Tag: knotions magazine

New Pattern: the Cobbled Hat

Pssst! Y’all, I’m sure you’ve already noticed, but Christmas is in 4 days! A lot of us are in panic knitting mode, desperately trying to get all our handmade gifts finished in time for Christmas morning. If you have a hat on your knitting list, might I suggest a pattern that I just published in Knotions Magazine?

This is the Cobbled Hat. It’s worked in worsted weight yarn on US 7 needles. Translation: this is a really quick knit. It only took me a few evenings to knit my samples. You can totally whip one (or a few) of these up in time for Christmas!

The pattern is written in 2 sizes, to fit adults and children. It’s a really stretchy stitch pattern, which makes it more likely to fit a larger variety of heads. I knit the sample to be slightly slouchy, but if you’re crunched for time you can make the body of the hat a bit shorter and it will be a fantastic beanie.

Check out the crown decreases. I am so proud of how pretty these are! The hat is shown on a lovely lady, but it looks great on men as well. The first version of this hat was for my Father-in-Law. He wears it incessantly in the colder months.

The stitch pattern is very simple and easy to memorize, but still looks like you worked hard on it. The only skills needed for this hat are casting on, knitting and purling in the round, a central double decrease, and weaving in the ends. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy!

I hope you love the Cobbled Hat as much as I do. I am immensely proud of this pattern. I can’t wait to see it worked up in stripes and gradients and all sorts of colours!

Merry knitting, friends, and Happy Christmas!

** All photos in this post are (c) Kellie Nuss for Knotions Magazine.

New Free Pattern: The Balai Shawl

I am excited to tell you that I’ve just published a new pattern! And this time, just to change it up a little, it’s a crochet pattern!

broomstick lace shawl

Meet the Balai shawl, published in Knotions Magazine. This shawl is worked in Broomstick lace, which I learned from my husband’s grandmother. Now I am not a super-experienced crocheter, but that just means that the pattern is simple enough that anyone can do it. All it takes is a little practice. The shawl is worked by increasing every other row, so you can make it as big as you like. And, the pattern is written to work with virtually any yarn and hook (bulky, super bulky, and jumbo weight yarns are not suggested as they may not drape well). So what are you waiting for? Grab a hook, some yarn, and a dowel (Broomstick Lace requires a dowel or stick to hold your stitches open across the row…kind of like a giant knitting needle), and get started!

broomstick lace

For more information on Broomstick Lace and a free bracelet pattern, read this post.

New Pattern Released: Angerthas Mitts

Hey friends! I am thrilled to tell you that today the pattern for my Angerthas Mitts has been released in Knotions Magazine!

grey cabled fingerless mitts

This pattern came about in an interesting way for me. Several years ago when I was a new knitter I started knitting a cabled scarf. I guessed at how to cable from instructions in books and on the internet, but I barely knew how to knit and I didn’t have a cable needle. I hated that project. I ended up putting it away for several years before turning it into a cowl just so it would be done (I talked more about it here).

Fast forward to a few months ago. I still hadn’t knit much with cables and they scared me. So what did I do to make them less scary? I designed a pattern with all sorts of cables going every which way (I’m crazy, I know). The Angerthas Mitts are what emerged from that exploration. I won’t say that I love cabling so much that cables are the only thing I will ever knit ever again, but they are less daunting now.

grey fingerless mitts

Is there a knitting technique that scares you? How have you overcome fear of the unknown (in knitting and in life)?

The Time Has Come!

The Call Box Hat is live! Get your copy of the pattern from Knotions Magazine, find your worsted weight yarn, and get knitting! Winter is coming.

The Call Box Hat is available in only one size (21”/ 53cm unstretched), but it is very stretchy and should fit most adult and teen heads. It is easy to knit – using only knit, purl, and directional decreases. The contrasting brim is a great way to use some worsted weight leftovers, but you will need a little more than a full skein of yarn for the main color.

Wait For It…

folded hat

In 2011 one of my best friends introduced me to Doctor Who. We were on a choir tour, so we had a lot of time to kill on the bus from one location to the next. She had downloaded a bunch of episodes to her computer, and we binge watched our way from state to state. Doctor Who quickly became one of my favourite things. I didn’t know how to knit then, but after I learned I wanted a TARDIS hat. The only problem was that I didn’t really like any of the patterns I saw online. What’s a knitter to do? Make her own pattern, that’s what!

I knit the original Call Box Hat around Christmas of 2014. It fit pretty well, but it was too loose of a gauge for me and the wind would blow through it. I still loved it, despite it’s shortcomings, and I was very sad this past winter to find that I had somehow lost it. I decided to replace it with a better version of itself. I swatched and reworked my charts to make a better, more windproof hat. You might remember a few months ago when I finished this beauty.

Well, the time has finally come. It is being published in Knotions Magazine this Saturday, September 30! You can see the preview here. I’m so excited!

Fingerless Gloves Shouldn’t Take This Long

I’ve been working on another design, this time for fingerless gloves. They are knit with fingering weight yarn and US 3 (3.25 mm) needles. I started the first glove September 8, according to Ravelry.

glove

Of course the first glove was not quite right. So I had to knit a second first glove. I finished it last night and I think it is just about perfect. So now I am racing to the finish line, trying to knit the first second glove before the end of the month. Why the rush, you ask? The gloves have already been accepted by Knotions Magazine for their December issue. Squeee!

Guess What!

Over the last two weeks I have been quietly working up a hat pattern. I made a similar hat a few years ago, but this time I’m making it better and writing it out. I decided to try my luck by submitting the pattern to a magazine. Designing for free is nice, but I like to get paid. And even more important is the exposure a magazine could give me. So yesterday I worked like a fiend to get all the required information together, and I submitted my pattern just before 10PM.

This morning I got an email that the magazine wanted to use my pattern. I’m so excited I could scream! I’m going to be published in Knotions Magazine.

The Call Box Hat will be published at the end of September in Knotions Magazine.

I couldn’t be more chuffed!