This week we welcomes two adorable new kits. All the way from arctic is Stanley the penguin, ready to try out our warmer climate. Along with him are the cutest little baby owlets you’ve ever seen.

If you’ve been wanting to make one of these adorable critter’s but are nervous about the techniques required, we encourage you to try out one of our classes this month. With our help you’ll get on those double points and on your way towards filling your life with adorable stuffed critters.

If you’ve never knit in the round and want some help getting started, we’re offering two classes this month that you can check out here.

Finished measurements: 19” circumference unstretched around, approx 11” tall

Materials:
Any worsted weight yarn (we used 2 balls of a store favorite: Trendsetter Tonalita, 52% and 48% acrylic, 100 yards) about 200 yards total.

US size 8 (4.5 mm) 16″ (40 cm) circular and a set of 2 size 8 double pointed needles.
Stitch Marker
Tapestry Needle

Gauge: 5 stitches = 1 inch in stockinette st

Pattern:

CO 96 sts, join in the round being careful not to twist, place marker at beginning of round.

Work K1, P1 rib for 1 ½”

Switch to stockinette stitch and work until piece measure 9” from the cast on edge.

Eyelet Round: *Yo, k2tog, k5* repeat around until 5 sts remain, yo, k2tog, k3.

Continue in stockinette for another 2”, BO loosely

Work 3 stitch I-cord for 30”, thread through eyelet row and knot at each end.

Download the pdf version of this pattern here.

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Liz is knitting this sweet little sweater from Interweave Knits Winter 2009, in a yarn we are very excited to get back in stock soon: Road to China Worsted by The Fibre Company.

This yarn is a super-soft blend of 65% baby alpaca, 15% silk, 10% camel and 10% cashmere. Lovely!

Liz is raving about how fun this yarn is to knit with. Seriously, she’s in love!

The pattern is Bells of Ireland Cardigan by Courtney Kelley, which is a bottom-up raglan knit in one piece with very minimal finishing.

In the picture below you can see where Liz put her underarm stitches on a stitch holder, those will be grafted when she’s done knitting.

Here’s the issue of Interweave she found this pattern in.

Come by the store and see this beautiful work in progress!

Check out the wondrous Road to China yarn when we get it in–we’re hoping it will be here within the next couple weeks! We’ll have five lovely colors to chose from.

We just got a bunch of Lorna’s Laces variegated hand dyes, Shepherd Worsted and Shepherd Sock!

We’re also anticipating the following new items:  The Fibre Company’s Terra, Mirasol’s Miski, Mountain Colors sock yarn “Bearfoot”, new buttons, lots of new knitting bags and cases from Offhand, including their new interchangeable needle case called Switch.

]]> http://www.knitculture.com/1327/feed/ http://www.knitculture.com/wise-old-owl-hats/ http://www.knitculture.com/wise-old-owl-hats/#comments Tue, 12 Jan 2010 23:34:42 +0000 Elizabeth Rowen http://www.knitculture.com/?p=1308 We’ve been seeing this adorable, clever, and classic owl cable design everywhere lately — from baby hats to adult sweaters. Unable to resist, we came up with our own FREE PATTERNS in both a CHILD size and an ADULT size to fit any owl lover in your life!

This cabled hat is cleverly designed to look like there are adorable owls encircling it– you can add buttons for eyes if you wish, or omit them for a more subtle effect. The child’s hat pictured here is knit in the super soft Lobster Pot Cashmere and the adult size is done in Rowan Coccoon.

We are also offering a class to help the cable-nervous get started.

Wise Old Owl Hat – Child Version

Finished measurements: 19” unstretched

Materials:
Lobster Pot 8ply cashmere or any worsted weight yarn with a gauge of 4.5-5 sts per inch
Size 7 circular needle and dpns
stitch markers
4 small buttons for eyes (optional, you can use more, less, or none at all)
sewing needle and thread.

Gauge: 4.5 per inch in stockinette stitch. The cabled owl sections will tighten up your gauge.

Abbreviations:
C4F: slip two sts onto cable needle and hold in front, k2, k2 from cable needle
C4B: slip two sts onto cable needle and hold in back, k2, k2 from cable needle

Owl Cable pattern:
(multiple of 11 sts)
Rounds 1-3: *p3, k8, repeat from * to end
Round 4: *p3, C4B, C4f, repeat from * to end
Rounds 5-11: same as round 1
Round 12: same as round 4
Round 13: same as round 1
Rounds 14-15: *p3, k1, p2, k2, p2, k1. repeat from * to end
Round 16-17: same as round 1
Round 18: same as round 4
Round 19: same as round 1

Directions:
Cast on 100 sts, join in round and work in 2×2 ribbing for 1 inch.

Switch to stockinette and work for 5 rounds, decreasing 1 st evenly spaced in row 3.
99 sts.

Work 19 rows of owl cable pattern over all sts.
Knit 1 or more rows and increase 5 sts.- 104 sts.

Continue in stockinette stitch until work measures 5 inches including ribbing or to desired length.

Decrease as follows:
*K 11 k2tog, repeat from * to end.
K1 round plain.
K 10 k2tog.
K1 plain.

Continue decreasing in this manner until 56 sts remain.
Then decrease every round until 8 sts remain.
Cut yarn and pass through remaining sts to fasten off.

Weave in all ends and block.

Sew buttons over the purl sections within the cable pattern that form the owl’s eyes

Wise Old Owl Hat – Adult Version

Finished measurements: 20” unstretched

Materials:
1 ball Rowan Cocoon or any chunky weight yarn you can get 3.5 sts per inch gauge with
size 10 circular needle and dpns, stitch marker
4 small buttons for eyes (optional, you can use more, less, or none at all)
sewing needle and thread

Gauge: 3.5 sts per inch

Abbreviations:
C4F: slip two sts onto cable needle and hold in front, k2, k2 from cable neeedle
C4B: slip two sts onto cable needle and hold in back, k2, k2 from cable needle

Owl Cable pattern:
(multiple of 11 sts)
Rounds 1-3: *p3, k8, repeat from * to end
Round 4: *p3, C4B, C4f, repeat from * to end
Rounds 5-11: same as round 1
Round 12: same as round 4
Round 13: same as round 1
Rounds 14-15: *p3, k1, p2, k2, p2, k1. repeat from * to end
Round 16-17: same as round 1
Round 18: same as round 4
Round 19: same as round 1

Directions:
Cast on 88, join in round and work in 2×2 ribbing for 1 inch.
Switch to stockinette and work for 5 rounds.

Work 19 rows of owl cable pattern over all sts.
Knit 1 or more rows and increase 2 sts.- 90sts.

Continue in stockinette stitch until work measures 6 inches including ribbing or to desired length.

Decrease as follows:

*K9, k2tog, repeat from * to end of round.

K1 round plain.

*K8, k2tog, repeat from * to end of round.

K1 round plain.

*K7, k2tog, repeat from * to end of round.

K1 round plain.

Continue decreasing in this manner until 40 sts remain.
Then decrease every round (no plain rounds) until 8 sts remain. Cut yarn and pass through remaining sts to fasten off.

Weave in all ends and block.

Sew buttons over the purl sections within the cable pattern that form the owl’s eyes.

If you’re curious about reversible stitch patterns, we’re offering a class this month.

Finished measurements: Hat: Head circumference: 22”

Scarf: 7″ x 60″

Materials:

Hat: 1 ball Rowan Cocoon

Scarf: 2 balls Rowan Cocoon (or any chunky yarn that gets gauge)

Needles: Size 10 16” circular and Size 10 double points or size to get gauge

Stitch marker

Gauge: 3.5 sts = 1 inch in St st

Abbreviations:
P: purl

K: knit

M1P: Make 1 Purlwise

Hat Pattern:

Cast on 83 sts, join in round and place marker at beginning of round.

Round 1: *K2, P2, rep from* to last 3 stitches, K2, P1

Repeat Round 1 for 1”, on the last round:

Set-up Round: M1P, *K2, p2, rep from* to last 3 stitches, K2, P1

Round 2: *K2, P2, rep from* to end.

Round 3: *K2, P2, rep from* to end.

Round 4: P

Round 5: P

Begin Harris Tweed stitch pattern:

(multiple of 4 sts)
Round 1: *K2, P2, rep from* to end.
Round 2: *K2, P2, rep from* to end.
Round 3: K
Round 4: K
Round 5: *K2, P2, rep from* to end.
Round 6: *K2, P2, rep from* to end.
Round 7: P
Round 8: P

Knit in pattern until piece measures 7 ½ inches from cast on ending with row 7 of the pattern (P row).

Decrease as follows:

Round 1: *P2, Ptog, rep from* 63 sts left

Rounds 2-4: *K2, P2, rep from* to last 3 sts, K2, P1.

Round 5: *SSK, P1, rep from* 42 sts left

Round 6: *K1, P1, rep from*

Round 7: *SSK, P2tog, rep from*, K last stitch, 25 sts left

Round 8: *K1, P1, rep from*

Round 9: *SSK around, K last stitch, 11 sts left

Round 10: *SSK around, K last stitch, 6 stitches left.

Weave in all ends and block.

Scarf Pattern:

Cast on 28 sts.

Row 1: K2, *K2, P2, rep from* to last 2 sts, K2

Row 2: K2, *K2, P2, rep from* to last 2 sts, K2

Row 3: K2, P across row

Row 4: K2, K across row to last 2 sts, K2

Begin Harris Tweed stitch pattern:

(multiple of 4 sts)
Row 1: *K2, P2, rep from* to end.
Row 2: *K2, P2, rep from* to end.
Row 3: K
Row 4: P
Row 5: *K2, P2, rep from* to end.
Row 6: *K2, P2, rep from* to end.
Row 7: P
Row 8: K

Knit in pattern until piece measures 60 inches from cast on ending with row 6 of the pattern. DON’T FORGET to knit 2 K stitches at each end of every row!

Weave in all ends and block.

Enjoy!

Sign up for the Seamless Sweater Workshop here

Sign up for the Beaumont hat Workshop here

Sign up for the Girasole Shawl Crashcourse here

***Please note: There was an error in the pattern which is now corrected. We were contacted by a customer who ran out of yarn before the pattern was complete, and her scarf was much wider than the pictured scarf. The corrected pattern below will give you the size pictured here, we apologize for the confusion!***

The scarf pictured takes only two skeins of Baby Alpaca Grande, but is just as beautiful in any number of our worsted or chunky weight yarns. If you’d like some guidance with the pattern we will be offering a class on the Mobius Cowl in December, as well as many more simple projects for holiday gift knitting… stay tuned!

Pattern:

We have always been fascinated by the mobius style and technique. Once you’ve watched Cat Bordhi’s very informative “Intro to Mobius Knitting” tutorial on YouTube you will be on your way to knitting a great scarf that can be wrapped double around your neck for cold weather or worn long and drapey! It’s a fun and fast project and makes a great gift.

If you want a longer scarf just cast on more stitches. You can also make your mobius wider –just add an extra skein! This scarf is equally beautiful knit in just garter stitch.

Size:
60″ long circumference x 7″ wide

Materials:
2 skeins Plymouth Baby Alpaca Grande (100% baby alpaca)
US 10 or 101/2 /40″ or 47” circular needles
1 Stitch Marker

Gauge:
3 stitches per inch

Technique:
Intro to Mobius Knitting tutorial by Cat Bordhi on you tube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVnTda7F2V4

Directions:
Using Cat Bordhi’s mobius cast on technique, cast on 152 sts. Place marker and join careful not to twist the stitches. See Cat Bordhi’s tutorial for directions.
Knit the 1st st tight to avoid a gap at the join. Knit the first round as directed by Cat.

Important: Round begins when you get to the stitch marker.

Knit for 3 rounds.
Purl 4 rounds
Knit 4 rounds
Purl 4 rounds
Knit 3 rounds

Cast off knitwise. Weave in ends.

Scarves make great holiday gifts, but endless garter stitch can get old before you’ve taken care of all your relatives. We’re constantly hearing from people who want to do something interesting, but not too complicated.

The Reversible Cabled pattern is the perfect answer. Interesting, but not so difficult that it becomes frustrating. People will think it takes a lot more work than it actually does. Or, if you’re feeling nervous about all those cables, join us for one of the Cable Classes we’re holding this November.

And since we just got in a shipment of Baby Alpaca Grande, there are plenty of colors to choose from.

Suggested Materials:
2 Skeins Plymouth Baby Alpaca Grande (or Baby Alpaca Grande Paint or Baby Alpaca Grande Tweed)
One pair of size 11 needles
One cable needle

Gauge (but it doesn’t matter as the scarf will just be thinner or thicker): cable pattern, 14 stitches = 4”

Scarf:
CO 32 stitches.

K4 P4 for two rows.

Begin Reversible Cable Pattern:
Row 1: (RS) *Slip 2 sts onto cn (cable needle) and hold in back; K2,
K2 from cn., P4. Repeat from * across row
Row 2 –3 : K4, P4 across row
Row 4: *Slip 2 sts onto cn and hold in back: K2, K2 from cable
needle, P4. * across row
Row 5-6: K4, P4 across row
Row 7: (RS) *Slip 2 sts onto cn (cable needle) and hold in back; K2,
K2 from cn., P4. Repeat from * across row
Row 8-9: K4, P4 across row
Row 10: * Slip 2 sts onto cn and hold in back: K2, K2 from cable
needle, P4. * across row
Row 8-9: K4, P4 across row
Row 13: (RS) *Slip 2 sts onto cn (cable needle) and hold in back; K2,
K2 from cn., P4. Repeat from * across row
Row 8-9: K4, P4 across row
Row 16: * Slip 2 sts onto cn and hold in back: K2, K2 from cable
needle, P4. * across row
Row 17-22: K4, P4 across row

Cont. even in Reversible Cable Patt until piece measures approx. 65-66″ from the beginning, or desired length.

BO (bind off) in rib.

Block

Download a pdf version of this pattern here.