A Cozy Knit to Calm Your Mind

This time of year is full of fun, but it also can be full of stress, with tons of activities going on and a seemingly never-ending list of things to do.

It’s not the time for some super complicated, stressful knitting project. It’s the time to take it easy and knit something simple and lovely that’s just for you.

Enter Idle Hands, this pretty, boxy cardigan knitting pattern from Winter’s Weather Knits.

It’s worked holding a strand of sock yarn and a boucle/fuzzy/mohair style yarn to make a sport weight gauge, or you could just use sport weight yarn if you don’t want the fuzz factor.

The sweater is worked from the bottom up in one piece using linen stitch, which is relatively mindless once you get going. It’s definitely meditative and great for when you need a moment of calm or something to do with your hands while you’re relaxing in front of the TV.

There’s a lot of positive ease built into this sweater to make it even cozier. The smallest size, for example, has a 42.5 inch chest circumference, and it is meant to be worn with 13 to 15 inches of positive ease. There are 9 sizes included in the pattern with the largest finished bust on the sweater being 74.5 inches. It has no finishing for the edges and is meant to be worn open.

Of course if you don’t want that much positive ease you can choose a smaller size that will give you less ease if that’s available to you. You can also choose to make it with short sleeves or three quarter sleeves (or longer if you want). You can also adjust the length to make it more of a coat or even make it shorter if you like. Isn’t it nice when you can make a project however you like?

You can get the pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Winter’s Weather Knits]

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I feel like when it comes to things that people are afraid to knit, socks probably top the list. I’ve heard people say they would never knit socks because they look too hard, but really you just need to know a few basic things (and trust the pattern even though it sounds wrong the first time you do it) to master socks.

Denise DeSantis aims to take the worry out of knitting socks with No Fear Sock Knitting. Based on a class on her YouTube channel, it includes all the basic information you need to make sock knitting feel easier, along with eight patterns for both top down and toe up socks.

The book generally covers types of needles and yarn you might use to knit socks, as well as other supplies you will need. It looks at the parts of the sock, different knitting needle configurations used to knit socks, how to read a pattern (including abbreviations and terms you might find in sock patterns), discussion of ease, how to measure your foot and choosing the correct size to knit.

It includes two options each for casting on cuff down and toe up socks, as well as four options for cuff treatment. It explores the heel flap and turn method for top down and toe up socks, as well as short row heels using a shadow wrap (worked with a leg from the stitch below) and a square heel. There’s a discussion of avoiding holes and fixing other problems in heels.

Likewise with toes there are several options, including a wedge toe, round toe and anatomical toe (different on each foot) for both cuff down and toe up socks. There are also tutorials for grafting and Jeny’s surprisingly stretchy bind off, depending on which direction you’re going. There’s also a tips section that covers things like avoiding ladders, changing colors. matching stripes and more.

After all that preparation, there are eight patterns to choose from: short socks worked from the top down that are a perfect first-sock sock, a basic ankle-length toe-up sock, a DK weight sock worked from the top down with different length options, a “vanilla” sock with a short row heel worked top down, an ankle sock with a garter stitch cuff, one with a leg worked in alternating colors with a contrasting heel and toe, a sock worked in a helical stripe pattern and a striped sock with a garter stitch heel.

Three of the patterns are rated at skill level two on a scale of three, while the rest are level one. They’re all pretty straightforward, they just use different techniques you might not have tried before. Since only one is made to be toe up, there are also tips for converting the other patterns to toe up if you’d rather work that way. Each pattern includes three size options.

This book is a nice introduction to sock knitting, with lots of techniques to reference and simple patterns to take the fear out of the process. I’m not sure these are patterns you’ll come back to time and again but they are a good place to start if you’ve never knit socks before.

About the book: 128 pages, paperback, 8 patterns. Published 2025 by David & Charles. Suggested retail price $24.99.

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