WIP Wednesday & a pattern

I've been working on a top secret project over the last several days so if you promise to keep my secret, I'll share the pattern with you, deal?

After being introduced to Friendly Fairies amazing etsy shop through Zach's sword, Sting, I knew that one of these love gems would make the perfect birthday gift for Philip.

Don't you love the detail? It looks just like an official pirate knife, complete with an encrusted gem from the booty!

Of course, what's better than an authentic pirate knife? An authentic pirate knife plus a knife sheath from which to whip it out at a moment's notice. I sorted through my wooly leftovers basket and found some Knit Picks Wool of the Andes, which felts beautifully. For a 10.5 inch long by almost 2 inch wide knife, I cast on 40 with size 10.5 needles. I knit for 11 inches in stockinette (switching colors when my first color ran out which actually made a nice border at the top) then in the next knit row I knit 18, k2tog, knit 18, k2tog and knit the next 5 rows to make a garter stitch trim at the top. I then cast off and folded the front in half so the back was showing on either side and sewed together the bottom and side.

I also cast on 8 and knit in stockinette for about 5 feet to make the strap. (Next time I think I would knit in garter stitch to make the handle not roll up during felting.) Then I washed both in hot water in the washing machine with a pair of jeans to felt them down to the knife's size. I only washed the handle once, but I did the sheath part twice to make it closer to the size of the knife.

The result was nearly perfect. The sheath will accommodate a slightly wider knife and maybe a slightly longer knife (up to about 12 inches) and the strap is long enough to loop over Philip's shoulder and hang the sheath down by his side.

Now he can be a pirate, Indiana Jones, Robin Hood, a park ranger, an explorer or any other knife-carrying fellow he wishes to be!

But you have to keep it a secret until October! ;)