Free “Shrowl” Pattern from Stephen West

Thanks to the WEBS Facebook page, my attention was called to this fun new pattern with a funny name. The Shrowl by Stephen West is so named because it’s a shrug and a cowl.

The piece is worked flat, then you sew the cast on and bind off edges together and sew another little seam to make arm holes (if you want to wear it as a shrug; it would be lovely just as a giant cowl).

The project is available as a free download from Ravelry; it’s also part of West’s pattern ebook, WestKnits Book 4: Made for Movement. The 10 pattern collection is full of hats and shawls, and you can buy the whole thing for $20 (or download and printed versions for $22).

Incidentally, West is in the running for the About.com Knitting Readers’ Choice Award for favorite knitwear designer. If you like his stuff, go give him a vote. There are also categories for favorite knitting blog, favorite knitting book of 2012, favorite yarn company and favorite needle brand.

[Photo via Ravelry.]

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One great thing to knit when the weather is warm (or honestly any other time) is dishcloths and washcloths. They are fun and easy projects and a great way to play with new skills. Pretty washcloths make cleaning a tiny bit more fun, and they’re great to have on hand as a quick addition to a store-bought gift.

The Daisy Delight Dishcloth from Yarnspirations is a fun one for using leftover bits of green in your cotton yarn stash. What looks like the bottom in the picture is actually the left side as you knit it, and each little color section is worked with its own ball of yarn, intarsia style.

That’s a little fiddly for a washcloth, but the effect is cute, and it’s a simple way to learn the basics of intarsia knitting (as well as reading a chart) if you don’t already have those skills.

One the knitting is done, you add the flowers with a bit of lazy daisy embroidery, which is really easy to do even if you’re not that into embroidery. You could also potentially add flowers in duplicate stitch if you’d rather.

This may be the most work you’ve put into a dishcloth, but isn’t it adorable? It would be fun to use as a hand towel through the spring and summer, and if you already have some leftover green yarn from other projects it should be pretty easy to do.

You could also take this same concept and make it different colors. All dark green stems with stars on top might be reminiscent of Christmas trees, or brown with daisy stitch on top in different colors could be trees in the fall.

However you stitch it, this looks like a fun little project for knitters who are comfortable with intarsia and reading charts or who are ready to try those skills.

You can grab the free pattern from Yarnspirations.

[Photo: Yarnspirations]

Book Review – Dishcloths for Special Days [Knitting]

Book Review – Holiday Knit Dishcloths

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