Project Notebook: Irish Coasters

St. Patrick’s Day is such a fun holiday, and it’s a great time for crafters because working some bright green into your wardrobe or decor this time of year is a welcome change from the drab colors of the end of winter.

I like really quick and easy projects for the “smaller” holidays like St. Patrick’s Day, because it’s not a holiday you get to keep your decorations out for over a long period of time. They can come up after Valentine’s Day (or Mardi Gras, in my house) and go right back down in favor of Easter decor.

One great way to infuse your home with a little St. Patrick’s Day cheer is to knit simple coasters in Irish colors or with shamrock shapes. They add a bit of color even when people aren’t using them, and they make keeping your table clean a lot more festive.

I whipped up a couple of versions that you can find over on CraftBits. There’s a solid color version with the shamrock worked in Reverse Stockinette Stitch, and versions showing the same pattern worked all is Stockinette in green and white. It only takes an hour or so to knit each one, so you can have a stack in no time.

While I was working on those, I was thinking about some red, white and blue coasters I made a long time ago and thinking about knitting some in the colors of the Irish flag. I decided to go with the same striping that’s found in the flag, and did both Garter Stitch and Stockinette Stitch versions, which you can find over at About.

Have you done any knitting for St. Patrick’s Day? I’d love to hear about it!

Not too long ago I did a test knit for another designer that was for a cabled cardigan. It’s really cozy and nice but it just about broke me in a ton of different ways. I couldn’t get gauge, which I suppose is my own problem, but mainly I was somehow both bored and forced to pay attention at the same time.

Because it used the same cable all over, I always had to know what row I was on, but nine out of ten of those rows, nothing in particular was going on. So I couldn’t stop paying attention, but what I needed to attend to was boring.

It may have ruined me for knitting cabled sweaters, but maybe I just need something that’s more engaging. Like this Modern Aran Cardigan pattern from Lion Brand Yarn.

This is a reworking of an old pattern from their archives, and you can tell that form the classic look of the cables and the oversized feel (nothing cropped about this one!). It has allover cables, but like a classic Aran sweater it’s not the same cable, so you’ll have to pay attention to what row you’re on and what cable turns happen for which cables on that row.

Because of this, it’s considered an intermediate knitting pattern, but if you’re comfortable working from multiple charts at once it shouldn’t be a problem for you. There are three different charts and seven different cable moves.

Also because the pattern is so big and boxy there are only two sizes available, with a finished chest measurement of either 49 or 63 inches (that’s 124.5 or 160 cm). It’s up to you to decide how much ease you would like and whether that will work for your body.

The pattern uses worsted weight yarn (and calls for another classic, Lion Brand Fisherman’s Wool). It calls for six buttons and includes pockets to make it extra cozy.

This one looks like a great winter project to make and to wear if you’re up for a bit of a challenge. You can grab the free pattern or buy a kit with the yarn needed direct from Lion Brand Yarn.

[Photo: Lion Brand Yarn]

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