Mary Ann Stephens

Patterns available as Ravelry Downloads

Knitting: Vest
A ladies’ Fair Isle style vest in five sizes using eight colors of fingering weight Jamieson’s of Shetland “Spindrift” Shetland wool yarn, circularly knit in traditional style using steeks, with no reinforcement. This method demands traditional 100% wool yarn, preferably Shetland wool. Superwash wools and non-wool yarns are not suitable for thi...
Knitting: Beanie, Toque, Mittens
Hat and mitten set with “allover” Fair Isle style motifs, sized to fit an average adult. One set (hat with pompom, plus two mittens) uses six 25g balls of Jamieson’s Double Knitting, three in a dark color, plus three in a light color.
Knitting: Beanie, Toque, Cowl
Extra warm and vibrant hat & cowl set with three colors used in most every round. Pattern includes charts for both colorways, plus detailed notes for managing floats. Designer simultaneously released a supporting video demonstrating the technique she uses for “Knitting with Three Colors and Catching Long Floats”. Spindrift yarn packs are av...
Knitting: Baby Blanket
Yarn packs available through the designer here.
Knitting: Vest
Jamieson’s Spindrift yarn packs in the colors shown are available from the designer.
Knitting: Beanie, Toque
Fair Isle style beanie design featuring 100% boopable (I think that’s a word now, right?) noses on dogs that will hopefully be knit in your Good Dog’s colors. Using Aran weight yarn for the Adult size and DK weight yarn for the Toddler size. Six colors are used in all. As always, you can tweak the weight of your yarn & / or and size of your...
Knitting: Beanie, Toque, Fingerless Gloves
Fair Isle style ladies’ hat and fingerless mittens set to be knit in eight colors of fingering weight yarn. Pattern includes the instructions and colorized charts for knitting both colorways, plus details for optional embroidery. A matching set (one hat + two mitts) in one colorway requires a total of nine 25g balls of Jamieson’s of Shetland “S...
Knitting: Earflap Hat
An adult-sized earflap hat knitting design that’s worked up quickly using two contrasting, 100g skeins of chunky / Aran weight yarn. Two sets of charts are included - Star motif and Flower motif - to cover everyone on your list. The Cosmos Chullo is knit primarily using traditional Fair Isle / Norwegian stranded knitting technique, with attache...
Knitting: Beanie, Toque
Warm your winter with a colorful reminder of summer’s brilliant Gazanias (aka “African Daisies”).
Knitting: Beanie, Toque
Centifolia, an heirloom rose hybrid, prized for the beauty of both its fragrance and its many-petaled blossoms; hardy and disease-resistant. May all our lives be blessed with the health and timeless beauty of Centifolia!
Knitting: Beanie, Toque
This hat was inspired by the upcoming “Rose City Yarn Crawl” in Portland, OR where Jamieson’s US distributor, Simply Shetland, will be donating several DK yarn packs for this design as door prizes, along with my donated patterns.
Knitting: Vest
Circularly knit Fair Isle style vest / slipover using steeks without any reinforcement. Shetland wool is strongly recommended. Superwash wool and non-wool yarns are not suitable for this design.
Knitting: Baby Blanket
The Baby Elephant Blanket has very clear, detailed instructions with many step-by-step photos. It is circularly knit using Fair Isle technique, a machine-sewn steek and machine-sewn fabric backing.
Knitting: Pillow / Cushion
A quick and beautiful way to bring your favorite colors together in your home. Design can be worked in anywhere from two to several colors. Pattern gives both colorized and greyscale charts, along with several ideas for alternate colorways and explicit instructions, with photos, for inserting the optional zipper.
Knitting: Fingerless Gloves
Needle suggestions: US #1&2 for loose knitters; US #2&3 for tight knitters.
Knitting: Beanie, Toque, Fingerless Gloves
A ladies’ Fair Isle style hat and fingerless mittens set, with the mittens sized for warmth + access, covering all but the fingertips.
Knitting: Pillow / Cushion
The Catalina Highway Pillow is a Fair Isle style project using twelve different colors of Spindrift, with two different-colored strands held together as one throughout, giving you a DK weight project out of jumper/fingering weight yarn. Yarn packs are available through Mary Ann’s online shop, MaryAnnStephens.com. (Pillow form insert and optiona...
Knitting: Scarf
Finished measurements, as shown:
Knitting: Cardigan
Circularly knit, steeked infant’s fingering weight cardigan with Fair Isle-style motifs.
Knitting: Headband
Uses five different shades of light sport weight alpaca.
Knitting: Hanging Ornament
Three designs for circularly-knit, ball-shaped Christmas ornaments with stranded knitting motifs repeated across all
Knitting: Earflap Hat
Fair Isle colorwork + a little optional texture. Sized to fit the average adult head.
Knitting: Cozy - Other
Wine bottle cozy which fits most 12” tall wine bottles when knit to gauge.
Knitting: Beanie, Toque
Designer’s blog post: http://twostrands.com/2015/06/09/ny-nordic-hat/
Knitting: Brimmed Hat
One set of instructions; two gauges, with two different yarn / needle combinations, give us the two different hat sizes - newborn & infant. You’ll only need one needle size per hat. (Although, if you’d like to add the optional ties, I recommend 2 dpns in a size or two smaller than your hat needle.)
Knitting: Beanie, Toque
The Dale yarn used in the sample - Cotinga, a merino / alpaca blend - is no longer available. Substitute with any similar soft, smooth, worsted weight yarn with a ball band gauge around 18 stitches over 4” 10cm. (Of course, you’ll knit your hat at the pattern’s gauge.) You’ll want 3 different-colored, 50g balls.
Knitting: Decorative - Other
It is not crucial that you get exactly my gauge for this project. But, remember – tight gauges are best for avoiding any stuffing leaks. What matters most is that you’re happy with your fabric and that you keep your gauge consistent across multiple eggs, especially if you plan to “Put all of your eggs in one basket!”
Knitting: Beanie, Toque
The Gentle Hat uses 7 different shades of Alpaca (50g balls of Dale Alpakka). If you get a 2nd ball of just the off-white (for a total of 8 balls), you’ll be able to make three identical Gentle Hats. If you’re using a substitute yarn, doubling the amount of the background color will do the same trick.
Knitting: Beanie, Toque
Super quick (just 30 rounds) + super warm (soft, soft wool) + super chart (short repeat, no long floats) = just about as much instant gratification as you’re apt to find in these parts. Have fun!
Knitting: Cloche Hat
A warm and stylish ladies’ hat. Monjita yarn looks like Persian lamb when knit - wonderful stuff!
Knitting: Mittens
Ladies’ stranded colorwork mittens with optional embroidery, fitted cuff and flared peplum. Original samples used Dale Alpakka, which is now discontinued in North America. Use whatever sport weight alpaca strikes your fancy!
Knitting: Fingerless Gloves
I liked the idea of having some fingerless mittens with full finger mobility, so these are a bit shorter than some of my other fingerless mittens. But, they don’t have to be. If you’d like to lengthen the upper section, so that your fingers have more coverage, it’s as simple as can be - merely add some more 3-row repeats of the plain chevron mo...
Knitting: Gloves
Ladies’ Fair Isle gloves. Yarn packs are available through the designer here and here. Designer’s blog post.
Knitting: Mittens
Ladies’ fingering / jumper weight mittens with hemmed bottoms, fitted cuffs, gusseted thumbs and traditional pointed tops.
Knitting: Cowl
Nicely fitting unisex, stranded cowl reverses to a solid lining.
Knitting: Beret, Tam
It’s first knit in typical Fair Isle style (only two colors at once.) When the knitting is done, you have the option to get carried away with some simple embroidery: nothing too fancy - just duplicate stitch, straight stitch and a few French knots (although I’d love to see your fancy renditions!)
Knitting: Beanie, Toque
Newborn and infant sizes use fingering weight yarns; youth and teen/adult sizes use sport weight yarns. Dale Baby Ull was the fingering wt yarn originally used for the baby hats - try any of the several fingering weight substitutes listed above. Dale Falk was the sport wt yarn originally used for the adult hats - try any of the several sport we...
Knitting: Beanie, Toque
As you’ll see in my old notes, below, for adult-sized North Star Hats, knit according to the pattern with 5 repeats, I used Aran weight yarn, but then knit the Aran weight yarn at a slightly compressed gauge for an extra-warm hat and sharply-defined colorwork. (I almost always knit hats and mittens at a compressed gauge - we don’t need drape fo...
Knitting: Beanie, Toque
Click here for my blog post on this design.
Knitting: Booties
No seaming required! All joining is done so that the ridges are on the outside, where they’re decorative, rather than on the inside, where they could be irritating. Fish are worked in stranded garter stitch (explained in pattern); fish eyes are embroidered at end with simple straight stitch. Charts are provided both in color and in black and wh...
Knitting: Earflap Hat
Three different gauge suggestions given for achieving three different sizes: youth, average adult, large adult. Average adult size shown, 20” finished circumference.
Knitting: Beanie, Toque
Knitting: Mittens
Designer’s blog post for Zinnia Mittens: http://twostrands.com/2011/11/15/zinnia-mittens-twist-col...
Knitting: Beanie, Toque
Pattern takes 2x50g balls, 1 in each of any 2 contrasting colors your heart desires.
Knitting: Booties
No seaming required! All joining is done so that the ridges are on the outside, where they’re decorative, rather than on the inside, where they could be irritating. Cuff is joined on the fly, so that it stays put all day.
Knitting: Beanie, Toque
I made this way back in 2003 for my youngest boy, pictured, who is now a big eleven year old. (He still likes to squeeze into it, come October, LOL!) Someone just requested it, so I’m putting it into PDF format now. There’s also a kit for it on my Kidsknits site, http://kidsknits.com/pumpkinkit.html
Knitting: Pullover
Ladies’ stranded, Norwegian-style pullover with steeked armholes, secured with machine-sewn reinforcement. This pattern has instructions for 2 adult sizes, 44” finished chest for average sizes and 51” finished chest for extra large sizes.
Knitting: Beanie, Toque
The “copper” shade used originally is sold out / discontinued. However, you could use any of several other brownish shades, or get wild and use something totally unexpected. Have fun!
Knitting: Mittens
The Tulip Mittens are a circularly knit design suitable for knitters who are experienced with stranded knitting. With an 8½“ finished circumference, they are sized to fit most adult females’ hands. For extra detail and warmth, they are knit using Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift at a tighter-than-usual gauge. Three shades are used and you’ll need ...
Knitting: Beanie, Toque
Unisex Norwegian / Fair Isle style ski hat knit in Aran or heavy worsted weight wool.
Knitting: Beanie, Toque
Whoosh! This hat happily reminds me of powder skiing out West.
Knitting: Beanie, Toque
The original hats were knit in Dale Heilo and Dale Falk yarns. I used one 50g ball of each of the two contrasting colors. Dale Heilo has since been discontinued worldwide and Dale Falk is no longer available in North America. Above, you’ll see several excellent substitutes for these yarns. There are many other sport weight wools / merinos that ...
Knitting: Cardigan, Coat / Jacket
A kimono-inspired jacket worked in Fair Isle-style stranded colorwork with duplicate stitch accents and wide contrasting borders.
Knitting: Beret, Tam
The ladies’ Amaryllis Hat was designed to coordinate with the Amaryllis Mittens. Both designs use 4 colors.
Knitting: Earflap Hat
Please note: the gauge for this hat is tighter than the usual Shetland fingering gauge, to make an extra warm, highly detailed hat.
Knitting: Tote
A felted bag in stranded colorwork, suitable for stranded novices and pros alike. (No long floats; the longest one = 5 stitches.) There’s some optional (but fun) duplicate stitch embroidery, too.
Knitting: Mittens
Stranded circular knitting with lace cuff. Four colors of Dale Baby Ull washable merino were used in the original samples. Dale Baby Ull has since been discontinued in North America. See the yarn list, above, for several excellent substitutes. Use your favorite fingering weight yarn that can be knit down to the given gauge. I
Knitting: Baby Blanket
Needles & Notions: Size 8 US/5 mm circular needle, 16 ”/40 cm long for central squares; three size 8 US/5 mm circular needles, 40”/100 cm long required for borders; four point protectors (rubber bands will do); stitch markers (scrap yarn will do); sewing machine (for circular version; unnecessary if blanket is knit flat).
Knitting: Mittens
Use 3 different 50g balls of fingering / baby / sock weight yarn. The originals were knit in Dale Baby Ull, which has been discontinued in North America. Feel free to substitute with any fingering weight yarn that gives you the same gauge. Several excellent substitutes are listed above.
Knitting: Beanie, Toque
Circularly knit, hemmed hat with stranded detail. Directions offer 3 sizes: 15.5” for infants (shown in pink), 18” for youths, 20.5” for adults (shown in teal). The samples were knit in Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino, which has been re-labelled in the US as Ella Rae Cashmereno Sport.
Knitting: Mittens
Design was inspired by the Camellia Japonica blossom. Kanji shown translates to “good fortune” in Japanese.
Knitting: Beanie, Toque
Circularly knit, stranded design for “Viking Hat”, originally sold as a kit with or without pattern and yarn for horns. Hat takes 2 balls of Falk, 1 in each color; horns take 1 ball.