Knitting

Free Patterns, Tutorials and Project Ideas

Knit a Scarf with Bold Circles

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I had kind of stopped sharing scarf knitting patterns for the summer, even though our Southern Hemisphere friends can still use them, but I will make an exception for this one, which I think maybe everyone should knit right now, regardless of the season where they live.

The Shanta Wrap from Pascuali Designs features big, bold circles on a contrasting background. The project is worked in garter stitch and uses the intarsia technique to make the color changes.

This one calls for sport weight yarn to make a shawl that measures 15 inches/38.1 cm wide and 60 inches or 152.4 cm wide. That’s already pretty big but you could try it with DK weight to make more of a shawl, or even with fingering weight to make a narrower scarf.

The main thing is that you really need two colors that contrast highly to make those circles pop. The designer uses their own Pascuali Suave yarn (available in Germany), which is a cotton yarn, though this would be great in wool for a warmer finish (and again if you want to make it wider to be a shawl, wool or alpaca would be a great choice).

You can find this project, which is available in English and German, on Ravelry.

If you’ve never done intarsia before it can be a little intimidating, but the good news is that this scarf uses large color sections and it doesn’t look like you would ever need more than three balls of yarn for a row. (With intarsia each block of color uses its own ball so you don’t carry the unused yarn across the back.)

If you need help with your intarsia technique, I wrote a post over on Our Daily Craft that covers the basics. It shows intarsia worked on a stockinette stitch with three balls of yarn, but the idea is the same when working with a garter stitch.

[Photo: Pascuali Designs]

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Have you read?

Free Knitted Crown Pattern for Kids and Adults: A Sweet Handmade Dress-Up Idea

There’s something wonderfully charming about a knitted crown. It’s playful, useful for the dress-up basket, and just the sort of small project that gives a leftover ball of yarn a proper purpose. Much better than letting it roll around the cupboard for another three years.

This free knitted crown pattern for kids and adults combines a simple garter-stitch band with shaped triangular points. The mustard-gold colour gives it that storybook crown look, although pink, purple or woodland green would be equally lovely.

A Manageable Next Step for Beginner Knitters

The construction is the appealing part of this design. Everything is knitted flat, so you won’t need double-pointed needles or experience joining stitches in the round.

You knit the band first, then work each crown point separately over a group of 12 stitches. Paired decreases gradually narrow each triangle, giving you a small, repeatable section to concentrate on.

I’d describe this as a confident beginner knitting project. You’ll need to know how to knit, work two types of decreases, hold unused stitches and sew a simple seam. There are several yarn tails to weave in, so a little patience with finishing will help.

Three Sizes With Room to Personalise

The pattern includes three sizes, with seven, eight or nine crown points. Choose by the wearer’s head measurement rather than age, and check your gauge carefully. Yarn stretch will make a noticeable difference to the fit.

For birthdays, an embroidered initial would be a sweet finishing touch. Contrasting yarn diamonds could suggest little jewels without adding hard embellishments.

What to Know Before Casting On

This is a soft knitted crown, so expect gentle points rather than a rigid costume accessory. A springy wool or wool-blend yarn should give the shaping more support than a very drapey yarn.

The stitch calculations have been checked, but the design has not yet been sample-knitted. The accompanying image is an illustrative mockup, so the finished texture and proportions may vary with your yarn and tension.

For a small handmade birthday accessory or a cheerful addition to the dress-up box, this is an appealing idea. And if an adult needs a matching crown for supervising the royal household, the larger size has that covered too.