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Shawl Baby Sweater and Garter Ear Flap Hat

November 14, 2016

garter-ear-flap-hat-shawl-sweater

I had to interrupt my Capella shawl knitting for something really important – a baby gift for a little boy! I knitted a little shawl sweater and a little hat with ear flaps. These were two new patterns that I had never knitted before and I thoroughly enjoyed both of them and can highly recommend them. And an added bonus: they are both free patterns!

shawl-sweater-detail

The baby sweater is a pattern called Baby Sophisticate by Linden Heflin. I especially loved the construction of this sweater because there are no seams to sew up! You knit in the round (my favorite) for the yoke, place stitches for the sleeves on holders, knit the body, bind off and then just place the sleeve stitches on your needles and knit those in the round. You then pick up stitches for the shawl collar and button placket. I knitted this sweater using my favorite Magic Loop method on circular methods. You can find a tutorial for it here.

The pattern page is here but if you would like to see some of the more than 8,000 sweaters that people on Ravelry have knitted from this pattern, you can see them here. I like to check out a project’s Ravelry page before I begin a project, so I can see how other people knitted the pattern, check out different color options and read notes and tips that people write about that pattern. If you are not a member of Ravelry, join now! It’s free, too.

The buttonholes were easy to do – just one YO and that’s it.

For the yarn, I inexplicably used an acrylic yarn. It was an impulse buy. I never buy acrylic yarn, but the colorway just jumped out at me. I used Vanna’s Choice Lions Brand yarn in Grey Marble. After I blocked the sweater, the yarn softened up a little. But I didn’t like knitting with it much – it doesn’t have any give, like wool.

Pattern: Baby Sophisticate Shawl Collar Sweater
Yarn: Vanna’s Choice Lions Brand Acrylic in Grey marble
Needles: size #9 Addi Lace circular needles
Ravelry Page

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THE HAT:

garter-ear-flap-hat

The little hat is so adorable – it’s a pattern called Garter Ear Flap Hat from Purl Soho. If you don’t know about Purl Soho, it’s a wonderful yarn shop in New York City. They have a fabulous web site. If you have never been on it, you will be amazed at the projects, tutorials, tips, patterns and ideas. And so many of the patterns are free!

garter-ear-flap-hat-tassel

I love the hat because the design is just a little different – a little whimsical. It’s a very easy, fast pattern. After casting on, you knit the two ear flaps in the round, using short rows, which I love to do. Then you continue on knitting the hat, shaping the crown in garter stitch. Easy peasy! I used my beloved Magic Loop method on circular needles.

garter-ear-flap-hat-3

I love the cute little tassel on the top – how sweet is that? Only takes a minute to make it. If you’d like to check out all the different versions of this little hat on Ravelry, the page is here.

garter-ear-flap-hat-detail

Pattern: Garter Ear Flap Hat from Purl Soho
Yarn: Vanna’s Choice Lions Brand acrylic in Marbled Grey
Needles: #8 circular Addi Lace
Size: I made the small size, but on #8 needles
Ravelry Page

Posted in baby stuff, finished objects, hats, knitting, magic loop, sweaters | 2 Comments »

Honey Tapestry Mittens

October 4, 2015

How I love this mitten pattern. I just finished these for my future daughter-in-law’s birthday. I love the two-color knitting pattern and it has a lining, which makes them so warm. They took me quite a long time to knit, but were so worth the effort.

Instead of the I-cord cast on, I did a picot hem cuff, which I took from Post War Mittens. I really like it. And I love the contrast between the stark black and the honey/white of the mitten.

These were knit in the beautiful wool from Quince, a wonderful little company in Maine that makes U.S. yarn. The yarn is super soft, squishy and a joy to work with. The lining is a blend of super warm alpaca/wool, Berocco Alpaca Light. So these mittens have a good three layers of warmth!

I knit them entirely in Magic Loop, which I love for mittens. You can try the mittens on for size as you go, unlike if you use double points. It’s also great for the thumbs. I use Addi Lace circulars and they are so pointy that picking up stitches is a breeze.

Tapestry Mittens
Needles: Addi Lace Circulars #4, #2, #1
Yarns: Quince Chickadee n Honey and Egret
Berroco Alpaca Light in Black
Ravelry Page

Posted in finished objects, knitting, mittens | 8 Comments »

Cozy Mittens Knitted Flat

January 5, 2015

This has to be the craziest pattern for mittens I’ve ever seen – and the easiest. Mittens are almost always knitted in the round, on circular needles or DPNs, but these are knitted flat – and not a mirror image flat, like you would think and then just folded together. When I first saw these, I couldn’t figure out how they were seamed up, so when I knitted them I took photos to show you how to fold them.

The pattern calls for these mittens to be knitted with worsted weight yarn. When I did a mitten the first time, they were way too thin and way too small. So I experimented and knitted another mitten with the same worsted weight yarn, only held double and they were perfect! As I was knitting the piece, it looked huge, but after it was seamed together, it was just right. It makes a double thick, warm mitten this way and the cuff comes up a full 3.5 inches on my wrist. They’re a nice size.

After you knit the flat piece, the mittens are folded up by seaming them together with a crochet hook, contrasting yarn and using single crochet. This was simple as could be – but a couple of tips for you: the pattern says to do it in two intervals, by crocheting across the top and down to the thumb and then cutting the yarn and then crocheting up the rest. I did mine in one pass – I started at the top and crocheted all the way to the bottom and then went around the cuff. Also, the single crochet looks better on one side than the other – so be sure to begin it with the top of the mitten facing you. You can see the sequence in these photos:

Fold the mitten together, aligning the top halves. Crochet the two halves together along the top. After you crochet down to the the thumb crotch (above), turn the whole piece over:

now flip up the thumb on the left (above),

then fold over the thumb on the right to match the thumb on the left and continue to single crochet them together (above)

crochet down the thumb, the lower side seam and then just continue right around the cuff.

I hope these photos help you if you want to knit these. These mittens knit up incredibly fast! I loved this pattern.

Pattern: Cozy Mittens
Yarn: Cascade Yarns 220 Superwash Worsted, held double, Doeskin Heather
Malabrigo Merino in Indigo
Needle: US #8, circular, Addi Lace
Ravelry Page

Posted in finished objects, knitting, mittens | 5 Comments »

Snow Buddy Family

December 3, 2014

I think one of the nicest yarn shops I have ever visited is the Yarn Garden in Charlotte, Michigan. I was in there a couple of years ago and was so impressed with this shop. I wish I had taken a picture of the interior. Old fashioned downtown shop with high ceilings, brick interior . . . just a really welcoming space with lots of quality yarns. I loved this place. And on one of the display shelves sat the cutest little knitted winter family of characters. I immediately bought the pattern and finally got around to knitting a few of the little guys.

These tiny people are quick to knit up. You stuff the bottoms with dried beans for weight and then add poly fill for the rest. The pattern is easy for just about everything except the little baby’s earmuffs – I never did understand the directions for those and so I just improvised. Other than that, there were no troubles with the pattern and I had so much fun knitting them.

This is a great pattern in which to use up scraps of yarn. All the little accessories do not take up much yarn. I knitted these in worsted weight yarns.

Pattern: Snow Buddy Family
Needle: US#3 & US#6
Yarn: Various Stash Yarn (I used a lot of worsted)
Ravelry Page