Category Archives: Free Pattern

Adelinea Mitts

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Because I love corrugated ribbing, I worked out a new pattern that highlights this feature. This knitting project kept me busy for a couple of weeks while I knitted them in two sizes and in a few different color combinations.

The sizes are Small/Medium and Medium/Large. This photo shows both sizes on my medium-sized hands. The one on the left is size M/L and has a slightly loose fit on me. The one of the right is size S/M and fits me tightly. The difference in the sizes is just over half an inch around (4 stitches).

As I was saying, I love corrugated ribbing. However, it’s the one structure in colorwork knitting in which I don’t weave in the ends as I go. I’ve never found a good technique for this so I just wait to the end and weave them away from the openings so the little tails are not visible. It’s a little more work, but worth it.

The pattern below shows the colors for the smaller sized mitts on the right. Here’s the colors for the mitts with blues/reds, all of which are from the Knit Picks Palette line of 100% fingering weight wool: MC1- Garnet Heather, MC2- Marine Heather, MC3- Opal Heather, CC1 Coriander Heather, CC2 Finnley Heather, CC3 Cream. (Amounts needed are noted in pattern.)

Here is the free knitting pattern for you to enjoy. Please let me know if you make them by messaging me or posting on Ravelry.

Please do not post this pdf on other websites! If you want to share it, just link to this page.

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Aluma Hat and Learning New Things

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Greetings! This has nothing to do with knitting, but I’m learning to ride a motorcycle out on some crazy dirt/gravel/sand roads. This photo is of me, taken this morning up on Flat Top Mesa near Mesquite, Nevada.

Did you think I just sit on my couch and knit all the time? (Well, I do sit and knit a lot!)

I just wanted to put it out there that even with knitting you have to be brave to try new things. So if you are thinking about knitting something that’s more complicated than you have previously tried—go for it. If you want to knit something way out of your comfort zone–give it a go. What’s the worst that can happen? Even if it’s a total mess you will surely learn new things.

Earlier this week I had a good time designing and knitting this hat.

This hat has all the classic elements: corrugated ribbing, stars, diamonds, and a fancy crown. I tried to put these all together in a new-to-me way and came up with the Aluma Hat.

The crown is my favorite part. Here’s the FREE PATTERN for you to download if you want to knit this hat.

Please do not post this pdf on other websites! If you want to share it, just link to this page.

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Sprung Hat Pattern

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Do you have a lot of left over yarn? I do and I’m constantly weighing these little balls to see if I have enough of a certain color to make something. I mostly have left overs of the Knit Picks Palette line which is fingering weight 100% wool yarn. Sometimes I want to design a pattern that has lots of colors in it so I’ll pull from my collection of scraps. I have noticed in general that people are more likely to make my patterns if there’s just a few colors involved. However, I design for my own knitting pleasure and I can’t resist complex colorwork.

This photo shows how the Sprung Hat came about. The bottom swatch was make to figure out how the flowers would look. Then I got to work on the crown. (I normally don’t show my swatches. I do them quick and dirty with no concern about presentation!) I never intended to use pink in this hat but I was running out of orange and wanted to save it for the actual construction of the hat. Pink yarns would be a great substitute for the flower colors, if that is what you have. There are 9 colors here: 3 light back-ground colors, 3 greens for the leaves, and 3 flower colors. Of course the leaves don’t have to be green!

Here’s the FREE PATTERN for you to enjoy!

Please do not post this pdf on other websites! If you want to share it, just link to this page.

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Alpinia Hat

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My abundance of green colored yarns inspired my newest design: Alpinia Hat. This pattern calls for 8 colors: a main color for the ribbing and back ground, 4 greens for the stem/leaves, and 3 flower colors. I made the “blooms” with red and oranges but you could use any scrap colors you have around. For the bloom colors you only need 11 yards of 3 colors each. With the 4 green colors, you only need 20 yards of each. The flowers could be in pinks or yellows or lavenders–any colors really. When substituting colors, consider keeping the values/shades close to the original pattern.

This is a basic charted pattern using fingering weight yarn. Only 2 color strands are used at a time. There are lots of color changes though and if you make this hat you will enjoy it more if you know (or learn!) how to weave in ends as you go.

Here’s the free pattern for you to enjoy. If you make this hat, please share a photo of it with me or post it on Ravelry.

Please do not post this pdf on other websites! If you want to share it, just link to this page.

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Foreign Accents Hat

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There are many colors in my yarn collection that I consider “accent” colors. Yellow, orange, red, and bright peach are a few colors I rarely use. This time, however, I used them all at once. Except for the dark gray color, the rest of the palette for this hat is BRIGHT. This is how I came up with the hat I call Foreign Accents.

For me personally, this is the best fitting hat that I’ve made. I used smaller needles (size 2) for the corrugated ribbing which makes the hat fit nicely. I used my balloon trick for blocking: soak the hat, squish out the water, fit the hat over a balloon that measures 1 inch less in diameter than your head. Let it dry like that.

I’ve written up the pattern and I’m sharing it here for anyone who would like to make it. My advice for knitters using this pattern is to learn to weave in your color changes as you go. There’s lots of ways to do this and the internet is full of tutorials. I know we all have different techniques that accomplish the same task, that’s why it’s only a suggestion. Maybe there’s a person who LIKES to weave in all the ends at the end of a project, but that’s not me.

Please do not post this pdf on other websites! If you want to share it, just link to this page.

Here’s the FREE pattern for Foreign Accents Hat:

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Desert Home Hat

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A while back I went hiking in the Valley of Fire State Park here in Nevada. Afterwards I tried to pick out some yarn colors that reminded me of the unique rock that I had seen. I was looking on-line for a vibrant coral that leaned towards orange. The closest thing I could find was “Kumquat” by Knit Picks. I ordered it and when it arrived I wasn’t sure how to use such a bright color in my designs. So it sat in my basket for half a year.

During one of my crazy moments when I was sitting on the floor grouping balls of yarn into color combinations, I figured out what to do with “Kumquat”.

Mixed in with rust, yellow, brown, and turquoise, “Kumquat” found it’s home. From there I designed this beanie. I’ve written up the pattern to share. Here’s the Free Pattern for Desert Home Hat.

Please do not post this pdf on other websites! If you want to share it, just link to this page.

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Rock Climbing Hat

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You may know that I love wool and knitting but rock climbing is also at the top of my list. My local craig is Lime Kiln Canyon in Northern Arizona. I live in Nevada but I’m right on the boarder of Arizona and I’m a stone’s throw from Utah. We chose this place to live because it’s close to all our favorite rock climbing areas. We get really great weather here this time of year but if it’s a little cold a nice wool cap will make the hike up to the craig comfortable. But enough about climbing! Let’s talk knitting!

I designed these hats as a way to use up small amounts of yarn. Quick draws and ropes come in all kinds of bright colors so I thought it would be fun to put together a pattern that used up these tiny bright scraps. I used fingering weight 100% wool yarns by Knit Picks.

The first hat I made for myself and I used my favorite dark blue color as the base. After I made my husband a dark green hat I decided it was a slightly better color combination so I used his for the creation of the actual pattern that I wrote. Of course if you make this hat you can use any colors you like.

Here’s the Free Pattern for Rock Climbing Hat. Enjoy!

Please do not post this pdf on other websites! If you want to share it, just link to this page.

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Pickleball Hat

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My hobbies of knit pattern designing and pickleball have bumped into each other. I had wanted to make a pickleball hat for a while and this idea finally came into my head. The challenge was the color yellow. I’m not a big fan of bright yellow so I had to work in other colors that I do like.

I wrote up the pattern and I’m posting it here for free. If you make it please send me a photo or post on Ravelry. Enjoy!

Please do not post this pdf on other websites! If you want to share it, just link to this page.

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Joy

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It may seem strange that I’d call these dark moody mittens “Joy” but I love deep dark colors. I’m quite happy with a lap full yarn and 5 little sticks (and a cup of strong coffee). Making these brought me joy.

Like the last few mittens that I’ve designed, I used the most simple seeding pattern for the palms and thumbs–alternating one light stitch and one dark stitch throughout.

Although the pattern has only 2 colors per row, it does change colors enough that it might be wise to weave in the ends as you go. This is how I knit and I know that it makes the yardage count on the low end. If you knit with the technique of weaving in all the tails of the color changes at the end of the project you will need the amount that is in the upper end of the range. For example, if the pattern says “Seude (CC2) 33-37 yards”, you’d want to err on the side of the greater amount if you leave tails as you knit. That being said, I think it’s worth learning how to weave in ends as you go. Using that technique will allow you to use less yarn, not have to manage all the strings as you go, and in the end not have so much work to do to finish the project.

Here’s the Free Pattern for Joy Mittens. Enjoy!

Please do not post this pdf on other websites! If you want to share it, just link to this page.

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Temptation Mittens

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How many different colors do I want to put into a design? Often I make mittens (or hats or socks) with just 2 colors. It’s quite fun to just knit along not having to change colors as I go. Sometimes I do want the kind of patterns that involve multiple colors. That’s how I came up with Temptation Mittens. With 3 dark shades and 2 light shades, these mittens kept me entertained. I chose colors that I don’t usually see together. I used fingering weight yarns from the Knit Picks Palette line. They are called Caper, Ash, Silver, Lichen and Hazelnut.

I use to think that the palms of the mittens needed to be fancy but after making lots of mittens I started appreciating this really plain type of seeding stitch. It’s made by alternating light and dark using what ever strands you were working with on the front of the mitten. My pattern has this charted out for you but once you get the system down you don’t really need to look at the pattern when knitting the palms.

Here’s the Free Pattern for Temptation Mittens.

Please do not post this pdf on other websites! If you want to share it, just link to this page.

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