Patterns available on Ravelry
Accessories available on Etsy

Garter and Lace: Fruitcake

This unique and fashionable scarf is knit from the top down, rather than the traditional way of knitting from one end to the other. You’ll see that the first half is knit in garter stitch and the final half is a lace pattern, with a simple picot stitch adding a bit of flair to the bottom edge.

A benefit of this top-down approach to construction is an accessory that has a more tailored appearance, and is much more likely to keep its shape.

The Fruitcake part of the name comes from the colorway for this hand-dyed yarn, and it’s called Fruitcake because the colors resemble one! It’s a fingering weight yarn called Bert, and comes from Woosheeps, an indie dyer in Scotland. It’s a blend of merino wool (80 per cent) and bamboo (20 per cent).

Overall the scarf measures 7×62 inches / 17.75×157.5cm.

It’s also available for sale in my Etsy shop if you don’t have the time or inclination to knit one yourself.

Happy Knitting!
MikeH

Patterns available on Ravelry
Accessories available on Etsy

Look past the cold bleak days of winter with this design that evokes spring and a resurgence of activity in the garden.

This rectangular-shaped wrap features a central panel of a dayflower stitch pattern surrounded by mermaid mesh lace and running edges of a honeybee pattern.

At one end of the shawl you’ll find a final section of Shetland lace diamonds as a bit of a surprise.

This was knit in 100 percent merino wool, in purple. Note that the first image that appears is the truest representation of the color.

The full-sized wrap measures 68in long x 20 in wide (172 x 50 cm).

Buy the accessory on Etsy!

I used just under 2-1/2 skeins of Cherry Tree Hill Supersock solids (merino) in purple, or 1,050 yards/960 meters, to knit a wrap that measures 68in long x 20 in wide (172 x 50 cm).

The shawl can easily be made shorter or longer by the number of pattern repeats you knit (with US4 (3.5mm) needles, 1 pattern repeat yielded approximately 7 inches.

The instructions are written out, row by row. You’ll need 4 stitch markers, and although I seldom use them, you’ll want to use with this pattern.

Buy the pattern on Ravelry.

Happy Knitting!
MikeH

Patterns available on Ravelry
Accessories available on Etsy

I recently participated in an all-volunteer project with the University of Glasgow that was aimed at the “knitability”- if that’s a word – of  a selection of Shetland lace knitting patterns from the mid-19th century.

Volunteers were provided the text of an original knitting pattern and a glossary of terms (and symbols), with the objective of knitting a sample of the stitch pattern.

In numerous cases it turned out that the directions were either too difficult to understand or actually had errors in them, so when possible we charted the patterns and made corrections without varying the intended look of the pattern: interesting and not always so simple!

It was a real  pleasure to take part in this and to see what pattern writers were producing back then, and the knitting terms and symbols in use at the time.

I produced 3 samples and 3 charts for the project: a Shetland leaf lace pattern, a scallop pattern, and a linked diamond pattern. Here are some photos.

Shetland Leaf Lace Pattern

Shetland Scallop Lace Pattern

Shetland Diamond Lace Pattern

 I’m using one of the stitch patterns in a new shawl/wrap design I’m working on now. That pattern – Dayflowers and Honeybees Wrap -will be the feature of next week’s blog.

Happy Knitting!
MikeH

Patterns available on Ravelry
Accessories available on Etsy

My newest lace knit wrap design is a work in progress, and at the half-way point in knitting. I hope to have the accessory and the pattern completed within a couple of weeks!

The wrap features running edges of a honeybee stitch design and a central panel of a dayflowers – separated by mermaid mesh lace.

The final edge will incorporate a Shetland knit lace design – and is a surprise. Check back in a couple of weeks and I’ll post some photos after blocking!

I used Cherry Tree Hill merino fingering weight yarn in purple with US4 or 3.5mm needles. The final measurements are expected to be around 20×65 inches (51x165cm).

Happy Knitting!
MikeH

Patterns available on Ravelry
Accessories available on Etsy

I knit this Paris-inspired bandana using a lace weight 100% alpaca yarn on 2.75mm needles. What I wanted to do was make a smaller version of my Parisian Links shawl that still incorporated the elements of the original.

It measures 43in (109cm) across the top line and 17in (43com) from the top line to the bottom point.

This bandana-shaped accessory follows the original Parisian Links pattern through Row 100, and then continues as follows:

Row 101: (K1, YO) twice; K15, (K3, YO, SK2P-and place bead, YO, K2, K3, YO, SK2P, YO, K2) 7 times; K3, YO, SK2P-and place bead, YO, K3, K10, YO, K1, YO, K10, (K3, YO, SK2P-and place bead, YO, K2, K3, YO, SK2P, YO, K2) 7 times; K3, YO, SK2P-and place bead, YO, K3, K15, (YO, K1) twice (303 stitches)
Row 102 and all remaining even-numbered rows: Purl across
Row 103: (K1, YO) twice; K149, YO, K1, YO, K149, (YO, K1) twice (309 stitches)
Row 105: (K1, YO) twice; P152, YO, K1, YO, P152, (YO, K1) twice (315 stitches)
Row 107: (K1, YO) twice; K1, (YO, SSK) 77 times; YO, K1, YO, K1, (YO, SSK) 77 times; (YO, K1) twice (321 stitches)
Row 109: (K1, YO) twice; P158, YO, K1, YO, P158, (YO, K1) twice (327 stitches)
Row 111: (K1, YO) twice; K3, (YO, K1, SK2P, K1, YO, K1) 26 times; K2, YO, K1, YO, K3, (YO, K1, SK2P, K1, YO, K1) 26 times; K2, (YO, K1) twice (333 stitches)
Row 113: (K1, YO) twice; K5, (YO, K1, SK2P, K1, YO, K1) 26 times; K3, YO, K1, YO, K4, (YO, K1, SK2P, K1, YO, K1) 26 times; K4, (YO, K1) twice (339 stitches)
Row 115: (K1, YO) twice; K7, (YO, K1, SK2P, K1, YO, K1) 26 times; K4, YO, K1, YO, K5, (YO, K1, SK2P, K1, YO, K1) 26 times; K6, (YO, K1) twice (345 stitches)
Row 117: (K1, YO) twice; K9, (YO, K1, SK2P, K1, YO, K1) 26 times; K5, YO, K1, YO, K6, (YO, K1, SK2P, K1, YO, K1) 26 times; K8, (YO, K1) twice (351 stitches)
Row 118: Purl across
BO using your favorite lace bind-off method

The paid pattern for Parisian Links is available on Ravelry.

Buy it now and you’ll have 2 patterns for the price of 1!

If you already own the pattern, you now have a lace alpaca variation that will make a completely different looking lace bandana!

Happy Knitting and Happy New Year,
MikeH

Patterns available on Ravelry
Accessories available on Etsy

Hope you all had an enjoyable Christmas holiday.

Congratulations to Deb Flaherty (Flaherty Naturals), the winner of my Thai Memories original hand-knit scarf! It’s on its way to you now, Deb.

Keep an eye on my Etsy shop for some special deals after the first of January.

Happy New Year to you all and happy knitting!
MikeH

Leave a comment here on my blog and retweet my tweet (@melcontent) about the contest to win my one-of-a-kind lace knit Thai Memories silk and merino scarf (plus free shipping by standard air)!

Entries close at 12:00 Bangkok time on Thursday 24  December 2015. All entries that include both a comment on this blog site and a retweet of the contest tweet on twitter (@melcontent) will be eligible. Enter as many times as you like!

Names of all entrants will be placed in a hat (really!) and a winner drawn at random. Notification will be made later in the day on the 24th and this soft, luxurious, and unique scarf will soon be on its way to you!

See the description of this accessory in my Etsy shop.

You might also like to see some of my other shawls, wraps, bandanas, and scarves available for sale, as well as some of my original lace knitting patterns:

Patterns available on Ravelry
Accessories available on Etsy

Happy Holidays!
MikeH

Patterns available on Ravelry
Accessories available on Etsy

Still time to knit this unique hand towel as a last-minute Christmas gift. FREE for 1 week – through December 20, 2015.

Eyelet Seed Chevron Reversible Knit Towel pattern by Michael Harrigan

This is a mate to the Seed Stitch Chevron Knit Towel that has been free since it was first added to my shop last year.

Seed Stitch Chevron Knit Towel pattern by Michael Harrigan

Happy Holidays!
MikeH

No joke! I had the pleasure of seeing one of the first pair of socks I ever knit head out on a hike in the Ecuadorian Amazon this past week – and they held up well.

We spent most of a two-week trip in the Andes of Ecuador but ventured off track a bit to visit the Amazonas region for a couple of days. Instead of the highlands topography we were back in the jungle in a place that was reminiscent of Thailand.

The hike ended well and as you can see from the photo below my partner made it out unscathed as well.

Although I don’t design sock patterns or knit socks all that often, you can find my original designs for lace knit shawls, wraps, bandanas, and scarves at:

Patterns available on Ravelry
Accessories available on Etsy

Happy Knitting and Happy Travels!
MikeH