Category Archives: Pattern Spotlight

Mama Bear

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I don’t know about you, but I’ve already got Christmas on the brain.  I’ve been cranking through lots of projects… that I can’t talk about here because family members read my blog (lame!  Not really, but it does throw a cramp in my blogging this time of year).

But when I do a lot of targeted, purpose-driven, knitting sometimes I get a little burnt out.  I can start to feel like I’m “manufacturing” projects, not actually knitting.  Sometimes I want to just make something fun- like a stuffed animal.

And, you know, if it’s a stuffed animal for a good cause, that’s even better!

So, imagine my excitement when I found this amazing teddy bear-making project (or rather, re-found… I had read about it before, but totally forgot about it).283434_220092554695040_4064929_n[1]The Mother Bear Project  makes adorable, one-of-a-kind, hand-made teddy bears and then distributes them across Africa to children whose lives have been affected by HIV/AIDS.  Could you ask for a better cause?lesotho1[1]I went over to their website, and saw that they have patterns for the same bear, both knitted and crocheted, worked flat and in the round.  bear_about[1]The best part (other than that whole helping-children-in-need thing) is that the pattern is so simple, it just begs to be embellished.  Take a look on Ravelry to see everyone’s take on the basic Mother Bear.  There are bows and dresses, overalls and striped shirts,  and teddies of every color of the rainbow!Mother_Bear_in_Liberia_1_medium2[1]This project is just inspiring!

Have you ever taken part in a big group-knitting project like this?

Pattern Spotlight: Human Beans Sweater

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Just when I thought that my Human Beans couldn’t get any cuter, the folks over at Knit Picks had to go and do this:sweater_girl1[1]I mean, seriously?  How cute is that?  A tiny, pink cabled sweater on a tiny doll with red shoes, sitting on a tiny wicker chair.  Honestly.

They modified this free pattern, changing the shoulders slightly, since the Human Beans don’t really have shoulders.

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This pretty pink sweater was worked up for a middle-sized doll, but you could totally modify it for the larger or smaller dolls, simply by changing the gauge.

sweater_girl2[1]Thanks, Knit Picks folks!  You’ve totally made my day with this ridiculous little sweater.

Pattern Spotlight: Mini Mochis

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I love my job.  Working with little kids is the greatest, and my students are so smart and goofy and interesting.  I could hang out with them all day.

Except for one thing.

They are little germ factories.

I’ve been sick more days in the last year than in the last five years combined.  And I 100% blame my students.  One of them literally sneezed directly into my face two weeks ago, and another put both her fingers up her nose mid-sentence as we talked about her sewing project. Working with kids a glamorous job.  That’s for sure.

Long story short, I spent the weekend holed up on my couch, drinking mint tea, going through boxes of Kleenex and binge-watching Parks and Rec on Netflix (which is a totally amazing show that I had somehow forgotten about).

I was half-drunk on Dayquil, and couldn’t muster the concentration to work on my husband’s sweater for more than a half a row, so I decided to do something fun, goofy, and above all else, simple.

So, I got out my sock needles, scrounged up a box of leftover yarn bits, and pulled up the MochiMochi Land website.

MochiMochi Land is the ridiculous (and awesome) brainchild of Anna Hrachovec, who spends her time designing tiny, goofy knitting patterns and making amazingly detailed art installations.  She’s basically my hero.

She has dozens of tiny patterns available on her website.

My personal favorites include:

Snowmen!

snowmenBunnies!  (These are free!)

tinybabybunnies2[1]And gnomes!

untitledThey’re perfect sick-day knitting.  They’re small enough you can completely finish one in a single sitting.  They’re so adorable that you can’t help but smile when you see them.  And, they have no discernible purpose (other than to make you feel better).

Hopefully, I’ll feel better soon.  But if I don’t, at least I’ve got my tiny knitted minions to keep me company!

What do you work on when you don’t feel like working on anything?

Pattern Spotlight: Baktus

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I might have been late to the Hitchhiker party, but I’ve been a member of the Baktus fan club for years.

This super simple long, skinny, triangular shawl/scarf is one of my favorite patters for several reasons:

1.  Garter stitch.  Love.

2.  It’s crazy versatile.  I’ve made Baktuses (Bakti?) from everything from bulky yarn down to fingering weight yarn.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA3.  It looks great worked in those pretty hand-spun skeins you have in your stash that you can’t figure out what to do with (You know, the ones you couldn’t leave at the yarn store, but you have no idea what to use them for.)4357513044_2288fc815f_z[1]4.  The Baktus uses only as much yarn as you happen to have.  If you have three skeins of bulky, it’ll use that much.  If you have one skein of lace-weight, that’ll work, too.  (No weird little leftovers to fuss with!)  Actually, the pattern has you weigh your yarn at the beginning.  You begin the pattern by increasing, then when you have exactly half your yarn left, you decrease, for perfect results every time!

3592484405_e3fa9a5775_z[1]5.  The Baktus scarf is really and truly unisex, and super cool.  P1100072rav_medium2[1]6.  People have used the idea of the Baktus and came up with their own (gorgeous) versions.  Want lace?  Add cool geometric edging?  Or leaf edging?  Maybe you prefer crochet?

5717416916_2d555e0368_z[1]Baktus might be the perfect project.

Have you ever made a Baktus scarf?

Pattern Spotlight: Hitchhiker

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I’ve finally jumped on the bandwagon.  And, I kind of love it.

I’m probably the last knitter to make a Hitchhiker shawl.  (There are 17,685 projects up on Ravelry, and I’m pretty sure it’s been in the top 50 or so patterns for the last couple years.)

CIMG7885The Hitchhiker is a triangular (ish) shawl/scarf knit in garter stitch, which is my absolute favorite.  Garter is great for scarves, since it lays nice and flat.  Plus, it’s super warm and squishy.  (And it’s great for knitting while you read or watch TV, since you don’t have to worry about following complicated stitch patterns.)

The shawl is a long, skinny triangle, with a sawtooth border along one side, which is worked as you knit.  You begin at one point of the triangle, and just keep going until you run out of yarn, or get bored.  And the simple 8-row repeat is super easy to memorize, so it’s almost mindless (but still just interesting enough to be fun).20150112_122126_medium2[1]This project is super versatile.  You can use whatever yarn you have on hand, and whichever needles you like best.  The pattern calls for fingering weight yarn, but this would make an epic deep-winter scarf in worsted or bulky, and if you were to use teeny tiny needles and lace-weight yarn, you could make something lovely and delicate.

IMG_1979_medium2[1]I made mine with a skein of Knit Picks’ Stroll Tonal Sock Yarn in Thunderhead.  (I bought it to get the $50 free shipping, because free. Don’t judge me.  You know you’ve done it, too.)  It turned out lovely.  The sock yarn is wonderful and soft, and the hand-painted, monochromatic colors of the yarn looks great in a garter stitch.  (Sorry for the terrible picture.  The shawl was adopted out before I had time to find my real camera for a decent photo.)

WP_20150102_014I love how this shawl looks with semi-solids and self-striping yarn.  It’s so easy, and the results are spectacular.

DSC06485_medium2[2]Have you made a Hitchhiker?

Pattern Spotlight: Baby Louis

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I don’t know about you, but when I make a stuffed animal or baby doll, I like the final product to look as if it wants to steal my soul.  There’s no better present for your kid to open on Christmas Morning than a doll that a possibly (definitely) possessed newborn-sized, anatomically accurate baby doll.

(My husband is creeped out by all dolls-or at least most.  He freaks out when he goes through the old boxes of stuff in our basement and he comes across my old American Girl doll, so I can only imagine how much he will like this one.  Sorry, Tristan! I hope you weren’t planning on sleeping tonight!)

Anyway, meet Louis, the crocheted baby doll that was weirdly popular on Ravelry this week.

louis_medium2[1]He has eyes that open and close, and a mouth that you can put a pacifier in.  (Which is touted as a selling point, for some reason.  I think it just makes him creepier.  Think about crocheting a mouth separately and then sewing it into the face…)

start_medium2[1]Sure, this doll is firmly in the Uncanny Valley, and is definitely going to tell your kid to murder you in your sleep, but I have to hand it to the lady (or gent) who designed him.  From a technical engineering standpoint, he’s pretty impressive.  To crochet a doll that human-like is pretty crazy.  So, hats off to them.

But, while the designer was asking if they could design a nearly-human baby doll, perhaps they should have asked if they should.

(No.  They should not have.)

Pattern Spotlight: Saartje’s Bootees

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A quick post today about a lovely quick pattern: Saartje’s Bootees.

This pattern for the most adorable pair of baby bootees is available for free through Ravelry and through Saartje’s website (on the right side of the page).

These tiny bootees are the perfect quick project for when the weather is too hot for anything mentally taxing or large and woolen.  These bootees are worked on two needles, with only a few dozen yards of sock yarn and knit up in only a couple hours.  (If you want to make slightly larger bootees, break out larger needles and thicker wool.)

You could knit them to match a favorite outfit, or a new hand-knit sweater.  Or, go crazy and knit a whole rainbow of bootees.

4378860925_ae64bf0fb0_m[1]In two-tone neutrals, these bootees are perfect for a classy little gentleman.

5734631958_4d97759e70_m[1]And, they are a great excuse to buy those adorable novelty buttons you’ve had your eye on for months.

ldb_small[1]Knit up a whole herd of bootees to keep in your “just-in-case” gift box.  Throw a pair in with a pack of onesies and a card for a perfect gift for any new parent.

Pattern Spotlight: Baby Sophisticate

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A few years ago, it seemed like everyone I knew was getting married (including me, so I don’t really have any room to complain).  For some reason I decided that the perfect wedding gift was a hand knit or crocheted blanket.  I soon began to hate that decision.  When you have one wedding a year, it’s fine.  However, when you start having three weddings every month, that’s a lot of late nights.

Now, as the song goes, first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes…  a whole passel of babies (what’s a group of babies called?  A herd? A pod?  A holler?).

But this time, I am being smart about what hand knits I give out.  Babies get sweaters. Not great big blankets.  Maybe a little stuffed animal or a matching pair of bootees, if I’m feeling generous.  I’m a big fan of EZ’s Baby Surprise Jacket, but sometimes knitting even a tiny sweater in sock yarn is more than I’m up for.  When I learned that a friend was expecting twins, and invited me to a baby shower in a week, I knew that even I couldn’t bang out two BSJ’s in time.

I went to Ravelry and started poking around for an alternative, and I found the perfect baby sweater.  It’s the Baby Sophisticate by Linden Down.  It’s a free download and comes in two sizes, 0-3 months and 6-12 months.  It’s knit up on size 8 needles and Aran yarn (although I used worsted, which worked fine). OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAIt’s an absolutely adorable pattern.  It’s well-written and easy to follow.  The garter-stitch shawl collar makes the sweater look fancy, but it’s completely easy to do.  And, since it’s knit at a larger gauge, I managed to knit up two sweaters in about a week.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERASo, if you have a skein or two of something superwash, and you know of someone (or six people) in the family way, keep the Baby Sophisticate in mind.

Pattern Spotlight: the Pi Shawl

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Happy Pi day!  (In America, anyway March 14th (3/14) is Pi day.)  Let’s celebrate by eating pie and talking about Elizabeth Zimmerman’s super nifty pattern, the Pi Shawl.

This pattern (or un-pattern, since, like most of EZ’s patterns this one is more of a guideline or than written out instructions) is available in several of her books, but it was originally published in the Knitter’s Almanac.  Hey look!  There’s the Pi shawl right on the cover.

Elizabeth-Zimmermann-s-Knitter-s-Almanac-9780486241784The Pi shawl is a circular shawl knit in the round from the center out (so it’s great if you hate casting on.  Less great if you hate binding off).   It’s based on the relationship between circumference and diameter, so that every time you double your rows, you double the number of stitches by working a row of (knit 1, yo) increases.  So, all the shaping happens in only a handful of rows, which means that the rest of the shawl can be used for adding whatever lace, stripes, or whatever else you want.  It’s a great way to play around with new stitch patterns, or to try out a lace stitch that’s been bouncing around in your head.

You can go lacy and delicate with thin lace yarn and openwork designs.

2005150285_6c0618787c_z[1]You can do stripes and simple eyelets.PICT0342_medium2[1]You could even make a cozy round blanket with thick wooly yarn.

photo_1__medium2[1]Happy Pi Day!

Pattern Spotlight: The Knitter’s Handy Book of Top-Down Sweaters

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I don’t know if y’all remember my Persistence Sweater (the green one with cabled sleeves) from this summer, but I made it based on a pattern from Ann Budd’s The Knitter’s Handy Book of Top-Down Sweaters.  It’s a super cool book if you’re interested in designing your own sweaters, but still want someone to hold your hand a little bit while you do it.

12KN02The book is based on the idea of constructing a sweater, starting by casting on at the neck and working your way down the body and arms.  This allows you to try on your sweater as you go, to see how it’s fitting, and if you need to change anything while you work.  It’s really great, especially if you are a self-doubting, frogging and reknitting knitter like me.

She includes a few complete patterns for sweaters which are pretty, simple, and classic with interesting little details.  But, the golden part of this book are the tables.  The glorious, glorious tables!  I know I’m a bit of a data geek, but, come on.  They’re amazing.  Pages and pages of really comprehensive, and totally useful tables.

She includes basic outlines on how to do four different shoulder styles, as well as instructions on how to do several different necklines, cardigans and pull-over variations, long sleeves, and short.  And everything is written for 15 sizes and at 5 different gauges (that’s where the tables come in-she’s done all the math for you already!).

So, basically she lets you pick out your design elements from her buffet of knitterly goodness, add in a few decorative touches of your own, and before you know it, you’ll have a one-of a kind, custom-designed, hand-knit sweater.  Amazing!

Of course, if you’re a brand-new knitter, the charts and tables might be a bit intimidating, but this book is seriously worth taking a look at.  (Also, it’s quite a big book, because of all the great tables, so it might be a “knitting at home” project, instead of a traveling one.)  If you have a sweater swimming around in your head that you haven’t found a pattern for, give this book a shot, it might be just what you’re looking for.