My latest custom order was so fun and simple, I can’t resist sharing the tiny 10-line pattern with you all. Drunk past midnight at the Beach Boardwalk like a member of the Lost Boys after a reunion slash wedding, I picked my phone up out of the sand for like the fourth time and started reading emails. “Woah guys, what the hell is this? Someone just messaged me on Etsy asking for a draft extruder! What the hell is that? *kapow!* Oooooh, look over there, someone’s launching some leftover fireworks. Let’s go in the ocean right now. It’s not even cold! Hiccup. Geez, I seriously love you guys…”
A sunrise and several liters of water later, I remembered something about a confusing custom order inquiry. How wonderful is the internet to connect us with people all over the world, and muddle through translations to eventually communicate. The inquiry referred to a German post about a Türzugluftstopper, that is, a draft dodger. Mystery solved!
What’s more, they wanted a gigantic neon pink one! Yesssss. Lately I’ve been fawning all over the new neon Simply Soft shouting at me from the endcap at Michaels. I can’t stop thinking of things to make with it. Neon (screw orange–sorry, Janeway) is totes the new black. It comes in a few colors, but yellow and coral are the most day glo. That said, none of them can be called dull. Seriously, you can’t even photograph them because the glow doesn’t register on a camera’s color range. Eyeballs rock!
Measurements for the draft dodger pictured above is 43 inches long and about 4 inches in diameter. Seriously huge. It’ll stop any draft like a neon ninja. You could stuff it with beans, but it’s so big that the weight of the yarn and polyfill seem enough to do the job.
yarn: 1.5 skeins (450-500 yd) Caron Simply Soft held double
hook: 6.0 mm
pattern:
R1: 6 hdc in magic ring (6)
R2: inc around (12)
R3: hdc, inc (inc=2hdc in same st) around (18)
R4: 2 hdc, inc around (24)
R5: hdc around (24)
Repeat R5 to desired length.
R(x-2): 2 hdc, dec (dec=2hdctog, invisible style if you like) around (18)
R(x-1): hdc, dec around (12)
Rx: dec around (6)
Break yarn leaving a 12-inch tail. Thread through remaining sts and cinch to close. Weave in ends.
Be sure to link your projects on the pattern’s Ravelry page and share them to the Knits for Life Ravelry group.
Next to yarnbombing, my favorite things to make are custom orders. You people never fail to surprise me with your ideas! When people contact me on Etsy or Instagram with a vision of something they want to bring to life, my answer so far is almost always “yes!” Only once so far have I said no, and in that case it was because the project was better for a Fair Isle machine knitter, so I passed along some referrals. And so, in return for this you-can-barely-call-it-a-pattern, I’m dying to know: What do your friends and family always have you make? Let me know in the comments!
xxxo,
Lorna
KNITS FOR LIFE 
Wow that yarn is so bright, you’d need to wear sunglasses indoors!
It’s true! I’m a sucker for a true day-glo neon.
oh, so am I
I love that you call it the draft dodger. Puns are a wonderful, wonderful thing.
My friends are always asking me for boring things like scarves! So I’ve started surprising them with things they didn’t ask for. They’re almost always delighted anyway. 🙂
Hooray for better gifts than scarves! What a great idea to pre-empt their requests with better ideas. I’m stealing totes stealing your move.
And thanks but the pun is not mine: I think this is the common name for them!
How did you know I’m making totes? Need to find craft shows or something!!!