Easy 8 inch Square

The Forum Knitting Paradise has a lovely Friendship Blanket Swap that I have joined. We make 8 inch squares and send them off to our partners that we are given.
My biggest problem has been trying to find an accurate pattern or an 8 inch square.
So I decided to work out something myself.

Here is what I did:
Needles I used were 5mm
Yarn DK

Any yarn can be used just use the needles appropiate for the yarn.

Cast on one stitch
Knit into back and front of this stitch (KFB first stitch)
You now have 3 stitches on the needle.
KFB of first stitch and knit the rest.Do this for every row.

 Keep doing this until you have enough stitches to measure 11.5 inches. Your square is knitted on the diagonal so the 11.5 inches is half way across the square.

Decrease as follows:
Knit to the last 2 stitches and Knit 2 together (K2tog)
Do this for every row until you have 5 stitches left on the needle.
Bind Off the last 5 stitches.
You now have an 8 inch square.

Add different colours to make diagonal stripes or keep it as a solid colour. Add embelishments like a knitted flower for variety. Simple to make and knit whilst watching your favourite TV programme.

Sites I have added

I have added sites that I found useful especially the How to sites. I often see something in a pattern that I have no what it means like SSK.
So off I go to the internet and look it up and there it is on You Tube a simple video showing me what to do. The mystery is solved and I can go back to the pattern and not be afraid of trying something new.

The Knitting Forum Knitting Paradise is brilliant. They are friendly bunch and make you feel welcome and no question is ever seen as silly. They will help you out and give advice from how to do something to where to find a pattern. They also have great swaps to take part in as well.

The Yarn site is great for yarn that is hard for me to get hold of and not too expensive either it is UK based so perfect for me.

Ravelry is perfect for patterns joining is free and you will find patterns galore that are free to use. I love it for finding easy to do patterns for things like afghans, scarves and shawls.

The dish cloth site is lovely and you don't have to use them as dishcloths either. I made a cushion cover from the patterns and it turned out really well. I used DK yarn ( 8ply in America) rather than cotton yarn.

  The Stitch Library is just that a library of stitches. You will find all sorts there from simple Knit and Purl to the more intricate lacey patterns.

So lts to see and find out if you want to.

Love to knit

Knitting is fun and relaxing and I knit for friends and family, anything from scarves to slightly odd things like a Zombie.
The picture above is the front of a cushion I knitted for my friend Mike in Texas. He was a Marine so even though it does not show up well in the photo the image on the maroon square is that of the Marine logo.The Texas star is next to the map of Texas and the blue square has U.S.A on it with a star above it. Making something that has meaning to the person makes the gift extra special.

I taught myself to knit and still consider myself a novice, I knit simple easy to follow patterns nothing too fiddly as I get lost when trying to count the stitches.
Knitting is a hobby and I love using up all the scrap yarn I have left over from various projects. Knitting for Charities is fun and you get to give something to others as well, there are plenty of charities to knit for from animals to adults and they all appreciate what you do for them.
Scrap yarn can make colourful hats, toys and blankets so you never waste the yarn left over from your other projects. So never think you have to go out and buy in yarn to make something special be creative and use colours that you have.
Take a look at the Pocket baby

This was made from yarns I had from different projects so was Topsy Turvy Anna

Toys are great fun to make and you can be as creative as you like with bright colours as children them. Both the Pocket Baby and Topsy Turvy Anna went to charities and were very quickly sold.