Midnight Knits

Put your style in pole position and take the flag with these checkered (chequered?) socks. The perfect accessory for any motorsports fan, whether you're in the stands or on your sofa. A modification of the original Last Lap Socks to make the squares more defined, the motif more clear, and add a third colour. Still a DK weight sock, knit in Yarnsmith Create (grey), Scheepjies Scrumptious (white), James C Brett Second Chance (black). Gauge: 22 sts in 4 inches in Chart 1   (You may struggle to get gauge if your floats are too tight.) You will need: Approx 60g of DK yarn (20g MC, 20g CC1, 20g CC2) 3.25mm DPNs / short circulars (or magic loop) Tapestry needle Techniques: Colourwork - This is done by carrying floats (Fair Isle). Make sure the floats are not too tight. It will warp the design and make the sock difficult to put on.  Trapping floats - You may find it useful to twist your floats when carrying a colour over more than four stitches. This stops the floats from getting in ...

Meet the second item in the Pit Stop Collection: The Track Limit Socks. The name speaks for itself. These mimic the iconic red and white track limits found on the edge of famous racetracks. The colours were originally part of a Marlboro sponsorship but it soon became synonymous with F1. This is a two-in-one pattern as each sock is different. The sample is knit with two colours of recycled DK weight yarn. Though you can adapt this to as many colours as you like. Gauge: 22 sts in 4 inches in Chart 1  when blocked.  (You may struggle to get gauge if your floats are too tight.) You will need: Approx 60g of DK yarn (35g MC, 25g CC) 3.25mm DPNs / short circulars (or magic loop) Tapestry needle Techniques: Colourwork - This is done by carrying floats (Fair Isle). Make sure the floats are not too tight. It will warp the design and make the sock difficult to put on.  Trapping floats - You may find it useful to twist your floats when carrying a colour over more than four stitches. ...

Version 2 is out now: Last Lap Socks 2.0 The DK weight Last Lap Socks are the first item in the Pit Stop Collection, perfect for any motorsport fan from F1 to NASCAR to Sim Racing. Reminiscent of the checkered flag if in black and white, or the track limits if in red and white, you can make this pattern in a range of designs. Sample 1 is knit with main colour blue and contrast colour white. The charts are designed with this colour scheme too. Sample 2 has a white MC and red CC. Both samples were made from recycled material. My local charity shop was about to throw out some old crochet garments. I bought any I thought I could harvest yarn from. All acrylic. They got a good scour in soapy hot water, and then came the unravelling process. Most was salvageable. That's why I find it hard to recommend a particular yarn to copy the first sample. Sample 2 (the swatch) was knit in Scheepjies Scrumptious, which is 50% recycled bottles, and James C Brett Second Chance, which is made of entire...

This hand-warmer, sometimes known as a hand muffler or simply just a muff, is designed to be worn on cold days when you also need easy access to your hands for things like fingerprint ID or to touch a screen that doesn't work with thick gloves. You can pair it with your gloves for extra warmth or a small reusable heat pack/ hot water bottle. This pattern is double thickness, fully lined and constructed in the round. It's can be knit with any yarn that knits up to gauge, though I recommend a non-scratchy wool (as plastic will make you sweat and cotton is cold) and something approximately aran weight (as an airier knit will let in too much cold).  The sample is knit with two strands held together: a 4 ply and a DK. I used a wool/alpaca blend from Yarnoncone held with James C Brett Shhh. Ironically I think these yarns are both labelled incorrectly. The Brett is much too thin to be DK and the alpaca, although advertised as 4ply, is definitely more like a DK. That goes to show you n...

These weren't originally designed to be Christmas sock. The star motif was inspired by an old Fair Isle jumper and the foot was just made of all the same colours. It's entirely made of yarn from stash: whatever colours that clashed enough to be noticeable from a distance. My actual goal with these socks was to create a design that was twice as thick as a regular DK sock. That's why every round has some type of fair isle colourwork: The floats pad out the sock. Mum in her new favourite socks If you've been following my patterns you will know that my mum has Raynaud's and needs the extra material to keep the warmth in her fingers and toes. You can check out the last pattern I made for her here . This pattern uses 5 colours. Try to make them all very different so the pattern will stand out and not blend together. A great way to test if they are going to blend together is to take a picture of all the balls of yarn in a black and white filter. Anything that has the same ...

Named after the yarn used, I spun this Kent Romney into a heavy Aran yarn last year to made a jumper, and this is how I made use of the scraps. The contrast colour is a natural Jacob (also handspun). This of course can be made with any yarn from commercial to handspun. Anything that fits the gauge will do. The sample is a gift for my mother and so this pattern is designed with a small hand in mind and may not suit a man. Though if you are confident knitter you are welcome to experiment changing the stitch counts to fit your intended hand. The pattern repeats are very simple and easy to extend over a wider stitch count. Adding length can also be done by simply repeating the chart as needed. Gauge: 16 stitches per 4 inches You will need: 6mm DPNs or circulars Tapestry needle Stitch marker Abbreviations: MC - main colour CC - contrast colour st(s) - stitch(es)  R - round k- knit m1r - make one right ssk - slip slip knit *Pattern starts here* Using the main colour, cast on 24 sts and ...

In the knit and crochet community it is a well known superstition that if you knit your boyfriend a jumper they will break up with you, either while you are knitting, or shortly after you are done. I've seen it happen to many people. Knitting takes a long time, so the relationship may not be the way it was when you started. He might not appreciate how much work you put into the piece. He might put it in a hot wash and ruin it. At first I thought I had cheated the system and got away with it. I thought I had beaten the curse. I had a loophole. I knit one for a boy friend not a boyfriend. Well, he's 25. I knit a jumper for a man friend. It took me two years but he's still hanging around me. I didn't think this particular curse was going to be a big problem for me. It's usually phrased as 'boyfriend' not 'partner', so as someone that rarely dates men, I wasn't even worried. I was far too confident and that was my downfall. He didn't know anyt...

My third test knit for Emily of em.knits, and I'm so glad I signed up. Usually I don't use patterns. They're generally not made to fit me (especially commercial or vintage ones), so I've got pretty good at working out the stitches and constructions from a few pictures of whatever I want to make. Cables make it even easier to get an idea of the stitch count and measurements.  But Emily's patterns are different. The first time I saw a picture of the sample knit I stared at it for a few minutes completely confused. I knew I needed to get in on this test and see what she had done. And I was pleasantly surprised that she had spaces available in my size.  As clever as I think I am, I admit I would never have been able to replicate it from images alone. I had assumed you cast on at the neckline and then made a shit-tonne of increases either side of the shoulders to build the yoke. I imagined it could probably also be knit in panels where the shoulder cables were part of th...

A cute and quick crochet project to use up scraps and show your support for Watermelonia 🔻 Materials:  DK or Worsted weight yarn (less than 10g of each): MC Red CC1 White CC2 Green CC3 Black Stuffing or scraps (optional) 3.25mm hook Darning needle Scissors Safety pin   Start with MC. Make a sliding loop. R1: ch1 (this counts as first stitch), sc5, sl st into first stitch to complete round (6sts) R2: ch1, 2sc in every st, sl st into first st (12sts) R3: ch1, [2sc in next st, sc in next st], repeat [] to end, sl st into first st (18sts) R4: ch1, [2sc in next st, sc in next two sts], repeat [] to end, sl st into first st (24sts) R5: ch1, [2sc in next st, sc in next three sts], repeat [] to end, sl st into first st (30sts) Break yarn. Join CC1 R6: ch1, [2sc in next st, sc in four sts], repeat [] to end, sl st into first st (36sts) Break yarn. Join CC2 R7: ch1, [2sc in next st, sc in next five sts], repeat [] to end, sl st into first st (42sts) Break yarn with 50cm tail. Use needl...

This was my second test knit for this designer. Every one of her designs speak to me so I know it won't be my last. Emily Chen of  em.knits  has always been very professional, attentive, and kind, so I had no worries going into this test. Sometimes it can feel scary reaching out to a designer to ask questions or point out errors, but the test group (usually on Slack) is full of other people sharing and chatting so it feels much more approachable. Emily also reaches out to check-in regularly throughout the test period if you prefer flagging something one-to-one. Like with most test knitting, last time I was a tester for Emily I was gifted one free pattern for my hard work. I was extremely close to purchasing the Winona Polo with my voucher until the pattern was taken down suddenly. Emily wasn't happy with the arm shaping for the bigger sizes. It needed re-grading. That's where this story begins. I was selected to test knit the updated pattern. It took me a while to reach the...

When I saw the test call on Instagram for this blouse I didn't care that I was already in the middle of two other knitting commitments or that my course was about to start. I had to sign up. Thankfully Sanne of ChaiCrafts is a wonderful designer and had made a size inclusive design so I was able to participate. (Believe it or not, some knitwear designers still don't cater to people my size!) I excitedly purchased a cone of 3-ply 80:20 wool:silk from YarnOnCone. There's not that much difference between 3 and 4 ply right? Plus it was such a pretty lavender lilac I wasn't even thinking! More fool me. This yarn turned up looking more like a lace weight and my gauge swatch confirmed that. One strand was far too airy and showed more skin than would have been appropriate! Two strands was much better so that's what I went for. I didn't think too much of it at the time. Silly me. Yarnage obviously halves when you hold something double. My brain didn't register this....

If I had all the time in the world I would be the Molly Weasley of knitting. I would knit all my friends and family a Fair Isle jumper every Christmas with a matching hat and gloves. But that time simply doesn't exist in a day. A well-made jumper will take the average knitter 40+ hours. That's more than a week of 9-5.  I got into knitting as a way to transition further into a slow-fashion. Picking out the materials so I can be sure they are more sustainable, learning how they are made so they can be mended, and extending the life of my wardrobe as much as possible. That's not selfish and I think the idea of 'Selfish Knitting' is very counterproductive. There are so many incredible designs out there and I want to try them all. Yet unlike fast fashion where I could pop into H&M and buy 5 jumpers tomorrow, my crafting will be over a period of years because that's how long it takes to make things by hand! For reference, the last jumper I made took me two months,...