Pattern: Leap Day Hat

Last month I was doing a little research on Leap Day, trying out a few ideas for a Leap Day knit. I discovered that gloves are a traditional Leap Day gift and at first I was excited, “Ohh I could totally design a pair of gloves!”. That is, until I read a bit further and realized why gloves are a Leap Day thing.

Apparently in some cultures Leap Day is sort of Sadie Hawkins-esque, where women are ‘allowed’ (‘scuse me?) to propose marriage to a man. Shocking, I know. Unclutch your pearls, dears. It’s about to get worse. Now, tradition says that if the poor spinster’s proposal is turned down by her lover, he must recompense by gifting her with a dozen pairs of gloves.  That doesn’t sound so awful… But why gloves, you ask?

The reasoning behind this innocuous gesture is really quite cringe-worthy. It’s designed to cushion the blow of rejection by allowing her to cover her hands, thereby concealing the fact that she has no engagement ring. To shield her from the scorn of the world knowing that she’s husband-less. It’s to cover her shame. (oh rly?)

And why so many gloves?  So that she has a pair for every month of a calendar year, because rejection is the humiliating sting that lasts. And lasts. Or so they say.  That little tale of woe kind of turned me off to the idea of Leap Day gloves. 😀  What can I say. I’m a rebel Dotty.  I unabashedly expose my naked ring finger for the world to see! I’m not saying that a husband is a bad thing, quite the contrary. I’m just saying there’s no shame in not having one either.

So in place of shame gloves- here’s a fetching hat! It’s unisex, too. It’s a fun little take on the standard 1×1 ribbed cap. The ribbed panel leans to the left while the ribbing continues in pattern over the whole of the hat.

$4.00 US for the downloadable pattern PDF on Ravelry.

Today through Sunday 3/6 get 29% off the pattern PFD at checkout with code: TAKEALEAP

Big huge thank you to the pattern testers in the Ravelry Pattern Tester forum! Besos!

Happy Leap day everyone!

As a bonus, here’s a little video showing how to do the m1pw (make one purlwise) stitch from our youtube channel, be sure to subscribe for more tutorials!

Pattern details-

Instructions included for both Beanie and Slouchy versions.

Beanie:
8.5in(22cm)wide, at bottom
8.5in(22cm)long
finished weight – 45g
Suggested Yarn
Woolfolk FAR(100% Merino)
shown in #4 Pewter
142yards (130m/50g) per skein
For project: approximately 1 skein
127-140yds(128m-45g)
Gauge in Woolfolk
13 stitches and 16 rows
per 2in(5cm)
k1, p1 ribbing un-stretched
swatch knit on US7(4.5mm)needles

Slouchy:
10in(25.5cm)wide, at bottom
10in(25.5cm)long
finished weight – 84g
Suggested Yarn
Purl SoHo Worsted Twist(100% Merino)
shown in Timeless Navy
164yards (160m/100g) per skein
For project: approximately 1 skein
140-145yds(132.5m-84g)
Gauge in Purl SoHo Twist
11 stitches and 13 rows
per 2in(5cm)
k1, p1 ribbing un-stretched
swatch knit on US7(4.5mm)needles

Notions
6 stitch markers
darning needle for finishing

Suggested Needles
US7(4.5mm)9in(23cm)needles
US7(4.5mm)double pointed needles

 

Free Pattern: Knit Lamp Shades

I’ve had this set of two lamps from IKEA for a few years now, and while they’re pretty they were a bit plain. Enter- Knitting! I saw that someone had knit a nice cabled cover for their lamps and I knew I could come up with something pretty for mine. After a bit of playing around this is what I came up with and I thought I’d share it with you. I’m not sure IKEA still sells this particular lamp, but it would work with any lamp of approximately the same dimensions. Small lamp: 11″ high and 4.5″ square. Large lamp: 14″ high and 5.5″ square.

Download for FREE on Ravelry!

Postcards from Rhinebeck ’14

It was so good to get out of the city this weekend and head upstate to Rhinebeck for the New York State Sheep & Wool Festival. The weather was the most perfect October weather you could ask for, by turns dramatic, steel grey skies with the woods all orange and red and gold and the clearest blue sky and sunshine with cold air and chilly breeze. It was perfectly cold and that meant that the hand knits could be worn comfortably, but not so cold that you needed a jacket over them. Florrie finished her Aunt Fred and it looked so great on her, I would have lost my marbles knitting a whole sweater in that fiddly sport weight wool. Kudos to her. I wore my Astoria cowl, it was snug and perfectly warm.

Florrie had much more shopping restraint than I did, I bought two skeins of Miss Babs Yowza in a really pretty green/blue/grey colorway (Shaken Not Stirred), the line for Miss Babs wool was predictably long, a giant bag of Maple Cotton Candy, some Hot Maple Mustard (it’s seriously the best thing ever), a gorgeous cherry wood stirrer/spatula from Chester B. Basil’s stall, some beautiful grey/green ceramic buttons from Melissa Jean and on the way home when we stopped off in Tivoli at Fabulous Yarns I got a squishy red skein of Blue Sky Alpacas Extra.  I’m not sure if it was because it’s the third or fourth year that we have gone, or if it was in fact smaller this year. Not sure, but it was fun and we got to scratch a few goats and sheep under their chins, and see so much beautiful wool.

Until next year Rhinebeck, maybe I’ll get my act together in 2015 and have my own sweater to wear. 😀

-Marie

 

 

Free Pattern: Morel Hat

I actually cast on for this hat months ago… I bought the wool at Rhinebeck last fall, and I knew I wanted to knit it into a scrumptious, slouchy, textured hat. But then summer happened, and it got set aside. When Florrie came up with that delicious spicy mushroom dish a few weeks ago, an idea was born. We thought that it would be super fun to pair a knit with a recipe. We didn’t use morels in the recipe, but the texture of the wheat stitch in the hat reminded me of morel’s tall textured caps. The recipe is included in the pattern PDF for you to make and enjoy. Both the soup and the hat will warm you up on a chilly fall day. 🙂

Morel features an elongated wheat stitch with pretty eyelet detail at the brim. The ribbing along the brim will stretch to fit many sizes, but there are instructions for a small and large hat. The hat is designed to be unisex, but if you feel that the eyelet is too feminine, you can knit the yarn overs twisted to close them up.

Finished Measurements
Small (Large)
7in (9in) / 18cm (29cm) wide at brim, laid flat
18in (22in) / 46cm (56cm) circ. gently stretched
8in (10in) / 20cm (25.5cm) high, laid flat
Finished weight of large hat 3.5oz/98g
Gauge
8 stitches & 8 rows per 1 inch in wheat stitch.
Needle
1 pair US5(3.75mm) 16in/40.5cm circular needles, or needles to obtain gauge.
1 set US5(3.75mm) double pointed needles
Suggested Yarn
Miss Babs Northumbria DK (100% Bluefaced Leicester Wool) 240yd/3.5oz (225m/100g)
For project: approximately 235yd/3.5oz (215m/98g)
Colorway: Candied Pecan
Notions
Darning needle for finishing

Download the FREE pattern at Ravelry

LYS: Tender Buttons

 

 

There are few notions that we knitters enjoy more than buttons.  Buttons and wool seem to go with each other like peanut butter and jelly, Lucy and Ethel, gin and tonic. On the east side at 62nd street just off of Lexington Avenue is Tender Buttons, a fun, tiny, hole in the wall filled to the brim with all the weird and wonderful buttons that you could ever dream of.

I went in to buy some buttons for a cowl idea that I had and was quickly overwhelmed. 😀 But in a very good, button-filled way.  It’s filled with so many curiosities. Seed packet and cake buttons! I’m sorry that most of my pictures are blurry… I was in a rush and took them with my iPhone.

I have heard that the service there is lacking, and several yelp reviewers would have you think it’s the worst place ever, but I didn’t have a bad experience. The guy behind the counter was helpful, though not overly nice. That’s fine with me. I don’t need to be coddled as a customer. Be warned though, it is cash only, so don’t try to pay with your card. All in all, cute shop, good selection.  I’ll be back when I am ready for cardigan buttons.

Free Pattern: Astoria Cowl

Here’s a free new pattern for you for this beautiful, crisp September morning.

This textured cowl is a great beginning knitter project, or an auto pilot knit for a more experienced knitter wanting something easy and familiar to do with their hands. Its knit in the round so there will be no seams to sew, and the simple pattern is completely reversible.

Brooklyn Tweed’s Shelter is a great vehicle to showcase texture, and it blooms and softens up beautifully once blocked. It’s still a wee bit on the scratchy side, as wool goes, so I wouldn’t recommend it if you have overly sensitive skin, but any yarn would be fine for this piece.  I hope you enjoy it!

Download for FREE on Ravelry

Pattern Notes:

Finished Measurements

7.5in (19.5cm) wide
28in (50.8cm) long, folded in half 56in (142.24cm) circumference Finished weight – 4oz (113g)

Suggested Yarn

Brooklyn Tweed (100% Targhee-Columbia Wool) 140yd (128m/50g)
Colorway shown: Snowbound
For project: approx. 320 yards (293m, 113g)

Needle

1 pair US8 (5mm) 16” minimum circular needles, or needles to obtain gauge.

Gauge

9 stitches & 12 rows per 2 inches in stockinette stitch.

Notions

Stitch marker

Darning needle for finishing