Category Archives: freebies

FINISHED Two Hats (Beloved & Antler)

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With the holidays coming up I’m going to try to focus on smaller projects that make great gifts (hats, cowls, scarves, slippers, sockies, mitts, leg-warmers, etc). What are you making for the holidays this year? I received a reprieve this year, only one hand knit required, so I’m developing my self-love and making myself some new leg-warmers and a new sweater made with the new Fibre Co. Cumbria. I’m looking forward to sharing that project with you, the results so far are great – I’ve gone off-book and am trying a new experiential experiment with it, fingers crossed!

Beloved

I was originally thinking of using a sightly heavier yarn for this, some Cascade Eco+ Merino that was leftover from our Felix Pullover, but I kind of wanted to experiment and see what the hat would be like with Drops Air, a lighter, airier yarn. I think it made for a really nice fall hat or something for people who have a lot of hair. Now that I’m sitting down and giving it another thought, I’m having a “what were you thinking?!” moment and realize that it would look sensational made with the Malabrigo Mecha (smack forehead). Thankfully, there’s always another hat on the horizon! It would be interesting to make the same hat over & over in different yarns and see how they turn out …. maybe that will happen some day, when I’m no longer a person with a DaVinci-esque attention span (he was notorious for not finishing his work, once DaVinci solved a puzzle he lost interest and moved on).

Notes

If you mke a pompom for this hat, don’t kill yourself making it dense. I did, I got all perfectionisty and packed it tightly, which made it look smooth and dense. Unfortuantely, this made it smooth and dense. This hat looks great with a “hand-made” looking pompom, and light and airy is definitely better. If you like a tight pompom, go for a smaller size pompom maker, like the yellow one from clover.

Design Hack: Want a quick pick-me-up for a dull hat? Add a fur pom-pom or a hand made pompom in a contrasting colour!

Materials

Antler

Another experiment with Drops Air, Antler turned out super light and cozy. Like, super-duper light and cozy. I just tried it on, and it’s so cozy that I’d kinda like to crawl into a matching onesie made with the same yarn … that would be quite a sight, quite possibly the ultimate in ‘cocooning’ (something to think about for halloween next year). I’ve completely lost my train of thought … that’s how cozy it feels!!! Oh yeah, wear it with your Infinitude cowl, you’ll never want to take your outerwear off.

Notes

We made the brim of our hat short so it can be worn like a slouch, but it was designed with more ribbing and you can take it either way, depending on what looks nice on you.

Materials

  • 1 skein Drops Air
  • 4mm/US6 – 16″ circular needles
  • 5mm/US8 – 16″ circular needles
  • 5mm/US8 double pointed needles
  • cable needle/hook
  • tapestry/darning needle
  • FREE Pattern

NEW Free Pattern Slouchy Angora Hat

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Slouchy Angora Hat

This is a pattern I came up with YEARS ago, but I don’t seem to have ever published it to Ravelry. I came across this utterly DIVINE yarn, Phildar Pur Angora, and I had to buy it, and then of course had to make something with it … so the old Slouchy Angora Hat pattern came out. I’ve re-edited and made some updates to the pattern.

The hat is a basic, slouchy toque. You can wear it with the brim turned up and wear it as a watch-cap, down and slouchy, or turn the brim under and wear it as a beanie. It’s pure angora, it does all the work! It is knit with 2 strands held together, in our sample we used one strand of black and one of the lighter grey, Perle, to create a marled effect. If that feels a little busy for you try using two strands of the same colour and make it a dense and delicious colour.

The yarn is just so gorgeous and precious! I hold it and I’m like “Oh hello you beautiful thing!”, and then I start talking to it like it’s a baby with the fattest thighs I’ve ever seen. I like using different kinds of yarns, and once in a while using something and precious special REMINDS me that I’m special and precious (it seems like the further we get from that yummy baby fat the less we receive that kind of honour, so I undertake it myself).

Please note … I am currently wearing the hat (brim turned under) and I’m not sure if it is influencing my writing, but I think that if it *is* inspiring me to love myself and treat myself well then it qualifies as an EXTRA-successful project, regardless of any of it’s other properties. Thanks to Erika for making the sample, it’s my new thinking cap!

Brim turned under

Size

  • S(M, L)
  • Finished Circumference: 17(19, 20.5)”
  • To approximately fit head circumference: 21(22, 23)”

Materials

  • (2, 2) Phildar Pur Angora (25g,109m/123yds, 100% Angora)
  • 4.5mm/US7 (5mm/US8, 5mm/US8)-16” circular needles
  • 4.5mm/US7 (5mm/US8, 5mm/US8) double pointed needles
  • Darning/Tapestry Needle
  • 1 stitch marker
  • FREE Pattern

Conclusions & A Question

I’m definitely going to have to make a little beret and maybe a matching neck thing with this yarn!

I also have an open ended mindfullness question for those of you who practice such things …. if you work on a project, and the entire time you are making it you intentionally think of about how precious you are (or whatever you choose), will you feel those emotions every time you wear the finished garment? Has anyone ever tried this? What would you call the practice? How did it turn out? …. It’s pretty clear to me at this point that I’m going to have to try it and share. 🙂

NEW PATTERN Handspun Art Yarn Cowl

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Handspun Art Yarn Cowl

The first thing people say when they see Studioloo Handspun Art Yarn is “What do you make with it?” The quantities are generous and the yarn generally does all the work, but there is still room to play around. I like the idea of using an art yarn as a launch-pad and expanding on the aesthetic with a different texture, colour, or both. This is also a great way to make the most of handspun yarn if you only have a small amount, or you definitely don’t have enough for a full scarf or cowl.

With this pattern I’ve started with a skein of Studioloo Handspun Art Yarn, knitted it in a simple garter stitch, which really makes the different colours and textures in the yarn pop. Then I finished the project with a contrasting commercial yarn (Cascade Spuntaneous) with a slightly different tension and stitch pattern (K2P2 rib). I decided to keep the colour between the two yarns consistent (beige) for the sake of simplicity, but I normally like a little contrast (I was thinking or cream or even navy blue as alternate choices). Both yarns are a single ply, but the Cascade Spuntaneous is thicker and loftier, and knits on larger needles.

Skill Level: Beginner

Size: 33” long x 6” wide (lying flat)

Materials

FINISHED Infinitude ‘Scarf’ Cowl

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Infinitude ‘Scarf’ Cowl

I really love how this project came out! It’s soft, airy, light, cozy, and with the pattern being free and the yarn only costing $20, it’s a pretty cost effective knit too! If you’re starting to think about holiday gift to knit, this is a great go-to project.

The pattern is called a scarf, but I don’t know why because it’s actually a cowl. We made the smaller size and in the yarn we used (Drops Air) it can be worn either once or twice around the neck. I also found that the “twice around” brings the ‘full goldilocks’ – it isn’t too big or too small, it’s just right (in my mind, that means it doesn’t gape, letting cold air in). If your finished project looks small just wet-block it, mine stretched from 20″ x 10″ to 24″ x 9″.

The Pattern

The pattern, Infinitude Scarf, is a simple little thing that combines knits and purls in the easiest way. The skills are pretty simple: casting on, working in the round, using a knit & purl stitch in the same row, and binding off. We made the smaller size, but had extra yarn so just kept going in the welt pattern by adding an extra 3 pattern repeats (so we did “Knit 
4 
rnds,
 purl
 4 
rnds” a total of 6 times).

The Yarn

We used two skeins of Drops Air, a new yarn for us this year. It’s a super light and airy alpaca that knits easily and looks great! It’s a ‘blown’ yarn, which means it consists of a loosely knit chain core made of polyamide and then the Alpaca is literally blown into and through this core, coating it in a delightful halo of the softest alpaca. The result is an extra depth of colour because you can see a bit of the core through the translucent outer layer. Drops Air comes in both heathered and solid colours, but I think the heathers are extra pretty, with that extra dimension of colour added. Did I mention that it’s also super soft? Yeah, it’s crazy soft, it totally passes the neck test. Drops Air comes in a bunch of colours, made in Peru and the European Union, and it only costs $9.97 a skein.

Materials

The Final Assessment

This project was a WIN. Pattern: Good. Yarn: Goooood. Finished Product: Great!

P.S. the SWEATER in the pictures is Paprika, make with Drops Brushed Alpaca and Silk, and the details are HERE.

PROJECT Beach Wrap in Cotton

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Beach Wrap in Cotton

We finished up a new store project, our Beach Wrap pattern, but this time we did a little experiment and made it with a bulky cotton yarn, Berroco Estiva. Estiva is a new yarn this year, so we’re still playing around, putting it through it’s paces, but I think it’s definitely reorder-worthy for next spring. It’s soft, 100% cotton, bulky, and not heavy or ropy like most bulky weight cottons. That ticks a lot of boxes for me. It’s also made in Italy (ie. not made by slaves) and is machine washable on cold, which is are features I didn’t expect but please me.

Notes

The wrap came out significantly smaller than our original version in linen, so if you want to make a larger wrap you can cuddle into you should get an extra cakes of Berroco Estiva. I thought it was a teachable moment (at least I got teached), so I’m going into it in more detail in a follow-up post (I actually drafted that post first, so I PROMISE it will come).

Materials

  • Berroco Estiva: 1 cake for smaller version (in the pictures), 2 cakes if you want your wrap larger.
  • 7mm/US10.75 – 32″ circular needles
  • Tapestry needle
  • FREE Pattern

FREEBIE & STORE HOURS August Long Weekend

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August Long Weekend Store Hours

Friday August 2: 11 am to 6pm

Saturday August 3: 11 am to 6pm

Sunday August 4: CLOSED

Monday August 5: CLOSED

Farmhouse Towels

Make some towels that are so beautiful you’ll never want to use them! That’s ok, some things you use until they’re shredded, and some you keep out to please the eye. Both have their roles in our lives.

Materials

You can also use Cascade Ultra Pima and 4mm/US6 circular needles: MC: 2 skeins (3 skeins will make 2 towels), CC: 1 skein.

PROJECT First Blanket

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I’m sorry I haven’t written a proper post in a bit, I’ve been tied up with helping you guys in the store, humidity and life. Luckily, life works for us, and gives us little breaks where we can breathe, and contemplate, and write inspiring things!

I wanted to thank those of you who write, call, and stop by to tell me how appreciative you are – it means the world to me, and I’m very grateful for your feedback, it keeps me going! It’s the most rewarding thing in the word to know that I’m helping and inspiring you. It also helps me know that I’m on the right track, and when it’s time to make a change – both of which are incredibly valuable.

Thank you for connecting with me, it helps me connect with you. ~ Haley

First Winter Blanket

This pattern popped up on Ravelry last week and I think it’s absolutely brilliant in its simplicity. It’s a baby blanket that turns into a bunting – genius! It uses 3 skeins of one of my favourite yarns, Malabrigo Rios, an incredibly soft, hand dyed machine washable merino wool from Uruguay. The knitting is pretty basic, just garter stitch and seed stitch, so it’s accessible to knitters of all skill levels. The pattern is FREE, so Yay!

Plus, the manufacturer, Malabrigo Yarns, is committed to employing women who lack job opportunities, ecological sustainability and ethical animal husbandry. These things are important, and while it may sound kooky, I increasingly think that all the parts of the manufacturing process end up *in* the product. Trendy isn’t enough for me – I want more, I want JOY.

Materials

  • Malabrigo Rios: 3 skeins (1 in each of 3 colours)
  • 5mm needles (straight or circular)
  • stitch markers
  • row counter
  • tapestry needle
  • 11 buttons (15mm to 25mm)
  • FREE Pattern