Throw yourself in next time. Or just make this hat to keep your Hobbit ears warm. It’s the perfect cap for getting into mischief, and it knits up quickly enough that you’ll be done in no time and ready to keep up with Master Peregrin while he fulfills his duties as soldier of Gondor and Thain of the Shire. This hat is knit in the round with a n...

Yavanna Kementari is the “lover of all things that grow in the earth…from the trees like towers in forests long ago to the moss upon stones or the small and secret things in the mould.” This simple and elegant lace stole features a lace motif that evokes the growing shoots of a tender vine and speaks to Yavanna’s love for all growing things. Th...

Nessa is the Vala most known for her dancing, and she is swift as an arrow from the string. Inspired by the joy of her dance on lawns of never-fading green, the Nessa raglan hearkens back to the glory of Valinor, where the Valar dwelt in bliss.

The Fangorn shawl is a center-out shawl inspired by the textures of trees and the oldest and most legendary forest of Middle Earth. The sequence knitting of the first two sections mimics the organic beauty of forest textures, such as patches of moss or the bark of a tree. The texture then gradually fades into a 3x3 rib, reminiscent of the trunk...

When Bilbo needs an extra layer to keep him warm on his autumn wanderings through the Shire, this is the sweater he reaches for. The rustic wool yarn bespeaks his Hobbit closeness to the earth, and the cables remind him of the wandering and winding pathways he loves to explore. It’s a dangerous business, going out his front door, but at least h...

Whether traipsing through the highlands of Dorthonion in the dead of winter or fending off a chill in the twilight evening of Doriath, Beren would have found this shawl/scarf a constant welcome companion on his journeys through Beleriand. Inspired by the pinewoods of Dorthonion where Beren was born and raised, the cables and moss stitch echo th...

I wanted a simple hat for my newborn that would keep her head warm in our cold Wisconsin winters and also have the flexibility to grow with her as she gets older. Nothing provides this kind of warmth and size flexibility like a good 2x2 ribbing, so this simple hat was born. With elevated details like a tubular cast-on and mirrored crown decreas...

Wave lapping calmly on the beach

Inspired by the moon and its governance of the four seasons, Arien is named after the Maia spirit who guides the moon across the sky in Arda, the world of The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion. More of a shlanket than a shawl, Arien is a large rectangular wrap that combines the two colorwork techniques of intarsia and marling. Holding yarn...

Lobelia Sackville-Baggins is not a hobbit to be messed with. Although Bilbo and Frodo aren’t on the best of terms with this no-nonsense relation, one thing they can’t deny about her is that she has class. Just like it’s namesake, this hat gets the job done and does it with style. The simple, stockinette folded brim gives way to an easy-to-memor...

Ulmo is the Lord of Waters who “speaks to those who dwell in Middle-earth with voices that are heard only as the music of water.” The ripple motif and the colorway used for this design were both inspired by this Ainu and his connection to water. This is a simple scarf design elevated by an asymmetrical slipped stitch pattern that ripples across...

Wonderfully warm and squishy, the Bywater cowl is the perfect accessory for keeping warm during cold Shire winters. What Hobbit wouldn’t want such a practical and stylish cowl? It can keep neck, nose, and ears warm, and the reversible fabric allows one to give one’s neighbors the impression of owning more cowls than one actually does, inevitabl...

The Melian shawl, like its namesake, is simple and timeless. Inspired by the powerful Maia from Tolkien’s Silmarillion who graced the gardens of Lorien with her enchanting music and who ruled the guarded realm of Doriath with her husband Thingol, it is a triangular shawl with a delicate floral lace border that gently fades into swaths of soothi...

Arda, the world in which the Silmarillion and Lord of the Rings takes place, seemed the perfect name for this shawl pattern, which was knit using Lord of the Rings inspired yarn and provides a world of creative possibilities. Bias knitting provides the perfect blend of simplicity and engaging knitting, while an easily memorizable two-row patter...

Inspired by the smith of the Ainur in The Silmarillion, the Aulë Shawl is a modern take on the traditional triangular shawl shape. Its modular shaping and large color-blocked panels make a bold statement, and its simple stitch patterns make it the perfect pattern for showcasing any special yarns you have in your stash. The loose-ish gauge creat...

The idea for the Refracted Sweater was born when I was playing around with slipped stitches near the beginning of the great COVID quarantine of 2020. I wanted something that would be simple to knit but striking in appearance with the elevated details that I so love to add when knitting garments. I knit the prototype that spring. It was a lovely...

Have you ever seen a woodland elf on sentry duty in the cold Mirkwood winters? Well, if you had, the Woodland Elf Toque is just the sort of cap you would see them wearing. With cables reminiscent of the roots and boughs of their beloved trees and a nice thick brim to keep their ears warm, this would certainly be the headgear of choice.

Simple and elegant, the Lady of Lorien Shawl is a timeless crescent shawl pattern. Among its many desirable qualities is the fact that there is nary a purl stitch in the entire shawl. Slender slipped stitch columns are set against a backdrop of relaxing garter stitch, which perfectly balances cozy plumpness with lightweight wearability, and rad...

The Dwarrowdelf is another name for the Mines of Moria in the Lord of the Rings. I chose this name for this pattern, because the geometric colorwork design reminded me of the many geometric designs found in the architecture of Moria in many Tolkien illustrators depictions of this dwarven realm and in the Lord of the Rings Films directed by Pete...

The Vána Wrap is inspired by the eponymous character from Tolkien’s The Silmarillion, in which it is said of her, “All flowers spring as she passes and open if she glances upon them; and all birds sing at her coming.” Somewhat of a hybrid between a shawl and a scarf, the wrap starts from just three stitches and gradually widens by increasing tw...

The Refracted Socks are my first ever sock pattern! I was having a lot of fun playing with slipped stitches and thought it would be fun to make myself another pair of socks, and so they were born. The slipped stitch pattern wraps around the leg and the top of the foot, extending down onto the heel flap. They are knit top down with a heel flap a...

The Rosie Cotton shawl is inspired by the hobbits of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. The simplicity of the design and the natural beauty of the yarn echo the simplicity of the hobbits and their connection to good, solid earth. At the same time, hobbits have a joyful spirit of fun about them, too, and the playful touches o...

The Eöl Cowl is inspired by Eöl, the Dark Elf, from Tolkien’s The Silmarillion. He learned smithcraft from the dwarves of Nogrod and Belegost and was one of the few elves to maintain a close friendship with the dwarves. He lived in the forest of Nan Elmoth, where he forged several famous blades.The dark colors of the cowl represent the deep sha...

Lady of Rohan is a simple, elegant rectangular shawl knitted on the bias to create a large chevron. The lightweight, airy nature of the fabric makes it perfect for keeping the chill off on cool summer evenings, but it will also keep you warm during the chillier months of spring and autumn. It is knitted with larger needles than are normally use...

A simple hat that is quick and fun to knit, the Sophie Lowe Beanie is a great beginner brioche project. The pattern provides clear instructions for all brioche techniques used, and the brioche decreases used in the crown shaping add a subtle yet interesting design element. Adding to the luxuriousness is the mohair held double with the fingering...

The Storyteller Cowl was my first pattern and is still one of my most popular. It is a great pattern for showcasing both solid and variegated yarns. Inspired by the Storyteller Hat by Lindsey Faciane of The Chesapeake Needle, it features a mock-honeycomb stitch and half twisted ribbing. Find two skeins of DK yarn and watch it fly off your needl...