Bianca Bonnet: Free Knitting Pattern

*IN PROGRESS*

It’s the end of another month – which means it’s time for another free pattern! January’s pattern is one that I have actually already been wearing all the time since I finished it, so I’m especially excited to share the pattern for it here.

The Bianca Bonnet is the perfect accessory for winter days because it combines a hood with a scarf so that not only is your head warm, so is your neck! I love wrapping the scarf portion around my neck, but you can also tie it in the front to resemble more of a bonnet.

Although I haven’t knitted a lot of stripey things lately, I actually love knitting stripes (check out my Stripes Raglan Sweater if you’re feeling them too)! They are so addictive to knit and make a project go by so quick! Of course, you can make the Bianca Bonnet in a solid color if you prefer (I definitely want to make one in red), or you can choose to do the body in a main color and then the ribbed edgings in a contrast color, which would make for such a beautiful combination.

Or, if you’re feeling the stripes, go all out! Bianca is the PERFECT project for all those DK weight (or fingering weight held double) scraps you have lying around, although the number of ends to weave in will not be for the weak.

Ever since I crocheted my Bonnie Balaclava last year, I have been wanting to make a knit version, so Bianca is a nod to that – of course with a few components of her own, including an attached scarf instead of the front closure of a traditional balaclava.

And I MUST talk about the yarn I used for Bianca, because it’s a new to me yarn that I actually got from a yarn swap! If you saw my Honeycomb Hat from last month, I actually got the yarn for that from the same yarn swap. It was such a fun event and I still have more yarn to use (don’t worry, I donated yarn to the event as well!). Yarn swaps are a fun opportunity to try new yarns that you probably wouldn’t have bought yourself, and that was definitely the case with the yarn used for Bianca.

Sandnes Garn Duo is a cotton-merino blend that feels so pleasant to the touch. I love working with both non-superwash wool and cotton, so a combination of the two is one of my favorite fiber mixes. The stripes for this pattern were actually not a premeditated decision, but as soon as I got these three different colored balls in green, yellow, and gray, I knew that I had to put them together, and so I whipped up this beauty! Although I loved using this yarn, Bianca can honestly be made in any DK weight yarn, though I would highly recommend using wool or a wool blend for practicality. Honestly though, if you had a different weight yarn in a wool blend, it could work too, because this pattern (as always) is not written with sizes but rather as a size-customization guide.

Although gift knitting season is already over, I will definitely be making another version of Bianca for my mother in the coming months because she’s quick to whip up, practical, and oh-so-stylish. I can’t wait to see what styles of Bianca you create!

Without further ado, let’s dive into the free pattern.

MATERIALS

3 balls of Sandnes Garn Duo (or 400 yards of DK weight wool-blend yarn)

3.75mm circular knitting needles (for body)

3.25mm circular knitting needles (for ribbing and scarf)

Tapestry needle for weaving in ends

Removable stitch markers

PATTERN