A Beginner’s Guide to Knitting from the New York Times

When I worked at a newspaper, it was often said that news is what happens to your editor on the way to work.

If that’s true, there must be a knitting editor at the New York Times. They seem to cover the craft a lot, including in this general introduction to the craft: How to Start Knitting (and Learn to Love it).

The author, Allana Okun, notes that a lot of people start knitting but eventually stop because of frustration or boredom. She argues that’s because starting with a scarf, as most people are advised, is actually a bad idea because they are so long, repetitive and show mistakes easily.

Instead she encourages people to learn the basics and then knit a hat.

The article covers the basics of how to get started knitting and why a person might want to do so. It would be a good one to send to a friend you’re trying to encourage to knit, or to the person who wonders why you do it. They might just decide they want to try, too.

[Photo: Kyle Dorosa, via the New York Times.]

Over the years I have shared a lot of pumpkin knitting patterns, and I’ve knit and crocheted a lot of pumpkins myself. But it feels like there are always more fun things to try with knit pumpkins, so this year I wanted to look a little more beyond basic stockinette or ribbed pumpkins and share some pumpkin patterns with cables, bobbles and colorwork.

In the cable collection we’ve got these cute little basic cable and ribbed pumpkins from Elly Bear Knits. There are two sizes that make a wide, flat pumpkin and a taller round pumpkin. Both are worked in the round as a tube that’s cinched top and bottom when you’re done, and they use bulky weight yarn.

Another cute cable pumpkin knitting pattern comes from Gray Bear Akswokrat. This one is knit flat and it looks like a chunky yarn but you could use other weights to make pumpkins of different sizes. This one also has an I-cord stem and uses yarn to cinch up the sections of the pumpkin, giving it a more natural look.

Add some bobbles to your pumpkins with this design from Autumn Shelter Makes. Also worked in the round in a tube, it features a repeating pattern of bobbles and uses yarn wrapped around the outside to make segments. This one looks like worsted weight yarn to me.

Of course there’s nothing that says your pumpkin has to be a single color, so let’s throw in some colorwork. I love the look of the Cozy Fall Pumpkin knitting pattern from South Stitch Girls. The little leather loop adds a rustic touch but you could also just add a stick. These pumpkins have five colorwork options and are worked in worsted weight yarn in the round.

There’s also the Autumn Fair Isle Trio pumpkins pattern from Equestriann Style, which has three different sizes of pumpkins with four colorwork designs. They are worked in super bulky yarn in the round and look good with high contrast or more muted color combinations.

Have you read?