Add Some Doodles to Your Cowl with this Fun Arctic Pattern

It feels like winter gets sucked up in Christmas trees and elves and doesn’t leave enough time for adorable winter animals, snowflakes and the like. But today we’re going to focus on a pattern that’s decidedly winter but not necessarily a holiday pattern, and you can make it any way you like.

Arctic Doodles by Jamie Lomax is one of her doodle series of patterns, which we’ll talk about more in a minute. The doodle patterns allow you to mix and match different little colorwork designs so you can make a totally unique project. In this set of designs you’ll find polar bears, snowflakes, trees, moose, walruses and more. The cowl pattern itself comes in three different sizes and you can mix and match any of the designs you like, in whatever colors you like, to make a project the size you want.

It uses DK weight yarn and you can grab the pattern on Ravelry.

In addition to the Arctic doodles, though, Jamie has a whole series of interchangeable pattern motifs that you can use to make a project on a particular theme or just mix and match the ones you like.

For example there are monsters and other Halloween motifs; fall-themed designs like a fox, fall leaves and pumpkins; a floral set with flower motifs and butterflies; even a Rhinebeck set of patterns that include sweaters, socks, hats, rabbits, sheep and more in honor of the famous wool festival.

Once you’ve bought a pattern that includes the general instructions for making the cowls, you can by any of the motif sets as an expansion pack, which is less expensive than buying the full pattern again.

This idea is so much fun (and a great way to use your yarny leftovers, of course) and I’m sure she’s going to keep making them with different designs in the future so you’ll want to check back and see what other fun she has in store.

[Photo: Jamie Lomax]

Fall will be here before we know it, and that means there are holidays coming right behind where we might be entertaining at home. It’s always fun to have a hand knit touch in your home for other people to see, and if you’re going to be in the kitchen all day you might as well have some nice knit dish cloths to use.

I love this little plaid hand towel from Darling Jadore. Use a little bit of leftover cotton yarn from another project for the plaid portion. It looks like the horizontal stripes are worked as you knit and the vertical stripes are done with duplicate stitch, making this a quick and easy project even newer knitters can make.

Combine garter stitch and an easy eyelet pattern worked sideways to make the Annette Dish Towel from Cluck Cluck Boots, which is meant to be reminiscent of flour sack towels. It calls for DK weight yarn and you can work it in one color or two (or even three!).

Add a little more texture with this set of kitchen towels from Whileberry Creative. They’re mostly worked in garter stitch with borders in easy knit/purl patterns, and you can work them in sport or worsted weight yarn.

Two of Wands Shop has another cute allover knit and purl pattern they call the Seersucker Textured Tea Towel. It’s an easy repeating pattern worked in worsted weight yarn, and there’s a chart in the pattern you can use, but don’t have to, if you want to practice knitting from a chart.

The Classic Cloth dish towel from Handmade Home by Connie is another one that can use a little leftover yarn in a contrasting color, or you could color block it our use stripes throughout the pattern. This one uses worsted weight yarn and another easy repeating knit purl stitch pattern.

If you like to hang your towel on the oven handle or elsewhere but it’s always falling off, try the Stay Put kitchen towel from Fancy Step Knits. This project is worked in garter stitch and includes a hole partway through so you can pull the towel through itself over a rod or handle. Stripes are optional but a nice addition.

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