colorwork – Page 5 – New England's Narrow Road

Knitting Projects On the Needles in February

It’s mid February and I’ve been good about not beginning any new knitting projects. Presently, on the needles, I have a sweater, hat, mittens and wrist warmers.

Meadow Moon

Meadow Moon is the pullover sweater that has been on the needles for months now. It’s not that I don’t like it, in fact I think it will be a favorite, but I knit it randomly. I’ve begun too many projects and let this one slide. Now I am on the end of the sleeve and finishing up the colorwork. I should be done in a day or so. I’ll have a few ends to weave in, and then the wash. I hope the cool weather is not completely gone here in Florida because I want to wear this one!

This photo is a horrible representation of the colors. The sweater is blue, not green. Once it’s finished, I will post a page review.

Meadow moon sweater nearly finished — Meadow Moon Sweater

Classic Watchcap

This little blue project is a Classic Watchcap and it is very monotonous knitting. I knew it would be, and save it for evening knitting. The light blue yarn is easy enough to see and the knit one, purl one… on and on… is great for TV watching. At this point I’ve knit for about six inches but have three more inches to go before the decreases. I want a slouchy version with the option to roll up a brim.

Ribbed Watchcap – My Ravelry page. Yarn is Camp Colors, CC fingering which is Superwash merino.

Thrummed Mittens

The Thrummed mittens are a new challenge. I got this far and then stalled. Maybe it’s because I rarely wear mittens in Florida and certainly would never need something so wonderfully warm.

Yarn is Alafosslopi in Ecru Heather, with Merino Top from Paradise Fibers.

Fair Isle Wrist Warmers (mine)

These Fair Isle wrist warmers were fun to make. I began with a free pattern, but quickly went off-pattern to create my own mess…! Each warmer has it’s own colorwork patterns, so they don’t match. Why would they need to? I also messed up some of the patterning because I forgot how many stitches were on the needles! Oh well.

What I like is that I have this pair to learn from for the next time. My goal is to create my own pattern next time. I may even knit them to match.

Weaving in ends on Fair Isle wrist warmers

Fair Isle Wrist Warmer Knitting

Some knitter I was admiring mentioned that she liked to knit wrist warmers to match her sweaters. She used some of the leftover yarn so the warmers would match. I thought this was a wonderful idea! That is all it took for me to search for wrist warmer patterns.

The design is just a tube to fit the lower arm, so how difficult can it be? I wanted to knit colorwork, because I enjoy it. This type of accessory would be perfect for when I wear my Cobblestone cardigan. The sleeves are very wide which allows cool air to go right up my arm.

With quite a few projects unfinished at the present time, I really hate to begin something new, but Fair Isle pulls at me. There is great fun in combining colors and patterns to see how they turn out.

I began the wrist warmers by following a free pattern (Fair Isle Cuffs). It is written to knit flat (hmmmm?) but I wanted to knit around. My plan was to follow the designer’s chart to make things easy. Of course, things changed, as they usually do.

Yarn Colors Chosen

I decided to use many colors in this pattern – 12 to be exact! Most of the yarn is from Jamieson & Smith, but two skeins are Rauma wool and one is Tukuwool (the dark rust color). My only real plan was to mirror the colors on each end when knitting the corrugated rib.

I began with a cast on of 64 and used a size 2 US needle. I love my 9-inch circular needles and use them as often as I can. No DPNs are needed! Yay…! About halfway in, I reduced the stitches to 60 by doing a couple of k2tog’s on two rows. I wanted a 60 count because it is divisible by many numbers.

The pattern says to discount the first and last stitch if knitting in the round. For some reason pattern chart ended up not matching evenly for me, so I gave up following the chart provided and went rogue…! I have a lot of good books that contain charts and began using those.

With a final count of 60 stitches, I could knit any chart that contains a repeat number that divides evenly into 60, and there are a lot of them.

BOR and All Those Ends

Here is a look at the join, or beginning of round stitches. Once the massive amount of ends are woven in, this will look better. I’ll close any gaps. Washing and blocking will even it all out better too.

Anyone who does a lot of colorwork knitting must learn to love (or at least like) weaving in ends.

Making Wrist Warmer Number Two

My plans for knitting the second wrist warmer include using the same twelve yarn colors and matching the ribbing. Other than that, all I can say for sure is that the patterning will be different – at least in places.

Wrist-warmers are now done and washed. The pattern at the wider end (arm end) begins the same but then takes it’s own course. I enjoyed trying out different color combos and love that no DPNs are required.

Please Read On

I have a lot more to say about my knitting, so please keep reading!

Lots of Changes This Year

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Happy New Year 2026 and Time to Cast On

A new year means a brand new knitting project to begin. What will you be making?

by Pam 01/01/202612/31/2025

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A Hat Pattern For Those Who Raise Backyard Chickens

I’m knitting a fun little hat with a motif of chickens! The stranded colorwork pattern is called the Solstice Glow Hat and is by knitwear designer “Bunnymuff”, who is Mona Zillah.

A link to the pattern page is at the bottom of this page.

The yarn I am using is Jamieson & Smith 2-ply Shetland wool combined with some Rauma. Mona (the designer) uses gorgeous Gathered Sheep Yarn. I would buy it in an instant if it was available in the US. If you are in the UK, check it out. But, the J&S is also very lovely, with some wonderful coloring.

Yarn: FC14, dark rainbow mix purple is the color I used for the chickens. I don’t leave my yarn in the sun, just used this sunny spot to show colors better.

This is my first hand-knit project for 2022. I did my cast-on January first. When I saw this cute hat pattern a while ago, I knew I had to make it one day for my daughter. Anyone who raises backyard chickens would just love it!

The pattern includes more than just chickens. Geese and pigs charts are included with this pattern. They could all be included on one hat – perfect for farmers..!

Finished Knitting

I’ve finished knitting the hat, but it’s not done. I still need to add the duplicate stitches on the chicken motif and weave in all those ends. Colorwork is such fun and all the yarn ends, from changing colors, are just part of it. Once it’s washed and blocked the puckers will come out and the hat will be smoother.

The chicken motif is meant to be enhanced with embroidery, called duplicate stitch.

The pattern designer explains how she used this technique to finish each of the animal motifs, so you are not left in the dark wondering where to begin. This Very Pink Knits video shows how to do duplicate stitch at about six minutes in.

Hat is Done… Duplicate Stitch, Washed and Dried

Altogether, the hat knitting was completed in nine days. It fits me fine, but might be a little big for my daughter.

Final Words on the Solstice Glow Hat

After knitting the chicken chart section I went a bit off pattern and added some other colorwork patterns of my own. I found it difficult to follow the yarn color placement because my pattern printout is in black and white. The hat calls for a Main Color yarn and five contrast colors.

I chose to do my own thing for a few rows in the center. This is not anything against the pattern. I love Bunnymuff patterns and have already knit a few.

The Stellar Parallax Mitts were great fun (learned a new corrugated rib). The Keramos Cowl had some embroidery (a first for me). It seems I always learn something new when I knit one of her patterns.

pair of colorwork Fair Isle fingerless mitts

Keramos cowl colorwork pattern lined embroidery

More Patterns by Bunnymuff

This designer includes wonderful directions in her patterns. If you like this type of knitting be sure to check out Mona Zillah’s Ravelry Store where all her pattern designs are on display for sale.

This chicken motif hat will be sent to my daughter in New Hampshire. She is building a coop and hopes to begin raising backyard chickens sometime this year. I think she will love it!

Click here to Get The Solstice Glow Hat Pattern

Backyard chickens, hens as pets — Photo credit: Pavlofox @ Pixabay

Made-Up Mittens Pattern Knit in Two Types of Lopi Wool

This is a mitten pattern I made up by pulling from a couple of patterns I recently knit. Once you know the basics of mitten knitting, it’s quite easy to wing it with your own designs and colors.

Of course my made-up mittens don’t look great. In fact, they don’t match but they are for my son who lives in New England and asked for mittens. I will stress the importance of not throwing them in the washing machine or dryer, but who knows what will happen.

Mittens knit with Lettlopi and Plotulopi yarns — Lettlopi “Rough Sea” gray yarn

Lettlopi Rough Sea gray yarn — Lettlopi “Rough Sea” gray yarn

The Yarn

I used Lettlopi gray yarn called Rough Sea. It is very nice with specks of lighter gray here and there and can look a bit greenish at times. For the first time ever I also used Plotulopi yarn in wine red. It is pictured in the image above and comes as a “plate” of unspun fiber.

A warning about the Plotulopi, which is very inexpensive, is that it easy pulls apart. More than once while knitting I accidentally pulled on the red too hard and had to spit splice it back together. I knit with the yarn in my right hand to have more control over the pull.

Also the red color came out like mad when washing the mittens….! So the color runs.

Beginning the Mittens

To begin this mitten pair I began by casting on as called for in the Krokur mitten pattern (from the Lopi 40 book) as I was using the same exact type of wool. After the 1×1 ribbing I did a few rows of corrugated rib and then began a colorwork pattern. I took the pattern from one of my books and switched it up for each mitten. Because my colors of red and gray blend pretty well, I actually like that they each look different.

I knit the hand and thumb a bit longer for a man’s size hands and had my son here try them on. And the fit is good! They should definitely fit my younger son.

Red and gray mittens — Mittens being worn

Now they have been washed and are drying. I’ll wrap them up to put in the mail. It is Christmas Eve and I have not mailed a single package yet! How does it get away from us so quickly?