches together (decrease by one stitch)

Use MC until row 23

Rows 1-3: K1, P1 to end

Row 4: K1, P1, knit to last 2 stitches, P1, K1

Row 5: K1, P1, purl to last 2 stitches, P1, K1

Repeat Rows 4-5  for 22 rows, ending with a purl row

Row 23: MC-K1, P1, K3, attach CC and K1, then using MC again, Knit to last 2 stitches, P1, K1

Row 24: MC-K1, P1, P2, using CC-P3, back to MC-P2, P1, K1

Row 25: MC-K1, P1, K1, using CC-K5, back to MC-K1, P1, K1

Row 26: MC-K1, P1, using CC--P7, back to MC-P1, K1

Row 27: MC-K1, P1, using CC-K7, back to MC-P1, K1

Row 28: MC-K1, P1, using CC-P3, back to MC-P1, CC- P3, MC-P1, K1

Row 29: MC-K1, P1, using CC-K3, back to MC-K1, CC- K3, MC-P1, K1

Row 30: MC-K1, P1, P1, CC-P1, MC-P3, CC-P1, MC-P1, P1, K1

Cut CC, leaving a nice tail to weave in

Row 31: Repeat rows 4-5 for another 14 rows, ending with a purl side

Row 45: Beginning with a Knit row, K1, P1, ssk, K3, K2tog, P1, K1- 9 stitches

Row 46: K1, P1, P5, P1, K1

Row 47: K1, ssk, K2, K2tog , P1, K1-  7 stitches

Row 48: K1, P to last 2 stitches, P1, K1

Row 49: K1, ssk, K1, K2 tog, K1-5 stitches

Row 50: K2, P2, K1

Row 51: K1, ssk, K2 together

3 stitches remain. Cut yarn and thread through remaining stitches, then weave in and block.

Molasses, our alpaca,  after his shearing last spring- He was a little mortified at his nakedness.

Carding fiber from Molasses to get ready for spinning.

 

My Louet spinning wheel. Plying some sheep wool with alpaca. Must have the blue socks for the double treadle on a cold day!

Homespun Lace Bookmark using undyed alpaca fiber and sheep wool

Cast on 11 stitches

Rows 1 and 2: K1, P1 to end of row

Row 3: K1, P1, ssk, yo, K3, yo, K2 tog, P1, K1

Row 4: K1, P1, purl to last stitch, K1

Repeat rows 3-4 until just under desired length

Repeat rows 1-2 one time

Cast off, weave in ends.

Block or felt if you use 100% wool. I just handwash and agitate in the sink with a little woolite and lay flat to dry.

Happy knitting!

Roda