Brown knits

This is my son and grandson. This summer they both have what I call “brush” cuts. Maybe the term in this century, sigh, is “buzz” cuts? One’s beard is natural. The other’s is Claire Slade’s Simple Beard, a Ravelry freebie.

I knit my grandson’s beard in Paintbox Yarn Simply Aran. I’d misunderstood the yardage needed for the pair of Betsy’s Goose that I made for my grandkids awhile back. The result? After finishing the geese, I had 600 extra yards of brown acrylic yarn. (Thank you for asking, Marty. It looks like the geese have finally departed our lake. Soon I will take down my goose defense system. That probably means that they’ll be back.)

Back to beards. This sweet, funny pattern of Slade’s gave the guys a good chuckle. It’s such an easy knit. Everyone needs a good laugh these days and this pattern delivers.

There was still a lot of Paintbox Simply Aran brown left. Excuse me, the color is not brown. The colorway is Coffee Bean. Like I said, brown. Fairfax, designed by Donna Yacino, looked promising.

All my favorite scarf patterns are reversible. Scarves that look good from both sides just make so much sense. Rare’s the person who can put a scarf on and manage to keep the right side out even once it’s tossed over a shoulder or wrapped at the neck. And none of those rare people are men, near as I can tell. Men like to use afghans with the wrong side out. They do that even when a knitter tells them that afghans aren’t as warm if they’re used wrong side out. This scarf will likely end up on a man’s neck so reversible was important.

Fairfax is a combination of simple ribbing and slipped stitch. Mine turned out 66 inches long and 8 inches wide. And still I wasn’t done with coffee bean.

This next knit is Ditto, Anne Gagnon’s very popular Ravelry freebie. What everyone loves about Ditto is the wonderful crown decrease section.

Ditto is one great hat, with great loping cables that end so elegantly at the crown.

Next up is a bit of a cheat in the brown department. Brown, with a bit of gold worked in. It’s Rowlock Cowl, a Ravelry freebie designed by Jennifer Burke.

Rowlock is a slip stitch (a/k/a mosaic) pattern. It’s designed for DK weight. I used the discontinued Ashton, by Bristol Yarn Gallery. Ashton is 50% alpaca, 40% merino, and 10% silk. It was pricey, in its day, but it’s a wonderful yarn with excellent drape.

Rowlock is sitting in my “to be gifted” stash at the moment. But the more I look at it and feel it I think it may end up staying close to home.