Knit it for its own sweet sake or knit it as a wearable swatch! This hat features the same lace and cabled stitch pattern that I used for the yoke on the Plant People Sweater. You can use this hat to get the hang of that stitch pattern while making a wearable swatch project. The pattern flows elegantly out of the unusual brim. You can keep it a...

The Plant People Sweater pattern showcases a lace and cabled yoke, designed to mimic the delicate interplay of leaves and vines. Knitted from the top down in one seamless piece, the Plant People sweater offers both a rewarding knitting experience and a stunning finished garment. As you work your way through the circular yoke, you’ll unfurl leav...

I am so HYPE for this hat! This pattern was one part passion, one part necessity. Driving across icy roads on a gray day in December, with no cell service, I turned to a bright, speckled skein tucked in by the sandwiches and extra mittens in our bag. I knitted on this fine skein for a little. Watching my kid Alpine Ski race and freezing my buns...

This shawl was borne out of a yarn crush that I was nurturing at my LYS, Dappled Fern Fibers. I love knitting patterns that tell a story and The Farmer’s Daughters dyes are soulful and saturated. You can’t walk by a stack of Juicy DK without squishing it. And once you pick it up, you’ll find that the yarn’s label starts the story for you. With ...

This sweater is a quick, easy daydream that’ll make the perfect statement piece for your fall wardrobe. It’s a raglan sweater and is knitted top down in one piece.

This was a stash-diver, springtime cast on. The misty green shade of DK from La Bien Aimee that I chose for this shawl reminds me of cool, ocean air. The main color is called Glacier. That inspired the name: Glay Shawl (a play on the word Glacial).

This sweater strikes that perfect balance between elegance and practicality. It’s designed to pull on when you want a little pretty without any fuss. The delicate skin of your shoulders and collarbone peek through the tree-bough-inspired mesh pattern while the body of the sweater gets down to business - keeping you cozy and covered. The sweater...

This hat features a twisted cable pattern at the brim plus lush texture easily achieved by knitting into the back of each knit stitch throughout. The sharp decreases at the crown create a peaked, sporty look. I’ve been running in mine and taking it out to dinner. It suits both occasions. To date, I’ve knitted three! The stitch pattern is easy a...

This is the project to knit when you’re sitting in the bleachers or unwinding at the end of the day. It’s the project to grab during those meetings and social gatherings when you need to regulate the old nervous system with wool in your hands. You’ll love knitting this because of the glorious drape and the simple stitch patterns.

The industrious, always-striving Queen Beaver is by far my favorite water rodent. They mate for life. They engineer complex structures that support the wetlands where they live. And their baby kits are darling with their webbed feet and broad, flat tails! If you are looking for the perfect project to celebrate the rodent queen, look no further!...

Yarn Recommendations

“Color is where my designs begin. This design uses contrasting colors in simple, but bold and unexpected ways. Using muted colorways will give the cardigan a playful, vintage feel. Whereas using some punchy neons will yield a modern statement piece, reminiscent of contemporary abstract paintings. The Brienne Cardigan is knitted from the cozy do...

The Liska Sweater features a cozy, cowl neck knitted in Spincycle’s show-stopping Dyed in the Wool, followed up by a fuzzy, delicate yoke, using Ritual Dye’s Fae yarn held double. The body is finished in Ritual Dyes’ Maven; light enough to wear under a jacket and soft enough to wear next to skin. There’s woodland whimsy and nature motifs galore...

Do you identify as a Reluctant Swatcher? I am… When I’m fired up about a project and a color scheme or texture, it’s tough to put the brakes on and make a swatch. In her book, Knitters Almanac, Elizabeth Zimmermann recommends making what she calls “Experimental Caps.”

This pattern was inspired by chilly morning walks to get the Sunday edition of the New York Times. A cozy hat designed to warm our heads while we walk. It takes about the same amount of time to knit as it does to read that big newspaper, front to back. The pattern features a heavily textured but easily memorized seed stitch and cable design wit...

This pullover sweater is knitted from the top down with raglan shaping. It features a lacework panel in the center and pronounced raglan seams. This is the ultimate selfish knitting season cast on because it’s simple enough for Netflix knitting but the panel in the front keeps the pattern interesting to work. Knitted up in fuzzy, single ply yar...

Meet the Fogline Shawl’s sporty little sister, the Hot Dish cowl. Featuring the same sweet stitch pattern as the patterns in the Fogline Family with a twist! A moibus twist that is. This addictive, simple knit will be the cast on that you reach for the most and can’t wait to gift or to wear. And yeah, your sister’s gonna want one…

I love vintage skull art and anatomy books. My kids tease me regularly for snapping pictures of the bones that we find in the woods. But I can’t help it. I’m an armchair phenologist who loves the distinct seasons that we have where I live. And the steady, predictable cycles of birth and death in nature. This sweater was designed in celebration ...

This top down sweater was designed with my favorite (only) daughter in mind. She is brave and bold and a kind of everything-on-it, maximalist kind of human. Her current favorite artist is Billy Eillish and Eillish’s most recent album is called “Happier Than Ever.” This sweater is an homage to that song and to my kid.

Kate Davies is a prolific knitwear designer who says that cutting a steek into your knitting represents “some sort of final frontier” for even the most intrepid knitters.

This project uses less than one skein for the main color and just a couple of ends of a contrast color for the rest, making it a great stash busting, midnight-cast-on project. If you are using this project to swatch, the companion pattern is the Find Your Flock Sweater.

Rural Minnesotans understand that sometimes getting dressed up in subzero temps can be really limited. Date nights often include a snowmobile ride or an icehouse. But we still want to get a little fancy! Putting on a beanie knitted up in the best shade of minty green with a little bit of lace tucked in will do the trick!

Here’s your answer to banishing the winter blahs. It’s a sultry little cardigan with some sass in the back. This shoulder season sweater is knitted from the top down. It has a deceptively simple leafy, lace pattern panel that is worked down the spine and is then repeated in part along the arms. All of the wrong side rows for the lace pattern ar...

Are you ready to call in a good snow day? Need a break and a breather from the hustle??

This cowl is so fast, you just might make two before the movie’s over. Using bulky yarn and a simple colorwork pattern, you can whip one of these out for everyone on your list, even at the last minute!

Canadian Geese come down and spend their summers on the shore of Lake Superior where I live. Did you know that when geese are flying together, the group of them is called a “skein”? Each goose flies slightly above the one behind it when it’s a part of the group in the v-formation. The further back that a bird is in that v, the less wind resista...

I designed this hat for my son this October. He requested a wool hat with skulls on it to wear at his cross country meets. He also asked that I add in some lightning bolts in honor of his team’s name the “North Shore Storm.” I love this season of harvest, of darkness and of letting go with the new year on our horizon. I get kind of an expecting...

I designed this hat to be a swatch project for the patterns in the Wild Ice Sweater family. Grab a couple of worsted weight colors that you’ve been curious about and cast on an experimental cap. This one is a blast to knit in a variety of color schemes. Malabrigo’s yarns are deeply saturated; giving you all kinds of bright options to work with.

Dolly’s Wildflowers Sweater is worked from the top down and is seamless. It has a relaxed fit. The yoke is worked in garter stitch; giving it a unique woven quality. The back neck is raised by incorporating short rows.

This project was inspired by a new local yarn shop that popped up in my hometown during the summer of 2021. Dappled Fern Fibers in Grand Marais, Minnesota is a serene little hideaway just off of Lake Superior’s shore that offers a thoughtful collection of fiber, books and notions. The store is a sensory treat!

Something playful to tuck into your knitting bag during the light knitting season. I squeezed as much color contrast as I could into this little accessory. One tester made two different mitts. That way, she said, she’ d always know which one was for the right hand and which one was for the left!

For this Wardrobe-Workhorse, Stash-Manager Cardigan, I decided to pile up the yarns from my stash in the same weight, that had been dyed some version of yellow and make the most of those skeins! I used one main color to ground the speckles and that’s the one that I used for the button band, cuffs and bottom ribbing too. I used one colorway to k...

Ever wandered into a yarn shop and picked up a skein of something that you weren’t sure what to do with yet but couldn’t leave without? Spincycle’s yarns are like that for me. The nearest yarn shop that sometimes has some is more than five hours away so when I stumble on some of this good stuff, I feel like I’ve found buried treasure! I made th...

This project uses less than one skein for the main color and just a couple of ends of a contrast color for the rest, making it a great stash busting, midnight-cast-on project.

This wrap is all about a love affair that I’m having with this diamond-shaped, mosaic stitch pattern. And all about wishing that I was headed west.

Finished Measurements (after blocking)

The Carved Willows Hat is knitted from the brim up. The pattern uses an easily memorized faux cabling technique to create an engaging textured design that’ll block the wind and cold during outdoor adventures. The sizing is generous and intended for a slouchy fit. If you prefer a snug fit, size down.

There’s an early season ice skating thing that happens on the lakes when the weather has been just exactly right. In an early winter with very little wind and very little snow, when the lakes freeze over, the ice is smooth and clear. It’s perfect for skating on and for seeing through. And the folks who know about these things call it Wild Ice. ...

I like to have a couple of quick knits in my back pocket. Perfect for last minute gifting, neck warming or casting on in the dark when I can’t sleep and I haven’t got anything on my needles. I designed the Montana Skies cowl to satisfy my curiosity about these soft, saturated yarns from The Farmer’s Daughter Fibers. There are two options: the f...

The Solstice Cap begins with a clean, twisted rib stitch and is knitted from the brim up. The colorwork pattern is just a wee bit spicy to keep the knitting interesting. Yarn requirements include the pom pom. You could skip it - but I wouldn’t.

In the Boreal forest where I live, the summers are short and the winters are long. I designed this lighter-weight layer to be worn close to the skin on its own during the brief warmer months and layered under other sweaters when the frost sets in. Knitted in Brooklyn Tweed’s woolenspun Loft yarn beside Spincycle’s tough and pretty Dyed in the W...

The Fogline Hat is knitted from the brim up. The pattern uses slipped stitches to create an engaging gridded design in one color or a striking plaid in contrasting shades. Bonus, you can use this hat to swatch for your Fogline Sweater!

The Fogline Pullover is knitted from the top-down with circular yoked construction. Balanced increases throughout the yoke create a randomized, pixelated quality by interrupting the slipped st lines that flow down the sweater. The sweater has a cropped, modern silhouette. The back neck is shaped with short rows. There is no body shaping.

I started designing this shawl while I was watching Downy Woodpeckers work outside my windows in April. I was inspired by their stark plumage.

I started designing this hat when I was looking for something to do with my extra bits of Dyed in the Wool leftover from larger projects. It’s a great project for showcasing a length of handspun that you’re excited about. The hat is knitted from the brim up. And there are three sizes included in the pattern.

Yarn: Brooklyn Tweed Shelter shown in Sap (American Targhee-Columbia Wool; 50 grams/140 yards 128 meters)

The Fogline Shawl is a substantial, rectangular accessory that can be wrapped generously around or worn long as a statement piece. The knitting is both compelling enough to keep you interested in the stitch pattern AND easy enough to knit while carrying on a good conversation or indulging in Netflix. The shawl is surprisingly light, knitted in ...

This hat was designed with texture in mind. And the honeycomb stitch pattern is easily memorizable. It will fit kid and adult heads alike. I like the smaller size for a closer, sporty fit. I wear the larger hat with the giant pom when I’m craving some slouch.