Thursday, December 10, 2009

Quick gift patterns - plain & simple

Today: ten eleven fabulous plain and simple patterns. Check back tomorrow for a few final ideas. Read the intro to the series here.

All these patterns use less than 300 yarns of yarn; most of them much less. That means you should be able to get them knitted in a week without too much trouble. All are easily available, either instantly online or in magazines currently on the newsstands. Many are free; others cost a few dollars. Some are widely known, others are unsung gems or rediscovered from past years. Enjoy!

  1. Quincy hat by Jared Flood. This jaunty hat is garter-stitch with a twist - literally. You knit a flat strip of garter stitch, give it a twist and join the ends, then pick up crown stitches and knit them in the round.  174 yards bulky-weight yarn.


  2. Storm Cloud shawlette by Hanna Breetz (free pattern).  Simple but lovely semicircular garter-stitch shoulder shawl with optional ruffle. Worked at an open gauge for sheerness. 150-210 yards fingering weight yarn, but can be worked in any weight. (This would be a great pattern to show off handspun.)


  3. 75-yard Malabrigo fingerless mitts for men, from Life in Cleveland (free pattern). Completely plain mitts with ribbed edges - but in a luxurious yarn, what could be better? 75 yards worsted-weight wool.


  4. Tea Mitten by Elizabeth Kleven (free pattern). Ribbed tea cozy fits your pot like - well, a glove. Uses less than 100 yards DK wool (and another great use for handspun.


  5. Magic slippers for babies from SockPixie (free pattern). Cute garter-stitch slippers use a walnut-sized ball of sock yarn leftovers for a newborn size; can easily be made bigger. I like this version, with pompoms.


  6. Robin's Egg Blue hat by Rachel Iufer (free pattern). Chic close-fitting stockinette hat with wide seed-stitch brim and buttoned tab. Less than 120 yards chunky-weight wool.


  7. Snug baby hoodie by Hinke (free pattern, available on Ravelry). Almost-seamless sideways garter-stitch hoodie jacket for newborns - 6 months, in Cascade Ecological Wool. Uses 219-273 yards.


  8. Susie's Reading Mitts from Dancing Ewe Yarns (free pattern). Fingerless mitts for women in stockinette with eyelet and purl-ridge accents, picot edges. 200 yards worsted-weight yarn.


  9. Urchin beret by Ysolda Teague from Knitty (free pattern). Garter-stitch beret worked sideways on two needles with short-row shaping. 77-110 yards bulky wool. This version added a few stitches to make a nice slouchy hat.


  10. Huckleberry Ascot by Kat Coyle, from Interweave Knits. Short garter-stitch scarf worked sideways. Short rows widen the ruffled ends. 220 yards DK yarn (written for alpaca).


  11. And one more for good measure: Ribby Slipper Socks from Interweave Knits (free pattern). Ribbed alpaca slippers with folded cuffs - feet in bulky weight, cuffs in worsted weight. 145-190 yards, sizes for children and adults. Knit them in a day!


Monday: patterns with color 
Tuesday: lacy patterns
Wednesday: patterns with texture
Friday: miscellaneous gems

1 comment:

  1. These are gorgeous, Thanks for taking the time to post this.

    ReplyDelete