Rooster Beanie Pattern Released

Over the last month or so I have spent countless hours knitting and designing beanies.  Most of these have been for members and parents of our local high school marching band.

I also designed a rooster beanie without musical motifs in honor of our schools mascot, The Fighting Cocks.

When I shared pictures with my knitting group on Facebook there was a clamor for a pattern.

So I then spent some time knitting a couple samples in different colors.

And today I have released the pattern both on Ravelry and in my Etsy shop.

In honor of the marching band that inspired my design and to celebrate the release of a new pattern I am offering a 50% off discount on this pattern when you use the coupon code Red Regiment on checkout.

(Side note the code has a space on Ravelry but not on Etsy.  Sorry for the confusion.)

Swirly Leaves Beanie

Last night we had to turn the heat on.  This morning when I drove the kids to school I used my heated seats.  That can only mean one thing......It’s Fall!!!

Fall means many things to different people.  For some it’s football season, for my kids it’s marching band season.  For some it’s all things pumpkin, for others it’s all things apple.

One thing that we generally all agree on is leaves!

I live just miles away from the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and every October we are overrun with people who come to see the leaves change colors.

I love to see the mountains alive with color but in my own yard I love to see swirling, dancing leaves as they perform their yearly ballet from the tree limbs to the ground.

(My husband says I love them because I’m not the one who rakes them, but whatever.)

It is inevitable that as much as I love the falling of the leaves that I would design a hat that could simulate the feeling.

The result is my Swirly Leaves Beanie.

After I finished all my Red Regiment orders I was still in the mood to do a few more beanies.  But I was definitely a little tired of working with red and black.  I needed some of those beautiful colors of nature.

I also wanted to give the design movement like the dancing of swirling leaves.

I love the effect of the color changes of the yarn and the swirls of the design together.

My samples were knit with Caron Simply Soft.  The black is in the Solids line, the oatmeal is in their Heathers?, and the orange is an Ombre.

I hope you love it as much I loved designing it.

If you are interested, the pattern is available for purchase in my Etsy shop or on Ravelry.

Now I’m off to reclaim a beanie from one of my girls and maybe, just maybe I’ll venture out to help my husband with those leaves.  Or maybe not (most of them are still on the trees right now). 

Maybe he’ll join me for a cup of hot apple cider on the back porch and watch the leaves dance for us.

I think that’s a much better idea.

Anchors Aweigh Hat and a Free Pattern

Once the creative juices start flowing I find that I can’t stop.  Working on my Red Regiment hats (see post here) started the hat making process. And now the hat making process has progressed to a hat designing process. 

For this hat I utilized charts by Jacqui’s designs found here on Ravelry.

I’m just so excited about this new hat that I had to share it!  And I’m sharing it as a free pattern to you!

This pattern assumes a knowledge of working Fair Isle or stranded knitting as well as the ability to read charts.

Materials Needed:

US sz 7 16” circular

US sz 7 DPNs

125 yds worsted weight yarn in MC (royal blue)

50 yards worsted weight yarn in CC1 (turquoise)

50 yards worsted weight yarn in CC2 (white)

30 yards worsted weight yarn in CC3 (pink)

stitch marker

yarn needle to weave in ends

Abbreviations:

CO: Cast on

PM: place marker

K: Knit

P: Purl

Kf&b: Knit in the front and back of the next stitch

K2tog: Knit the next two stitches together

CO 100 sts with circular needle and MC using your favorite cast on for ribbing (I used the Old Norwegian Cast On because I wanted it to have some stretch with the ribbing.)

PM and join in the round, being careful not to twist stitches.

Work in K2,P2 ribbing for 2.5”

On next round increase 20 stitches as follows: *K5, Kf&b* repeat * * around

Knit 4 rounds in MC

Next work wave chart using MC and CC1

Knit 1 round in MC

Then work Anchor chart using MC, CC2, and CC3 (I used 4 stitches of MC between each anchor chart.  This allows for 6 anchors to be evenly spaced around the circumference of the hat. Also I added the pink anchor as an accent.  This requires some finagling of the pink floats but I think the overall look is worth it.)

Knit 1 round MC

Knit wave chart using MC and  CC1

Knit with MC until hat measures 8.5” from cast on edge.

Decreases:
(switch to DPNs as necessary)

 Rnd 1: *K10, K2tog* repeat  * * around

Rnd 2: Knit all

Rnd 3: *K9, K2tog* repeat * * around

Rnd 4: Knit

Rnd 5: *K8, K2tog* repeat * * around

Rnd 6: Knit

Rnd 7: *K7, K2tog* repeat * * around

Rnd 8: Knit

Rnd 9: *K6, Ktog* repeat * * around

Rnd 10: Knit

Rnd 11: *K5, K2tog* repeat * * around

Rnd 12:  Knit

Rnd 13: *K4, K2tog* repeat * * around

Rnd 14: Knit

Rnd 15: *K3, K2tog* repeat * * around

Rnd 16: Knit

Rnd 17: *K2, K2tog* repeat * * around

Rnd 18: Knit

Rnd 19: *K1, K2tog* repeat * * around

Rnd 20: Knit

Rnd 21: K2tog around

Break yarn and pull through the remaining stitches.  Pull tight and pull yarn to wrong side of the hat.  Weave in ends. Block as desired and enjoy.