Modern Daily Knitting - Field Guide No. 7: Ease

How about we all just ditch life for a while and knit? It’s summertime. Time for ease. Ease yourself into the sort of knitting that we adore: portable, easy to memorize, beautiful.

This is the lightest, ease-iest Field Guide yet. These four designs from Julia Farwell-Clay will lower the temperature by ten degrees. You won’t find a sleeve or a buttonhole band in here—the most taxing part of this Field Guide is to decide which of these elegant, clever patterns to make first. See all the designs below, and join us for the pure pleasure of knitting during the sunny season.

These are the designs we’ll be making during the dog days—they’ll give you the sort of knitting fun that can be had on a patio, a porch, a plane, or a pool.

Sea Breeze Cowl-Poncho. 

We keep calling this a cowlcho, or a ponchcowl. However you wear it, the stitch pattern is a beauty—it meanders all over the place, but it’s a snap to make.

Sail-Away Shawl.

Beach umbrella stripes, with a pattern that allows you to knit a small shawl and call it a day. Or add more panels for a juicy asymmetrical wrap that drapes you in our all-time favorite, garter stitch. Stripe it a little or a lot, as you please. No fuss.

Picket Fence Blanket. 

Graphic and bold, this blanket makes the best carry-along knitting: the blanket is made of one kind of square, but the arrangement and color possibilities are endless. Julia’s magic switcheroo technique means that this is not traditional intarsia—once you have the needles in your hands, you’ll quickly get the hang of this clever method of colorblocking. Bonus: very few ends to weave in.

Bodhi Leaf Washcloth. 

Less than 6 inches across, these wee linen cloths are the best sort of portable knitting. Make a batch of them for your friends, your ma, your babysitter, yourself.