I want to create a blanket for my sister in memoriam of her son. I’m making a simple knitted blanket, no fancy patterns or anything. All I want to do is put a heart with his name in it in the top corner. But everything i try ends up looking like a kindergartener did it. Duplicate stitch didn’t really look right. I tried an embroidered patch from Amazon, but that looked like a tacky dollar store purchase. I’m not advanced enough to create my own pattern to knit the heart and name right into the working piece and I’m not sure that would look right anyway (or would it?). This is a memorial piece, so it has to have a look of quality. My next idea is to do a felt applique. Anyone have any ideas on what would look the nicest? Thanks
Hello
What a kind and beautiful gift you’re making for your sister. I’m sure it will be cherished.
Can you give an idea of what size (in inches or centimetres) you wanted the heart and name to be? I just think it may be easier for people to give ideas if they knew the scale.
For a very small piece it could be nice to have a piece made and sewn on, I’m thinking kind of laundry label size, understated in size but beautifully hand embroidered (a commissioned piece if you don’t embroider).
Another idea would be to have a leather label made, look at leather engraving or leather embossing on images to get an idea of it. These can be almost any size, including small and intricate. You could ask for premade holes around which you’d then use to sew through to your blanket.
Duplicate stitch doesn’t suit everything.
If you want it all hand made by you perhaps look at embroidery on knit fabric or surface crochet. For either of these I’d suggest making a swatch to practise on some you don’t damage your blanket. Embroidering onto knit fabric can look beautiful, more delicate than duplicate stitch and you can buy finer yarn for the job or use embroidery silks.
Surface crochet needs to have a well controlled tension to turn out nicely but can look lovely. Experimenting with the same gauge yarn held single, held double, or a heavier yarn (which would be thicker than the yarn used for the blanket but not as thick as doubling it) and with different hook sizes can really improve the way surface crochet looks.
Here’s an example. I would say though that in this tutorial she begins with a slip knot and I have found it preferable not to begin with a slip knot but instead anchor the tail behind (or even pull it to the front in a hole you don’t need so you can anchor it in your right hand, it can be drawn back to the wrong side at the end) and then just draw the first loop through from WS to RS with the hook. Then later the tail can be snugged up and woven in and if you decide you need another stitch there you can reproduce it with a tapestry needle more easily if there’s no knot. I just find it neater.
I found a video with an example of a name, and also she doesn’t use a slip knot to begin.
I hope you get lots of ideas and find the one that’s just right for your project. Good luck.
4 Likes
As far as size goes, it all kind of depends on the technique I end up using; but I’d like to do a heart that’s maybe 4 inches across at it’s widest. But of course it has to be big enough for the name to fit (his name was Shane, so fortunately it’s not super lengthy). If I do a duplicate stitch method, then the name is going to end up quite large.
1 Like
You could certainly try the surface crochet or chain stitch embroidery for the name, the chain stitch can be worked in the stitch and also in the hole between stitches if you want to make the chains smaller, which would make the name smaller. There’s a lot more freedom than duplicate stitch.
Welcome to the forum!
This is a lovely memorial project and a thoughtful gift. My condolences on the family’s loss.
You might also consider a knit heart similar to these:
3 Likes
Thank you for your condolences. I had considered doing something like a knitted heart. But how best to attach that to my blanket would be my question?
You can just sew it on. If you use something like backstitch, the stitching would show as a heart outline on the back of the blanket. Or you could knit a 2nd heart to put on the back.
2 Likes
I’ve used regular sewing thread in a couple of bits of knit fabric, where I wanted to tighten up a stitch on the wrong side but the yarn was too bulky or for making an after thought button hole. The thin thread just kind of disappears into the yarn, you could probably sew it invisibly just under the edge of the heart if you used thin sewing thread rather than yarn.
1 Like
Thank you all for your wonderful suggestions; I tried the how to links you guys gave me and it was exactly what I was looking for! I had been wracking my brain for weeks trying to figure it out. I think I’ll make a couple sample hearts and sample blanket pieces and try sewing the heart on with yarn and with thread and see which I like best.
2 Likes
This blanket is going to be such a meaningful gift. If you’d like, please let us see a photo.
1 Like
Definitely! I just need to finish it first haha!
1 Like
Good to hear you have some ideas to work with that you like. Good luck with the tests.
1 Like
So I have (FINALLY) managed to create 2 hearts with a name on them. I’m sorry it took so long everyone. Between life with kids and design struggles, it has taken me waaaaayyyyy longer than I ever wanted it to. I showed these to my sisters-in-law and they said they look nice, but I’m still doubting myself. So I leave it to you. Do these hearts look good? Or do they look like toddler scribbles? (keep in mind the temporary paint I used as my guide is still visible in spots) Thank you all!
