Knitted Apple Cosies, Bag Charm & Gadget Case

In praise of quick knits...

I recently met another girl (if I can be such a thing in my late thirties) who started to learn to knit about the same time as me. The project she chose to start with is a cardigan and she is still working on it. Although I think it's fantastic to start with something so ambitious, I'm fairly confident the learn-to-knit project would be stuffed in the back of the cupboard by now if I hadn't started with tiny pieces like purses and chunky scarves.

Even now, when I am more or less capable of knitting something bigger and more elaborate, I just love the instant gratification that comes from making something in an afternoon or over the weekend. It makes you feel like you're making progress and seriously cuts down on the UFO count.

I subscribe to a couple of knitting magazines and Knit Today is particularly good at providing quick knit projects for the impatient knitter such as myself. The three projects I've got here all came from February 2011's issue (hence the red theme).

First up, we have the apple cosies from Val Pierce. I made the first one in traditional red and green using Rowan pure wool DK. I was so thrilled with the finished result, that I made a second one (and I hardly ever knit two of anything - heaven help me if I ever get as far as socks!). This one is done in a beautiful hand-dyed DK (the shade is called Berrylicious!) from Green Eyed Monsters.

I have had people (hubby for example) questioning the utility of an apply cosy but they are awfully cute aren't they?

The second project was this mixed media bag charm. I knitted the heart with the Rowan pure wool DK and then used the Berrylicious to make two small pom poms with my fab Clover pom pom maker. I then raided my bead stash for the pretty plastic heart-shaped beads and a couple of crochet-covered beads, which I threaded onto more of the Berrylicious. I hung each item on a different length of yarn so the ensemble would look nice and then knotted the lot to a bag clip. I used a little FrayCheck on the yarn ends to try to keep the knot safe. Sweet and super-quick I thought, although I'm going to need to keep it away from the cats.

Finally, I started what should have been Katina Killey's pretty purse. However, once I got going with the Berrylicious again, I thought the shape would be perfect to hold my 3G (I know, how very last decade) ipod, so I didn't bother with a zip and made a little catch using a crochet chain (the some total of my current crochet skills) and a button. That's another bonus of the mini knit - you get less attached to the final result being one thing rather than another.

So, all in all, I think I got bags of cuteness for very little time and yarn. I'm sure there's a cardigan in me somewhere though...

Melx