Knitting ← Knits 'n' Pieces ← Page 2

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

download now

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

First Snow mittens

Oct

2013

It was a really long and warm summer this year. I actually can’t remember the last summer before this one I didn’t complain about the weather. Usually the summer here is too cold or too rainy or too hot and I do not like none of these. Regardless of this perfect summer this year, at some point I was dreaming of winter and the first snow. The first snow in the fall that always melts. Although I don’t like cold, I love when it’s snowing on a windless day. I love how the snowflakes just slide down from the sky and you can admire separate snowflakes on your hat and mittens and coat. So I wanted to capture this image of first snow on mittens.

I hope you like these mittens as much as I do and they keep your hands warm during a cold winter.

I used Regia Angora Merino (65% Merino, 25% Polyamide, 10% Angora, 50g / 1.76oz, 200m / 219yds) – a very soft and warm sock yarn, it felt just right for this kind of colorwork knitting :)

You can purchase this pattern from Ravelry

Honeycomb gloves

May

2013

I love gloves and I have always wanted gloves with cables. So I decided to start with something really simple that would give me an idea how to design gloves with a pattern that would continue on fingers. Honeycomb pattern seemed just right for that. The pattern makes these gloves very snugly and comfy, just the way I like it. Love my new gloves!

I used soft and warm alpaca yarn – Garnstudio’s Drops Alpaca (100% alpaca, 50g/1.76oz, 166m/182yds). Purple, of course :)

You can purchase this pattern from Ravelry

Williamina shawl

Apr

2013

The spring is here and it is the perfect time to knit a nice lacy shawl for summer nights, right? I modified my earlier design a bit and knitted a new sample and wrote directions in English.

So here it is – Williamina shawl.

I used Garnstudio’s Drops Lace, which is a blend of alpaca and silk, a very soft and enjoyable yarn to knit with. And purple is my new favourite, definitely.

Finished measurements of the shawl: 68” / 172 cm wide and 34” / 86cm long at centre. Pattern is adjustable, you can easily knit a smaller or a larger shawl.

You can purchase this pattern from Ravelry

Gifts

Jul

2009

Although I didn’t post here for a long time, I was actually pretty busy this spring. My son is going to school this autumn, so this was the last spring in the kindergarten for him and I made some thank-you-gifts for the teachers.

Kindergarten teachers got Asti shawls.

Pattern: my own (published in Käsitöö in spring 2008, will be available in English as soon as possible)

Material: Aade lõng Artistic and Aade lõng Natural DK

Needles: 3 mm

For the music teacher I crocheted a table mat – piano.

Pattern: my own

Material: Hjertegarn Diamond Cotton 8/4

Hook: 3 mm

The chess teacher also got a table mat – chessboard, of course.

Pattern: my own

Material: Hjertegarn Diamond Cotton 8/4

Hook: 3 mm

The gym teacher got a crocheted ball. On the motifs I embroidered names of all the children in their group.

Pattern: my own

Material: different wool from my stash

Hook: 3 mm

Sunshine tote

Jun

2009

Oh boy, it has been quiet here for a long time, hasn’t it? Now I’m back, hopefully :)

First I would like to keep a promise given long time ago – Sunshine tote pattern. As this is my first pattern in English, I wanted it to be perfect. It probably isn’t, but I tried :)

Three years ago we had a bag project – “12 bags” – initialized by Marianne. She suggested that anyone joining this project should make 1 bag every month of the year and each month had a special theme. The theme of July was “Päike ja äike” (Sun and thunder). So, as the first tote I made was yellow like Sun, I named this bag Sunshine tote.

The first Sunshine tote was crocheted/knitted of stash yarn I had at home. It was probably acrylic. For the last version I used Aade Artistic yarn. To make the tote stronger and denser, I’m going to felt it a bit by washing and rubbing it in hot soapy water. Lining the tote is optional. As I find sewing very difficult, I will leave it without a lining.

The pattern is availalble as a free Ravelry download. Hope you like it :) If you find an error or in case of any problems or questions, please contact me.

Download Sunshine tote pattern (.pdf)

Bunny bootees

Dec

2008

I was asked to make bunny bootees for a 3-year old girl. I did similar bootees in baby sizes couple of years ago. So now I had to improvise a bigger version. As this time these bootees are more slippers, I used sock yarn, hopefully that is more durable than pure wool would have been. I made the ears of new bunnies shorter, as this time these bootees are for a bigger child and it would be bad if the ears interfered walking around. When my daughter saw these bootees, she wanted a pair for herself too, so I made the same bootees (same size too :)) for her as well.

Pattern: my own

Size: heel to toe 16 cm

Yarn: about 50 g of grey Novita 7-veljestä Kantri (75% wool, 25% polyamide; 150 g/300 m ), about 15 g of white Novita Wool (100% wool; 50 g/135 m)

Needles: 4 mm (Kantri) and 3 mm (Wool)

Ready for the winter

Dec

2008

Well, as the winter came unexpectedly, as usual, and now Christmas is right around the corner, I have not had the time to work on the instrusctions I wanted to. So hopefully I have time for that in January.

In the meantime I’ll show you what I have been working on. As my daughter didn’t have a warm winter hat and I loved the cabled design in the Novita magazine (winter 2008), I decided to knit that hat for my baby.I modified it a bit, I used short rows on the top (or as it is knitted sideways, on the left edge), otherwise it would have been too bulky. As I used finer yarn than that suggested (Gedifa Akona instead of Novita Mambo), the hat was a bit too shallow, and to make it deeper, I worked some garter stitch rows to the bottom edge.

Then I had quite a lot of yarn left over and I decided to make mittens as well. But of course I ran out of yarn in the middle of the second mitten and I bought another ball and ended up with left over again. So the neckwarmer had to be knitted too. The cables on mittens and neckwarmer are the same as on the hat, but otherwise I just improvised knitting them, I didn’t even think ahead, just knitted and tried them on to my daughter. Worked out ok, I think :) She is so cute, isn’t she? :)

Pattern: hat is a bit modified version of the pattern in Novita winter 2008, mittens and neckwarmer are improvised

Size: for a 3-year old, circumference of the hat about 50 cm

Yarn: 3 x 50 g Gedifra Akona (50% wool, 30% polyamide, 20% alpaca; 50 g/69 m)

Needles: 6 mm (hat) and 5 mm (mittens and neckwarmer)