You searched for: cast on over two needles
Preserves
Look, I cannot explain the appeal. Either you look at these, struggle to contain a tiny gasp of delight, and run to your scraps bin to find the perfect strawberry colors. Or you...don't. And I get it! They will not be everyone's cup of tea!
But if you have my kind of brain, the kind of brain that often finds itself going "hmm, I wonder what would happen if..." and then you give it a try and then a few hours later you're holding a tiny little treasure in your hands and marveling at what you made, then I think you might absolutely adore these. I know I do!
Plus they'll never, ever, ever go furry in the back of your refrigerator (admittedly, more likely to happen to spinach than to strawberries, but somehow I still mess that up sometimes). Maybe if I make enough of them, I'll earn amnesty for whatever horror show is happening in my produce drawer right now. Or maybe, just maybe, they'll inspire me to make something delicious the next time the berries look good at the market.
Semblance
I know. I know it looks kind of tricky right? Like you’re going to have to do something slightly unsavory with a cable needle. Or maybe like you’re going to find yourself doing a lot of counting and murmuring under your breath. Maybe even a bit of swearing if it’s been a particularly challenging sort of day.
But I promise it’s not.
That delightful little faux cable is actually shockingly simple (if you’ve done basic decreases like an ssk or a k2tog, you’ve totally already got the skills you’ll need, and the stitch diagrams will walk you through it so you won’t ever feel lost). In fact, the whole fancy bit is only five stitches wide and two rows high. That’s it…one teeny tiny fancy bit that you’ll have memorized in no time. Then you just stack it up, and it looks kind of amazing.
It’s that most magical of things…auto pilot knitting that manages to look really impressive!
Oh and you absolutely do not have to tell anyone how easy it is. You can just let them go on and on about how tricky it looks while you stand there feeling smug. Feeling smug is one of life’s little pleasures, and you can totally indulge!
Tethered
Patrons get this pattern for free as part of their membership, and they get a bunch of other patterns too! Here's a preview of the free patterns you get a the Sheer Nonsense level ($3), the Utter Nonsense level ($6), and Rampant Nonsense level ($12).
As always, I will not be attempting to convince you that you need these. I will not pretend that they serve any practical purpose. I will not suggest that they solve any of your problems.
I will say only that you can sit down with your needles, a tiny ball of leftover yarn, and the pattern and stand up an hour or two later with a teeny tiny pair of mittens. What happens after that is up to you.
You could probably make a reasonable case for using them as a bookmark or a Christmas tree ornament, or for turning a bunch of them into a garland, or for using them to keep one of your little knitted buddies warm on a cold night.
And I will admit that everyone I’ve shown them to has made something that would be called a squee of delight, were my friends not far too dignified to make such a sound. So the idea of tucking them into a card or tying them around a tiny present (so that the recipient can see them in private, where the demands of dignity are somewhat relaxed, and a person can squee without fear of scandal) has a certain appeal.
But really, I make them because sometimes the burdens of the outside world are simply too much to bear, and I need something absurd and adorable that I can finish in an afternoon. And then I share them with you. Just in case you might need that too.
Constellate Hat & Mitts
I’ve never been any good at knowing when to stop. And I used to feel sort of bad about it—to think that, if only I could be a bit more moderate, a bit less enthusiastic, things might be easier.
But these days? These days I just embrace it. When I like something, I really really really like it. And that’s ok. Actually, it’s kind of fun!
So given how I feel about the first of these patterns, it should surprise absolutely no one that I wasn’t ready to be done after just one hat. Not even after one hat worked two different ways. Because wow does working this with a contrast color do something sort of magical. I should have known there there would need to be mitts (also worked two different ways because once you know, how could you not). Oh and just possibly a bonus version of the hat just for super secret friends, because sure why not.
This is just how I’m wired. And I’m totally going to bring you all along for the ride. Though whether that’s a promise or a threat is up to you!
Gripping
Nope. Nope I cannot bring myself to try to convince you that you need knitted tentacles in your life. This is not the sort of belief anyone is persuaded to hold. Either you come to know of the existence, nay the mere possibility, of knitted tentacles and you are instantly and inescapably gripped by the urge to make an entire swarm of them. Or you are not.
And either response is absolutely fine! You can live a full and happy life never once holding a knitted tentacle in your hand—never once bending it just so and using it to display your favorite bit of driftwood or pressing it into service as the perfect paperweight turned pen holder or having it pressing it into service to stand guard over your very favorite shells and rocks and tiny treasures. I’m absolutely sure you can go about your day without ever indulging in such flights of fancy.
I, however, am not nearly so stoic or respectable. And I confess, I look forward to seeing what my fellow reprobates create once the more respectable folks have left the room.
Tacit & Implicit
These shouldn’t be this enchanting. They really shouldn’t. That bit of fancy business there is just cables (easy cables at that, borderline boring cables). No really, I promise. It’s made from simple little two by two cables, lined up right next to each other and then stacked up one atop the other.
There’s absolutely no reason for it to be this charming. And yet...
I can’t explain it. Maybe it’s something to do with how orderly and tidy and logical they are? Or maybe it’s because they are cables but somehow don’t actually look like cables? Or maybe it’s just me and I am alone in finding them unspeakably endearing?
But somehow I don’t think so. I suspect you probably find them every bit as delightful as I do. Though I was so enamored of this whole project that I had to knit two different hats, which might be a tad bit excessive. It’s totally cool if you just want to make one!
Expound
You know that thing where the simpler something is, the more the details matter? Well the knitting here is about as simple as it gets (it’s very nearly all stockinette in the round), but that just gives the details room to shine.
You’ll start by working a turned hem (which has quickly become my absolute favorite way to start a hat, it’s just so tidy, and it keeps your ears extra warm and cozy) in a contrast color. Then you’ll work the body in your main color, carrying one single column of contrast color stitches up the side as you go. You’ll end by working a tiny little starburst with the contrast color at the very top of the hat (which is far cuter than it has any right to be).
This actually makes for a lovely (if somewhat restrained) hat all on its own, and you could totally stop here if you wanted to. But I don’t think you will. Because once you’re done knitting, you get to adorn your hat with some absolutely delightful embroidery.
As with the knitting, the embroidery is surprisingly simple. You’ll work a few rows of backstitching to build a framework then weave a lovely little lattice between the rows. I promise the lattice is not nearly as complicated as it looks (it’s really just two steps repeated over and over). You can totally do it, even if you’ve never embroidered anything before.
Though once you start, you may find it hard to stop!
Correlation & Causation
Ok, let’s get this out of the way right up front. They’re reversible!
They’re reversible, and not just in the ‘looks the same on both sides’ sort of way. They look totally different (and, if I may say so, totally awesome) on both sides. Which, if I’m being honest, absolutely fills me with glee! Because how can you not like getting two totally different looks from the same piece.
For you, who are no doubt more fashionable and more organized than I am, this means you get to decide which side you like best and show that one off. For me? Well for me it means I can yank my hat or mitts out of my coat pocket and put them on on the way to the mailbox and not worry about talking to my neighbor for ten minutes with my clothes on inside out (again, this is not something that would happen to you, because you totally have your act together and would never have that problem).
And no, no before you ask it isn’t any harder to work reversible cables than it is to work regular cables. The process is exactly the same. Set some stitches aside, work some other stitches, then work the ones you set aside. It’s just, if you set the right stitches aside, you end up with something that looks like you did a magic trick when you’re done.
And who knows, maybe you did!
Decorum & Comportment
Do I realize that not everyone will want to walk around with two wee pointy bits (ears? horns? who am I to say) sticking up out of the top of their heads? Oh yes, that’s why I made them optional.
Am I going to wear them sticking out and absolutely revel in any funny looks they garner from passersby? Also very much yes!
But you, should you happen to be feeling a bit more subdued, can absolutely tuck them in if you prefer. The hat is equally adorable either way.
Don’t worry, you don’t have to commit to one option or the other. You can totally pop the points in or out as the mood strikes. And, as we all know half the fun of being a knitter is having truly smashing accessory sets, you can do it while sporting the delightful matching mitts!
Hatched
These were never intended to see the light of day. They were meant to be for my own private amusement, inflicted on no one else.
For you see, I am a board game person (not one of you is shocked). And not just a board game person, but one of those people whose enjoyment of a board game is substantially increased if the various bits and pieces of the game are...cute (again, not a single one of you is shocked). So it was only natural that I knit myself a little nest to hold the egg-shaped tokens in one of my favorite games (someone is about to ask, it’s called Wingspan and it’s great).
And then, well then the nest made an appearance in a couple of random instagram pictures, because that sort of thing happens. And it turns out rather a lot of you share my peculiar predilections and wanted to do something similar. And I couldn’t in good conscience do just the nest by itself. So naturally I decided to add in some eggs (because somehow that makes it better?).
So here we are. A little nest, complete with drawstring ready to turn it into a pouch for game pieces or candy or whatever else you find amusing, and some eggs to go with it. Because sometimes these things happen. It’s better not to fight it.
Looking for something else?
Mailing List
Want to hear when a new pattern comes out or something fun is going on? Sign up below!
Patreon
Want to support the content I create, get nifty bonus material for some of my favorite patterns, or get every new release delivered right to your inbox? Head over to patreon and sign up!
