Just for kicks I asked OpenAI to write a knitting pattern for a scarf and a stocking hat. It did! I asked it to explain color theory in Fair Isle knitting and it did! I asked it to write about the history of Fair Isle Knitting and it got the time period wrong by saying they liked colorful knitting there in the 1600’s. Not true! It does not know the difference of a Latvian braid and cable technique. So it’s like a beginning knitter—give it time!

Back to real life… It’s officially winter! I’ve been working on this pattern over the last week and wrote it up to share. I’m still obsessed with Latvian braids. I’m also really into fancy thumbs. It’s a little fussy to do the thumbs but well worth it for the finished product. Short double pointed needles make it more enjoyable for me to knit thumbs. I highly recommend them.

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

Here’s the pattern for Winter Wise Mittens:

After a recent kick of making hats, I finally found a good way to block hats–balloons! What took me so long? I blew them up to a 22 inch diameter and set the soaked hats on them to dry.

Talk about late to the party, I also just discovered Latvian braids! I just randomly decided to try them out on a hat and I love how they look. There are lots of youtube videos to help you understand how to make Latvian braids. I watched a few before trying it on a hat.

I chose my favorite hat and wrote up a pattern to share. I titled it Late Night Hat because I was late to learn about the balloon blocking and Latvian braids.

There are 5 color in this hat. If you choose colors that you already have consider using 3 dark shades and 2 light shades. For contrast, the Latvian braid should have 1 light color and 1 dark color. The background colors (main color 1 and main color 2) are both dark. The contrasting color is light and is the same for all the stranded colorwork. I used Knit Pick’s Palette and listed the colors in the pattern, but you could use other fingering weight yarns. Of course I recommend 100% wool.

Here’s the Free Pattern for Late Night Hat.

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

Happy Thanksgiving! A few weeks ago I worked out a new pattern for Extra-Large sized mittens. The colors and pattern design makes me think of Christmas but of course a fella could wear these any cold day.

Here’s the Free Pattern for Men’s Christmas Mittens. If you make them, please post on Ravelry or send me a photo.

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