1 Across Beanie

Finally, folks, it's up! My 1 Across Beanie pattern is on Knitty! Very exciting day! And welcome if you've popped over from Knitty - lovely to see you here!

Doesn't Dotter look stunning in that white wig? She was actually bald at the time, having recently shaved her head for the Shave for Cure event (Leukaemia Foundation).

You can sew on letter beads to make your very own little crossword, too! OneLook is a great online resource which can help you figure out interlocking words, if you're so inclined.

This is a fast knit, you could do it in an evening or two, and the stranded knitting really isn't that hard - honest! You only have to count stitches for 4 rows, as the second row of each 'line' in the crossword is a duplicate of the one below. Eight rows of Fair Isle all up.

I've also included two chart variations, one for the British-style of crossword, and one for the American-style. What's the difference, I hear you ask?

Well, American-style crosswords have nearly every letter 'checked' - they appear in two words, an across and a down. So these grids are mostly white letters with a few black. British-style crosswords have a lot of unchecked letters – in any given word, generally just half of the letters are cross-referenced by another word. These grids have a lot more black squares.

I hope you enjoy the pattern! I've been playing around with how to effectively knit crossword grid designs for some years now, and am happy with how well this one's come together. Just a bit of fun :)

OK, back to the book - I got the proofs this morning, and have a whole three days (4 weeks is more typical!) to complete the technical and editing review of the book ... but regardless of all this, I refuse to miss Stitch n Bitch this afternoon!