New Pattern! And Yarn Giveaway!

So, since I published it I've had 725 downloads of the Infinity Loop Scarf. That's a lot of Infinity Loop Scarves, folks! I hope that there are still a few of you out there who are not making Infinity Loop Scarves, since I have a nice new pattern to introduce. New pattern time! And a yarn giveaway! Yee haw!

One of the many things that I love about knitting is fair-isle or stranded colorwork. Honestly, you couldn't pay me to do intarsia (all those ends and bobbins!), though I know a lot of people love it. Look at this gorgeous insanity ("Foolish Virgins" cardigan by Kaffe Fassett):

The woman who knit this said she had FORTY bobbins of different colors going on each row. Excuse me while I curl up weeping in the fetal position. But hey more power to her!

But give me a good two-color knitting pattern and off I go! I love this:

(Bird in Hand mittens)

And this!

(We Call Them Pirates hat - lost at school for 6 terrible months and then found in the Lost & Found on the last day of school! Didn't have to sell boy to the gypsies after all.)

In the spirit of all that colorwork, I came up with an easy and fun introduction to two-color knitting, Easy Fair Isle Headbands!

Look!

They're good for ladies and men! They're warm (double layer of fabric)! They're easy (no increasing or decreasing and only 16 rows of colorwork!) and don't use a huge amount of yarn. They look great on the ski slopes, on the sidelines of your kid's soccer game, or gadding about town. They keep your hair tidy and fabulous and your ears nice and toasty-warm. They'd make a quick thoughtful gift for a teacher (those cold afternoons on the playground!) or friend.

I love the classic look of the color combinations above, but thought I'd take one of my million balls of Noro Kureyon (a self-striping yarn famous for its insane combination of colors) and use that as one of the colors. Here's the result:

Waah! Super-love!

I'm giving away two copies of the pattern with the following yarn (delicious Mission Falls Wool).

Leave a comment below* or on Facebook with your yarn choice AND your favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal. Mine is my mother's old favorite, mashed rutabagas. Also I love that jellied cranberry sauce - from a can!!

*don't forget to include your email address

To Infinity (Loop Scarves) and Beyond!

New free pattern alert!!

I was recently asked to teach an Infinity Loop Scarf class at The Tangled Web and so I knocked out a pattern and some samples to bring to class. If you're not familiar with infinity scarves, they are basically just a gigantic loop - no pesky ends to deal with - which you wrap luxuriously and fabulously around your neck.

The pattern I came up with features a Ruffled Infinity Scarf:

(sample done in one of the ten trillion skeins of yummy Malabrigo that I've accumulated over the years)

And a Non-Ruffled version:

(sample done in Noro Taiyo)

Infinity scarves are fun and easy! They're great for using up odd bits of yarn, combining textured yarns, using self-striping yarns, and are a great mindless piece of knitting to pick up and put down. And of course, the holidays are coming up - they make a nice gift too.

I posted this pattern on Ravelry this weekend and had THREE HUNDRED downloads in the first 24 hours! Yikes.

Anyway, here's the link - go download and if you make one, please email me a picture or post on Ravelry or Facebook!

Easy-Peasy Baby Blankets!

I've been busy, busy, busy lately! First, in non-knitting, there was this:

The boy's Lego minifigure Halloween costume that consumed most of my waking moments for the past few weeks. That's a lot of cardboard and duct tape, folks! I didn't realize how much time I was spending on it, mentally and physically, until yesterday when it was finished and he wore it in his school's Halloween parade. I came home and actually didn't know what to do with myself!

Fortunately, there is always knitting. I set myself to finishing my two Easy-Peasy Baby Blankets. Here they are:

I increased to 126 sts on each - worsted weight cotton on a #7 needle (though next time I'll go up to an #8 to make it bigger faster - those last couple of increase rows were reallllllly long....) They both ended up about 22" square, which was a little smaller than I wanted, so I did 2 rows of single crochet around the edges to add about another 2" to the total width.

I really enjoyed these little blankets; I think they'll be my go-to baby gift for the next couple of babies that come down the pike. I like their plainness/simplicity and their garter-y goodness.

Here is the link*, if you have babies on the way who need a quick gift. Next post, new pattern and giveaway! Stay tuned!

[ETA: *It's the Marina's Soap Sock and Easy Peasy Washcloth pattern. I took the Washcloth pattern, which starts at one corner and increases up to 44 sts. I kept increasing up to 126 sts to make a blanket.]