#4 Chichester the Pig

Number 4 on the countdown is probably the most adorable thing I've ever knitted. It's Helen Apocalypse's Chichester the Pig!!!

Seriously, there is nothing I can say about this pattern that will explain to you the full on squee-filled joy that comes from making/having/touching/seeing Chichester. This little piggy is made on tiny size 3 dpns and the way she uses increases to make the snout and legs is ingenious. The best part is that it's a no-sew project (be honest, if you're like me, sewing all those ends in is just the most annoyingt hing in the world).

I made my little piggy with some pink/white worsted weight baby yarn which made him slightly bigger than the original, but not by much. I gave the tiniest thing I've ever made to the biggest black guy I know (my friend Martin) and he attached the little guy to the pull chain on his fan (pigs DO fly!).

I love the fact that you can make the pig double headed, even tinier, or winged! Just writing about this pattern makes me want to make about a dozen more...

Here's a picture of my incarnation of the pattern:

And here's one of the adorable pics from the product page on Ravelry:

About the Designer

I am a polycraftual goblin queen. I wear the decorated skulls of my enemies with pride.

Helen has quite a few great patterns, including conjoined twins and conjoined twin elephants, both featured in The Anticraft!

Love this Pattern?
Queue it on Ravelry here.
Check out Helen's other designs here.
And her blog here.

#5 Saartjes Booties

Number 5 on our countdown is Saartje de Bruijn's Saartje's Bootees
(that was a mouthful)!

These are the most adorable booties I have ever had the pleasure of making! When my SIL was stitching these up for a new baby in the family, I was honestly a little scared of the pattern. I just couldn't wrap my mind around how the straps would be made. Boy am I glad I got over that fear though, because these are easy as pie and just lovely!

I love the versatility of this pattern... she includes instructions to make the bottom of the booties a different color from the top, and the options for buttons are endless! Also, the pattern is worked flat and seamed up, so they're realy accessible to all knitting skill levels.
Check out a picture of the booties from Ravelry:

I've made two versions of these to date. One is the traditional pattern, and with the other I took some liberties and made a mary-jane style strap.

The original:

This pair was made in Universal Yarn Classic Shades in colorway Roman Candle:

The second set I made was to match a University of Alabama themed pinafore I crocheted.

For these I used Caron Simply Soft, my go-to yarn for color work.


Love This Pattern?
Queue it on Ravelry here
Check out Saartje's other designs on Ravelry here
And her blog here
Finally, a modification of the pattern that is worked in the round here.

#6 Sushi Fishy

#6 on the list goes to Tanya Klowden's Sushi Fishy!

This amazing little piece of amigurumi wizardry has been the most popular item I've made to date. I don't know how many people begged me for their own little sushi fishy when I posted the pics on Facebook!

This is an ingenious little pattern that makes a reversable toy that transforms from Fish to sushi and back again! This was one of my first successful endeavors into dpns and it was a really fun, quick pattern. I was making fish into sushi after about and afternoon's work!

Here's a couple pictures of my incarnation of the pattern, using random scraps from my stash:

When I originally made the pattern, it was free, but now it is being sold ffor a $2 donation towards the American Red Cross to support the victims of the Japanese earthquake/tsunami. Such a great pattern and such a worthy cause!

About the Designer
Tanya Klowden is an incredibly crafty lady from California. while this is her onyl design available on Ravelry, she enjoys loads of other crafts, including baking, papermaking, origami, and textile crafts.

Love the pattern?
Queue it on Ravelry here.
More about Tanya here.
A crochet version is available on Ravelry here.

#7 Swirling Gauntlets

Number 7 on the countdown breaks up the hat monotony with Susanna IC's Swirling Gauntlets!

When I learned to knit, I only knew garter stitch, which led to boredom and about a 2 year hiatus. The one thing that got me back knitting was receiving my late Gradmother's vintage yarn and my late Great-Grandmother's knitting needles. With all those great supplies at my disposal, I went online for tips on how to use cricular needles and found Ravelry! This was the first pattern I tried that wasn't simply garter stitch. It was kind of jumping in the deep end for a beginner, but the fact that they were worked flat and seamed up made them feel less daunting, and the charts were written really well, which made it so much easier to understand how cables worked!

I made these gauntlets with some of my grandmother's vintage yarn. The yarn was so old that I can't even find information about the label online, but I remember it was called raspberry sparkle. The odd thing was, the label was camouflage... What about a sparkly fuschia yarn is camouflage, I will never know.

This is the only picture I have of my incarnation of the pattern, so excuse the poor quality!

The pattern picture is much more beautiful and does the pattern a lot more justice!

The great thing about this pattern is the ability to do some extra repeats and make a longer gauntlet, but something about the short gauntlet just looks so classy. I think it's because the cabled section is more evenly spaced between the ribs on either end.

About the Designer
Susanna IC is a self-declared yarn-obsessed stay at home mom. But don't let her humble self-introduction fool you, her designs are out of this world! She has been featured by Knitty, Interweave, and Knit Picks, as well as having her patterns in quite a few publications. Her shawls are simply out of this world, and if I were including shawls in this top ten list I would have been hard pressed to choose just one of her designs to include! But that, my dears, is a different list. :)

Love this pattern?
Check it out on ravelry here.
See more of Susanna IC's patterns here.
And her website Artqualia here.

#8 Shady beanie

Number 8 on my list is Vickie Howell's Shady Beanie!

This beanie is fast, fun, and truly one-size-fits-all. the pattern calls for larger dpns and a worsted weight yarn like Caron Simply Soft held double. This combination makes a fast knit that ends up very soft and plush.


I first made this for a friend for Christmas. I used Caron Simply Soft in navy and black. It ended up being a getnle fade from navy to black, almost undetectable and very manly. The guy worked in a factory setting, and none of his coworkers could believe that he hadn't bought it at a store.

My favorite part about this hat is tied between the dual color stripes and the right twist that gives the ribs a mock-cable feel.

The second time I made this, I was on the way to my honeymoon in Protland, OR. I flew from Atlanta, GA and between when the first flight took of and the second flight landed, it was done!

Here's a pic of that one, using Caron Simply Soft in Black and Green:

About the Designer
If you don't know Vickie Howell already, then shame on you! She hosted Knitty Gritty as well as Stylelicious, and has authored tons of great books like her newest Knit Aid and Pop Goes Crochet. She's a spokeswoman for Caron Yarns and an all around awesome mom and rolemodel for women!

Love this Pattern?
Find it on ravelry here
Check out Vickie's other patterns here
And her website here.

#9 Giftie Slouchy Beanie

The number 9 slot on my list goes to Tanis Gray's Giftie Slouchy Beanie.

Let me preface by saying I ADORE this pattern... It's so classy looking, and uses simple lace design along with a bulky yarn to make a sweet slouchy hat.

This pattern is great for seasoned knitters and adventurous newbies alike. The hat took me all of about two days working a few hours after work each night. But don't take too much stock in my speed since I'm a slightly OCD knitter (it has to get done perfectly - and fast!).

I ran across this pattern because a friend fell in love with this hat on ModCloth, but lamented her lack of funds to buy it. I volunteered to make my own version of it, and found the giftie hat to be the closest thing I could find. Actually, I think Giftie is prettier. :)

I used knitpicks new line of acrylic yarn: Brava in the bulky weight.

I chose White and Red:

I also added a large white pompom to the back, which i thought was adorably whimsical.

Here's a couple pics of my incarnation, one before the pompom:

And one on Nikki's head when she got it in the mail!

And here's a better shot of the pompom:

About the Designer
Tanis Gray is such an amazing designer... her experience includes Yarn Editor for Vogue Knitting, Knit Simple, Knit.1, Yarn Market News and Debbie Bliss. She's also the author of Knit Local, which has been in my Amazon wishlist so long, I need to hurry up and order it!

Love this pattern?
*Queue it on Ravelry here.
*Check out the designer's page here and website here.

#10 Seed Stitch Hat

Lion Brand yarn's Seed Stitch Hat is a great way to kick off our countdown!

This is a simple yet beautiful beanie that is great for larger heads. One great aspect about it is it's one of the few truly unisex patterns I've found. I made one for my husband for Christmas (he has a very large noggin) and it looked just as good on him as it did when my MIL tried it on!

Construction is super easy and quick, since it's worked flat and then seamed up the back. With the seed stitch in the pattern, you can't even see the seaming on the back. It gives a very professional, finished look.

I made mine with Caron Simply soft Paints in sticks and stones:

which made it sufficiently manly, I think.

I don't have any good pics of my incarnation of this pattern, but check out the stock photo supplied on Ravelry:

Love this pattern?

*Check it out on ravelry here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/seed-stitch-hat-60813ad
*Check out lion brand's website: http://www.lionbrand.com
*And here's a link to the yarn I used: http://www.caron.com/color_cards/cc_sspaints.html

Top Ten Knitting Patterns!

Everyone's got their go-to patterns for gifts or just something to fill the day.

I figured I'd share my top ten favorite knitting patterns, and maybe you'll discover a new designer for your personal favorites list!

The taming of the stash!

I built a shelf for my stash! Hope you like it!