A Machine-Knit Sweater with Fun Details

I know most of you are not machine knitters, but I love the designs that Donatella at Inspiration and Realisation comes up with so I wanted to share this one anyway.

What I love about her stuff is that she’s always inspired by the runways and things she sees in fashion, and shows how it’s possible for a home knitter to get the same look.

In this case she took on a Jil Sander sweater, which is relatively simple and could absolutely be knit by hand, too. The detail that’s so interesting in this piece is the little split neckline, which gives a plain sweater that’s perfect for lounging just a little more interest. This was actually her stepdaughter’s first machine knit project, and I think it looks great.

I hope looking at this inspires you to play with patterns, to look at what you like in garments off the rack, and to see if you can find a pattern or come up with a way to do what you like in your own projects.

Have you ever come up with a design or altered a pattern based on something you saw in fashion or on a rack in a store? I’d love to hear about it!

[Photo via Inspiration and Realisation.]

Looking for knitting patterns for knitted Cardigans? Check out these Knitting patterns we found on Etsy.

Looking for pullover and sweater patterns? Check these books out.

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.

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