You Weren’t Kidding About the Last-Minute Thing

A few days before Christmas last year I noticed my husband’s gift pile was looking a little light. Without time to order yarn, much less knit a big project, what could I make? I rooted around in my basket of leftover yarn, found two small balls of worsted in colors I thought would appeal to him, and cast on for a mug hugger – something to keep his coffee warm but his hands cool, look charming, and save a tree or two. Thus, Hugger Mugger was born.

So it seems prophetically appropriate that I’m releasing this pattern just a week before Christmas. Maybe you’ve got one more knit-worthy person on your list, or just a few spare hours and fingers itching to knit something new, or maybe you’ve finished with the gift knitting and it’s time to make something for yourself.

Either way, Hugger Mugger is a great choice. It really does knit up in just an evening (or less, if you don’t pay as much attention to the tv as I do). It only needs 30 yards of yarn for the main color and 20 for the contrast color — and who doesn’t have that much yarn sitting in the bottom of a project bag somewhere? The colorwork may look like Fair Isle, but it’s actually much simpler than that, made by slipping stitches — a trick my Mosaic students will all recognize, but which is explained simply and easily in the pattern, both in written instructions and via charts.

I made mine from contrasting colors of Malabrigo Rios (Hollyhock and Black; Matisse Blue and Natural) and Red Heart Boutique Unforgettable (Gossamer), but just about any worsted-weight yarn would do. I love that wool brings extra insulation to the party, and chose superwash so I could put these in the wash if they get drips on them, but you do you!

The pattern is available now on my Ravelry and Payhip shops as well as here on the website.