black fascinator with ostrich plume
If you’re just getting into millinery, fascinators are the perfect thing to start with since they are so small, yet nearly always so outrageous. As their shape is generally uncomplicated, you can really go to town on the trimmings. This pattern presents basic millinery for the adventurous knitter: to construct any of the Notorious fascinators, you will need only basic sewing skills and a willingness to experiment!
This pattern was published in Issue 8 of the online magazine Knit on the Net, and made the front cover!
Click the following links to view the pattern: pink, gold, black
(The body of text is the same for all three fascinators; they are however given on three separate pages in order to show off the pictures better.)
I feel that there’s just something to wearing a red hat on an autumn day, and so I created this striking red cap to match the mood of an idyllic October afternoon when the leaves are just beginning to turn golden. Cables sneak up the hat and frame a lozenge-shaped lace pattern, and everything meets at the centre of the crown. It’s sure to lift your mood this autumn, whether you’re trampling leaves underfoot in a forest or waiting in the queue for the bus.
This pattern was published in Issue 7 of the online magazine Knit on the Net.
Click here to view the pattern.
Any errors in the pattern as it was first published have been corrected as of February 2009
If, like me, the weather where you live is erratic at its best, you’ll be feeling the chill just when you find the urge to dig out your spring skirts and ditch the winter blues. To combat this, knit a pair of Tree Trunk Legwarmers – so called because of the twisty, subtly offset cable pattern – and laugh in the face of the unpredictable climate. (download)
They say that knitting is therapeutic but I had never experienced that for myself until I made this cowl. It’s knit from a beautiful handspun single-ply yarn which was custom dyed for me by the wonderful Zoë of HelloMango.co.uk. A simple pattern involving rounds of knits and purls lends itself to the vibrancy of the yarn, and I feel that the cowl bears a very organic structure, perhaps due to the colours. The wiggly purl lines in the thick-and-thin yarn seemed to resemble caterpillars and I look forward to wearing this on autumn days and winter afternoons to come. (download)
My mother’s piano teacher was a formidable woman. A spinster who lived alone in a large house, she died when my mother was seventeen, and when her family were clearing out her house my mum & aunt managed to accumulate – amongst piles of unwanted music books – a mangy fox fur stole, a few worn-out hats and a pair of tight-fitting lacey fingerless mitts.
Twee is my reinterpretation of those gloves: a little bit vintage and a little bit girly – not as dainty as the original perhaps but as fitting at a tea party as during an evening spent at home, embroidering handkerchiefs with silken thread by the light of a candle. Twee looks adorable with floaty dresses and surprisingly good with worn-in jeans. (download)
Twisted Maiden Fingerless Gloves
Ever since I was a child I have been captivated by the idea of costume. From elegant Parisienne society-ladies wearing delicate black lace gloves and impeccably-cut suits, to wigs and masks in Venice; the elbow-length opera gloves and sumptuous silk dresses in Vienna to the complex woolen mittens of Latvia.
Gloves, together with shoes, hats and hand-bags, are part of that epitome of femininity which can seem so out-of-reach in today’s world. They transport you to the past when ankles were scandalous and wrists provocative.
Designed for a friend who prefers to avoid animal fibres, these fingerless gloves knit up quickly using a cotton-blend worsted weight yarn and feature a simple cable design with additional sparkles in the tops and tails. Knit them to wear whatever the weather – be it a cool summer evening or chilly winter’s afternoon. You can dress them up for formal occasions, or wear them slouchy and low for just mooching around at home. Make a pair in every colour. Once you knit them, you will find that these gloves become a layering essential. (download)
There is a mistake in this pattern – please see the errata page for the correction.
For instructions on how to work the cable, please click here.
thanks for the legwarmers pattern–my sister will love these.
Hi Anushka,
I’ve just discovered your blog and have enjoyed the entries. It’s good to read blogs by British knitters – so many are by Americans and patterns feature yarns unobtainable here.
I especially loved your post about taking old stuff to the charity shop and exchanging it for other old stuff. I avoid charity shops as I have a problem with anything to do with knitting – I cannot resist it; my mother, though, works in the local Oxfam shops so often brings home patterns & books. She found me a gorgeous full colour ’80’s book, all dropped shoulder patterns & mullet hairstyles. I spend ages poring through it.
I love the little red cap pattern, and the idea of wearing red in Autumn. Today is a grey Birmingham day and a splash of red would go down well.
Keep collecting, knitting & blogging!!
Regards,
Alison
Hey Anushka.
Your blog is AMAZING!! You put so much effort into it.
I think I’m going to have to start writing on mine more often … I’ve written on it about twice.
Anyway keep it up and keep in touch.
P.S. Your knitting is v. cool.