Knitting

Free Patterns, Tutorials and Project Ideas

Ukraine Sunflower Hat Knitting Pattern

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I feel like I haven’t shared any Ukraine knitting patterns in a long time, but that’s not because things are better there or there’s any end in sight to the conflict. If you want to show your support to the people of Ukraine through the winter, knit yourself a Sunflower Hat from yellowcosmo.

This two-color knitting pattern is worked in sport weight yarn (I love how the colors switch as you work the hat!) from the bottom up in the round. The colorwork pattern is charted, but it’s pretty easy to work because it repeats around the head and is symmetrical. In addition to knitting in the round and reading a chart, you will need to be able to make simple increases and decreases to complete this project.

The pattern is available as a free download on Ravelry, but the designer suggests making a donation to a relief organization if you are able to in lieu of payment. You could also make these to sell and donate the proceeds to a group that is helping Ukrainians.

Speaking of knitting for Ukraine, back when the war first started I shared a lot of knitting patterns in blue and yellow. Here’s a quick roundup if you’re looking for other Ukraine knitting projects:

And there’s this great roundup of Ukraine inspired knitting patterns, which is titled more knitting patterns for Ukraine, but I don’t know now if there was an original roundup that I can’t find or if “more” just means “in addition to all the other ones I listed above.” Either way this is a lot of different patterns to get you thinking about the Ukrainian people who have been fighting and struggling for so long.

Have you read?

Knit a Mosaic Shawl Inspired by Mythology

Sometimes when I’m scrolling through Ravelry a pattern will catch my eye as much because of the name as the look of the design (which is a little hard to see in those little thumbnails sometimes, anyway). 

So it was with the Stellify shawl by Paola Albergamo. Stellify means to turn into a star, and the name and the story behind the shawl come from the story of Ariadne. The better known part of her story is that she helped Theseus escape from the Minotaur, but he then abandoned her. What comes after in many stories is that Dionysus found her, fell in love with her and later married her. 

When he threw her jeweled crown into the sky, the Corona Borealis constellation was formed. 

What does all this have to do with shawl knitting? 

The shawl itself looks like it has a scattering of stars on it, as if it, too, has been stellified. The shawl begins with an I-cord tap and is shaped into a triangular shawl with both lateral and central increases. I-cord edging is incorporated into the sides, and the colorwork is done with mosaic knitting, which means this shawl is easier than it looks. 

Mosaic knitting has you working with just one color per row, slipping stitches that appear in the other color to make the colorwork visible. Even better for people new to this kind of colorwork, the pattern includes written and charted instructions throughout so it should be easy to follow along. 

The pattern comes in two sizes (the larger one is shown here) and calls for two colors of fingering weight yarn. It looks great in black and yellow, but don’t miss the other projects on Ravelry to see other fun and beautiful color options. 

You can find the pattern in English and Italian on Ravelry. 

[Photo: Paola Albergamo]