I guess I’m keeping the Christmas in July theme going, even though it’s August, with a brand new stocking pattern from Knit Picks!
It’s the Nordic Forest Stocking!
It’s a super simple stocking, knit in the round, with a short-row heel and an all-over knit-and-purl texture. I really like this stocking- it’s classic, simple, and would be beautiful in just about any color and would compliment just about any Christmas décor theme.
The Nordic Forest Stocking is one of a dozen (!) stocking patterns in the new collection from Knit Picks, and they’re a delight as always. Go grab yourself a copy and make one for everyone on your Nice List!
Don’t get me wrong, this might be a ridiculous sweater, but dang if I don’t love it. It’s one of my more out-there designs and I gotta say I’m really pleased with how it turned out.
It’s a fairly simple bottom up, seamless pullover with a V-neck and 2×2 ribbing around the cuffs, hem and collar. There is a fully-charted stranded Radish motif that runs across the sleeves and belly, and the pattern is sized from 0-6 months up to 8-10 years.
It’s named after the Olympic Peninsula, the gorgeous part of Washington between the Puget sound and the Pacific Ocean. It’s full of lush forests, misty coastline and snowy peaks. (And it’s where Twilight was based, if that gives you an idea. Though I imagine that people that live over there don’t love that reference.) It’s the perfect place to traipse around in a woolly cabled pullover.
This sweater is beyond simple- dropped shoulders mean almost no shaping, and everything’s worked in pieces and sewn up, so it would make nice travel knitting. Plus, the cables look super-complicated, but once you get them established, they’re pretty simple. 
It’s a long-sleeved yoked pullover, made with 
I will say one thing though- the neck on the sample in these pictures ended up kind of funny, so if you want to make a Piper’s Creek Pullover (which I highly recommend), here’s what I would do to avoid the weird neck. First, make sure that you’re only doing the number of short rows called for in the pattern, or maybe even reduce the number by one or two, just in case. Second, make sure to work the colorwork nice and loosely (tight shoulders will make the neck funnel up, like it is in the pictures). And third, make sure to block the sweater so the neck goes nice and smoothly into the shoulders. Worst case scenario, if the neck ends up terrible even with all those precautions, you can always rip it out from the top down (or cut it out), 
This blanket was so fun to work on (sure it took forever, but It wasn’t the bad kind of forever)! It’s a simple 2-row repeat (and one of those rows is just knitting), so it’s perfect tv knitting. It’s a great way to really indulge in your favorite worsted/dk yarn (though I highly recommend trying the madelinetosh 
The simple pattern of the blanket lends itself to all manner of interesting stripe combinations. I like the simple asymmetric scheme I’ve got here, but you could do even stripes all the way up, random stripes with scrap yarn, or maybe a big old rainbow! How fun would that be?
As written, the Parkside Throw is a generously-sized throw blanket, big enough for two to snuggle up with on the couch (or big enough for a single blanket-hog), but the pattern could easily be modified. Add more pattern repeats for a larger bed-sized blanket, or reduce the number for a baby blanket or lap warmer.
On the Needles 