A Cabled Sweater to Span the Seasons

I know it’s only July as I write this, and there is a lot more summer to come in the Northern Hemisphere, but I’m already starting to think about knitting for fall. For one thing, it takes a little while to knit a sweater, and if you want to have it done when the season is right to wear it, you need to start knitting early.

Also, the things we knit for the fall or spring are often called “transition” pieces for a reason; you can wear them now when it’s cool in the evening or there’s a little too much air conditioning, and for a longer part of the day later in the year.

When it comes to All That Brass from Fatimah Hinds, I don’t know why you’d want to wait to cast on this beauty. It’s a top down raglan cardigan with two sets of cables running down the fronts. It’s worked to a slightly cropped length (though you know by now you can change that if you want, right?) and three quarter sleeves, perfect for those days when you need a little warmth but maybe not a full length sweater.

It has a scoop neck and a full set up buttons so you can wear it as open or closed as you like.

It would be as great over a sun dress or tank top as paired with a T-shirt, jeans and boots.

The pattern comes in nine sizes, with an actual measurement of 32 to 64 inches in the bust (or 81 to 162.5 cm). You can choose how much ease you like but it’s shown modeled with 2 inches/10 cm of positive ease, which sounds good if you’re going to wear something light under it. It was worked with two strands of fingering weight yarn held together, or you can use a single strand of DK weight to get gauge.

The pattern is available on Ravelry.

[Photo: Fatimah Hinds]

A Perfect Sweater to Knit if You’re New to Knitting Sweaters

Book Review – Wilderness Knits: Scandi-style sweaters for adventuring outdoors

It feels like it’s too early to be thinking about back to school, but as I write this my daughter has just a couple of weeks of summer left! So let’s get in that school and fall knitting spirit by looking at some apple knitting projects.

If you have a 22 needle circular knitting machine, knitting an apple is one of the easiest things you can do. I have an apple pattern over at Our Daily Craft that will take you just a few minutes to knit and they’re a great addition to your fall decor.

Apple hats are a classic, and whether you want to knit a hat that looks like an apple or one with apples on it, we’ve got you covered. For hats that look like apples check out the rolled brim version from Emma Crochet Design 4 U, which uses worsted weight yarn and comes in sizes for kids of all ages; and the ribbed brim version from Hand Knit Hugs. This one also calls for worsted weight yarn and comes in four kids sizes. Both include a stem and leaf.

If you’d rather have apples on your hat, try the Red Apple Hat from Little Red Window. This one is sized from newborn to 2T and calls for four colors of worsted weight yarn.

How about apple socks? You’ll find Ariel Chang’s Apple Picnic Socks as a free download on Ravelry. These use three colors of sock yarn and come in three sizes. Stone Knits also a pair of stripey apple socks that show the inside of the apple. These also have three sizes but they use six colors total, with the main color being a self-striping yarn.

If you want a little apple accessory for the house, the apple potholder from Nifty Knitter Designs is cute and a great way to practice double knitting. It uses two colors and you’ll find the colors in the reverse on the other side. The pattern only uses about 50 yards of each color of worsted weight yarn, so it’s a great use for odd balls, too.

Once you’ve got your double knitting skills sorted you can also try the double knit apple scarf from Crow and Chai Shop. The Winter Apples scarf is shown in red and gold, but you can use whatever colors you like. There are apples, stars and random stitches in the design, which calls for DK weight yarn. There’s also a matching fingerless glove pattern.

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