More free knitting patterns from Hugs

Hi all!  I am just popping in very quickly to say that if you've been hankering after one of the patterns I've been charging for, like perhaps the Railyard Scarf that's been so popular lately...

... they are now FREE.  There are still a few whose proceeds I share with Interweave and they remain accessible from my Pattern Shop site, but everything I was hosting here at Hugs is now yours for the taking.

(Just click the name of the pattern above the image to get to the download page.)

In addition to the Railyard Scarf, that includes:

PuddleJumper Socks

Winter Garden Hat

Confectionery Cap

Strawberry Sundae Hat

With the Great House Renovation project nearing its close, I have a bunch of other patterns to write or knit up so the list won't end here... but it's anybody's guess whether I'll have time to get to that before the ultimate annual deadline - Gift Knits.  Ugh, two perfectly lovely words that strike terror into my heart when combined!

More tomorrow but for now, please accept my apologies for the gaps in regular Hugs, and I hope you have been very well indeed since we were last here together.

Two new old patterns to share

I decided a couple of weeks ago to turn two of my for-sale patterns into for-free ones.  Each one showcases a fun technique (stranding and shaping respectively), they are both fun to knit, and in spite of their being *totally* not in season as I post this, they do make perfect gifts for a best friend. 

Hot Stuff! a very warm hat

I mean honestly: what friend doesn't want a picture of a steaming cup on their forehead, handknit for them by You?  Nothing gets more attention, I promise you.  (okay, let's all agree that even though this is not necessarily what we're after when we go out in public tired and cold and just wanting our errands over with, it's still true that this hat gets attention.)

I loved making both of these patterns so much, and it's amazing to me now to think there was ever a time when I could just sit down and enjoy creating something new.  You know what I'm talking about, right?  You're swamped too.  Let's all make a deal about scaling back on stuff so we can relax more.  Then you'd have time to knit these patterns, or even just breathe deeply.  Deep breathing is so underrated.

Candy Wrapper - a very warm necklace

Because they're both older - the Wrapper is from 2011, and judging by my glazed expression I was coming down with a cold at the time - I'm not sure whether the yarns I used are still available.  This is one situation where substitution is a must!

Speaking of which, you can get away with acrylic for the Wrapper as long as your gauge is right, but I wouldn't risk it for Hot Stuff.  It's a stranded hat and will need the elasticity that only wool can give you.


Normally I would give you lots of luscious info on how you get that crazy scarf shape, and how long it took me to fix it so the steam that divides the names of our favourite hot beverages is actually coming up out of a mug (hint: a really, really long time), but I have been unexpectedly tight for time this week and it took me an hour just to get the pattern files over into the free area of this site, so I will just invite you to click on the .pdfs for all the info.

(that is all one sentence. poor self-editing, or use of language to express breathlessly chaotic day? I leave you to decide.)


Click here to download the .pdf of Candy Wrapper Scarflet

Click here to download the .pdf of Hot Stuff

Best Friends Beanie: a free knitting pattern

If you've been reading Hugs for a while you may know that on Valentine's Day I share a free pattern as a little love note, a thank-you to everybody who spends time here all year reading my words. It's not a ritual I wanted to give up just because the days are zipping by me right now.

So, Happy Valentine's Day!

I'm calling this hat the Best Friends Beanie, but it started out a little differently.  I was writing in a coffee shop about six years ago, taking advantage of dead time between appointments, and couldn't help overhearing a conversational hum from a table nearby.  Two women, obviously close friends, were catching up - but one was talking nonstop while the other was offering a very occasional Uh-Huh just to indicate she was still breathing.  Probably because I was already doing creative work I couldn't stop myself grinning and picturing their time together in cable form - one cable twisting around and around, the other infrequently turning in its direction.

Later on I knit the cables up into a hat pattern and intended to release it here, but my schedule got very busy very abruptly and by the time I could write it up for publication I'd misplaced the hat itself.  Naturally, I found it while I was packing everything up a few weeks ago, but by then there was no sign of my pattern notes or yarn information.  So I started over in this gorgeous merino cashmere nylon blend from Viola.

(yarn note: the cables are more striking in a solid colour, but who can resist Emily's dye work?? not I.)

(also, if you click on that link and there's no yarn in the shop, don't worry.  Emily is opening a new studio very soon and once she starts dyeing full time there will be yarn aplenty.)

When I was knitting the hat this time, I had a completely different experience of it.  I wasn't laughing at the combination of superchatty and silent any more.  I was recognizing myself in both roles, and deeply aware of the value of the quiet partner.  There have been so many times since my coffee shop day that I've needed support and insight and turned to a friend who could hear me out and offer guidance.  And there have been so many times that I've seen someone going through a truly awful experience - divorce, or grief over a loved one's illness and death - and offered myself as a resource.  Friends need each other in different ways at different times... basically, we are all these cables.

I thought too about Pete and me and our marriage, how we've been incredibly lucky to be able to take turns being the quiet support.  It's very rare that we've both been the whirling cable at the same time, and even when that's happened, one of us has been able to take a deep breath and be calm for the other.  We've survived some tough times - really tough, things we never imagined happening when we were saying our vows - and we've come through them stronger than we were before.  That's partly because we have kept ourselves turned toward each other like these cables do, with a keen awareness that we are in it all together, but also because we've been able to see when we're needed more than we need something for ourselves. 

This beanie - toque? stocking cap? - is a different shape than I've been doing lately.  It's very close fitting and stretchy, which makes it very fast to knit with less yarn than some.  I feel it could be unisex, but maybe for a man you'd want to leave out the cables.  Probably the experience of knitting them is more meaningful than wearing them!  I found it very meditative and comforting, myself.


Difficulty Level
Intermediate.  There are cables! Also a purl-front-and-back increase.  The hat is knit in the round on either a 16" circular needle or a set of double-points (and you'll need double-points to do the crown decreases regardless.)

Materials
Solid or semisolid worsted-weight yarn - I used Viola M/C/N worsted in 'Mars' - with a good stretch.  I would not recommend any yarn that doesn't have at least 80% wool content for a hat with as much negative ease as this one. 

Gauge
20 sts, 31 rows - 4" in stocking stitch.

Finished Dimensions
Sizes S (M, L) - 16" around, 6-3/4" long (18-1/2" around, 7" long, 21" around, 7-1/2" long) - shown in size M stretched around my 22" head.



Click here for .pdf of Best Friends Beanie

Postive Ease - a free pattern

At last! I have finished writing up my Valentine's present to you, my dear Hugs readers.

It's a very, very big hat, the most comfortable hat I've ever worn, and I hope if you knit one you find it so also.  You can reduce the size by making the smaller version, but if you want a cuddly sleep sack of a hat go for the larger one shown here.

Positive Ease (guess where I got the name) is knit with Rowan Felted Tweek DK, held double - so if you're trying to burn through some leftovers from a sweater, it's a great way to clean up your yarn stash.

It's also got this fun tie you can wear at the back or a little to one side.  I went for form plus function here in a token 'romantic' pairing - the tie makes the oversized quality wearable, but also: it emphasizes the stripe colour.

Best of all, you can't see any of the colour jogs where the stripes come in!  Thank you, simple eyelets and braided tie.

Thank you too, so much, for being my knitting friends all these years (we are up to more than six now, I think!) and happy belated Valentine's Day to you all.


Difficulty Level

Pretty Easy.  You will have to use a yarn over, knit two stitches together, knit into the front and then the back of a stitch, and complete an ssk.  The rest is a whole lot of plain knitting, plus a little more running in of ends than usual.


Materials

Rowan Felted Tweed DK (50% merino wool, 25% alpaca, 25% viscose, 175m/50g) 2 balls A, 1 ball B (shown in Phantom 153 for A and Avocado 161 for B)
4.5mm double point or circular needles, or size to obtain gauge
darning needle
stitch marker

Gauge

19 stitches and 26 rows = 4" in stocking stitch.

Finished Dimensions

S/M (M/L): 21" around, 9.5" long (23" around, 9.75" long)


Click here for .pdf of Positive Ease

Hatcowl: a free hat or cowl pattern

Every time my fingers type Hatcowl, my brain sees 'Howl' and I think of Howl's Moving Castle, in which - coincidentally - the heroine trims hats for her mother's shop.  This has absolutely nothing to do with today's pattern, so thank you for your patience.  And do check out Howl's Moving Castle if you haven't seen it.

Okay: Hatcowl!

Inspired by an alpaca-blend hat I had to make myself give away, this charming accessory is a glorified tube with a cable eyelet detail at one end and a drawstring at the other.

You can pull the drawstring tight to produce a hat, or open it up to produce a cowl (which means that you'll need a scarf and a beanie as backup to cover whichever part of you is likely to be left in the cold; sorry.)

When I tried on the original, I was struck by the flattering quality of this very basic structure.  See what I mean?

So cute!  And what a great vehicle for self-striping yarn - the number of stitches never changes, so the stripes don't either.

Because the cable eyelet design stands right at the beginning of the round, it's important to use the cast-on tail to conceal the little jog at the join. 

If that's not something you do well, check out my tutorial on that process, and the first comment that follows.

The cable eyelet stitch is a little more complicated than the rest, but not much if you take it stitch by stitch.  If you aren't comfortable with it, just skip that part of the instructions and jump straight to the ribbing.  Because who cares about the front when the back has so much flourish?

Sizing: I only offer one size in this pattern, but I used the stretchiest ribbing for the bottom for maximum size flexibility within it.  My head is 22" around and this hat, at 19" when resting, is very comfortable.  If your head is bigger than mine, use yarn that's mostly - or all - wool.  Maximum elasticity!

If you're totally in love with this colour combination by the way, I hate to tell you it's a club colourway from Twisted Fiber Art, I think from the winter of 2014: Big Bad Wolf.  If I see it come into regular circulation I will let you know, but trust me: there are tons of other amazing options at Twisted.  Or you can check your yarn stash for another sport-weight yarn.


Difficulty Level
Close to beginner, if you leave out the cable eyelet pattern and just knit ribbing throughout.  The pattern is knit in the round.  Increases and decreases are included and described, and the drawstring is braided by hand.

Materials 

Twisted Fiber Art Playful (100% superwash merino, 300 yards/100 grams), 80g 

3.5mm 16” circular needle or size to obtain gauge

cable needle 

stitch marker

Gauge 

26 sts, 16 rows = 4” in stocking stitch
  
Finished Dimensions 

9.75" tall, 19” around

Click here for .pdf of Hatcowl

Earbud pouch: a free knitting pattern

January 2018 update:  Just a quick note to say that when I put hours into designing Hugs patterns to share, and publish them with the words "For Personal Use Only" added, it's with the dream that they will be knit and shared all over again out of love and generosity and not for profit on Etsy without even crediting me as the designer.  Ahem.  And now to the original posting...  and happy knitting!



I'm so happy to be able to share this giftable little knit with you well before peak gift-giving season:

As usual, this portable little pouch for mobile phone earbuds was born out of me needing something for myself, but right away I saw the potential for other knitters.  Who doesn't want to make something useful, completely giftable, and luxury-yarn-end stashbusting to boot?  Especially when you can do it in the time it takes to watch a movie.

None of this fiddly casting on three stitches to work in the round business - the pouch starts with a manageable cuff and works down to a grafted bottom.

And because the increases and decreases are at the side rather than all the way around, the pouch lies flat, which takes up less space in in a purse or a pocket.

On top of that, how perfect is this little pocket for a pair of earrings or a ring, wrapped up in tissue and tucked inside?  The recipient can use it later for stowing jewelry safely while traveling.  Or what about a child tearfully losing that first tooth, comforted by an especially cuddly envelope for tooth fairy transactions?

Oh, who am I kidding... these things feel so great to knit I would make them just to stop a chair leg from scraping the floor (and hey, I bet that would work too!)

The pattern as written is for a specific sport weight yarn, knit at a pretty tight gauge on 2.5mm needles.  However, that's just to make the writing-up easy.  I've been using other sport weight yarns, of course, and fingering.  But you can also try something a little closer to lace weight (I used Twisted Fiber Art's Arial yarn here.)

Originally when I posted this pattern, I gave the following project notes for fingering weight... but now I realize fingering works just fine for the pattern given.

For lighter-than-fingering on the other hand, I go down to a 2.25mm set of double pointed needles, and cast on 8 more stitches than the pattern calls for.  Instead of increasing three times at the end of the cuff, I increase four, and I start the decreases at 20 rounds or - if I'm using a yarn sample from Twisted Fiber Art - when it looks like I might be starting to run out of yarn.  You can decrease by eye because nobody's double checking your conformity, and simply end when you think it looks right or when you suspect you have only enough yarn left to do the grafting.  You might end up with a stumpy looking pouch...

... but trust me, you will be able to fit earbuds in there, and they won't fall out.


Difficulty Level
Not quite beginner, but still pretty easy.  The pattern is knit in the round.  It uses raised increases, which are thoroughly described if you haven't done them before.  It also involves grafting by Kitchener stitch (and is probably a great way to practise that.)  Instructions for Kitchener stitch are included as well.

Materials 

Any sport weight yarn - about 12 yards of it.
2.5mm double pointed needles, or size to get gauge.
darning needle

Gauge 

34 sts, 48 rows = 4” in stocking stitch
  
Finished Dimensions 

2 7/8" tall, 2 5/8” wide

Click here for .pdf of Earbud Pouch

Togetherness Cowl - a free Valentine pattern

Happy Valentine's Day!

Since 2009 when I started writing Hugs For Your Head, I've shared a free pattern in mid February as a thank you to you for spending some your time here.  Today I'd like to share instructions for a cowl, because I love them so much, and they fit almost everybody.

'Togetherness' features a very stable stitch that won't curl over in use, on a very soft DK-weight yarn - Duchess from Twisted Fiber Art - that is unlikely to be deemed itchy by anyone.

Like most of my patterns, this one has a story.  And since I designed it originally for Wayson who feels the stories are the best part of what I make, I'll share it with you.  If you end up knitting one in the circumstances I did, perhaps knowing will make it even more special.


Everything Starts With Guilt

Last fall I took a writing course with the excellent Humber School for Writers, and found myself knitting thank-yous for two of the faculty.  Then I felt guilty, because Wayson was my first teacher there and I haven't knit him anything new for him in ages.

The days I had set aside for designing and knitting this cowl for him coincided with the death of another extended family member, and in the end I did the prep work in the car on the way to and from his funeral.  As sometimes happens when you are doing creative work at an emotional time, I found that the insights I gained from the experience worked their way into the finished product.


Targets vs Webs

When I started to lose loved ones from the older generations of my family I developed the idea that an aerial view of our lives is similar - thankfully, only visually - to a target.  We begin our lives in the center of that target, protected by outer rings of older siblings and cousins and neighbours, and by parents and aunts and uncles and friends of their generation, and further still by grandparents and great-aunts and uncles and so on.  But as we get older, we find ourselves on wider rings as the protectors of younger people, and watching our progress to our own posts on the outermost ring.

At Jerry's funeral, I discovered something quite different.  As I moved around the reception room, chatting with older aunts and uncles and friends, and introducing younger people to other young people they did not yet know, it occurred to me that we are in fact in a web.  I am not in isolation in my generational ring at all - I have bonds with many in other generations and in fact reach out in both directions to hold them securely within our community.  I'm 90% certain that the young people I introduced will see each other again at many more funerals (for some reason, we don't gather as extensively for weddings) as we lose people from other parts of the web, and they will begin to reach out to each other too.

Admittedly this image still involves people leaving us, but it feels truer, and more secure as well.


Stitches and Ideas

Back in the car for the long drive home, I looked at the design I'd developed and saw that the knits and purls I was using to create a textured, stable fabric actually echoed the social structure of Jerry's mourners.

Pete thinks this looks like a William Morris print.  Love the idea, wish I could see it.

Each specific stitch is guarded by contrasting ones, up and down and across, and those guard stitches themselves are protected.  A series of solid lines, like spines, reach up through the whole giving stability and structures to them all.  It's a lot like a web.


Timely Knitting

It didn't take long to finish the cowl once I'd settled on the details, and soon after I let Wayson know I was putting it in the mail.  It was then I found out that he had just suffered a loss himself, and that a handknit cowl from a friend couldn't come at a better time.

(and that was before we found out what a cold winter we were going to have!)

So: on the one hand, Happy Valentine's Day with a nice warm simple cowl you can keep or give away.

And on the other, Happy Valentine's Day and thank you for being in my community web. 

Difficulty Level
Easy.  This cowl is knit in the round on either a 16" circular needle or a set of double-points.  If you can knit and purl and cast on and cast off (or have a friend who will do it for you), you're good to go. 

Materials 

Semisolid shade of Twisted Fiber Art Duchess (100% superwash merino wool,
240 yds/100g) 1 skein, shown in Suede, a coordinate for Dapper self-striping yarn
US 6/4.0 mm 16” circular needle

stitch marker
darning needle 

Gauge 

20 sts, 28 rows = 4” in stocking stitch
  
Finished Dimensions 

19” circumference, 6” long 

Click here for .pdf of Togetherness Cowl

Instant Love Hat: a free pattern

So many people asked about the pattern for my recent handspun hats, I decided to make it a top priority - and here it is!

I was so glad to find yarn that replicates handspun because this hat does make a great, fast gift, and Valentine's Day is coming up.  I always celebrate Valentine's Day as a time to do a little something special for anybody you care about - love covers so much more territory than romance after all.

The handspun wool I used originally has a lot of bounce and stretch.  This one is a commercially spun wool/acrylic blend and it's not as forgiving, but the fit is much the same.  I've included notes for yarn substitution in the pattern itself so you don't end up with something too big or small, because there is only one size written.

One size is really enough though, because the same hat fit all four of my friends and me, and our heads are all very different sizes.  The ribbing is stretchy, the hat is roomy, and so many people wear their hats tipped back on their heads anyway.

(hats look weird on me when I do that, and I didn't have anybody else handy to photograph this one on, so you'll have to take my word for it that my friends all wore theirs that way and looked fabulous.)

If you want your hat to be a bit smaller for a younger girl, or a bit larger for somebody with extra big hair, just play with your needle size a bit.  This pattern calls for 3 stitches to an inch in stocking stitch - 3.5 stitches is enough to make a very large hat, and 2.5 stitches a child size.

It'll still be fast though: each of mine took up about 3 hours of knitting time.

My favourite feature of the way I wear the hat is that it has an almost Russian look with its fullness toward the crown.  Looks so much more balanced over a heavy coat in cold weather than a snug fitting cap.  Traps more heat, too, which is pretty valuable these days.

And that's that!  If you make one of these for a friend for Valentine's, I hope you enjoy the knitting as much as she does the wearing.


Difficulty Level
Easy.  This hat is knit in the round on double-pointed needles, or on a 16" circular with a switch to double-pointed needles for the crown; you'll also need to know how to knit into the front and back of a stitch to increase, and knit two together to decrease.

Materials

Estelle Hudson (48% Virgin Wool Merino, 48% Acrylic, 4% Polyamide, 76yds or 70m/100g) 1 skein; shown in Colour  499
6mm double-point needles or size to obtain gauge
stitch marker
darning needle

Gauge
12 sts, 18 rows = 4” in stocking stitch

Sizing
One size, with a 21" ribbed band that stretches comfortably to 25"


Click here for .pdf of Instant Love Hat

Spin Cycle Hat - a free pattern

In honour of I Love Yarn Day, let's hear it for Noro!  What's not to love about amazing colour shifts in yarns that include wool, mohair, silk, and all sort of other goodies?

The problem is loving it too much to leave the store with just one skein, and then not knowing what to do with it.

And for Noro's bulky Odori yarn at least, here is the solution: the Spin Cycle Hat.

Well, you know I had to show the back first or you'd think I made a hat with laundry stuck all over it, right?  Here's the front:

I have to say, I am feeling pretty crazy about this hat.  I was aiming for some positive ease, which I got because Odori has silk in it (remember how silk stretches, from my post on yarn substitution?), and it's just warm as I thought it would be in spite of all those holes, because the bulky yarn is so very, very bulky. The holes and that extra ease just kind of trap heat.  I'm sitting in front of an open window with it on as I type this, and even though my nose is cold, the rest of my head is toasty.

Go Odori!

And go you - find some bulky yarn in your stash, and transform it into somebody's present, heh.
  

Spin Cycle Hat

Materials
Noro, Odori, (40% Silk, 25% Wool, 25% Angora, 10% Mohair, 109yds/100g), 1 skein
6 mm/US 10 - 1 set double pointed needles or size to obtain gauge.
Stitch marker.
Darning needle.

Gauge
13 sts, 16 rows = 4" in stocking stitch

Finished Dimensions
S (M, L): S (17.75", 20", 22.25") circumference; 7.75"(8", 8.25") high. Shown in M, worn very comfortably over a 22" head.

Level of Difficulty
Moderately Easy: advanced stitches include K2tog, yo, and Kfb (knit into the front and back of a stitch.  Worked in the round.

Click here for .pdf of Spin Cycle Hat