Molly's Sketchbook: Anemone Magnets

I feel like the anemone flower is having a moment. Everywhere I go I am seeing their whimsical petals and moody color palette. Anemones seem to fall somewhere in between a poppy and rose which, as far as I’m concerned, is a good place to be! So for Valentine’s Day this year I looked past the classic rose to this more unexpected flower and designed these super pretty Anemone Magnets.

From inky navy blue to vibrant neon pink, our gorgeous new Anemone Felt Bundle evokes the drama and beauty of its eponymous flower. We love Wollfilz’s Felt for special little projects like this because its colors are spectacular and because its hem-free nature is perfect for easy hand sewing. 

These Anemone Magnets are so quick and fun to make that before you know it, you’ll have a whole bouquet! Give them this Valentine’s Day as sweet tokens of love and appreciation. Or help an older child who is learning to sew whip up a set for the whole class! -Molly

PS- For more Valentine’s Day projects please check our holiday sewing gallery here!

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Double Seed Stitch Blanket

As even a casual reader of the Purl Bee has probably noticed, we are super inspired by our Super Soft Merino! Since the arrival of Purl Soho's first very own yarn, we have been busy bees, but of all our Super Soft Merino projects, the Double Seed Stitch Blanket may be our favorite!

We love how the simple double seed stitch pattern creates a subtle field of wonderfully nubbly texture. Combined with the comfort and softness of our Merino, this is a seriously cozy blanket with the reassuring weight and warmth of a handknit!

Homespun and sophisticated, the Double Seed Stitch Blanket is so pretty folded at the foot of a bed or over the arm of a couch. We give directions for every size blanket from baby to queen, so cuddle a toddler or cover an entire bed. With a vintage quilt, a linen coverlet, or a modern duvet, this blanket is right at home!

We knit ours up in Super Soft Merino's gorgeous Oyster Gray. Gentle and truly pearlescent, we love this color's warmth and modernity. In double seed stitch, it becomes something straight out of nature: a pebbly stream bed, a frosty snowscape, a starlit beach. But we can imagine equally loving a Desert Blue crib size adding handmade love to a nursery, or a Red Zinnia throw size casting serious drama into a neutral living room, or an Heirloom White queen size being just that, a true family heirloom.

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Whit's Knits: Soft and Sweet Hats

Angora twin sets may have gone the way of beehive hairdos, but a touch of angora is still totally enchanting. Nowadays, we prescribe the fuzzy decadence of angora in small doses, because really, just a little tuft here and there is all you need to feel sweet!

The thing I find so wonderful and amusing about angora is that it so closely resembles the animal from which it came. Astonishingly soft fibers are gently combed from astonishingly soft angora rabbits and are left so unadulterated that the resulting little fluffy ball could easily be mistaken for an actual baby bunny!

For these Soft and Sweet Hats I chose Koigu's lovely Kersti Merino Crepe to play the straight man to Joseph Galler's wild Belangor 100% angora. In gentle, dusky colors, the result is classic, just the way we like it!

Choose from three sizes (baby, toddler or child) and three designs. The Anchor Hat, above, reminds me of an old fashioned nursery where boys wore bloomers and sturdy leather shoes. But I'd adore this hat for my sneaker-wearing son too, and so in the end, it's its timelessness that I really love.

The Stripes Hat is simple to knit but finishes with a beautifully complex interplay of textures. Lines of downy angora fibers form a diaphanous veil over stripes of smooth, crisp merino. Wow!

And want to give something super sweet this Valentine's Day? The Hearts Hat is an easy fair isle design with a whole lot of whimsy and love!

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Chunky Cable Hat

Just because knitting an intricately cabled Aran sweater sounds a lot like climbing Mount Everest, doesn't mean that cables are only for Channel Island women waiting for their fishermen to come home! Unlike hiking to the world's highest summit, knitting cables is actually really easy... really!

Faye's Chunky Cable Hat is the perfect beginner hill! Quick and manageable, this simple cable pattern results in a truly stunning hat. And Purl Soho's Super Soft Merino is a wonderful vehicle for the hills and valleys of cables, giving them a satisfying depth and sumptuous texture.  Plus, this may be the coziest hat of the year!

Ready for some knitting fun? Get started!

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Laura's Loop: Reversible Stripes Scarf

With an itch to make a scarf, I found myself happily lost in the pages of Barbara Walker's seminal "Treasuries" of stitch patterns. Intrigued by the rhythms and possibilities of her slip stitch patterns, I think I tried them all. And then I finally combined a couple, a bit of Woven Stitch and a dash of Linen Stitch and voila, a reversible stripe!

This magical world of slip stitches has me firmly in its clutches. How else could there be a simple knit fabric with so much complexity and fascination?!? One side of this stitch pattern is smooth and flat, seemingly woven, with impeccably thin horizontal pinstripes; while the other side is textured in deep, hearty ridges, running in vertical stripes like a knotted tweed. 

When wrapped, folded, and tucked around your neck, this scarf is delightfully dizzying! It achieves all I hoped for and more. No curled edges and two sides that aren't just both presentable, but whose contrast in pattern and texture actually enliven and complement one another.

In the spirit of the love and generosity of Valentine's Day, I knit up my scarf in Jade Sapphire's unparalleled Zageo 6 Ply Cashmere. An elegant yarn for a timeless scarf,  it is amazingly soft and toasty warm. If only I had the heart to actually give it away! --Laura

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