A Favorite Quick Knit: Fingerless Gloves

I love to wear fingerless gloves because my hands are always cold, but they make it possible for me to type or knit or just about anything else I need to do while staying a little bit warmer.

Looking for more knitting patterns for Mittens? Check these out on Etsy.

I also love to knit fingerless gloves, because most people appreciate them, and they can be really fast and easy projects. I like them so much, in fact that I’ve done not one but two roundups of such patterns in the past: one for fingerless gloves for a Mother’s Day gift, and the other suggesting them as a quick knit gift last December (a year ago yesterday, in fact!)

Neither of these mentions the pattern that I spent a whole December knitting a couple of years ago. The Cornucopia Wristers by Tanis Gray are pretty, dead simple to knit and really fast, too. I think I knit five pairs of those gloves that year to give to the women in my life, the girl’s teachers, and a pair for myself of course (which I’m wearing as I type this, mine are in Malabrigo). By the end I think I could knit a mitt in about an hour and had the pattern memorized.

Some more great glove or mitten patterns that aren’t already on my lists include the Amity Wristwarmers from Tahki Stacy Charles, which use a fun slip stitch pattern and cables for lots of texture and warmth; and the single-color cable knit handwarmers from The Things We Do. These would be a great project for a guy, too.

Do you have a go-to fingerless glove knitting pattern? I’d love to hear about it!

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Blankets are a great blank slate project that you can change up in a million different ways. From color to stitch pattern to size, the possibilities are almost endless.

Jared Flood, the designer behind Brooklyn Tweed, was inspired by a log cabin quilt his mother made in 1995 to re-create that design in knitting, which led to more blankets and ultimate Brooklyn Tweed’s Knit and Crochet Blankets, which includes 25 patterns from an array of designers using different skills and techniques to make cozy, pretty blankets.

The patterns are divided into three aesthetic themes: traditions, minimalism and colorplay. The patterns are rated on a scale of one to five, with one being the easiest, and there aren’t any pieces rated five. Two blankets are rated one, 14 are two, eight are three and one is four.

In addition, three of the 25 patterns are crocheted, but they either use single crochet or granny stitch, so they are pretty easy even if you don’t do a lot of crochet. You can see all the patterns on Ravelry.

Some of my favorites include Rattan by Rastus Hsu, a chunky blanket worked in knits and purls with simple crossing stitches to make a raised woven look; Homewood by Seth Richardson, covers in dramatic, loopy cables; Ainur Berkimbayeva’s Tessellate, one of the beginner projects that doesn’t really look beginner but is totally worked in knit and purl stitches; Warp + Weft by Aist? Butkevi?ien?, which is mostly knits and purls but makes a fun woven look fabric that blew my mind a little bit; and the same designer’s Canyonland, a multicolored blanket with wavy stripes.

The patterns tell you how to resize them for different dimensions and include information on pattern repeats where it is possible to make a totally custom size.

Many different techniques are included here such as cables, lace, shadow knitting, intarsia and other colorwork techniques, as well as modular knitting and lots of sewing pieces together. The patterns are all presented with charts, but there are line by line written instructions available on the Brooklyn Tweed website if you need them.

The book ends with a deep dive into log cabin knitting, telling the story of the quilt Jared’s mom made and how he made it in knitting, as well as the multitude of variations you can make if you want your own log cabin style design.

The back of the book includes a little written information about some of the special techniques needed, but there are no photos.

This is a lovely book full of inspiration for knitting and crochet blankets for any skill level. If you like to make blankets as gifts or aspire to have a handmade blanket in every room of the house, these designs would be a great place to start.

About the book: 192 pages, paperback, 25 patterns. Published 2024 by Abrams Books, suggested retail price $24.99.

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