A Simple Summer Sweater to Stitch

If you’ve never knit a garment before, a summer sweater or top might be just the place to start. There are a lot of patterns out there that are pretty simple, with minimal shaping, basic stitch patterns, and worked flat. The lack of sleeves makes them a little less daunting (and faster to knit) than sweater you might work in the winter, and a summer top can be worn throughout the year because you can always throw it on over a long-sleeved shirt as it gets colder.

The Sunbleached Sweater from Sewrella meets all these criteria. It’s worked flat in two pieces in mostly Garter Stitch, with just a little shaping for the shoulders.

There’s also an option for sleeves if you’re into that sort of thing.

Either way this is a pretty, simple basic that will get you through a lot of seasons. Get the free pattern at her website, or click through to purchase an ad-free pattern or the full kit.

[Photo: Sewrella.]

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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