There’s nothing like keeping warm with a hand-knit project during the coldest days of January! Today, for Free Pattern Friday, we present the Neptune Mitts, designed by Afifa Sayeed. These comfortable, cloud-like mitts use Rico Design’s Madly In Love Luxury Baby Alpaca and Merino Chunky to create an accessory that will keep your hands toasty for the rest of the winter season! Let’s learn more about this exciting free pattern.
There’s so much to love about the Neptune Mitts. Perhaps what is most eye-catching in this one-skein project is the gorgeous bobbles. This beautiful feature can be seen along each end and down the front side of these mitts.
Additionally, cables dress the front of the Neptune Mitts. The cable pattern provides an excellent compliment to the bobbles and gives these mitts an irresistible texture! All that’s left for you to do is pick your favorite color of Rico Design’s Madly In Love!
This weekend, save 20% off on a newbie from Rico Design. Once you get your hands on Madly In Love, you can’t help but think of the project possibilities. This yarn is a beautiful blend of alpaca, polyamide, and wool in a bulky weight. Whether you want to knit or crochet something simple or complex, Madly In Love is a high-quality option. But hurry, these savings end on January 14th at 11:59 PM EST.
Seasons Greetings from the Universal Yarn Team! Today, we’re pleased to share a special free pattern with you for the Christmas season: the Carolina Holly hat (pattern link)! Holly – like poinsettias, mistletoe, and ivy – conjures images of the holidays. The spiky plant is evergreen and beautiful, and it was the inspiration for the Carolina Holly hat.
Playing with pine cones, as one does.
This free pattern is a load of fun to knit. It takes three skeins of Deluxe Worsted – and that’s enough to make two hats. Of our line of yarns, Deluxe Worsted might just be my favorite. It’s excellent for every type of project, creates long-wearing fabric, and perfectly balances softness with the crunch of pure wool that I love. Plus, there are so many colors to choose from. For this hat I chose Sangria, City Turf, and Slate, but there are so many shades of red, green, and grey in the palette. I encourage you to find the combination that leaves you feeling inspired! Prefer superwash wool? You’re in luck – our machine-washable Deluxe Worsted Superwash would work perfectly as a substitute.
Baby Bobbles!
I wanted to give this hat some special touches. A double-thick brim ensures a warm and comfortable fit. A row of mini-bobbles knit in a rich red create little holly berries, and a large red pom-pom balances out the pop of red. Finally, to incorporate the grey used in the brim, the same color is used to add speckles to the pom-pom. The speckled pom-pom idea was not my own. I was inspired by designer Kiyomi Burgin, who has used this technique in her own work. You can find her post on speckled pom-poms here (link).
Subtle grey speckles in a big, poufy pom-pom – what’s not to love?
For your convenience, I’ve also created a tutorial. I hope you find it to be helpful! You’ll need to make your pom-pom before starting. If you haven’t done this before, don’t worry! You can find Amy’s tutorial on how to make pom-poms here (link).
To get started you’ll need a pom-pom, scissors, tapestry needle, and contrast color yarn. Step 1: Cut your contrast color yarn into lengths of approximately 12″. In the pattern I’ve directed you to cut 15 pieces. Fold each piece in half. Step 2: Keeping the strand of yarn folded, thread the tapestry needle.Step 3: Insert the tapestry needle through the center of the pom-pom. Step 4: Pull one end of the strand through the pom-pom, but be sure to secure the other end.Step 5: You should be able to hold each end of the strand as shown. Repeat Steps 1-5 until you’ve used each of the strands you cut. If desired, add more! When you finish you’ll have a medusa-looking pom-pom. Give your pom-pom a trim so that the contrast color ends are flush with the rest of the pom-pom. Finished! Now you can secure your pom-pom to the hat.
