How to Digitize Fair Isle Charts in Excel

Hello everyone! Today I have a tutorial for you.
The past few days I've been playing around with graph paper. I know, that sounds like SO much fun, right? Actually, yes! I'm working on some free fair isle Christmas stocking patterns I'll be releasing. I'll be posting some how-to-work-fair-isle videos to go along with those patterns on my youtube channel. It's gonna be awesome people!

QUICK NOTE: I found this super awesome resource for all you fair-isle designers out there. Over on the lovely blog Laylock Knitwear Design you can find free printable graph paper specifically designed for knitters. Instead of squares, the chart is filled with little knit stitches in perfect rows. This will give you a better idea of what the final product will look like as you're designing. Super helpful! Find the graph paper here.

Anyway, in order to put the design I created into a PDF for Ravelry, I needed to digitize my pencil-and-paper chart. Whether to have a "professional" copy of your chart for personal use or to create a download for Ravelry, you'll need to digitize it. Here's how I created my fair isle chart using Microsoft Excel 2010 on my PC:

The very first thing you'll need to do when you open Excel is alter the cells so that they're a bit more square-ish. They're fairly long rectangles by default and that won't work for us today. We need these boxes to replicate the shape of a knit stitch. So, click on the triangle in the corner (indicated by the red arrow above) to select all the cells (all the cells will turn blue), then drag the cells to 3.00 (or 26 pixels). (To drag, hover your mouse in between the "A" and "B" and a little toggle will appear. Click and hold to drag!)

Now that your cells are the size of stitches, you can begin filling them in to create your design. To do this, right click on any cell, and click the paint bucket. You can click the tiny little triangle next to the paint bucket to change the default color.

While you're in the process of designing, you can use the slider (down in the right corner) to zoom out and see how it's lookin'. :)

Once you're all done, you'll need to add some black grid lines so your chart is easy for people to read. To do this, you'll need to select your entire design by clicking the top left corner and dragging all the way down to the bottom right. Again, the cells will all turn blue.

Once you have your design selected, click the little square/window type thing in the task bar, then select "All Borders." Boom! Chart made! 

Now, in order to save it as a picture file, you'll need to select it all again (click and drag from corner to corner) and then copy it (by right clicking and selecting copy). 

Then, open Paint (a program that comes standard on most PCs), click the paste button, and your chart will appear! Then, click the little floppy disk up in the corner to save it as your desired file type, and you're done!
Here's a quick tip: to see how your chart would look repeated, select your entire chart, copy it, and then paste it multiple times. Be sure to zoom out (using that toggle) to get the big picture.

How awesome is that?! Creating these charts is my new obsession. It's so satisfying to print them out and see them all nice and professional looking.
I'll talk with you guys again Friday!
Until then,
Grace

Free Anthropologie-Inspired Braided Crochet Headband Pattern & Tutorial

I was first inspired to create this headband when I came across this (Rav link here) headband pattern. It's basically the same exact idea, just crocheted. I wanted to make a ton of them for Christmas presents, but knitting (the original was knitted) took too long in this case (bc procrastination), so I decided to crochet them. I just want to be clear: ALL of the credit for this ingenious idea goes to Melynda Bernardi who created the original knitted version! But for all you crocheters out there, I hope this helps :)

Also, if you're a knitter who's been wanting to get into crochet, I'd highly recommend starting here. It's seriously SO simple, and by the time you get to the end, you'll have perfected your tension. Plus, you'll have a beautiful headband to show for it!

Ok, I've photographed a tutorial for the beginner crocheter, but if you've already mastered all this, I'll type the condensed pattern at the very end of the post.

Let's get started!

Materials:

1 skein of worsted weight yarn (100 grams)

Size G (4mm) crochet hook
Darning needle for weaving in ends

Let's start out with a slip knot:

Arrange your yarn tail so that you have a loop, then lay that loop over the tail end. It should look like the above picture.

Then, pick up your tail end with your hook, like so.

Then pull on both ends so that your knot tightens against your hook. If it's a bit loose, tug on the tail end and slide the knot up snug to your hook.

Now we'll learn to chain:

Wrap your yarn once around your left pinky finger and hold your hook in your right hand like above.

Now place the hook part of your hook under the yarn and then behind it, so it catches in the notch of your hook.

Then gently rotate your hook so the "hook" part faces down and slides through the loop on your hook easily (boom! you just made 1 chain!). That rotation is key. If you don't do that, the hook won't glide through your slip knot smoothly, instead, it'll catch.

Ok, now you're going to make 14 more chains. If you lose count, look at those little v's. Each one is a chain. 

Next, we're going to learn the Half Double Crochet stitch. The rest of your headband will be made up of these things :)

Ok, first, wrap the yarn around your hook as if you were going to make another chain, but don't pull it through! Instead...

 ...insert your hook in the 3rd chain from the hook. So out of your 15 chains, you'll be putting your hook in the 13th one you made. With your hook inserted, grab the yarn with your hook and pull it back up out of that chain.

 You should now have 3 loops on your hook.

Now yarn over (as if you were going to chain), and pull this yarn through all three loops on your hook. Ta-da! One Half Double Crochet created! (Just a note: Half Double Crochet is normally abbreviated as HDC in most crochet patterns) Ok. Now do another one of those in the next chain.

Now this part can be confusing: How do you know where to insert your hook next? Where exactly is the next chain?

Lemme show ya:

That orange bit is NOT where you're inserting your hook next. A lot of people make that mistake when just starting out. It's perfectly understandable! But if you look closer, you'll notice that's the chain you just put your HDC into. Rather, you're going into that pink chain.

Now you're going to do 1 Half Double Crochet in each chain across (you'll have 13 HDCs total).

OK. Now we're going to join your little strip so that we're working "in the round." You're going to do 1 HDC in the very first HDC you made. Basically just bend your strip backwards so your first HDC faces you. Wrap your hook, insert your hook into the "v" on top of that first stitch, draw up a loop, and complete your HDC as normal.

HDC finished!

Okie dokie! Now you're just going to do an HDC in the next stitch (the pink stitch in the picture above shows you where to put your hook next) and the next stitch and the next stitch.... And so on until you have a tube 72 inches long. (182 centimeters)

Once you have your loooooong tube: snip your yarn leaving an 8 inch tail, pass this tail through the final loop on your hook, tighten, and continue on:

Wrap the end of your loop around your head and use a locking stitch marker to "pin" at that point (this should be about 1/3 of your tube).

Now you're going to criss-cross the next 3rd of your tube across the circle you just made, pinning as you go.

Just keep criss-crossing all the way around, until it looks like this:

Now we'll take the last 3rd of your tube and weave it through so this thing starts looking more like a braid!

Take the end of your tube and pull it up through the first hole created by criss-crossing. Oooh! I see a baby braid forming!

Ok, now do the same thing again with the next space. Bring the end of your tube up through that hole in between markers.

Continue weaving in this manner. It may take a couple tries to get this right, but keep persevering! You'll get it. :) When finished weaving, the ends of your tube should meet up. Use your tail yarn ends to seam the tube together.

Also, if you're having serious trouble, I'd recommend looking at the original version's construction instructions, or check out this video: HOW TO KNIT ANTHROPOLOGIE HEADBAND (construction starts at 14:12)

And voila! All done!

All right. For all those crochet experts out there, here's the condensed pattern:

Ch 15

Row 1: HDC in 3rd ch from hook and each chain across (13 HDCs)

Join to work in the round by doing one HDC in the first HDC of row 1. You will not join rounds with a slip stitch. To avoid the seam that would be created with slip stitches, we'll just spiral up instead. HDC around (and around and around and around some more) until you have a tube 72 inches (182 cm) long.

Now scroll on this page until you see the yarn color change from blue to yellow and follow the construction instructions from there.

I hope you all liked this pattern! Again, go check out Melynda Bernardi at French Press Knits. She's an awesome designer and I give her full credit for the original idea. ♥

And also, if you're not about the crochet life, check my Etsy Shop to buy a physical headband. I have some of my knitting patterns up there as well if you want to take a peek. :)

 

See you all next Friday!

Grace

Knit Football Beanie Free Pattern

Watch football for any length of time, and you’ll see this very hat being sported on the sidelines… Or the non-knitter’s version at least! And even though football's over for the year, winter certainly isn't!
These hats, topped with a pom-pom, are very popular among players and fans alike. You can knit it using your high school, college, or favorite national team’s colors; or just play with color however you like.
This pattern includes instructions on how to make a sideline beanie of your very own. The stripe pattern is the exact same sequence as you would find on the ones you see on TV. Also included are directions to make the pom-pom, and a little knit-as-you-go trick to create a neat, tidy, folded hem on the brim without sewing.
This hat is knit in the round, with a special reverse stockinette brim, but there’s not a single purl stitch required. You will need 3 colors of lace weight yarn, but don’t worry, it’s thick, warm, and knits up quickly using the technique in the pattern.
You can also check out the Ravelry page for this pattern if you would like a free PDF download!

Ok, without further ado, here's the pattern!

Knit Football Sideline Beanie

Materials:

♦ 50g each of three colors of lace weight yarn (I used one natural colored 100g skein, divided it into three 33g skeins, dyed two of them, and it was enough to finish the hat. However, if you don’t dye, 50g skeins are much easier to find than 33g skeins! Just know that you’ll have plenty left over.)

♦ Size 1.5 (2.5 mm) 16 inch circular needles

♦ Stitch marker

Notes:

♦ Regarding the ever-so-popular football beanies, I noticed that most of them use two colors (the team colors), and white. I used green for color A, yellow for color B, and white for color C.

♦ If you print out this pattern, you can use the boxes next to the instructions to check off your progress.

♦ Throughout the entire pattern, you’ll be holding two strands of lace weight yarn together. This will give you the ability to get the marled look in certain stripes of the hat. However, in order to hold yarn double in the solid stripes, you will need center pull balls in order to pull from both ends.

♦ The beginning 11 rounds will be folded behind and tacked down on the reverse stockinette side after the body of the hat is finished. This gives a nice, firm, smooth edge to the brim. To avoid sewing, you can do this: 

At the beginning of the 11th round, fold the knitting in half behind to meet the tips of your needles. Use your right needle tip to pick up one of the strands from the cast on, directly below (10 rows below) the stitch you’re about to knit. Pop this strand onto your left needle, and knit it together with your next stitch. Do this all the way around, picking up cast on loops corresponding with your current stitch, and knitting them into your current row.

Gauge:

♦ 32 stitches and 48 rows per four inches.

Pattern:

□ Cast on 150 using colors A and C held together, place marker, join to knit in the round.

□ Colors A and C: 11 rounds (tack down using notes above at 11^th round if not sewing)

□ Color A doubled: 3 rounds

□ Color B doubled: 15 rounds

□ Color A doubled: 3 rounds

□ Colors A and C: 7 rounds

If you don’t wish to follow my color pattern, this is a total of 39 rounds for the fold-over brim section. Feel free to play with these rounds, and their colors, as you like!

Now you’re going to turn your work as if you’re knitting flat (instead of knitting clockwise normally)  and knit the round in the “wrong” direction (counterclockwise). When you get back to the beginning of the round, continue knitting in the new established direction. This will give you a stockinette section and a reverse stockinette section without purling. Continue in this direction for the rest of the hat.

□ Colors A and C: 4 rounds

□ Color A doubled: 3 rounds

□ Color B doubled: 15 rounds

□ Color A doubled: 3 rounds

□ Colors A and C: 3 rounds

□ Color B doubled: 5 rounds

□ Color A doubled: 3 rounds

□ Color C doubled: 20 rounds

□ Color B doubled:  7 rounds

□ Color A doubled: 3 rounds

□ Colors A and C: 10 rounds

Total of 76 rows in the main body of the hat.

Change to color C doubled before starting the decreases.

At this point, we start the decreases. While working the decrease pattern, you are going to be working a stripe pattern just like the one you’ve been following. The decrease pattern is as follows:

Round 1: *Knit 23, k2tog*around.

Round 2: Knit around.

Repeat rounds 1 and 2 for the remainder of the hat.

While working this decrease pattern, follow the stripe pattern below:

□ Color C doubled: 15 rounds

□ Color A doubled: 3 rounds

□ Color B doubled: 24 rounds

Total of 42 rounds for the decrease section.

Finishing:

Break yarn, thread the end through the remaining stitches and tighten. Weave in ends.

Pom-pom (optional): If desired, you can make a pom-pom for the top of your hat. To do this, you can use a pom-pom maker, or do it the old fashioned way. In order to do it without a pom-pom maker, wrap colors A and B held together around a 4-inch square of cardboard loosely. The more you wrap, the fluffier your pop-pom. Once you have your desired thickness, carefully slide the bundle off the cardboard, taking care to keep it from falling apart. Now double knot a 12-inch length of yarn (doubled, so it doesn’t snap when you tighten the knot) around the center of your bundle, creating loops on either side. Use your scissors to snip all of these loops. You can use your 12-inch length of yarn to attach your pom-pom to your hat later, so don’t cut these ends short. Fluff your pom-pom and give it a “haircut” to make it nice and round and uniform. Use the ends from earlier to attach your pom-pom to your hat.

I hope you enjoy this pattern, and let me know if you have any questions!

Until next week,

Grace