This cute fingerless mitts pattern, Maine Morning Mitts, is easy to knit and is good practice for knitting in the round. I love knitting hats in the round, but not so much these smaller circumferences. Mitts, mittens and socks require DPN’s, small circumference needles, or the use of Magic Loop.
Continue reading “Free, Fast and Cute Pattern For Maine Morning Mitts”Tag: easy
Simple Hand-knit Unisex Hats For Beginners
Hats are one of the best things to knit, whether you are a beginner or advanced. All types of stitches can be used to create intricate designs, or do simple knits all the way around. My collection of unisex hat designs on this page are some I have recently knit. They are all fairly easy to create, and men and women alike can wear them by simply changing the colors. Some of the patterns are free, so what do you have to lose?
Useful info: Hats generally take less than a skein of yarn to knit! You will need a set of 16 inch long needles in the size suggested with double-pointed needles in the same size for the crown decreases. Find a stretchy cast-on to use – I like the Old Norwegian / German Twisted cast on. Youtube has videos, and it is simple once you learn.
Northward Hat
The Northward Hat is a free downloadable pattern by Tin Can Knits and has chunky cables. If you’ve never knit cables, this hat will help you learn. I knit this pattern using bulky “Franca” yarn by Manos del Uruguay, and I knit it in one day! This yarn is also washable, so it’s good for gifting purposes.
Two by Two Hat – Free Download
Blue, 2×2 ribbed watch cap. I honestly can’t remember what pattern I followed for this hat, but it’s obviously a k2, p2 ribbing all the way up to the decreases at the crown. I may not have used a pattern – wait, here it is – the Two by Two pattern. Hats like this are quite easy to knit once you know how many stitches to cast on for what weight yarn. Your own knitting experience will tell you that number.
Blue yarn is Miss Bab’s Madison which is an Aran weight and knits up fast. It’s also 100% Superwash Merino wool. I made this one for my son who will never hand-wash a hat!
Churchmouse Ribbed Watch Cap
This brown hat is a Churchmouse pattern Ribbed Watch Cap. See my notes on knitting this one. It is knit inside out. I used another washable yarn from Lorna’s Laces. This pattern takes some time as smaller needles are used so there are more stitches to deal with. The decreases are odd as well – to me anyway. It also comes as a Beanie, which might be the place to start.
The Colorado Chic(k) Beanie is a free download and it mimics the popular hats of it’s name. This one is very simple, and especially if you leave off the double brim, as I did. I was using up some Miss Bab’s Madison yarn in aran weight, so this was finished fast. I think I would like it better in a solid color.
All of these hats can be found on the Ravelry site where you will see more colors used. It’s a great place to find ideas for yarn types and finished projects in colors you may be considering.
Knitting Colorwork Hats
Knitting the Turkish Patterned Cap
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Finished Knitting the Scrappy Bias Shawl
The Scrappy Bias Shawl was a free pattern I found at Ravelry (link below). The knitting begins at one point and expands outward by using increases on one edge and decreases on the other, which ends up as an elongated triangle shape. It’s very simple to work and can be knit in so many ways.
I liked the idea of the gradient, so I chose colors that complemented each other as they changed from darker blue, green, brown, and red, to light pink, yellow and speckled in the center. Then, back to the same dark colors at the long end of the scarf. Following a pattern, yet doing my own thing, made knitting this shawl fun. No one will have a scarf exactly like mine!
Fortunately I was knitting during the Florida winter so I could put on my flannel and wrap up in my finished shawl and not be roasting hot for the photo below. I don’t get much chance to wear any of my knitwear because of the climate, but occasionally it does happen.
***Here is the link to the Scrappy Bias Shawl pattern on Ravelry, where you will see some of the various styles and colors knitters have chosen. (You will need to create an account to view Ravelry pages.) It could be knit in a solid color, stripes, or using self-striping yarn. Use heavier worsted to make it chunky, or lighter weight yarn would give it more of a drape. Clever people could also add a design of some sort throughout.
I didn’t follow the bind off suggested in the pattern, but did an I-cord bind-off instead (See the video above for “How To”). I had just learned how when finishing my Bay’s Edge shawl, and love the look.
Visit my Knitting, Yarn and Patterns board on Pinterest for more ideas.
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Easy Knitting FREE Shawl Pattern For Gradient Yarns
Lots of knitters love to use gradient color yarns. Often shawl patterns work best for this, and I have found a free, simple pattern to try. It is called the Scrappy Bias Shawl and you can download it at Ravelry. I am grateful to knitters who share their free patterns. It’s the perfect way for beginners to get used to trying new things.
Some yarn shops will offer small skeins of colors that match or contrast which can be knit up in any order you choose to make your own gradient of color. This requires adding new colors as you knit and can leave lots of tails to deal with. The effect can be quite pretty, but with lots of weaving to come.
Speckled or variegated yarns can also be used to create a gradient effect, and I love the look. I began the ‘Scrappy Bias Shawl’ using dark green fingering yarn, then dug out more skeins hoping to have the colors changes from dark to light along the way. I am not finished, and will begin to revert back to darker colors to end with.
Create Your Own Design
What I love about this simple pattern is that once you know the basics of the shaping, the colors can be anything at all! It could be done in wide stripes, skinny stripes, a solid color, or add a simple pattern to some of the rows.
I decided to knit approximately 20 rows with one color, and then alternate two rows with my next color choice. You can see that in my image below where I went from pink to yellow, then yellow to variegated white. I did not buy any yarn, but used what I had in my stash already. I believe the “scrappy” part of the title is meant for knitters to use up their scrap yarn on this project.
Mostly I am using Mad Tosh Merino Light and similar sock / fingering weight yarn. It’s a simple garter stitch knit with increases at one side and a decrease at the other. I wanted my colors to “blend” as I progressed. Viewing the pattern page will also show how other knitters interpreted this pattern.
Changing yarns: All my new yarn was added on the same side of the project so each color row made one complete back and forth row. Then I would pick up the alternate color to knit. Once I was done with the previous color, I cut it and continued on with the new color.
For easy counting of stitches, I have added stitch markers at 20 stitch intervals. Once you memorize the beginning and ending of rows, this pattern is super simple to knit while watching television.
Avoid All Those Tails by Using Gradient Yarn
After some searching online I found some lovely yarn at The Fibre Studio called 50 Shades of Gradient. Check out “Nantahala” (one I must buy soon) and others that come in cake skeins which make wide color swaths that gradually change as you knit.
My other WIP (work in progress) is the Bay’s Edge Shawl. And I just finished up a couple of hats and a thick scarf to give as Christmas gifts.
New England's Narrow Road 