Nothing to do with running a bed and breakfast, but I thought I'd share my favourite hobby with you.

I taught myself to knit again 6 years ago and I've become a bit addicted to shawl knitting. I don't  like sewing and I've only ever knitted one sweater.

This week I'm sharing my very favourite top 6 autumn knitting patterns for you to enjoy. A couple  of the patterns are particularly suited to travel knitting.

If you are a fellow knitter on Ravelry - I'm KJT1966!

1. DECORATE YOUR HOUSE WITH KNITTED PUMPKINS

I normally buy a few mini pumpkins to decorate the house in autumn, but last year I discovered this pumpkin knitting pattern. I’ve become a bit addicted to knitting these, which is good because everyone loves them and wants to take them away.

You can use any weight wool you have handy. Your pumpkin will be smaller or larger depending on the wool you use.

I knitted a beautiful little green pumpkin using one of my favourite yarns, Rowan felted tweed DK, I love it in avocado. You can buy it online from LoveKnitting here

2. WRAP UP IN A BEAUTIFUL GUERNSEY WRAP

I’ve made 4 of these Guernsey wraps now. It’s my go to wrap for when I get a bit chilly. In fact I’m wrapped in it now as I update this blog. The wrap also works really well as a chunky scarf.

I made the first wrap with the recommended wool, but the second 2 with DROPS Nepal, which is a lovely springy alpaca / wool blend and is also very cheap!

My very favourite orange Guernsey wrap was made in this lovely West Yorkshire Yarns Spinners Croft. The leftovers also proved useful for a few pumpkins too!

3. A BEAUTIFUL SIMPLE SHAWL IN 2 COLOURS

This is Passegiata by Woolenberry. It’s a really simple, but so effective,  knit.  The pattern uses a fingering wool but I use Malabrigo Rastita, which is DK, as I had some to use up from another project.

4. GET READY FOR WINTER WITH A KNITTED HOT WATER BOTTLE COVER

This is a fabulous free pattern for a knitted hot water bottle cover. It’s quite clever as you can adapt it to any size of hot water bottle. You can make it plain or add your own coloured design or cables.

5.NIGHTSHIFT SHAWL

These are addictive knitting. I've knitted 7 now in various different yarns!

It looks complicated but is actually a very easy pattern once you get going. Here's the link to the pattern --> Nightshift shawl 

6. GROOVY DK PORTLAND SHAWL

I feel in love with this yarn on our West Coast trip.  We were in Portland and I found a very posh yarn shop. My poor husband was stuck in the local Starbucks for a while. I’m afraid I can’t remember the name of the yarn but it’s 100% alpaca and came in 300g skein, which they kindly wound for me. The pattern is Groovy DK 

It is a really simple knit with just rows of knit and purl. It’s a great travel knit and I got through quite a lot of it on the long plane journey back to Heathrow.

7. Garter Ridge Cowl ( Free Patterns )

OK I'm up to 7 favourite patterns, not  6, but I just had to add in my very favourite recent knitting project, the Garter Ridge Cowl from Purl Soho.

As soon as it dropped into my inbox, I knew I had to make it. It was perfect car knitting for our long trip to Cornwall, where we were spending a few days of R&R.

As I said it's perfect car ( or TV ) knitting. Just make sure you cast on and do the first couple of rows somewhere that you can concentrate to make sure you don't twist the stitches when you join in the round. I lay my needle flat on a table to make sure all of the stitches are facing in the right direction.

I would have loved to have used the recommended yarn, but it's not easy to get in the UK, so I use Drops Lima, which is a wonderful soft/wool alpaca blend. I used 3 balls of each colour, but I was definitely playing yarn chicken with the blue towards the end. And I'm quite a tight knitter, so it may be worth buying 4 of each just in case!

I did a loose bind off that I'd found on YouTube, but wished I'd gone with an iCord bind off, using both colours instead ( knit 2, knit next 2 stitches through the back, slip the 3 stitches from the right needle and repeat, alternating colours if you're doing it with 2 yarns ).

You can find the free pattern here >> Garter Ridge Cowl