Tag Archives: pattern

Gazania Hat

Posted on September 26, 2020 by twostrands

My new “Gazania Hat” design, knit in 5 shades of Shetland Spindrift. Knitting pattern PDF and yarn packs are available on my online knitting shop, MaryAnnStephens.com. The PDF is also available through Ravelry.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged fair isle, fingering weight, floral, Gazania Hat, hat, jamieson's shetland spindrift, Knitting, pattern | 4 Comments

Rose Arbor Hat

Posted on September 28, 2019 by twostrands

This hat was inspired by the upcoming “Rose City Yarn Crawl” in Portland, OR. The last couple of years, Jamieson’s US distributor, Simply Shetland, a sponsor of the yarn crawl, asked me to donate some of my patterns to go … Continue reading →

Posted in Fair Isle Knitting, Knitting, Mary Ann's Designs, shetland wool, Uncategorized | Tagged DK, double knitting, fair isle, Fair Isle knit hat, hat, jamieson's, Jamieson's of Shetland DK, Knitting, pattern, pdf, rose, Rose Arbor Hat, shetland, wool, yarn | Leave a comment

Canyon Wall Vest

Posted on May 11, 2019 by twostrands

My new “Canyon Wall Vest”, in four adult sizes, using nine colors of Spindrift, seventeen 25g balls in all. Circularly knit in traditional Fair Isle style without any type of steek reinforcement. Pattern includes not only the usual text and … Continue reading →

Posted in Fair Isle Knitting, Knitting, Mary Ann's Designs, Uncategorized | Tagged canyon wall, fair isle, knit, Knitting, knitting chart, mens, pattern, slipover, Southwestern, steek, steeked, stranded knitting, unisex, vest | 1 Comment

Baby Elephant Blanket

Posted on November 3, 2018 by twostrands

I’m not too big on marketing. I’d much rather be designing or knitting. So, in case you just follow me here, through TwoStrands.com, and missed my lone post over the summer about moving my home, business and website… Here’s a … Continue reading →

Posted in Fair Isle Knitting, Knitting, Mary Ann's Designs, Norwegian Knitting, shetland wool, Special Sales, Uncategorized | Tagged baby, baby blanket, blanket, elephant, fair isle, knit, knitted, Knitting, MaryAnnStephens.com, pattern, stranded | 2 Comments

Christmas Ball FAQs

Posted on November 23, 2016 by twostrands

Here’s a compendium of info and links for all of the Christmas balls I’ve designed over the years: These are my five, free Christmas Ball knitting patterns, below… …and here is my Christmas Eve Collection, which is available for purchase … Continue reading →

Posted in Christmas, Fair Isle Knitting, Free Knitting Patterns, Norwegian Knitting, Uncategorized | Tagged ball, Christmas, Christmas Eve, Dale, decoration, fair isle, free, Holly, Kilim, knit, knitted, Knitting, Marius, norwegian, ornament, pattern, Star of Bethlehem, two strands, yarn | 3 Comments

Ivy Headband

Posted on December 14, 2015 by twostrands

My new, warm, soft, stranded, braided, purpled, ivy-covered headband: I used five different shades of sport weight alpaca yarn. You could use merino, superwash wool, cashmere – whatever type of DK / sport weight yarn knits to the right gauge, … Continue reading →

Posted in Fair Isle Knitting, Knitting, Mary Ann's Designs, Norwegian Knitting | Tagged alpaca, alpakka, Dale, design, fair isle, headband, ivy, knit, Knitting, norwegian, pattern, pdf | 1 Comment

The Christmas Eve Collection

Posted on December 6, 2015 by twostrands

The Christmas Eve Collection – Three new Christmas ball ornament designs, making new Christmas memories for little ones; bringing back sweet, sugarplum memories of our own: The $6 PDF, which includes instructions for all of the designs pictured, is available … Continue reading →

Posted in Fair Isle Knitting, Knitting, Mary Ann's Designs, Norwegian Knitting | Tagged balls, Christmas, Dale, dog, falk, gingerbread, knit, Knitting, man, ornaments, pattern, puppy, reindeer | 2 Comments

Free Knitting Pattern – Sports Fan Hat

Posted on November 30, 2015 by twostrands

UPDATE: This free “Sports Fan Hat” knitting pattern has been moved to the free knitting pattern page on Mary Ann’s new website, MaryAnnStephens.com.

Posted in Free Knitting Patterns, Knitting, Mary Ann's Designs | Tagged aran weight, cap, Dale, end of the round, fan, free, hat, hegre, jog, jogless, Knitting, pattern, pompom, ribbing, ski hat, sports, stripes, wool | 2 Comments

Sagebrush Chullo

Posted on November 22, 2015 by twostrands

That’s my new Sagebrush Chullo, knit in seven shades of Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift fingering / jumper weight wool. As I did with my old Polar Chullo design, I knit Sagebrush at an extra warm and highly detailed gauge of 9 … Continue reading →

Posted in Fair Isle Knitting, Knitting, Mary Ann's Designs, Uncategorized | Tagged colorful, earflap, fair isle, fingering weight, hat, jamieson's, kit, knit, Knitting, Mary Ann Stephens, pattern, pdf, shetland, spindrift, wool, yarn | 4 Comments

Après Ski Wine Cozy

Posted on July 5, 2015 by twostrands

So, now I take requests. Well, at least I took this one. A particularly nice person who just so happens to be an absolutely wonderful knitter (funny how those two pop up together so often) asked me to design a … Continue reading →

Posted in Fair Isle Knitting, Knitting, Mary Ann's Designs, Norwegian Knitting | Tagged apres, cozy, Dale, fair isle, Heilo, knit, Knitting, norwegian, pattern, Ski, wine | Leave a comment

NY Nordic Hat

Posted on June 9, 2015 by twostrands

It’s not easy for an old knitter to capture the interest of a frenetic teenage boy. But, when a few bags of Dale Garn Freestyle came through my door, sporting unmistakably neon colors, my youngest son, Mikey, practically pounced on … Continue reading →

Posted in Fair Isle Knitting, Knitting, Mary Ann's Designs, Norwegian Knitting | Tagged beanie, Dale, design, fair isle, freestyle, hat, knit, Knitting, neon, new york city, nordic, norwegian, NY, pattern, ski hat, worsted weight | 2 Comments

Ladies’ “Spice Route Gloves” knitting kits

Posted on June 8, 2015 by twostrands

My ladies’ Spice Route Gloves Fair Isle knitting design, to be knit in Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift 100% Shetland wool yarn, is available as both a PDF and yarn packs in two different colorways through my online shop, MaryAnnStephens.com. PDF format … Continue reading →

Posted in Fair Isle Knitting, Knitting, Mary Ann's Designs | Tagged fair isle, gloves, kit, knit, Knitting, ladies, pattern, shetland, wool | 2 Comments

The Littlest Fisherman’s Hat

Posted on May 12, 2015 by twostrands

The inspiration for this hat is eighteen years old. Back in March ’97, my now-hulking son Alex was a newborn. Waaaaay too much of that spring was spent in a frustrating search for a sunhat for my bald-as-a-cueball little fellow. … Continue reading →

Posted in Fair Isle Knitting, Knitting, Mary Ann's Designs, Norwegian Knitting | Tagged baby, cotton, Dale, DIY, fair isle, fish, fisherman, fishies, hat, infant, knit, Knitting, newborn, norwegian, pattern, sunhat, yarn | 2 Comments

Val’s Tiger Lily Jacket

Posted on March 26, 2015 by twostrands

Yesterday, I received a delightful email from another one of my immensely talented customers, Val. It’s always a big thrill for me, to see the face behind the emails and phone calls. Turns out, not only is Val bright, funny … Continue reading →

Posted in Fair Isle Knitting, Knitting, Mary Ann's Designs, Norwegian Knitting | Tagged cardigan, Dale, Dale Garn, design, fair isle, jacket, kit, knit, Knitting, ladies, norway, norwegian, pattern, sport weight, stranded, tiger lily | Leave a comment

Nordic Easter Egg – reminder

Posted on March 16, 2015 by twostrands

UPDATE, March 2017 My “Nordic Easter Egg” pattern is still available through Ravelry. Here’s the link to the $5 PDF. Happy Easter and Happy Knitting!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged baby ull, colorwork, decoration, Easter, egg, fair isle, free, knit, Knitting, norwegian, pattern, pdf, toy | Leave a comment

Nordic Easter Egg knitting pattern

Posted on March 7, 2015 by twostrands

It sure has been one long, hard winter! But, if you can believe it, we’re just two weeks away from spring. While Mother Nature is apparently still enthralled with winter, someone else has been busily focusing on the colorful, lively … Continue reading →

Posted in Fair Isle Knitting, Free Knitting Patterns, Knitting, Mary Ann's Designs, Norwegian Knitting, Special Sales | Tagged decoration, Easter, egg, fair isle, fingering, free, Knitting, nordic, Norwegian knitting, pattern, pdf, stranded, toy, weight | 1 Comment

Searching for Spring

Posted on February 20, 2015 by twostrands

The thermometer outside my kitchen window reported a bone-chilling two, count ’em, two sorry degrees this morning. So, I checked the weekend forecast, hoping for a sunny reprieve. Snow and ice starting on Saturday afternoon, lasting into Sunday. Not exactly … Continue reading →

Posted in Fair Isle Knitting, Knitting, Mary Ann's Designs | Tagged fair isle, kit, knit, Knitting, ladies, mittens, pattern, shamrock, shetland, spindrift, st patricks day, wool, yarn | 3 Comments

Free Knitting Pattern – North Shore Hat – UPDATE

Posted on February 9, 2015 by twostrands

February 9th, 2015 – Today, I’ve updated my old North Shore Hat free knitting pattern PDF with a new version which includes a bunch of explanatory notes which will hopefully clarify the earflap joining process. Since most of my work … Continue reading →

Posted in Free Charts, Free Knitting Patterns, Knitting, Mary Ann's Designs | Tagged earflap, free, hat, Knitting, north shore hat, pattern, pdf | 8 Comments

Andrea’s Spice Route Gloves

Posted on January 20, 2015 by twostrands

I thought you’d like to see the lovely result, above, that my customer, Andrea, shared on Ravelry. She knit my “Spice Route Gloves” design to a “T”, but in her own choice of colors. As a designer, I think it’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Fair Isle Knitting, Knitting, Mary Ann's Designs, Uncategorized | Tagged design, fair isle, fingering weight, gloves, knit, Knitting, Mary Ann Stephens, pattern, shetland wool, spice route gloves, spindrift | 4 Comments

Christmas Balls – A Brilliant Blocking Idea

Posted on December 17, 2014 by twostrands

I’m so lucky – I have the coolest, most talented customers! Here’s a nifty blocking idea that one of my brilliant customers shared recently on Ravelry: She’s been using my free Christmas Balls patterns. Before she stuffs and closes up … Continue reading →

Posted in Fair Isle Knitting, Free Knitting Patterns, Knitting, Mary Ann's Designs, Norwegian Knitting, Technique | Tagged balls, Christmas, decorations, free, holiday, Knitting, norway, norwegian, ornaments, pattern, pdf, yarn | 1 Comment

On Flat Charts for Round Shapes

Posted on December 2, 2014 by twostrands

This popular post on using flat charts to knit rounds shapes has been moved to the “Technique” section of Mary Ann’s new website, MaryAnnStephens.com.

Posted in Fair Isle Knitting, Free Charts, Free Knitting Patterns, Knitting, Mary Ann's Designs, Norwegian Knitting, Technique | Tagged ball, chart, Christmas, design, fair isle, free, Knitting, norwegian, ornament, pattern, shapes, stranded, yarn | 8 Comments

Sparkling Scrunchie, a free crochet pattern

Posted on December 1, 2014 by twostrands

Another early Christmas present for you – the “Sparkling Scrunchie”: It’s made from Dale Garn’s lovely Gullfasan metallic yarn. Hopefully, the Sparkling Scrunchie will solve some of those last-minute stocking stuffer quandaries. Have fun! Click this link to download your … Continue reading →

Posted in Free Crochet Patterns, Mary Ann's Designs | Tagged accessory, beads, crochet, Dale, free, garn, gullfasan, hair, holiday, metallic, pattern, sparkling, tie | Leave a comment

Ode to Heilo

Posted on September 25, 2014 by twostrands

Going through some of my files this morning, it dawned on me that, oh my gosh, my Wintergarden Pullover is ten years old! It’s been a hectic decade of adventures for Wintergarden – skiing, hiking, knitting, scrambling, chasing, knitting, lounging, … Continue reading →

Posted in Fair Isle Knitting, Knitting, Mary Ann's Designs, Norwegian Knitting, Uncategorized | Tagged Dale, Dale of Norway, Dalegarn, fair isle, Heilo, knit, Knitting, Mary Ann Stephens, norwegian, pattern, pdf, steeks, sweater, wintergarden, wool, yarn | 3 Comments

Shepherdess Cloche

Posted on September 24, 2014 by twostrands

My “Shepherdess Cloche” hat design, sized for adult females, knit in Dale Garn Monjita, Hegre and Heilo or Falk, now available as a knitting pattern, PDF or kit: Dale Garn’s new, wonderfully soft, Persian-lamb-lookalike, Monjita, is held together with … Continue reading →

Posted in Fair Isle Knitting, Knitting, Mary Ann's Designs, Norwegian Knitting | Tagged beanie, beginner, cloche, Dale, Dale Garn, Dale of Norway, easy, fair isle, hat, knit, Knitting, ladies, monjita, norwegian, pattern, simple | Leave a comment

Free Knitting Pattern – North Shore Hat

Posted on May 7, 2014 by twostrands

Here’s a free pattern for a super-quick, adult-sized earflap hat I made for my winter beach hikes. I used wonderfully soft and warm Dale Hubro 100% pure new wool. It’s “bulky” weight, so it knits up in a blink. (I … Continue reading →

Posted in Free Knitting Patterns, Knitting, Mary Ann's Designs | Tagged adult, bulky, chunky, Dale, earflap, free, hat, hubro, Knitting, pattern, quick, soft, warm | 52 Comments

Free Knitting Pattern – Twist and Sprout Hat

Posted on January 18, 2014 by twostrands

The middle of January…yuck! Here in the Northeast, you wouldn’t want to face January without a cozy hat nearby. Not a dreary hat, mind you – there’s more than enough of that dreariness in the skies these days. So, here’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Free Knitting Patterns, Knitting, Mary Ann's Designs, Uncategorized | Tagged adult, baby, beanie, cap, child, female, free, hat, kid, Knitting, knitting kit, male, pattern, pdf, swirl, teen, toddler, twist, worsted weight, youth | 4 Comments

Free Knitting Pattern – Lace Scrunchie

Posted on December 23, 2013 by twostrands

Need a last-minute, low-budget gift idea for a long-haired lovely on your list? If you have a stray elastic band somewhere, plus a few extra ounces of Lerke yarn lying around, you’re in luck! (And if you don’t, well, you’re … Continue reading →

Posted in Free Knitting Patterns, Knitting, Mary Ann's Designs | Tagged accessories, accessory, downloadable, free, gift, hair, hair tie, Knitting, lace, lace knitting, last-minute, low-budget, ornament, pattern, pdf, pony tail, scrunchie, scrunchy, tie | 10 Comments

Free Knitting Pattern – Two Strands Christmas Ball

Posted on October 17, 2013 by twostrands

An early Christmas present, to say “Thank You!” to all of my dear customers. I hope it brings cheer to your home, year after year. UPDATE: This free pattern has been moved to my new website, MaryAnnStephens.com. Here’s a link … Continue reading →

Posted in Free Knitting Patterns, Knitting, Mary Ann's Designs, Norwegian Knitting | Tagged ball, Christmas, christmas tree, Dale of Norway, decoration, fair isle, folk, free knitting pattern, holiday, knit, Knitting, nordic, norwegian, ornament, pattern, pdf, stranded knitting, wool, yarn | 3 Comments

Circular knitting intro for use with Christmas Balls PDF

Posted on October 1, 2013 by twostrands

When I wrote my “Christmas Balls” free knitting patterns last year (and my free “Star of Bethlehem” pattern this year) I had my “typical” knitting customer in mind. Not that any of you are typical – you’re all special and … Continue reading →

Posted in Free Knitting Patterns, Knitting, Mary Ann's Designs, Norwegian Knitting, Technique | Tagged chart, Christmas, christmas balls, christmas ornaments, circular knitting, colorwork, fair isle, fair isle knitting, free, free knitting pattern, how to read a knitting chart, knit, Knitting, knitting chart, knitting design, knitting pattern, knitting pattern pdf, nordic knitting, norwegian, Norwegian knitting, pattern, pdf, stranded, stranded knitting, wool, yarn | 1 Comment

Tiger Lily, in the pink

Posted on June 5, 2013 by twostrands

Reason #352 why I love knitting: Merely by changing the shades of yarn we’re using, we can give an entirely new look to beloved, old designs. It’s true, I do lament when an “old favorite” shade is discontinued by the … Continue reading →

Posted in Knitting, Mary Ann's Designs, New From Dale of Norway, Norwegian Knitting | Tagged circular knitting, color, colorwork, Dale, Dale of Norway, Dalegarn, design, DIY, fair isle, fair isle knitting, falk, floral, Heilo, knit, Knitting, knitting design, knitting kit, knitting pattern, knitting pattern pdf, lilies, lily, Mary Ann Stephens, nordic, nordic knitting, norwegian, Norwegian knitting, pattern, pdf, steeks, stranded, stranded knitting, sweater, wool, yarn | Leave a comment

Shamrock Mittens

Posted on February 14, 2013 by twostrands

My new Shamrock Mittens, knit in Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift. Sized to fit an 8″ adult female palm circumference. The PDF is available for purchase and download through Ravelry. The Spindrift yarn (in natural white and…you guessed it…”leprechaun”) is available through … Continue reading →

Posted in Knitting, Mary Ann's Designs, Uncategorized | Tagged design, fair isle, fingering weight, irish, kit, knit, Knitting, knitting kit, latvian, Mary Ann Stephens, mittens, norwegian, pattern, shamrock, shetland, spindrift, st patricks day, stranded, wool, yarn | 1 Comment

Free Crochet Pattern – The Quickest, Easiest Hat

Posted on February 12, 2013 by twostrands

The “Blizzard of 2013” (the first one, at least) swept in this past Friday, bringing 30+ inches of snow to our area, along with frantic cries of “Ahhhh, what’s your quickest, easiest hat?!?!?” I was tempted to pull out some … Continue reading →

Posted in Free Crochet Patterns, Mary Ann's Designs, Uncategorized | Tagged basic, beanie, crochet, crocheted, Dale of Norway, design, easiest, easy, fast, flower, free, hat, pattern, quick, quickest, simple, warm, wool | 23 Comments

Sirdal

Posted on October 6, 2012 by twostrands

I’m very fortunate to have some tremendously talented customers. This past week, a charming coincidence arose: two of my wonderful customers showed me their very special renditions of Dale of Norway’s beloved “Sirdal” design, a traditional Norwegian knitting classic (which, … Continue reading →

Posted in Free Knitting Patterns, Knitting, New From Dale of Norway, Norwegian Knitting | Tagged baby, baby ull, circular knitting, colorwork, Dale, Dale of Norway, Dalegarn, design, fair isle, fair isle knitting, free knitting pattern, free pattern, Heilo, Kidsknits, knit, Knitting, knitting design, knitting pattern, knitting pattern pdf, nordic, nordic knitting, norwegian, Norwegian knitting, pattern, pdf, Sirdal, ski sweater, sport weight, steeks, stranded knitting, sweater, traditional, yarn | 9 Comments

Christmas Balls – a free knitting pattern PDF

Posted on August 27, 2012 by twostrands

It’s Christmas at Kidsknits! Oh, okay…it’s still August. But, I’ve been busy making Christmas presents, and the first one is for…YOU! Around this time last year, the red and white Heilo was flying off the shelves, as fast as we … Continue reading →

Posted in Free Knitting Patterns, Knitting, Mary Ann's Designs, Norwegian Knitting, Uncategorized | Tagged arne & carlos, balls, Christmas, christmas balls, christmas ornaments, fair isle, free, free knitting pattern, gift, julekuler, knit, Knitting, Mary Ann Stephens, norwegian, norwegian christmas, Norwegian knitting, ornaments, pattern, pdf, scandinavian, stranded | 26 Comments

Monkey Hat

Posted on August 1, 2012 by twostrands

My new Monkey Hat design. Knit in Dale of Norway Baby Ull yarn for newborn and infant sizes. Knit in Dale of Norway Falk yarn for youth and teen / adult sizes. Kits with printed patterns available through Kidsknits.com. Personal-use … Continue reading →

Posted in Knitting, Mary Ann's Designs, Norwegian Knitting | Tagged adult, baby, baby hat, baby ull, child, Dale of Norway, design, fair isle, fair isle hat, falk yarn, hat, infant, kit, knit, Knitting, knitting pattern, monkey, monkey hat, newborn, nordic, norwegian, pattern, pdf, superwash, teen, yarn, youth | Leave a comment

Hedgerow Fingerless Mittens

Posted on April 24, 2012 by twostrands

My Hedgerow Fingerless Mittens require only two 50-g balls – 1 light, 1 dark – in your favorite shades of either Heilo or Falk. The instructions offer sizing for average adult & extra large adult. The PDF is available for … Continue reading →

Posted in Knitting, Mary Ann's Designs, Norwegian Knitting, Uncategorized | Tagged Dale, design, fair isle, falk, fingerless, fingerless mittens, Heilo, knit, Knitting, knitting pattern, Mary Ann Stephens, mittens, mitts, norwegian, pattern, pdf, stranded knitting, yarn | 1 Comment

Fishy Booty

Posted on March 28, 2012 by twostrands

…Or, how to get maximum cuteness from one tiny pile of sock yarn scraps… The Fishy Booty design is knit circularly and seamlessly, using mainly garter stitch, with a few priceless little rounds of stranded garter stitch (which is explained … Continue reading →

Posted in Knitting, Mary Ann's Designs, Norwegian Knitting, Technique, Uncategorized | Tagged baby, baby shoes, baby ull, baby yarn, bootie, booties, booty, cute, cuteness, Dale of Norway, DIY, fair isle, fingering, garter stitch, home, knit, Knitting, merino, newborn, nordic knitting, Norwegian knitting, pattern, pdf, sock yarn, stranded, stranded knitting, yarn scraps | 1 Comment

Ruth’s Tiger Lily

Posted on August 21, 2011 by twostrands

I want to share with you a wonderful photo I recently received from a very talented customer: That’s Ruth modeling her green version of my old Tiger Lily Jacket design. Isn’t her knitting just beautiful?! And I love those Falk … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged color, colorway, Dale, Dale of Norway, design, fair isle, falk, Heilo, jacket, knit, Knitting, knitwear, Mary Ann Stephens, norwegian, pattern, pdf, stranded, sweater, tiger lily, yarn | Leave a comment

Fair Isle Repeat Offenders – managing motif layouts in Fair Isle knitting

Posted on April 2, 2008 by twostrands

We all learned at a very young age that even numbers split nicely and odd numbers create those troublesome leftovers, remainders. For some, that thought alone is the only seed needed to sprout an appreciation for optimal knitting design layout. … Continue reading →