Last week I had one of those moments when I had to drop everything and start a new project.

It wasn’t that I had a quick gift to make, or a pattern deadline. Nope, it was just two skeins of yarn, sitting there innocently on my yarn shelf. I couldn’t get them out of my head. Maybe it was because it was their chunky fluffy allure on a bitterly cold day, or maybe it was their soft colors side by side, but I could not resist their charms. There was no question about what I was going to make with them, the pattern I had in mind checked all the boxes. Two colors? Yep. Chunky yarn? You betcha. A simple stitch that lets the yarn’s beauty shine? Garter stitch baby! A super quick knit? Absolutely! The perfect pattern? The Portillo Cowl.

Co-author Gale Zucker‘s most important roll when we wrote Drop Dead Easy Knits was to take the gorgeous photos. Trust me, she did a whole lot more than that, but without her stunning photography no one would even look twice at the patterns. However, Mary Lou and I wouldn’t let her get away without contributing at least one pattern to the book. Gale has a way of coming up with simple designs that you want to knit — exactly what Drop Dead East Knits is all about. And she gave us just that, a pattern that’s easy for a beginner, but fun and satisfying for a more experienced knitter. The Portillo Cowl is a hit at every trunk show we do. I love the way Gale alternated colors on every round to create a textured effect that really takes advantage of the Malabrigo Rasta that she designed with. This outtake from the cover photoshoot, where model Josephine wears Portillo long, really shows off the texture and the squishy beauty of the yarn. The other items in the photo are the Glama Wrap, the Sidekick Hat, and the Headford Hat.

The other great thing about this design is that its the sort of pattern that you can just knit and knit until you run out of yarn. Since I was using yarns other than the called for yarn this was important. I love the way mine turned out. And so does Sofie. I haven’t seen it since I took the photo below.

You’ll notice that mine is tighter when double looped, than the version in the book. That’s because my yarn wasn’t quite as thick as Rasta, and my gauge was off. I probably should have added 8-10 extra stitches to the cast on (super easy to do with this design), but it still fits comfortably around the neck so all is well.

Happy Thanksgiving to those of you in the US.

If you’re looking for a project to see you through the holiday crazies, Mary Lou Egan  created just the thing, the Joggle scarf, from Drop Dead Easy Knits.

The object with Joggle is to come up with a list of moments that you know you’ll encounter though the holiday season — things like Cousin Sam just told the same joke for the third year in a row, Aunt Rose engulfed someone in her big bear hug, your sister’s boyfriend loaded his plate with more than his share of pie…each family will have their own things. Then grab two different yarns and start knitting, as you encounter each item on your list, change yarns. One yarn is worked in seed stitch, the other is worked in garter stitch, so the knitting is easy and you can follow along with the conversation.

Mary Lou used Liberty Wool from Classic Elite Yarns, one solid and one print in colors that keep things interesting. The pattern also works well with worsted weight scraps from your stash.

So tuck a Joggle in a project bag and tote it along to all of your holiday gatherings. By the new year you should have a nice long scarf.

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(image above is my photo with Mason-Dixon’s spot-on text, thanks Kay & Anne)

It has been unseasonably warm here in NYC, and the forecast for Rhinebeck weekend is for low to mid 70’s. This leaves those of us going to Rhinebeck lamenting the fact that after 10am or so, we won’t be able to admire everyone’s beautiful hand knits. I don’t know about you, but for me, watching all of those gorgeous Rhinebeck Sweaters walk by is half the fun. So, in an effort to get to see them, I’ve started a . All you have to do is post a photo of your Rhinebeck sweater (or shawl, or hat, or what-have-you) and use the hashtag #virtualrhinebecksweaterparade. I’ve heard from a bunch of those who won’t be going to Rhinebeck that they love this idea because they get to see all of those beautiful knits too.

While I wait for the weather to finally cool off, I’m dreaming of the hats I plan to make this winter. I love a good colorwork hat, and Mary Lou Egan’s Sidekick from Drop Dead Easy Knits is just the sort of fun, yet simple colorwork I love. I’ll have my eye out at Rhinebeck for some yarn to make myself a Sidekick. It would be great if I could find some colors to match the sweater I’m wearing in the photo above. (The sweater is a new design I’m working on, keep your eye out over the next several months for its release, I don’t have an exact date yet.)

Mary Lou’s idea was to design a hat where a group of friends could share yarn and each make their own version. This is great for an event like Rhinebeck where you might want a memory of not only the festival, but of the people you enjoyed it with. Your Rhinebeck posse can buy the yarn and share it — the hat only uses a bit of each color. Split up the skeins, and next year you’ll all be wearing matching Sidekicks. Try mixing up the colors and see how many variations you can get with the same yarn, or make them all exactly the same.  The multi-color version above uses 4 colors, but you can play around and use as many as you like. This design is strong enough that two colors work just as well, like the pretty blue and grey version that Sofie is wearing in the photo below.

If you do decide to make a Sidekick, Mary Lou, Gale and I would love to see your hats. You can tag projects on Instagram with #dropdeadeasyknits and don’t forget to add the projects to Ravelry.

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