Original Pattern: Baktus Scarf

Knitter Extraordinaire: Terhi (Rav Id)

Mods: Turned the simple, textured Baktus scarf pattern into a lacy version by including eyelet rows.

What Makes This Awesome: This modification is quite unusual-  the mod became so popular, it was turned into it's own pattern. Another Ravel-er simply did up her mods and photos into a pdf, and voila! A new pattern was born. I personally have such a weakness for garter stitch eyelet. I love the texture, and provides so much visual interest. I'm not the least bit surprised that since it became it's own pattern, over 1500 people have knit it - it's gorgeous! Project page is here.

Pattern: Stacked Eyelet Cowl

Yarn: Indigodragonfly MCN Sport

Needles: 3.75 mm (US 4)

Mods: None.

Notes: This yarn is heaven. So squishy soft, so lovely- it's exactly the kind of yarn you want cuddling your neck on a chilly day. Too bad it's actually 30 Celsius (86 F) in these  photos.... but sadly it'll be fall before you know it!

This cowl is amazing- it's the perfect one skein project for a lovely little treasured sport weight yarn you've got hiding in your stash, and it's fast and easy enough to churn these out for gifts for everyone you know. I'm definitely planning on knitting this again- I can think of a few girlfriends that would love them, and it would be nice to have a great cowl wardrobe for myself during the winter months! We'll see. I've been true to my knitting goals of this year of gifting a lot of knitting so far, which I really enjoy.Here's some more gratuitous cowl photos!

And here is a photo of the cowl when it was in progress, so you can see how the stacked eyelets play out:

P.S- By the time you read this, we'll be either on the plane or freshly landed in Stockholm!

Original Pattern: Que Sera

Knitter Extraordinaire: Elspeth (Rav Id, Blog)

Mods: Turned the original cardigan pattern into a pullover vest, with a deeper scoop neckline. Project page is here.


What Makes This Awesome: This fantastic vest was borne out of that classic knitter's problem- running out of yarn. Elspeth actually planned on knitting the cardigan as a pullover. She had knitted the sleeves (and even made sleeve mods) before she realized that she wouldn't have enough yarn to finish it. So she frogged the sleeves, and completed the cardigan-turned-pullover-turned-vest. Talk about turning lemons into lemonade! Doesn't she look amazing?! I love this vest, I love this outfit. I want to go shopping in Elspeth's closet.

Pattern: Geodesic Cardigan

Needles: 4 mm circulars (US 6)

Yarn: Malabrigo lace

Mods: Added more tucks, by eliminating 4 stockinette rows between each tuck.

Notes: If you have seen one of the other 300 hundred or so Geodesic cardigans in Ravelry, then you might notice that I have more tucks, and that they are closer together than in the original pattern. There is a slight excess of fabric across the bust, which, if I hold it closed, disappears. I'm not sure if this is consistent with other Geodesic cardigans, or if it is (more likely) the result of adding more tucks. I might add a small hook and eye closure, we'll see. I took my sweet time knitting this, because I hated the needles I was using (Addi lace needles). They had an awful 'step' in the metal bit, and I found that my stitches didn't flow smoothly over it at all. There were more than a few times I was ready to scream, as I manually pushed one stitch at a time over the step in the metal. Ugh. I hate them, and will probably never use them again. BUT- I love the final result. And it's a dream to wear- it's so, so soft and lightweight.


You know what owning a butterfly headband has taught me? That children LOVE the butterfly headband. If I wear this around any small children whatsoever, they are immediately entranced, obsessed, and generally all over it. The girls especially, but the boys are also pretty intrigued. If you enjoy beguiling small children, I recommend you get one (or making one- it's probably super easy). I've seen them lots of places, but I picked mine up here.

Some of you may have noticed that I've modeled another pattern from Alana of Never Not Knitting. I have to tell you- this is THE perfect neckwarmer. Seriously.  I'm going to knit myself one, and then I'm going to knit one for every one on my Christmas list. This is the perfect unisex pattern, too.

Check out Alana's full blog post here. If you make this pattern (and I sincerely hope that you will), you really must knit it with an alpaca yarn. This neckwarmer was so cuddly soft, so delicious against the skin, that if it had actually been cold out there is no way I would have returned it!! And considering that it was absolutely sweltering the day G and I shot the photos, that really is saying something.

Original Pattern: Manu

Knitter Extraordinaire: Ceylan (Rav Id, blog)

Mods: Ceylan turned this popular cardi into a gorgeous pullover with 3/4 length sleeves, and eliminated the pockets.

What Makes This Awesome:  Everything about this works. I love the simple, go-with-absolutely-everything-you-own style of it, and the neckline turned out brilliantly. The original pattern is great, but in her notes she describes admiring the pattern but feeling that it wouldn't suit her body type. That is definitely something to remember, folks- that you can customize a garment to flatter your figure using a  pattern as a jumping-off point. And if you want to knit one just like hers (I do I do!) she has fabulous detailed notes on her project page.

Pattern: Sheldon

Yarn: Misson Falls 136 Merino Superwash

Needles: 3.25 mm dpns (US 3)

Mods: None. Except that I accidentally didn't do the icord thingy to attach the shell bits, but it all worked out.

Notes: I love knitting toys. I don't mind all the finishing, although they involve a lot of small knitting in the round which tends to be harsh on my wrists. This is a gift for my little nephew Noah, although he doesn't know it yet. When G and I travel to the UK, Sheldon will be travelling with Maple to be given as gifts to our niece and nephew, respectively. This was a pretty quick knit, and stuffing and seaming as you go makes the actual finishing at the end relatively painless. And hey- a supercute turtle is pretty awesome. Even Yarn thinks so.


I tried to get some photos with Gatsby, but he was decidedly anti-turtle. About two seconds after this photo was taken, he sunk his claws into Sheldon and started to bite his face. I think he looks a bit murderous in this photo- I should have noticed!

Original Pattern: Noyaux

Knitter Extraordinare: Donna (Rav Id)

Mods: Changed the lace pattern for celtic braided cables, and added them to the sleeves as well. She also continued two of the small cables over the back. Project page is here.

What Makes This Awesome: Donna did an incredible job turning the original pattern into this gorgeous, richly textured cabled dress/tunic. The cables look timeless and the cut of the dress is very modern- it makes for a beautiful hybrid piece. This is a really testament to the design that you can swap out lace for cables and have it work beautifully. I love it!

Original Pattern: Trellis

Knitter Extraordinaire: Katie (Rav ID, Blog)

Mods: Dramatically resized the classic baby sweater pattern to create a beautiful grown-up version for adults.

What Makes This Awesome:  I think the February Lady Sweater proved just how popular a pattern can be when it's upsized for adults, and this amazing grown up Trellis sweater is so, so gorgeous. Just looking at the photos of Katie wearing her Trellis in winter is enough to make me absolutely positivity sure that this would be the perfect winter cardigan. I want one!! Project page, which includes lots of notes on how to upsize the Trellis sweater, can be found here.