No, not the dangerous, serial killer type.
I’m talking about one of the most knitted patterns on Ravelry, Martina Behm‘s Hitchhiker scarf/shawlette pattern. At the time of this writing, there are 20,131 (oops, nope . . . 20,133) Hitchhiker projects in Ravelry’s database. And it’s easy to see why . . . this pattern works well with pretty much any yarn, takes only one skein, loves variegated yarns, doesn’t take forever to knit up and is easy enough for a beginner. For those who hate to purl, it’s knit every row and the cast on is just two stitches!
Here’s my Rhubarb Hitchhiker in Madelinetosh Tosh Sock in colorway Rhubarb. It takes a special pattern to break up all that variegated clown barf to make the yarn look good. I mean, I loved the yarn colors, but sometimes pretty colors alone don’t make it easy, you know?
And that’s the main reason why I love the Hitchhiker pattern. Heavily variegated yarns tend to pool up when knitted and this pattern takes care of that–makes them beautiful! The other reason why I love it is it takes only one skein of yarn. I have a strong tendency to fall in love with one skein of heavily variegated yarn. Again, ask my husband…
Here’s one I did with The Knittery’s 4 ply sock (with cashmere!) colorway Lakeside Flora that I like to call the Zombie Hitchhiker:
And another I named City Lights Hitchhiker because my friend, Ann, told me it looks like the city at nighttime and I agree. This one’s made from Three Irish Girls’ Glenhaven CashMerino Sock in colorway Celebration:
As you can see, I get my money’s worth out of a pattern. Seriously. But I’ve only made three of these. I’ve made many repeats of others that you’ll likely see in the future.
I should mention that there’s a brand new Ravelry group called Repeat Offenders. Their slogan is:
For those who find a pattern they like and knit it to DEATH
Truly funny. But it’s good to know that I’m not the only one who does this. It’s kinda interesting to see the reasons why folks knit the same pattern over and over again.
Do you have a favorite go-to pattern?
P.S. My shameless plugs for designers, yarns, Ravelry groups and the like are totally unsolicited. It’s just because I like them. I mention them here so others can enjoy the patterns, camaraderie, etc.
I love your finished Hitchhikers! I haven’t succumbed yet. Might have to do one in Koigu. 😉
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Definitely a great Koigu pattern!
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just to make this clear i can sell my finished hitchhiker scarfs to support my habit of knitting. OKAY it is an ADDICTION. there I admitted it. so i just want to check also if someone could talk to me about how to use stash i have on hand. I do not know how to figure out my skeins compared to yours.. I guess i am asking for help converting. thanks hoping to hear from someone
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Hey, Debra! Are you trying to figure out how big you can knit a Hitchhiker? I’d like to help you so if you can show me what you have in your stash, maybe your Ravelry stash, just friend me in Ravelry. I’m OrangeSmoothie on there. Maybe I can take a look at what you have and see what you can make from your stash. :o)
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Not specifically hitchhiker. Just in general your products are from the UK and mine are Canadian. Trying to get a comparison.
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Actually my stuff is from the United States. Should be close to what you have?
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Great I have silken kid by elann.CA out of Vancouver BC and I am not thinking of anything detailed as you can’t see it anyhow. Just going for the feeling of silk. I also order from knit picks a lot.
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Do you use Ravelry? If you look up your yarn in their system, you can see what others have made with that yarn.
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