knitted ← Knits 'n' Pieces

A hat with a lot of twisted stitches – Twisted Fall

Nov

2015

I wanted to knit a simple warm hat to wear in the winter. I thought that cables would make it a bit more interesting, but then I came across stitch patterns with twisted stitches and I was sold. No need for complicated cables when you can just twist two stitches at a time and get stitch patterns that look as good (or even better :)) than cables.

I chose the yarn because of its color (Jewel 698). I just love that color :) The yarn is very soft and lovely Rowan Baby Merino Silk DK (66% Merino Superwash Wool, 34% Tussah Silk; 147yds / 135m, 1.76oz / 50g). It took 2 balls to knit the hat.

To keep the ears really warm I worked a double ribbing to this hat.

Twisted Fall hat fits head circumference 21–22” / 54–56cm.

Finished measurements of the hat: circumference, unstretched 16” / 41cm and length 10” / 25cm.

You can find Twisted Fall hat pattern on Ravelry

Two-colored garter stitch shawl – Crossroads

Mar

2015

I had been playing with the idea of striped shawl in garter stitch for a while and finally I did it. I wanted it to be a nice warm shawl to wrap around the neck or shoulders on a cold day. I was looking for the right yarn and colors for this and didn’t find any, but then one day I won two skeins of Marskogens lamm yarn from Woolmint (in English soon, blog here) and this yarn was meant for this wrap. :) It is 100% wool and so soft and nice and really a pleasure to knit with.

Crossroads is worked in one piece, starting with the first triangle and then moving on to the center part and the second triangle, joining it all together as you go along. Wrap is shaped with short rows (+ increasing and decreasing of center part). The border is worked to the wrap later. Don’t let the short rows to intimidate you, it is really not that difficult to work them and they are described in the pattern.

Although it is all in garter stitch, 1/3 of the wrap is purled and the rest knitted. RS of the wrap has these clean and clear stripes of purl rows. On the WS the colors seam a bit foggy and blended with each other and there is a nice row of alternating chains which makes a pretty design feature. So if you weave in the ends carefully, you could use either side of the wrap as RS.

It took 2 skeins of Marskogens lamm (100% wool; 382yds / 350m, 353oz / 100g) to knit this wrap (382yds / 350m of brown and 344yds / 315m of light grey). I used US 4 / 3.5mm needles to get a nice dense fabric.

The finished measurements of the shawl: approx 75” / 191cm wide and 19” / 48cm long at center. You could make it larger or smaller. I suggest changing the number of cast on stitches by 20. To adjust the center part, just work more or less rows (and increases and decreases).

Matching exact gauge is not essential here, but bear in mind that different gauge will affect finished measurements of wrap and amount of yarn needed.

Hope you’ll enjoy this! Happy knitting!

You can find Crossroads wrap pattern in Ravelry

Mika hat

Oct

2014

I have a lot of left over yarn at home and often there is just a really small amount of each yarn or color. I have used these left overs to knit socks and mittens and gloves with striped or little Fair Isle patterns, but there is always this concern that there isn’t enough for both socks or mittens or gloves and it is frustrating :) And it gets boring at some point :)

So one day I thought I’ll do something different and knit a hat and just started knitting a simple stripe and this is what came out :) Only later I realized that there is a whole bunch of things out there using a similar technique, Frankie Brown’s 10 stitch blanket being probably the most famous of these and that I had even favored it like 4 years ago in Ravelry :) So I must have had it somewhere at the back of my mind the whole time :)

Anyway, first I knitted a hat for my son. I worked it in Hjertegarn Lima (100% wool; 1.76oz / 50g, 109yds /100m) with needles US 6 [4mm]. This hat is without the sharp point or tip at the top of the hat.

For a head circumference of 21.5” / 55cm it took approx 2.86oz /81g (177yds /162m) of worsted weight yarn.

When I started to write down the pattern I thought that it would be easier to do it for one specific yarn, so I chose a self-striping yarn with beautiful colors from LYS – NORO Kirara (51% Wool, 29% Cotton, 10% Angora, 10% Silk; 1.76oz / 50g, 164 yds /150m). I used needles US 4 [3.5mm].

For a head circumference of 21” / 54cm it took approx 2.12oz /60g (197yds /180m) of DK weight yarn.

This unisex hat is actually super easy and fun to knit and is worked with only two needles back and forth in rows and spirally joined as you go along. You can follow this pattern or use it as a recipe and design your own hat: you can make it longer or shorter, wider or tighter, with or without the tip, with or without the ribbing. This pattern works for any yarn weight and you can knit it in any size.
Hope you enjoy it! :)

You can find Mika hat pattern in Ravelry

Flower Princess shawl 2

Sep

2014

For this version I used DROPS Lace (70% Alpaca, 30% Silk; 875yds / 800m, 3.53oz / 100g). It took 1.76oz / 50g with US 4 / 3.5mm needles.

Finished measurements of Flower Princess shawl knitted in DROPS Lace: approx 45½” / 116cm wide and 20” / 51cm long at center.

Honeycomb fingerless mittens

Aug

2014

Last winter I was working at my computer a lot and my hands started to feel really cold. So first time ever I felt that I needed fingerless mittens to keep my hands warm so that I could get my work done. I actually tried to work with gloves on, but it was very uncomfortable. As last year I knitted Honeycomb gloves, which are very snugly and comfy and still my favourites, I decided to use the same stitch pattern for fingerless version. I chose a bit thicker yarn this time.

I used 2 balls of Sublime Extra Fine Merino Wool DK (100% Merino, 127yds / 116m, 1.76oz / 50g) in color 0253. Needles US 2 1/2 [3mm].

Honeycomb fingerless mittens fit hand circumference 7-7 1/2” / 18-19cm. Circumference is easily adaptable, you can knit with larger needles or add/skip pattern repeats.

Length of the mittens is approximately 8” / 20cm. Again easily adaptable – more or less ribbing or pattern repeats.

You can find Honeycomb fingerless mittens pattern on Ravelry

Flower Princess shawl

Aug

2014

This is my first attempt to design a shawl with somewhat semi-circular/crescent shape from scratch. A few years ago I knitted a big shawl/afghan that resembled a sunflower and now I wanted to knit similar lace design. It took me couple attempts to get it right :)

The construction of the shawl is a bit unusual. Upper edge of the shawl is knitted first, then with short rows you move to the center of upper edge and from there you start to work the shawl body down in a half-circle shape. Don’t ask why so, I don’t know :) I just get those weird ideas sometimes and if they work, I use them :)

For casting on I used my new favourite cast-on method – Slipknot Cast-on which makes the most stretchy cast-on edge.

I used Rowan’s Fine Lace – a very soft and nice blend of alpaca and merino (80% Alpaca, 20% Merino; 437yds / 400m, 1.76oz / 50g) in Antique (921). It took a little more than 1 ball to knit the shawl with US 6 / 4mm needles.

Finished measurements of Flower Princess shawl: approx 52½” / 133cm wide and 24” / 61cm long at center.

Although I had this shawl test knitted, I did it myself as well, to double (and triple ;)) check the pattern. For this second (and third :)) sample I used DROPS Lace (70% Alpaca, 30% Silk; 875yds / 800m, 3.53oz / 100g). It took half of one skein to knit the shawl with US 4 / 3.5mm (so you can knit 2 Flower Princesses from one skein).

Finished measurements of Flower Princess shawl knitted in DROPS Lace: approx 45½” / 116cm wide and 20” / 51cm long at center.

Hope you like the shawl as much as I do and enjoy knitting it! :)

You can find Flower Princess shawl pattern on Ravelry

Plus One Diamond shawl

Mar

2014

The winter in Estonia tends to be long and dim, the days are short and nights seem endless. When the spring finally comes and clouds disband, you can see the blue sky again. This blue is beautiful! Although the weather is getting warmer each day, it is still quite chilly in the mornings and in the evenings, so it is good to have something to wrap around your shoulders or neck, to keep you warm and cozy. These two ice blue shawls with lacy diamond pattern will do just that.

I finished these two shawls long long time ago (well, not that long ago, it was November 2013) and submitted to Knitty. Unfortunately just a couple of days before the spring-summer edition was launched, I got the rejection letter. This was my first foreign language submission and first rejection, so of course, I was a bit disappointed, but I’ll try again. There is always next time :)

For these shawls I wanted similar blue yarns and I found DROPS Lace and DROPS BabyAlpaca Silk. I wanted to knit the shawls with the same needles, so Lace and BabyAlpaca Silk were perfect for that. Both shawls are knitted following the same charts, the only difference between them is the number and stitch of the rows between pattern rows. For clarity in the pattern I made different charts for the beginning and the end of both shawls.

Shawls are knitted sideways, so obviously the inspiration came from Strikkelise’s Baktus scarf, that I think is just a genius piece of knitting.

The photo shoot took place in November, but we needed spring-looking photos. So that was real fun :) We were actually very lucky, because it was the last sunny and snowless weekend here before the dark autumn and winter. But it was very very windy and quite cold. I found a photo gallery of this exact day from our news portal Delfi. It was the same day we captured photos of Cranberry hat and mittens and Winter Bliss hat, which were definitely more appropriate to wear that day :)

Hope you like the shawls and enjoy knitting them! :)

You can find Plus One Diamond shawl pattern on Ravelry

Braided hat

Mar

2014

It was some years ago when I first knitted this hat. I took a random yarn from my stash (as there was no label I don’t know the name or the consistency of this yarn) and just started knitting and ended up with a hat that fit my daughter perfectly. When people started to ask for the pattern, I tried to find a suitable yarn, but I couldn’t find one. So after a few attempts I gave up. At the end of last year DROPS Andes caught my eye and I thought I give it one more try. I knitted and I unraveled. I tried different needle sizes. Finally I managed to get the size I needed now (my daughter has grown, you know). But as I’m still not quite sure how to alter the size of the hat, I decided to make it a free pattern.

Theoretically, if you want to make a tighter hat, try smaller needles. You can reduce the hat’s depth by working less crown rows (you have to adjust ribbing then as well). Or, if you need a deeper hat, work additional crown rows (and adjust ribbing).

So, here it is – Braided hat. I used about 1.5 balls of DROPS Andes (65% Wool, 35% Alpaca, 109yds / 100m, 3.53oz / 100g) in color 3740. It is knitted on two needles back and forth in rows from beginning of one braid to the end of the other. Then the ribbing for front of the hat and back of the hat are worked by picking up stitches from the selvage stitches of the main part.

It is a very easy and quick knit :) Hope you enjoy it!

You can find Braided hat pattern on Ravelry

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Cranberry hat and mittens

Nov

2013

A while ago I had this idea, that I have to get myself a hat with lots of cables and bobbles. And not a nice or neat hat, but really exaggerated, over the top and bulky one. And pink, definitely pink! It took me quite a long time to find the right yarn for this, but finally I did – DROPS Andes. I don’t know how I missed it before. Actually somehow I have only started to discover Garnstudio’s yarns. So far I haven’t been disappointed.

So this is the hat, knitted with DROPS Andes (65% Wool, 35% Alpaca, 109yds / 100m, 3.53oz / 100 g) in color 3145.

The braided band is knitted first, in rows. Provisional cast on is necessary, you can do this with crochet chain or without. The rest of the hat is knit in the round (how to pick up and knit stitches – if you have to pick up 2 stitches for 1 selvage stitch, insert knitting needle first under the back loop of selvage stitch and then under both loops) .

As it is a super bulky yarn, the hat is quite warm. But here in Estonia it gets really cold in winter, so a warm hat is a must.

You can find Cranberry hat pattern on Ravelry

And I couldn’t resist to make matching mittens. These are constructed the same way as the hat but with a rib cuff.

If you are planning to knit both hat and mittens, you’ll need 3 skeins of yarn not 4!

You can find Cranberry mittens pattern on Ravelry

Winter Bliss hat

Nov

2013

The inspiration for this hat was the yarn – Debbie Bliss Winter Garden – soft blend of merino, baby llama, linen and silk (30% Llama, 30% Merino Wool, 20% Silk, 20% Linen, 109yds/100m, 3.53oz/100g). I fell in love with the colors of this yarn the minute I saw them on the shelves of LYS. The subtle tweedy flecks give this yarn a really unique and wonderful look. Although I have heard a lot of complaints about the hard bits in the yarn (pieces of linen), I think these bits give a real character to this yarn (and it is not that difficult to pick them out if they really bother you ;) ).

As this yarn is quite bulky, it knits up real easy and quick and the hat will be done in couple of hours. You can wear this hat either with brim down or brim turned up. You can make a pom-pom for this hat, or not. Many possibilities.

You can find this pattern on Ravelry