Knitting

Free Patterns, Tutorials and Project Ideas

An Easy Hat to Knit for Texture Lovers

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If you’re planning to knit any gifts for the holidays, it’s probably time to start thinking about it if you haven’t already. I’m going to be spending a lot of time over the next couple of months sharing some quick, easy, fun and totally giftable knitting projects (though of course you can knit these for yourself, too!).

I love to knit hats even though I don’t wear them all that often. The smallish canvas is a lot of fun, and I feel like it gives you enough time with a stitch pattern or design that you’re still enjoying it, and not so much that you get bored with it before it’s done.

The texture on the Made Wild Beanie from Smeeny Made Wild is definitely something that will keep you interested through the length of a hat. This bottom up hat is worked in the round using bulky weight yarn and a waffle-like texture that’s super easy to knit. It includes ribbing at the bottom for a snug and cozy fit.

The hat comes in one size, which would probably fit a teen or a woman, but the pattern stitch looks simple enough you might be able to adjust to make a bigger or smaller hat if you wanted to. It’s shown with a faux fur pompom, but you could also make one with contrasting or matching yarn, or leave it off if you’re not a pompom person.

Maybe the best part is this hat only uses about 100 yards of yarn, so not only does it knit up quickly, you can make it with a single skein or less of yarn. Maybe you can even use leftovers from another project for this one.

Speaking of yarn leftovers, I’ve collected 30 ways to use leftover bulky yarn here.

You can get the pattern for the Made Wild Beanie on Ravelry.

[Photo: Smeeny Made Wild]

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Patchwork Blanket Knitting Patterns

Any time of year is a good time for stash busting, but if you can combine it with knitting a blanket that will keep you warm when it (finally!) gets cooler that’s even better. Let’s take a look at some fun patchwork blanket knitting patterns. 

If you want to keep it super simple, you can just make blocks of garter stitch and sew them together, like the beginner’s patchwork baby blanket from Mini Baa Baa or the color block blanket from Make and Do Crew. Both projects are worked in strips and sew together, with the baby version calling for two strands of DK or light worsted weight yarn held together and the larger one using bulky yarn. 

Add a little more texture with the mixed blocks of the cottage quilt throw from Mama in a Stitch. This one combines garter stitch and seed stitch and uses worsted weight yarn. She used a crochet join to make the chains on top of the blocks, but you can join them however you like. It calls for eight colors but you can use what you have, and there are three size options. 

Get a real sampler style patchwork blanket with this design from Knit Sew Make. It calls for worsted weight yarn and has four size options. All of the patterns just use knit and purl stitches so this one is still pretty easy for beginners. 

If you want a more complex colorwork project that will keep you entertained all season, try the Peace by Piece blanket pattern from Needle and Feather. This one is made up of two color colorwork blocks and calls for worsted weight yarn. You can choose to use just a few of the blocks and repeat them more often, or make multiples of the whole set. 

The knitted patchwork recipe from Martine Ellis (free on Ravelry) uses mitered squares in fingering weight yarn, so it’s perfect for using up all your leftover sock yarn and mini skeins. This one is a tutorial more than a pattern so you can make your blanket as big as you like or keep going until you run out of yarn. 

Susan B. Anderson’s 100 Squares blanket (find it on Ravelry) has a lot of mitered squares, too, but they’re arranged in fun ways and includes some quilt inspired designs as well. This one also is a bit of method more than pattern but it sure looks like a lot of fun for using all the leftovers. 

Of course you can totally improvise a patchwork blanket using the yarn and stitches you like, but I hope these patterns inspire you to look at your leftover yarn in a new way.