The Easiest Knitting Project Ever

Scarves used to be the easiest knitting project ever. Now it's cowls. Same as a scarf, just much shorter. They were all over the stores during the holiday season, the thing to wear this winter. I made several to give away as gifts, the ones in the picture were made with only two skeins of Loops & Threads "Cozy Wool" and size 13 needles, but any chunky wool works well. Make it as wide as you like, garter stitch all the way to the desired length, THEN GIVE IT A TWIST before you sew the two ends together using the same wool and mattress stitch. Halve the width and double the length for an infinity scarf!

Scarves Galore

Despite my recent obsession with cowls (given that I have very little patience for projects that take more than a few hours to complete), there are still times (like a 17 hour car trip) where I need a more prolongued distraction. Here are a couple I have made recently. The yarn for the striped one is Lion Brand "Vanna's Choice". The speckled one was really fun to make using Lion Brand "Hometown USA" in Jersey Gardens  and big size 13 needles. The Lion Brand Yarn website is great at providing information on all their different types of yarn as well as tons of well-organized, easily browsable FREE patterns.

Basic Beanie

I have made several of these over the years. You can quickly whip one up in a few hours. The pattern was modified from a basic hat one from the Stitch 'n Bitch book by Debbie Stoller. Hats are fun to make, easily customizable and make great gifts. I have also made some baby ones using the same basic pattern, with regular or round needles and adorned them with knit flowers. Here are several versions of the basic beanie. Let me know if you are interested in more information regarding size of needles, yarn, etc.