Search is on from Britain’s Next Top Knitwear Designer

British knitting company LoveKnitting is one of the sponsors behind a knitting competition looking for new design talent. Would-be designers are asked to design a garment for men or women and send the pattern, along with at least two pictures, to the company by April 30.

Patterns will be judged by a team of six experts, including designer Debbie Bliss and Kate Carter, editor of Life & Style at the Guardian.

The winner will receive £1,000, mentoring from Debbie Bliss, an internship with designer Emilio de la Morena and the pattern will be sold by LoveKnitting as a downloadable leaflet, with all pattern sales proceeds going to the designer.

Only one entry per person will be accepted, and participants must be 16 or older and residents of the UK.

[Photo via LoveKnitting.]

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I guess the trend of little scarves and bandanas isn’t going away, and there’s a good reason for that. These little projects are fast, and they’re good for beginners because of the low commitment and they make something that doesn’t necessarily look like a beginner made it.

And when you can combine a simple pattern with some super luxurious yarn, it’s a little treat that even more experienced knitters can get behind.

The Little Dot Bandana from Purl Soho (designed by Gianna Mueller) is a project like that. It’s a simple eyelet triangle, worked from the long side down to the point, so there’s a lot of decreasing happening but it’s a really easy project.

It calls for a hank of silk yarn and one that’s silk mohair, which gives the project a fuzziness and a little bit of a silky glow.

Of course you can use different yarn to get a different look. A linen yarn would be fun for a summer kerchief, or combine wool and mohair for a warm and cozy kerchief for cold mornings.

The pattern comes in two sizes, so you can stitch up a kerchief or a simple triangle shawl. The stitch multiple is 8 plus 23 stitches, so you can use that to make a triangle of any size you like, or you can use a heavier weight of yarn to make a different size if you prefer. The two strands held together as called for in the pattern makes a sport weight gauge, so you could try DK or worsted for a bigger and warmer project if you want.

This pattern is available for free from Purl Soho, or check out the pattern notes on Ravelry to find how other people made this project.

And if you need more options for kerchiefs to knit, check out this collection of kerchief knitting patterns.

[Photo: Purl Soho]

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