It’s Free Pattern Friday!
Today, Channel Socks in Wacki Saki (pattern link here).
We love Wacki Saki for its bold patterning. Here, Rachel Brockman wisely went with a simple pattern that lets the yarn colors do the heavy lifting.
Worked cuff down, these socks feature a heel flap and gusset.
The twisted stitch ribbing flows right onto the heel.
The stockinette feet are comfy, while the twisted stitches on the leg create a snug fit. These beauties will stay up!
Super fun colors to match your personality. Have happy feet all day!
Saying “happy feet” gives me an excuse to share this video, which brings me joy because it’s a puppet tap-dancing, so of course you never actually see him below the waist. I choose to believe that he’s wearing crazy socks on those webbed flippers.
We hope you dance your way through this weekend.
Happy crafting!
It’s Free Pattern Friday!
Today, the Trailhopper Hat in Mini Saki (pattern link here).
You’ve all met the world’s cutest baby, right? Parker is the son of our warehouse shipping chief, and she brought him in when we needed a wee one to do a little modeling. A sweet little cherub for a sweet little hat!
The Trailhopper Hat starts at the very bottom, with those i-cord ties. Work your way up to the earflaps, then cast on for the brim. Rachel Brockman included a detail that is sometimes overlooked – casting on more for the front than the back, to be sure those earflaps are back just a bit from the face to give proper coverage.
Faux cable/right twist ribbing gives way to symmetrical decreases at the top. It all comes together to make a hat that looks neat on the noggin. All with just one 230yd ball of Mini Saki.
Just one more – here we see Parker, just before we realized it wasn’t a great idea to give him tissue paper. When you’re seven months old, everything is edible.
If you’re wondering about that fantastic sweater, by the way, it’s the Crosscut Pullover in Adore (free pattern link here). It’s sized 3-6 months through 4-6 years. Rachel Brockman has been on a roll with the baby garments!
We hope you have a fantastic weekend, full of good things. We also hope you find the strength to keep the tissue paper out of your mouth.
Happy crafting!
This adorable Fair Isle hat has already proven to be popular around the office, even before its official release. It’s sized from newborn to adult large, so it’s a nice topper that can fit everyone. Self-shading Poems wool gives a nice graduated color shift that keeps things interesting!
The adult size shown was the first one we knit. Designer Rachel Brockman used a 1×1 rib long tail tubular cast-on for a nice, stretchy edge. Rachel did a photo tutorial of this method of casting on not long ago, in a blog post about the Nutmeg Hat and Mitts kit from our 12 Days of Winter kit series. You can find that blog post here.
Before we could publish the pattern, it caught the eye of Krista on our customer service team. She whipped up the cute teal version shown up top for her cherub-cheeked son. We just have to share his picture.
Awwwww!! Great job on both the cap and its model, Krista!
We hope you have a fantastic weekend, and that you spread a little joy in your corner of the world.
As you may have guessed, it’s not a recent picture. However, he’s still got that youthful spirit and twinkle in his eye. He still has a wicked sense of humor. And he’s astonished (in a good way!) that his little tomboy grew up to be such a prolific knitter. What’s better, he appreciates my knitting.
We all know there’s nothing like crafting for someone who truly cherishes what we’ve made. Dad’s great about that. When I made him his first pair, he proclaimed they were “like butter” and that he never knew socks could feel that good. Obviously, this is someone knitworthy.
When we got our first shipment of Allegro, a no-wool sock yarn, I knew this is what I’d be using for his 2017 birthday. It’s so smooth! I chose color 803 Slate Minstrel.
Knitting in the grass in summertime. Bliss.
Although there’s no wool content, Allegro has a bounce to it that makes it perfect for socks. They stay up and keep their shape nicely. Allegro would also be great for any projects where wool allergies are a concern, or for those who simply want to avoid animal products.
Ready to close the second toe!
As you can see, there was plenty in one ball to make a pair, and the striping matched pretty much perfectly. There’s enough left over that I could have extended the cuffs or made a larger size with no worries.
No, these are not my father’s legs.
My go-to pattern is Back to Basic Socks, a free pattern on our website for a cuff-down heel flap sock. It goes fairly quickly and stands up well to wear. It’s also a great starting point for those who want to customize by adding, say, an eye-of-partridge heel or patterning along the leg. For Dad’s socks, though, I kept it basic. Ribbed leg, plain heel, nice and simple. I knew he’d appreciate them just as they were.
Also not a recent picture of my Dad.
Dad’s birthday was at the end of January. Alas, I don’t have a picture of my dad with the socks, so please enjoy this picture of a previous birthday. Once again this year, he was delighted by his hand-knitted socks. And I am once again picking out yarn for his next pair.
We wish you joyful knitting for an appreciative audience.
We loved the way this simple color-changing scarf looked, so we knitted up several options to see how it looked in different colors. It was no hardship. The pattern is easy enough for a beginner and is worked on US size 10 1/2 needles in our Deluxe Bulky Superwash wool.
I’m a sucker for blues and greens, so the five-color version in those tones really speaks to me. Those who want to go bolder might try the six-color version, shown in purple, pink, and green. And those who want something classic and understated can knit the three-color version in shades of white and gray.
We’re not kidding when we say the welting pattern on this is easy. It’s a four row repeat knitted flat which goes: knit a row, purl a row, purl a row, knit a row. Great for beginners, or for those who want a project to knit that doesn’t require their full attention. (I still haven’t gotten to see the latest season of Sherlock; this would be ideal for that!)
As I look at this scarf, I also wonder how it would look with a couple of different colors of a self-shading yarn, like Poems Chunky. I’ve been searching for the perfect project for our newest color.
Luscious, right? Well, we also did a long version, for those who like to loop their cowls around.
This version uses one skein of Deluxe Worsted wool as a backdrop for the variegated Bamboo Bloom. We chose a more subdued color palette for this combo. The large version is the same height as the small, but twice as long. Here are the stats! FINISHED MEASUREMENTS
Height: 15¼”
Circumference: 61”
Needles: US Size 11 (8 mm) 32” circular needle or size needed to obtain gauge
Notions: Stitch marker, tapestry needle
We’re loving this pattern and are having a great time with other color combinations as well. Here’s one that features two hanks of Bamboo Bloom Handpaints in 311 Bonsai and two skeins of Wisdom Yarns Poems in 602 Bruges.
The pattern is a simple linen stitch that you can easily master. In the coming days, we’ll be sharing other color combinations in this rewarding pattern.
As a rule, I don’t make socks for other people. The exceptions: family, and people I know will truly appreciate them. My father is both, so when he had a birthday, the choice of gift was a no-brainer. Enter the Back to Basics Socks.
Happy Selfish Knitting Month! Yes, it’s January, and all the gift knitting is done, so it’s time to do something just for you. Enter, the Landscapes Sweater.
This entrelac pullover is based on another popular design we had in a discontinued yarn. We couldn’t let the sweater go, so we re-wrote it into the sock-weight version you see here and made it available for free!
I had to take it outside into the sun. So pretty.
The yarn is Poems Sock (459yds/100g), a strand of 75% wool/25% nylon that moves smoothly from shade to shade. I really like the choice of color 971 Earth and Sky for this. It works well for a full-sized garment – colorful but still grounded.
The Landscapes Sweater is constructed in pieces. The sleeves are worked lengthwise, so the stripes run the length of the arms. The entrelac front and basic stockinette back and sleeves are worked flat and then seamed. Sized from XS to 4X, the whole sweater takes from 3-6 balls of yarn.
We hope you enjoy this “just for you” pattern, and that you keep striking the right balance between challenging yourself and just kicking back and enjoying your projects.
We’re not kidding when we say it’s the easiest scarf ever. It’s a one row repeat, and on US Size 35/19mm needles, it goes in a flash.
We call it the Be Knotty scarf for the obvious reason – it has a nice open lacy knotted look. We also call it that because you can “be naughty” and pretend that you slaved over it when in fact, you worked it up in an evening. That’s the nice thing about Poems Uno Superwash (90yds/150g) – it’s big, the colors are bold, and it works up fast. Instant results.
We call it the Be Knotty scarf for the obvious reason – it has a nice open lacy knotted look. We also call it that because you can “be naughty” and pretend that you slaved over it when in fact, you worked it up in an evening. That’s the nice thing about 