Take It Easy with the Bessie Scarf

Sometimes you just need a little something to occupy your hands that will make a cute and wearable accessory when you’re done.

Enter the Bessie Scarf by Gavriella Treminio , a bias knit garter stitch and eyelet scarf that’s a perfect relatively mindless project.

It’s worked from one of the long ends, so you can make it with a single skein of DK weight yarn (or use another yarn weight if you’d rather) and make it as wide as you want or have yarn available for.

The edges use slipped stitches for a nice clean edge.

This is a great piece to make with one of those special vacation skeins of yarn that you buy because you’re at a local yarn shop and you don’t know what to do with it when you get home. You have those, right?

It makes a lightweight scarf that you can add to an outfit any time of year, and it comes with a bit of history.

Bessie is named for Bessie Coleman, who was the first Black and Native American woman aviator in the United States. She was known for her flying tricks and she encouraged women and Blacks to reach for their dreams. What a lovely legacy and person to reflect on while you knit.

I love a good eyelet pattern, and little holes can be really effective as a way to add a pattern to an otherwise simple project. Here are a few more eyelet projects for you to try.

Many years ago I actually shared a couple more patterns that include eyelets and bias knitting (who knew there were so many?).

The Zeffira top uses eyelets as a design element that starts with dense diamonds at the bottom and fades to single eyelets toward to top. Or try to Lovell top, which has allover eyelets. Both are great projects for spring and summer!

[Photo: Gavriella Treminio]

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Blankets are a great blank slate project that you can change up in a million different ways. From color to stitch pattern to size, the possibilities are almost endless.

Jared Flood, the designer behind Brooklyn Tweed, was inspired by a log cabin quilt his mother made in 1995 to re-create that design in knitting, which led to more blankets and ultimate Brooklyn Tweed’s Knit and Crochet Blankets, which includes 25 patterns from an array of designers using different skills and techniques to make cozy, pretty blankets.

The patterns are divided into three aesthetic themes: traditions, minimalism and colorplay. The patterns are rated on a scale of one to five, with one being the easiest, and there aren’t any pieces rated five. Two blankets are rated one, 14 are two, eight are three and one is four.

In addition, three of the 25 patterns are crocheted, but they either use single crochet or granny stitch, so they are pretty easy even if you don’t do a lot of crochet. You can see all the patterns on Ravelry.

Some of my favorites include Rattan by Rastus Hsu, a chunky blanket worked in knits and purls with simple crossing stitches to make a raised woven look; Homewood by Seth Richardson, covers in dramatic, loopy cables; Ainur Berkimbayeva’s Tessellate, one of the beginner projects that doesn’t really look beginner but is totally worked in knit and purl stitches; Warp + Weft by Aist? Butkevi?ien?, which is mostly knits and purls but makes a fun woven look fabric that blew my mind a little bit; and the same designer’s Canyonland, a multicolored blanket with wavy stripes.

The patterns tell you how to resize them for different dimensions and include information on pattern repeats where it is possible to make a totally custom size.

Many different techniques are included here such as cables, lace, shadow knitting, intarsia and other colorwork techniques, as well as modular knitting and lots of sewing pieces together. The patterns are all presented with charts, but there are line by line written instructions available on the Brooklyn Tweed website if you need them.

The book ends with a deep dive into log cabin knitting, telling the story of the quilt Jared’s mom made and how he made it in knitting, as well as the multitude of variations you can make if you want your own log cabin style design.

The back of the book includes a little written information about some of the special techniques needed, but there are no photos.

This is a lovely book full of inspiration for knitting and crochet blankets for any skill level. If you like to make blankets as gifts or aspire to have a handmade blanket in every room of the house, these designs would be a great place to start.

About the book: 192 pages, paperback, 25 patterns. Published 2024 by Abrams Books, suggested retail price $24.99.

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