A beanie full of poetry
Snow Doves is a beanie knitted with the stranded colorwork method. You will need two half skeins of different colours to knit this poetic beanie which could be a perfect Christmas gift.
The pattern is available on Ravelry or on Lovecrafts and on Makerist.
Snow Doves, a beanie full of poetry
1. The story behind this cute beanie
It is difficult to give a very particular context to this beanie. I had a sudden urge for a stranded colorwork beanie with a small birds motif.
The urge to put birds on a beanie came to me after researching for the knitting history podcast I published a few weeks ago.
To edit this video, I had researched into the Internet Archives and came across an 18th century embroidery image featuring a bucolic picture of animals. So I drew a rather complex bird design with a touch of the curves found in Art Nouveau.
The choice of colors was more difficult, I decided the colors at the last moment and found my happiness by going to the By Night Creations Open House in mid-October.
You can find the video about Knitting History here but it’s in French.
2. The construction of Snow Doves
This beanie has a very classic construction.
You will start with a ribbed brin. You will then knit the body of the beanie and finish with a series of decreases to shape the crown.
I have then added a pompom but you don’t have to do it if you don’t want too.
You will start with a few rows of two colors to warm up your needles and start the lace.
Next, you will approach the central part which consists of a slightly more complex lace part.
And you will finish with the same sequence of lace that you started the wrap with.
3. What level is needed to knit Snow Doves?
This model has a quite easy construction, but it is not intended for beginners.
You will need to know how to read a chart but above all you will need to be able to manage the stranded colorwork tension because the motif is complex and you will need to handle stranded colorwork.
Indeed, the motif is complex, so you will sometimes have to catch the yarn you don’t huse behind the work to avoid long floats on the wrong side.
4. Where to buy the pattern?
The pattern is available on Ravelry in French and English for immediate download. It is also available on Lovecrafts and Makerist.
5. Which yarn and material are suggested for knitting this beanie?
Suggested yarns are By Night Creations Milky Way for the main color (85% merino, 15% rayon / Viscose) 400 m / 100 g. You will need approx. 110-120 m. As for the contrasting color, I used By Night Creations Comet (100% corriedale) 400 m / 100 g and you will need more or less 50-60 m. I used Garance colorway for one and Hibiscus colorway for the other.
These colors are only suggestions as well as the yarns, you can use any fingering yarn whose sample matches as well as any colour as long as the colors contrast enough to make the motif visible.
As for the material, you will need
- 100 cm (40″) 2.75 mm (US2) circ needle
- 100 cm (40″) 3.5 mm (US4) circ needle
- Tapestry needle
- 2 Stitch markers for motif repeats
- a 10 cm false fur pompom (I found it here)
6. Why Snow Doves?
Finally, why did I name it Snow Doves?
For those who have subscribed to my newsletter, you know that I made a call to give a name to this pattern.
I have received a multitude of proposals, some more beautiful than others. It was my youngest one who decided that his name would be Snow Doves!
I hope this beanie will make you fall in love with it and that this article will make you want to knit it. It’s a perfect gift for Christmas.
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See you soon,
Christelle
