Category Archives: 2023

The Wintry Weather Hat Pattern

Posted in December 2023, The Wintry Weather Hat Pattern by
Hat 1
Hat 2

Stay warm this winter with the Wintry Weather Hats. These hats are knit using a super bulky yarn and can be knit in a day or two. The Wintry Weather hat is knit in the round in a K1, P1 rib stitch pattern with purl rounds with little or no crown shaping. The two hats differ in their stitch count and in the last round. These hats will keep you and those who receive these hats quite warm and cozy this winter season.  

Materials Needed for The Wintry Weather Hat:
Yarn: Lion Brand® Wool Ease® Thick and Quick yarn in Harvest Colorway for Wintry Weather Hat 1 and Seaglass Colorway for Wintry Weather Hat 2
Knitting Needles: US #11 16-inch circular needles and US #13 for the cable cast on (Tutorial Series: The Cable Cast-on Method)
Tapestry needle to weave in ends
Knitting skill level: Beginner to advanced beginner (pattern is knit in the round and has cable cast on)
Gauge: 2.5 stitches / 4 rows per inch in 1 x 1 rib stitch pattern with US #11 knitting needles without blocking
Size: Hat 1 may fit an adult L and Hat 2 may fit an adult M (the stitch count and length can be increased or decreased to preferred size) 

Abbreviations:
K: Knit
P: Purl
BOR: beginning of round
K2tog: Knit the two stitches on the left needle together
[…]: stitch pattern repeats

The Wintry Weather Hat Pattern (images and text for personal use only)

With US #13 knitting needles and using the Cable Cast-on method (Tutorial Series: The Cable Cast-on Method), cast on 54 stitches for Wintry Weather Hat 1 (Harvest colorway) and 50 stitches for Wintry Weather Hat 2 (Seaglass colorway)

Transfer all the stitches to US #11 16-inch circular knitting needles, place a BOR marker, join round by knitting the following:

  • Round 1: [K1, P1] repeat […] till BOR marker, slip BOR marker
  • Rounds 2-18: Repeat Round 1
  • Round 19: Purl all stitches till BOR marker, slip BOR marker
  • Round 20: [P1, K1] repeat […] till BOR marker, slip BOR marker
  • Rounds 21 – 24: Repeat Round 20
  • Round 25: Purl all stitches till BOR marker, slip BOR marker
  • Round 26: [K1, P1] repeat […] till BOR marker, slip BOR marker
  • Rounds 27 – 30: Repeat Round 26
  • Round 31: Purl all stitches till BOR marker, slip BOR marker
  • Round 32: [P1, K1] repeat […] till BOR marker, slip BOR marker
  • Rounds 33 – 36: Repeat Round 32
  • Round 37: Purl all stitches till BOR marker, slip BOR marker*
  • Round 38: Knit all stitches till BOR marker, slip BOR marker

Round 39 for Wintry Weather Hat 1: Knit all stitches till BOR marker, slip BOR marker
Round 39 for Wintry Weather Hat 2: K2tog till BOR marker, slip BOR marker

Cut a 10 to 15 inch working yarn tail and insert into a tapestry needle and weave the tapestry needle through all the remaining stitches and pull tight to close the gap at the top of the hat.

Optional: Attach and secure any faux fur pom pom of choice on top of the hat

Weave in the ends, wash and block the Wintry Weather Hat

*To increase length of Wintry Weather Hat (if preferred) add the following rounds after Round 37:
Repeat Rounds 26 – 30 
Repeat Round 37, 38 and 39

~coffeeteaknits.com

© Coffee Tea Knits. All text and images for personal use only. All Rights Reserved.

To Crochet a Cardigan

Posted in 2023, September 2023 by


Last month I completed my very first crochet cardigan. It is based on the free crochet pattern called In the Clouds Cardigan by Grace of For The Frills. The cardigan is beginner friendly and the pattern comes along with a video tutorial on how to crochet this cardigan. The video tutorial for this cardigan was very helpful.

I picked this cardigan because it had a similar crochet moss stitch pattern (single crochet, chain one) yet where the single crochet was placed gave a different texture to the crocheted item. This textured crochet stitch pattern was also my inspiration to design and crochet the Four Sections Blanket pattern.

Briefly, the body of the free cardigan pattern is worked sideways (lengthwise) beginning from the first front panel, then the back, and ending with the second front panel leaving gaps for the armholes. The shoulders are seamed. The sleeves are crocheted flat and then seamed to the armhole edges. The ribbing for the body, sleeves, pockets, and neckband are crocheted separately using smaller crochet hooks and then seamed to the cardigan.

My cardigan looks quite different from In the Clouds Cardigan. Although I used the sideway technique and the same stitch pattern, I made several modifications to the cardigan. The cardigan I crocheted is not oversized nor does it have any pockets. Worsted weight yarn that I had purchased some years ago was used instead of the bulky weight yarn recommended in the pattern. My gauge was different and so were the crochet hooks that I used.

The biggest modification was in the sleeves of the cardigan and the neckband ribbing. Since I didn’t have enough yarn left to crochet long length sleeves, I decided to pick up stitches along the armhole edges with a knitting needle and purled both sleeves (pictured below) ending with a repetition of [Knit 1 through the back loop, purl 1] for the ribbing of the sleeves. For the neckband ribbing, I crocheted several rows of the moss stitch pattern all along one front, the neck and down the other front.


There are two main lessons I learnt from crocheting this beginner friendly cardigan pattern. One is that you need more yarn for a crochet cardigan than for knitted cardigan, and the other is that crocheting a cardigan takes less time than knitting one.

I am satisfied with how the cardigan turned out. Since the time to crochet a cardigan is much shorter than knitting one, I will definitely be crocheting more sweaters. There are several free crochet patterns available on For The Frills website that are quite lovely and beginner friendly. Some patterns also have video tutorials. I can’t wait to crochet another cardigan or a pullover using these free patterns by Grace.

How has your experience with crocheting cardigans been? Share some of your experiences in the comment below.

~coffeeteaknits.com

© Coffee Tea Knits. All text and images for personal use only. All Rights Reserved.