Falala Free Pattern #2: Mini Mittens

How about a string of mini mittens for an Advent Calendar? Or use them with long strings to wrap up holiday presents? This pattern [PDF link / Ravelry link] from Valley Yarns (Webs) work the mittens flat with a little seam to sew up, which may be less fiddly for some knitters. If you are looking to work in the round, try these from Mindy Lewis [blog link / Ravelry link].

Falala Free Pattern #1: Elsa Schiaparelli Bowknot Sweater

Thought I would share a free pattern a day until Christmas, some suitable for quick-knit gifts, others to put in your queue for a gift to yourself once the holidays are over.

Why not add Elsa Schiaparelli's Bowknot Sweater to your queue? Shocking pink, perhaps. The good people of Schoolhouse Press offer this pattern free on their website. In addition to knitting a bit of surrealist fashion history, you could add Armenian knitting* to your skill set. Or if you're a crazy-quick knitter, you could wrap yourself up for the holidays!

*Looking at the trompe l'oeil bowknot on the front of this sweater, you would think it is done with intarsia, and you would be wrong. Armenian knitting uses trapping of the second color (a la two-handed fair isle knitting) to carry the second color throughout the piece. The pattern is written in pieces, which means trapping on purl rows -- I think I might try to convert this to knitting in the round to avoid that and work out some seamless set-in sleeves with EZ's help.

Free Pattern: Jean Beret

A new pattern for you! This one is for my mom, which is why I named it Jean. She wanted a cozy beret-style hat that she could pull down around her ears to keep warm in Chicago (and up in the snowy wilds of Wisconsin sometimes). You can wear it down around your ears, beret-style, or pushed back on your head. I knit it with two skeins of Crystal Palace Yarns Merino 5 Solid in Black, and a good sub would be Berocco's Pure Merino to get the same fabric, but Malabrigo Merino Worsted or Cascade 220 would work just as well (and only one skein!).

Size/Finished Measurements
Adult Medium (22-inch head circumference/12-inch diameter)

Materials
Crystal Palace Yarns Merino 5 Solid (100% Superwash Merino Wool; 110 yards/100 meters per 50 gram skein); color: Black; 2 skeins
one set US4/3.5mm DPNs
one US4/3.5mm 16-inch circular needle
stitch marker
tapestry needle

Gauge
20 sts/28 rows = 4 inches in stockinette stitch on US4/3.5mm needles

Abbreviations and Stitches
K = knit
P = purl
K1b = knit one in back of stitch
M1p-i-b = make one by lifting the bar before the next stitch and purling into the back of it
P2tog = purl two together
K2tog-i-b = knit two together in back of stitches

Pattern Notes
I used a smaller-than-usual size needle to create the cushy fabric I was looking for—this one was for my mom, and she lives in Chicago, where it gets cold. I imagine she will wear this down over her ears (see below) rather than on the back of her head (see left) or beret-style as shown on the first page.
Any woolly, worsted yarn will work in this pattern. If you can’t find Merino 5, try Berocco’s Pure Merino, as the composition and construction of the yarns are very similar.

Skills Needed
Casting on
Binding off
Knitting
Knitting in the back of a stitch
Purling
Knitting in the round
Increasing
Decreasing

Pattern
With circular needle cast on 108 stitches. Place marker and join to begin working in the round, being careful not to twist.
Rounds 1-6: [K1b, p1] to end.
Round 7: [K1b, p1, m1p-i-b] to end. 162 st.
Rounds 8-13: [K1b, p2] to end..
Round 14: [K1b, p2, m1p-i-b] to end. 216 st.
Rounds 15-20: [K1b, p3] to end.
Round 21: [K1b, p3, m1p-i-b] to end. 270 st.
Rounds 22–27: [K1b, p4] to end.
Round 28: [K1b, p2, p2tog] to end. 216 st.
Rounds 29–32: [K1, p3] to end.
Round 33: [K1b, p1, p2tog] to end. 162 st.
Rounds 34–37: [K1b, p2] to end.
Round 38: [K1b, p2tog] to end. 108 st.
Rounds 39–41: [K1b, p1] to end.
Round 42: Switching to DPNs [K2tog-i-b, p2tog] to end. 54 st.
Rounds 43–45: [K1b, p1] to end.
Round 46: [K2tog-i-b, p2tog] to end. 27 st.
Rounds 47–49: [K1b, p1] to end.
Round 50: [K2tog-i-b, p2tog] to last stitch, k1b. 14 st.
Round 51: [K2tog-i-b, p2tog] to last stitch, k1b. 7 st.
Break yarn, draw through remaining sts and pull tight. Weave in ends securely. Block over a plate.

About Kathleen Dames
I knit and design in New York City and Bath, Maine. You can find more of my work at kathleendames.blogspot.com and contact me at kathleendames at gmail dot com. I’m Purly on Ravelry.

I'm working on some other patterns, so watch this space :)

KSA: Triangular Shawls (Knitter's Service Announcement)

Want to make a triangular shawl? Only have a limited amount of that delicious yarn in your stash? Check out the exhaustive list Vicki of simpleknits put together organized by yardage; free patterns are in boldface. Summer is the perfect time for a little lace, and there are still a couple of weeks left! [link]

Free Pattern: Soap Bubble Wrap

Interweave Knits and Knitting Daily are offering the Soap Bubble Wrap as a free download. It is a very cute sweater (I seem to be drawn to wrap sweaters lately for Spring/Summer), and the model has an adorable tuchus in the photos. The recommended yarn is Euroflax Worsted, though worsted cotton and cotton blends are also suggested.

Having just received my copy of IK yesterday, I've already dog-eared this pattern.

Free Pattern: Cable Luxe Tunic

Lion Brand is starting their next KAL, and it's with the Cable Luxe Tunic. You can find the free pattern here until 27 November 2008. I've had this one in my queue since February, so I'm excited about this, though I'll have to wait until after Christmas knitting is finished. (And there's a lot of that at the mo'.) Have to decide what yarn to use, perhaps some stashed Jo Sharp Silkroad DK Tweed, though I'd probably have to tweak the numbers, since it's a DK yarn. But folks on Ravelry have found this yarn to grow upon blocking, so maybe. Or I have some O-Wool that's been marinating in the stash for a while, just not sure it's enough, but the cables would certainly pop in that yarn.

Anyway, go download that pattern while you can, but be sure to read it the whole way through. Lots of folks on Ravelry had issues with it because they hadn't read ahead.

Free Pattern: Estonian lace scarf

From Nancy Bush's new book: Estonian lace scarf. This pattern is a free download until 11 December 2008, so download yours now!