Here’s a quick project that will give you a ping of instant satisfaction and a cute heart design to keep. If you like, you could hang the heart design somewhere special where your loved ones will see it as a sweet little reminder of your love for them on Valentine’s Day.
I knit this pattern with Serenity Chunky Weight by Premier Yarns in the colors Red Ochre and Pristine, and I used size 11 knitting needles. I haven’t knit with bulky weight yarn in quite a while, and it was such a treat. It’s so satisfying to see your stitches knit up so quickly! The resulting fabric is super soft too.
I cast on 23 stitches and knit the first six rows to make the garter stitch edge along the bottom. Then I knit the first and last three stitches of each row to continue the garter stitch edging along each side and alternated knit and purl rows for the remaining 17 stitches in the center to create the stockinette. I continued in this way for 22 rows and then knit the last six rows for the garter stitch top and bound off.
Here’s what the swatch looked like at this point.
Then I sewed on the heart using duplicate stitches. If you like, you could also work the heart into the fabric with intarsia as you go along. I was in the mood to do some duplicate stitches. It reminds me of the cross-stitch projects I used to do as a girl. There’s something relaxing about it.
The heart design comes from a chart that appears in the pattern for the Special Olympics Peak to Peak Scarf (you can download this for free on our website). Using the chart as a guide, I sewed the heart onto the white background. This is what the heart looked like in the early stages.
Sewing on the duplicate stitches is easy and fun! These pictures will walk you through each step visually. To follow along step by step, look at the pictures from left to right, and then move down to the next row of photos, beginning with the photo on the left and so on.
Great idea.. I previously used this method on my handmade Christmas stockings years ago.. Thanks for the reminder!