There’s more to knitting than garter and stockinette, and although these stitches form the solid foundation of many of my favourite knits, it’s nice every once in a while to break the monotony and explore! So here are a few of my personal favourite stitch patterns and instructions on how to do them.
Handmade
Raspberry stitch mittens
Over the Christmas break, I took the opportunity to get a few projects under my belt. There’s nothing like having three days with no plans to make a considerable dent in your knitting list!
One of my favourite projects has to be the raspberry stitch mittens I designed and knitted for my friend Su. I’m a big fan of Debbie Bliss yarn at the moment (I’m going through a phase…) and made these fingerless mittens out of the beautifully soft Paloma in Rust (007). This yarn suits mittens and smaller projects perfectly due to its ‘chain’ construction, meaning it’s warm and chunky yet stretchy and light too.
So without further ado, here’s the free knitting pattern for you to have a go yourself!
Mum’s knitted hat and mittens
I know I’m biased, but my Mum’s awesome. So when it comes to treating her and buying her gifts, I like to put real effort in. This Christmas I took a break from making my own designs and I made presents of her choosing – a knitted hat and mittens set.
Mum chose the Quincy Moebius Hat by Jared Flood for Brooklyn Tweed and the Sherwood Mitts by Pam Allen for Quince & Co. (She’s got awesome taste in knitting patterns too!) I found both of these patterns lovely to work with and learned a good few things to add to my knitting arsenal!
Quincy Moebius Hat – Jared Flood
Firstly, this hat is downright beautiful. The moebius construction seems like it would be difficult at first glance, but it’s actually really easy to make and I love the way the twist sits when you wear it. Here’s a picture from Brooklyn Tweed’s website to show you what I mean.
Josh’s mittens – free knitting pattern
Another Christmas present handmade and gifted – and another free knitting pattern! These gorgeously soft fingerless mittens knit up really quickly using the magic loop method. Even better, this is a great unisex knitting pattern using a combination of staggered garter stitch bands and stockinette stitch. Happy knitting…
Debbie Bliss Paloma – Chestnut winter kit
I’m a big fan of Debbie Bliss yarn, I’ve knitted with all kinds of weights, wools, cashmere blends, tweed, merino – all of them! The Debbie Bliss website is also a thing of great inspiration to me. A soft colour palette, clean and uncluttered, making for the perfect jumping off point when looking to start a project or just browse for new yarns. I cannot wait to start a project with their recently launched Roma yarn – squishy, soft and lovely colours to choose from!
Countdown to Christmas Gift Collection
Over that last few weeks I’ve been posting about my favourite festive gifts to treat yourself to this season. It might be a little bit late for this Christmas, but I don’t see any harm in preparing for next year… So without any further delay, here’s my definitive Christmas gift list:
Silver Pine Cone Candles – Nordic House
Kate’s Cable Winter Kit – free knitting pattern
Here it is – my first ever homemade knitting pattern and this one is free!
Seed stitch cowl and mittens
I have far too much wool!….Hi my name’s Beth and I’m a ‘woolaholic’.
I buy skeins and skeins of the stuff, in all different thicknesses, textures and colours without much regard for what I’ll use it for! It’s these balls of wool that normally get left to the bottom of the pile, gathering dust until one day I’m struck with a little inspiration.
I’ve had this green speckled wool in my possession since I began knitting almost three years ago. It began its life as a massively oversized and badly ‘gauged’ infinity scarf in seed stitch, which I promptly unravelled. I then remade it into a slightly better gauged stockinette infinity scarf, but it still wasn’t the right size! It was like something out of ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’….
Then, two months ago I picked up my nemesis green wool and some 12mm needles and just started knitting! You know what they say – third time lucky.
Knitting Nottingham exhibition
This month, Nottingham’s Bonington Gallery (part of the Nottingham Trent University School of Art and Design campus in the centre of our beautiful city) played host to a celebration of textile technology and history. Nottingham was built on textile design and production (predominantly lace) and although our once thriving textile sector fell into decline following World War II, you don’t have to go very far to see the influence this foundation of industry and design has had on our little city.
Brooklyn Tweed Anais sweater
This was a labour of love, but boy was it worth it! The Anais sweater by Brooklyn Tweed was actually the first full garment I ever knitted and I have to say I didn’t make it easy for myself! Although it’s knitted mainly in stockinette, there are beautiful little details in the waist shaping, and the fashioned decreases grafting the sleeves to the neck. Then there’s the stunning lacework for the cowl neck. A very intricate knitting pattern for a novice!
