Hello, Fall! (plus a pattern peek and a Halloween tutorial)
It turns out nothing welcomes Fall like Rhinebeck. I went to my first New York Sheep and Wool Festival last week, and not only did I have a great time with good friends, but I also met some new folks, saw loads of lovely handknits, and got to hang out with Caro’s kitties.
I also got the chance to take advantage of Caro’s superior photo skills — along with the crisp New England weather, striking Fall scenery, and gorgeous afternoon light — to document Pickadilly, a sweater I designed and finished knitting just in time for Rhinebeck. (Literally. I made my carmates stop at WEBS on the way to the fairgrounds so I could buy buttons.)
Pickadilly will be for sale here, and on Ravelry, starting November 1.
In the meantime, here’s a sneak peek:
All of which fun has lead up nicely to what is clearly the bestest thing about Fall: Halloween. And while I’ll be playing a music fest in Florida over Halloween weekend, I had a chance to get crafty all the same — on behalf of my niece, who (with no encourgement or intervention from me) has decided to dress up as a lamb this year.
Lamb Ears tutorial (Ravelry link)
MATERIALS:
- chunky boucle yarn
- approx 20 yards of pink sport or fingering weight yarn
- small amount of pink flannel fabric
- tapestry needle
- embroidery needle
STEP 1: KNIT AN EARFLAP HAT! (Use the chunky/bulky boucle yarn. Thorpe is a great pattern for adults; Sandi’s Ear Flap Hat is good for kids 2 and up.)
STEP 2: EARS (make 2)
Cast on 16 stitches.
Work 5 rows in stockinette stitch.
Row 6: k1, ssk, k 10, k2tog, k1 (14 sts)
Rows 7-13: stockinette stitch
Row 14: k1, ssk, k8, k2tog, k1 (12 sts)
Rows 15-21: stockinette stitch
Row 22: ssk, ssk, k4, k2tog, k2tog (8 sts)
Bind off all stitches purlwise.STEP 3: FINISHING:
Cut 2 matching pieces of pink flannel large enough to cover the ears, with about 1/2 inch of white showing around the edges.
Using the embroidering needle and pink yarn, affix the flannel to the wrong (purl) side of the left ear with a blanket stitch or whip stitch.
Using a tapestry needle and an 18-inch length of the main yarn, tack together the two bottom corners of left ear. Sew the ear to the hat as pictured.
Repeat the two previous steps for the right ear.
Happy Halloween!
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October 26th, 2009 at 1:32 pm
Now I wish that I *DID* go to Rhinebeck this year. I finished my February Lady Sweater in July and would have worn it and would love to have met you to thank you for creating this great pattern.
I did get to wear it to Stitches East and was stopped by at least 20 other women wearing theirs as well.
October 26th, 2009 at 1:40 pm
Can’t believe I didn’t see you!
October 26th, 2009 at 1:43 pm
One day I’m going to Rhinebeck. This is what I say every year.
Your photos are great and I love Pickadilly. Also, this is one of the best lamb hats I’ve seen so far !
October 26th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
Beautiful sweater! I love it.
October 26th, 2009 at 2:38 pm
can’t wait for Nov 1! I have my felted tweed waiting and ready to hop on the needles!
It was awesome meeting you at Rhinebeck. Hope we cross each other’s paths in real life again in the future. Until then, we have the internet =)
October 26th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
Thanks for the tutorial. The lamb hat will be this year’s Easter bonnet.
Nice running into you at Rhinebeck!
October 26th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
I can’t believe I was at the same fiber festival! I missed almost all of these people, and there are so many I really wanted to meet. Next year I need to get over my discomfort with large groups and go to the meet-up.
All that’s left is to sew on the ears of my lamb hat. (Actually ours will be a deer if we figure out how to attach antlers.)
October 26th, 2009 at 4:45 pm
Hi — I love the new sweater — and have some Silky Tweed in my stash that might work well. (I also like the bunny ears, but am thinking they won’t get as much wear)
Saw you at Rav, but hadn’t the guts yet for a hello. It was my first year — by next I’ll have worked up the nerve for some proper greetings!
October 26th, 2009 at 5:58 pm
It was so great to meet you, Pam!!!
And take photos of you and Bobsolda!
Pickadilly was super cute in person!!
I can’t stop using exclamation!! ;0)
Apropos of nothing, thanks for that Etsy Artist of Color link above.
October 26th, 2009 at 7:19 pm
Those ears are bleating awesome!
October 26th, 2009 at 7:57 pm
Gorgeous sweater!
Happy Halloween to you too.
October 26th, 2009 at 10:48 pm
Love the lamb’s ears! Smart niece knows how to keep auntie knitting the handknits.
Picadilly looks lovely. If I could afford it, I’d knit everything in tweed.
October 27th, 2009 at 5:27 am
Oh how fun! I would so love to go. Can I hitch a ride next year? (I am your neighbor over here in Bay City!)
The lamb’s ears are soooo adorable!
October 27th, 2009 at 10:44 am
I love that picadilly cardi= makes me want to learn to crochet SO badly. and how cute is that lamb hat?!! Awesome.
October 27th, 2009 at 12:13 pm
Hey there! I just happened to pull up your blog today and you had a new post! Hope you’re doing well, and you get back to AR soon! Joe and I will come see you guys again! My brother is in NY so I hope to get to Rhinebeck one of these years. By the way, where’s that pic of us??
October 27th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
Picadilly looks awesome. I’m so into the tweed right now.
October 27th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
You are my hero! I hate dressing up for Halloween because I never really did it as a kid (blame the parents) and so it never stuck as a adult. But now I can get my knit fix AND have a Halloween costume AND have a cute winter hat.
I love you!
October 27th, 2009 at 4:45 pm
So great having you here for Rhinebeck. Can’t wait for next year!
October 28th, 2009 at 10:49 am
Those lamb ears are adorable!
October 28th, 2009 at 11:27 pm
That is SO, SO cute! I love the lamb hat. That has gotta go on my list. I’ll be linking.
October 29th, 2009 at 9:37 am
I like your pickadilly pattern — in fact, I was at WEBS when you were picking out the buttons! More to the point, though, is the SCARF you’re wearing with it. It’s fantastic!! Please share details if possible.
October 30th, 2009 at 5:10 am
It was so great to meet you at Rhinebeck! Picadilly was so, so lovely in person. I can’t wait to see the pattern (I suppose I don’t have to wait too long at this point!).
The lamb hat is perfect. Lucky niece!
November 2nd, 2009 at 8:20 pm
love the sweater! the ears look great on you but i fear i would never wear them!