Thinking About Blankets for Fall?

It happens that, while I’m busy with all my book knitting, I’m also working on cleaning out my office. We moved into this house about a year and a half ago, and when we did, my daughter was still home with me full time, and she was an into-everything toddler, so the unpacking happened quickly and rather haphazardly (horrible confession: some of my yarn and fabric isstill packed!).

When you’re really, really busy is kind of a bad time to decide you want to organize, but my brain literally was not working when my office was full of all that stuff. So now I’m systematically going through all my books, yarn and other crafty stuff, deciding what I absolutely need and what I can part with (which will be very good news for you in the coming months).

The trouble with this, though, is that I’m looking at all my yarn. That perfect-for-fall colorway of that awesome Knit Picks sock yarn. That gorgeous bamboo/silk blend I’ve been wanting to make a fancy top out of for years. The Malabrigo I’m dreaming of making into a cowl (that one is actually on my list for next month, deadlines be forgotten for a few days). That basket full of Lion Wool I’ve always wanted to make into an afghan.

Speaking of Lion Brand and blankets, I spied a really cute, super simple”car blanket” pattern on their website that is easy enough for new knitters (it’s just stockinette with a garter stitch border) and would be a great way to use up stash. Rather than using just the two colors called for, change colors at random when you run out of yarn. You could, of course, also make this project bigger, just figure out your gauge in one of the yarns you’re using (yarns of the same weight should be close enough to the same gauge for this purpose) and cast on however many stitches you need for the size blanket you’d like.

For even more stashy fun, work a bunch of different stitch patterns in a bunch of different yarns, aiming to make your blocks the same size. Sew them together and you’ve got a great blanket that used up some leftovers and was great travel knitting, too! See my Sampler Baby Blanket at About for more ideas on how to do this.

Planning any afghan or blanket knitting this fall? Spill it!

[Photo by Lion Brand.]

Looking for Fall patterns to Knit? Check out these Fall knitting patterns we found on Etsy.

Next Pattern:

I’ve shared a lot of Christmas stocking knitting patterns over the years (see posts 1, 2, 3 for example) but what if you want to knit a stocking for a non-human member of your family. If you’re looking for Christmas stocking knitting patterns for your cats or dogs, this is the post for you.

These large paw print stockings are perfect for either dogs or cats, so they’re great to knit if you have both. They are worked in the round using DK weight yarn, and the stocking measures about 17 inches/43 cm from the top to the heel. You can get the pattern from nicolaluke.

The K4 Project has a super cute Kitty Christmas stocking pattern, which is worked in worsted weight yarn. They also have a dog version, or you can buy both and get a discount if you have both dogs and cats to knit for. Both projects have two patterns, showing how to work the stockings flat or in the round.

Put your dog into a Christmas scene with this stocking pattern from ifanhourChild. It shows a dog in a dog house in the snow, and has room for the dog’s name at the top. It’s worked flat using worsted weight yarn and the pattern includes charts for many small and medium dog breeds (there’s a separate listing for bigger dogs) so you can stitch a dog that looks like yours.

Annie’s Woolens has both dog and cat stocking knitting patterns that are worked in worsted weight yarn in the round. You can change up the colors to suit your pet if you want, and they come with an alphabet chart for personalization. Or you can stick with holiday colors and buy a kit to make the dog or cat stocking.

Waiting for Santa Paws is a pattern from Kate Agner on Ravelry that would be cute for a dog or a cat. It looks like a leg with a paw print on the bottom part of the foot and more paw prints running around the top of the leg. This is a great option if you don’t want to mess with a heel turn because it doesn’t have a heel, because dogs and cats don’t have heels so why would their stockings?

Book Review – 20 to Knit: Tiny Christmas Toys to Knit

Book Review – Knit Christmas Stockings

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