Sunday, August 31, 2008

Acorns a la Betz

Hi Knitters,
Well, I have noticed that the acorns are falling around my neighborhood. I love that crunch under my feet when I am out for a walk or run. What is it about acorns that people love so much? I think acorns are wonderful.

I pulled these out from last fall. That Betz is genius. I truly love this clever, easy fall project. She inspires me.
I decided today to make a knitted version entitled, Acorns a la Betz. The felted balls are from here, order the 2cm size if you are making acorns like these. The acorns I made are from the Fall colorway.
I'm going to make plenty more. Last fall I put a few acorns together and gave them to teachers. They loved their felty acorns.

Here is the pattern for you:

Acorns a la Betz
Materials:
US size 3 dpns, set of 4
Small amount of dk weight tweed yarn or brown yarn (I used O-Wool Balance)
Matching thread and sewing needle
Yarn needle
Stitch marker
Scissors
2cm felted balls (from here)

Cast on 15 stitches (5 stitches on each of 3 needles).
Join to work in the round being careful not to twist, place a marker.
Work 4 rounds in seed stitch.
Decrease rounds:
rnd 1: (k2tog) 2 times, knit 1 on each needle (3 stitches per needle and 9 stitches remain)
rnd 2: knit
rnd 3: k2tog, knit 1, pass the first stitch over and off the right needle (1 stitch per needle and 3 stitches remain)

Place the 3 remaining stitches on 1 dpn. Now use 2 dpns to make an I-cord.
Next row: k2tog, k1 (2 stitches remain)
Work 2 more rows in I-cord. Then k2tog (1 stitch remains), cut the yarn and pull through the remaining stitch. Weave in the ends to the inside.
Place the knitted acorn top on the felted ball and sew with a needle and thread to attach.

That's it! Hope you enjoy.
I'm off to movie night at the pool to watch Enchanted with the kids.
Happy Holiday.
best, susie