My sister sent me a link to a pattern she is using to make a knitted heart and hoping to teach her four year old daughter. She was struggling with some of the instructions so I, being me, thought “I could do better than that” so here’s my effort, which I think will be less lumpy and bumpy than the original.

MIRIAM’S HEART

Cast on 3 stitches using any method you like.
R1: Knit the 3 stitches
R2: (Wrong Side): K1 M1 (make one, as below), K1, M1, K1 (you have 5 stitches)

[here's how I do the Make One increase, and it works for me:]

1.

2.

3.

4.

R3: (Right Side) Knit 5
(Continue, as follows, until you have 17 stitches)
R4: (WS) K1, M1, K5, M1, K1 (7 stitches)
R5: (RS) K7
R6: (WS) K1, M1, K7, M1, K1 (9 st)
R7: (RS) K9
R8: (WS) K1, M1, K9, M1, K1 (11 st)
R9: K11
R10: K1, M1, K11, M1, K1 (13 st)
R11: K13
R12: K1, M1, K13, M1, K1 (15st)
R13: K15
R14: K1, M1, K15, M1, K1 (17ST)
(Now we’ll knit 10 rows straight,)
R15-24: Knit.

Decrease for the ‘buttocks’ of the heart (as I like to think of them):

RIGHT BUTTOCK

R25: K7, K2tog, TURN (yes, you’re leaving the other 8 stitches huddled and ignored on the left-hand needle) You now have 16 stitches.

R26: K8 (back to the edge)
R27: K1, then [either SSK (slip two stiches, knitwise to the right needle, put left needle through them, from left to right, knit) or Slip 1 Knit 1 Pass the Slipped Stitch Over (PSSO), whichever you're more comfortable with], K2, K2tog, K1. TURN
R28: K6 (back to the edge)
R29: K1, SSK or PSSO, K2TOG, K1 TURN
R30: K4
R31: K1, K2tog, K1
R32: cast off loosely.
Here’s how it looks:

LEFT BUTTOCK

Go back to the stitches you left huddled, unloved, on the needle and show them some love.
Join yarn and begin the second half of what was originally R25 (let’s call this one R25a)

R25a: K to edge (8 st)
R26a: K to middle (8 st)
R27a: K1, SSK or PSSO, K2, K2tog, K1 (6st)
R28a: K6
R29a: K1, SSK or PSSO, K2tog, K1 (4st)
R30a: K4
R31a: K1, SSK or PSSO, k1 (3st)
R32: cast off loosely.
Here’s how it looks:

Enjoy!

Feel free to try it out and pass it on. I plan to felt mine…

(c) 2008 JD